In Between Times 5-11-2023
Carbon capture is getting HUGE, How to get to Net Zero, The shifting of American liberalism, Suffering and humanity
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For regenerative farming to work it will take big players getting onboard. PepsiCo is one of the biggest players there is in ag. Right now the company is trying to move to regenerative processes across its massive footprint by 2030. This is a very ambitious undertaking that will take millions and millions in investment from the company. Let's encourage PepsiCo and show it and the other ag companies that consumers appreciate the effort and want much more sustainable farming.
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“Direct air capture is going to be as big as the energy industry”
It could be. Maybe. And it should be noted that this statement comes from a CEO of a carbon capture company. But one thing is increasingly clear. Direct carbon capture is a big deal now, but it will be massive in the years ahead.
(From The Carbon Herald)
How has the Direct Air Capture industry changed in the last few years. With its rapid growth is it now becoming a bonafide industry and something that will be crucial for emission reductions?
I’ve been in direct air capture (DAC) for the better part of 10 years or so and then we had the original wave of companies like Carbon Engