The absolute blindness of the "Clean/Green" people is appalling. No one even considers reducing usage. A friend of mine who lives in Arizona had a big, old International Harvester truck and his friends used to abuse him for having that gas-guzzling monstrosity, they all drove Prius's and other hybrid vehicles. When he told them he only drives it every other week to do grocery shopping, it turned out that he used considerably less gas than his friends. He filled it up once every 2-3 months. I imagine that it will be as hard to convince "The earth day" crowd of the folly of believing in green energy as it is to convince people that COVID is still a threat. Thanks for writing this.
Thank you for pointing out the hypocrisy of the class-privileged, but I just have to add that the vaxxing is also still a threat. Three friends much younger and healthier than me almost died from the vax, which two were forced to take to not lose their jobs, and then one still had to quit her specialty nursing career because she was told she had to have boosters. I know of so many others harmed permanently, yet the information is suppressed. Meanwhile, the vax does not prevent Covid or lessen the effects, but it certainly divides people and makes those involved incredibly rich and powerful.
Michael, "clean" energy is not a myth, but it may be unreasonable to hope for it to become widely available in our lifetime (considering the criminal cartels involved in supressing said tech) but it has been invented, applied and then suppressed by various criminal interests a number of times over the last century.
People like Eugene Mallove were doing extremely important work on L.E.N.R. (aka “cold fusion”) technologies and exposed the systemic corruption of institutions like MIT (and their actively covering up discoveries pertaining to said scientific developments). See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y98YwJ2GEE for more info. The technology he was working on (related to LENRs) would be able to be applied in a decentralized fashion and scaled to the needs of situations globally. That however would threaten the pocket books of some very powerful people, thus Eugene Mallove was killed and here we are with hot fusion being promoted in universities and on the news (as, unlike "cold fusion" tech, hot fusion tech is something that can be monopolized).
Oil may be less degenerative and damaging to the environment than lithium or copper based tech, but it still costs human and non-human lives to extract (Iraq/Afghanistan, those were wars for oil, among other things).
There are many methods to access the energy we need to run our machines, homes, and industrial infrastructure that do not require oil. One such method involves the high voltage disassociation of hydrogen from H2O (in order to access the thermo-explosive energy of hydrogen gas) for running internal combustion engines without pollution.
The real challenge we face with solving the energy crisis on Earth is not something that requires billions to be solved, it is more a matter of either taking steps to stop depending on technology that is destroying Mother Earth in each of our lives and/or figuring out a way to get the already extant inventions (which are cheaper, applicable in a decentralized way and scalable to any situation) from our brightest minds past the buzz saw of institutionalized suppression, thievery, and murderous operations that have stunted human ingenuity in this field of study and engineering for many decades now. https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2010/10/invention_secrecy_2010/ Since I have no confidence in our ability to get around the murderous mechanisms of truly clean, efficient, scalable and decentralized energy technologies, I am opting for withdrawing my support from the technological infrastructure and refraining from buying any future gadgets now that I know what I know about lithium, petroleum, copper, cobalt, tantalum and tungsten.
A brief mention of the magnitude of disasters growing out of even well-intentioned efforts. All mining creates tailings. We are digging holes in the earth and pulling ore out. We don't use even 60% of what we extract..the rest ends up as highly toxic tailings. The global mining industry each year creates enough tailings to covér an area the size of California - this is mind-boggling. Ultimately we must reduce both our consumption and our population. Otherwise the world will be figuratively covered with the environmental equivalents of mine waste..
I have also attempted to shine a light on what they are intending to do to the Boreal Forests here in Ontario which parallels what you outline here in this post:
"There’s virtually no consideration of the energy reduction transition that we really need. Instead of stressing the necessity of using less, advocates are seemingly only interested in how to consume the same or even more, just with a different power source."
So true, and so frustrating! Reduction isn't even on the table.
Thank you so much for this wonderful and needed, though horrifying, post. I know the media has almost shut down any discussion of overpopulation and even mentioning it among people who supposedly care about the environment brings an onslaught of insult and denial, but really that is the only thing that could stop most of this desecration of the earth. (I keep thinking that if only people had stopped when Lesbians and Feminists and caring men said this 50 years ago, the problem would be solved.)
But what you said is essential too, to reach those participating. It makes me think of the mining that can easily be seen when going to one of the main entrances to Tuyshtak (Mount Diablo) in California. The environment is so different there compared to most other Bay Area parks because the main tree is the Grey Pine/Ghost Pine/Pinus Sabiniana, which should be planted everywhere here because it's so drought tolerant and beautiful. Most people don't notice it, though many do go to see some of the most rare and exquisite wildflowers in California, as well as the beautiful birds and tarantulas and scorpions (and one of my most favorite animals, rattlesnakes). I lead nature excursions there but so often the exclamations about beauty is about the mine, which is tiered so the variations in the red rock can be seen. It IS beautiful in a way because of the rock and it's not poisoned so horribly, like the mine you showed (because it think this one is mined for the rocks), but it's still a terrible desecration of what was once more animals and rare plants, and also because around it is increasing housing developments.
I so completely agree with energy demand reduction as a big priority. What do you think about research that predicts an increase in the rebound effect with an increasing clean transition however?
The absolute blindness of the "Clean/Green" people is appalling. No one even considers reducing usage. A friend of mine who lives in Arizona had a big, old International Harvester truck and his friends used to abuse him for having that gas-guzzling monstrosity, they all drove Prius's and other hybrid vehicles. When he told them he only drives it every other week to do grocery shopping, it turned out that he used considerably less gas than his friends. He filled it up once every 2-3 months. I imagine that it will be as hard to convince "The earth day" crowd of the folly of believing in green energy as it is to convince people that COVID is still a threat. Thanks for writing this.
You're welcome, Michael.
Re. your friend's truck: there's real value to keeping old things going as long as possible before buying something new, as in "reduce" and "reuse."
Thank you for pointing out the hypocrisy of the class-privileged, but I just have to add that the vaxxing is also still a threat. Three friends much younger and healthier than me almost died from the vax, which two were forced to take to not lose their jobs, and then one still had to quit her specialty nursing career because she was told she had to have boosters. I know of so many others harmed permanently, yet the information is suppressed. Meanwhile, the vax does not prevent Covid or lessen the effects, but it certainly divides people and makes those involved incredibly rich and powerful.
Michael, "clean" energy is not a myth, but it may be unreasonable to hope for it to become widely available in our lifetime (considering the criminal cartels involved in supressing said tech) but it has been invented, applied and then suppressed by various criminal interests a number of times over the last century.
People like Eugene Mallove were doing extremely important work on L.E.N.R. (aka “cold fusion”) technologies and exposed the systemic corruption of institutions like MIT (and their actively covering up discoveries pertaining to said scientific developments). See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y98YwJ2GEE for more info. The technology he was working on (related to LENRs) would be able to be applied in a decentralized fashion and scaled to the needs of situations globally. That however would threaten the pocket books of some very powerful people, thus Eugene Mallove was killed and here we are with hot fusion being promoted in universities and on the news (as, unlike "cold fusion" tech, hot fusion tech is something that can be monopolized).
Oil may be less degenerative and damaging to the environment than lithium or copper based tech, but it still costs human and non-human lives to extract (Iraq/Afghanistan, those were wars for oil, among other things).
There are many methods to access the energy we need to run our machines, homes, and industrial infrastructure that do not require oil. One such method involves the high voltage disassociation of hydrogen from H2O (in order to access the thermo-explosive energy of hydrogen gas) for running internal combustion engines without pollution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awO3--KQKng Unfortunately, the inventor of that tech was murdered and his patents scooped by government/corporate goons.
The real challenge we face with solving the energy crisis on Earth is not something that requires billions to be solved, it is more a matter of either taking steps to stop depending on technology that is destroying Mother Earth in each of our lives and/or figuring out a way to get the already extant inventions (which are cheaper, applicable in a decentralized way and scalable to any situation) from our brightest minds past the buzz saw of institutionalized suppression, thievery, and murderous operations that have stunted human ingenuity in this field of study and engineering for many decades now. https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2010/10/invention_secrecy_2010/ Since I have no confidence in our ability to get around the murderous mechanisms of truly clean, efficient, scalable and decentralized energy technologies, I am opting for withdrawing my support from the technological infrastructure and refraining from buying any future gadgets now that I know what I know about lithium, petroleum, copper, cobalt, tantalum and tungsten.
It hurts to know the truth. But it kills not to know it and not to change it. Thanks for a well done coverage of the copper issue.
You're welcome, Sandy!
Appreciate the insight and effort as always. Thank you. ❤️
A brief mention of the magnitude of disasters growing out of even well-intentioned efforts. All mining creates tailings. We are digging holes in the earth and pulling ore out. We don't use even 60% of what we extract..the rest ends up as highly toxic tailings. The global mining industry each year creates enough tailings to covér an area the size of California - this is mind-boggling. Ultimately we must reduce both our consumption and our population. Otherwise the world will be figuratively covered with the environmental equivalents of mine waste..
Thanks for shining a light onto this and expressing yourself emphatically, with pertinent links and with heart. Your work is sacred and appreciated.
I offer the following video clip that serves to further emphasize the gravity and import of what you write about above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImbnWSkqfig
I have also attempted to shine a light on what they are intending to do to the Boreal Forests here in Ontario which parallels what you outline here in this post:
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/an-introduction-to-a-new-series-befriending
"There’s virtually no consideration of the energy reduction transition that we really need. Instead of stressing the necessity of using less, advocates are seemingly only interested in how to consume the same or even more, just with a different power source."
So true, and so frustrating! Reduction isn't even on the table.
Thanks so much for this, Kollibri. There are so few reporting on the hypocrisy but it needs to be laid bare (like the ugliness of a copper mine).
Thank you for covering this! Not enough people understand that there's no such thing as green/renewable energy.
"It's not about the Big Lie: it's about making people say they BELIEVE the Big Lie"
the Mayor of Sin City
Thank you so much for this wonderful and needed, though horrifying, post. I know the media has almost shut down any discussion of overpopulation and even mentioning it among people who supposedly care about the environment brings an onslaught of insult and denial, but really that is the only thing that could stop most of this desecration of the earth. (I keep thinking that if only people had stopped when Lesbians and Feminists and caring men said this 50 years ago, the problem would be solved.)
But what you said is essential too, to reach those participating. It makes me think of the mining that can easily be seen when going to one of the main entrances to Tuyshtak (Mount Diablo) in California. The environment is so different there compared to most other Bay Area parks because the main tree is the Grey Pine/Ghost Pine/Pinus Sabiniana, which should be planted everywhere here because it's so drought tolerant and beautiful. Most people don't notice it, though many do go to see some of the most rare and exquisite wildflowers in California, as well as the beautiful birds and tarantulas and scorpions (and one of my most favorite animals, rattlesnakes). I lead nature excursions there but so often the exclamations about beauty is about the mine, which is tiered so the variations in the red rock can be seen. It IS beautiful in a way because of the rock and it's not poisoned so horribly, like the mine you showed (because it think this one is mined for the rocks), but it's still a terrible desecration of what was once more animals and rare plants, and also because around it is increasing housing developments.
Sharing....
I so completely agree with energy demand reduction as a big priority. What do you think about research that predicts an increase in the rebound effect with an increasing clean transition however?
You say: "Last but not least, carbon emissions."
They should be last, we would benifit immensly from more CO2 in the air. The carbon credit thing is a total scam.
That's where I lost interest in your article.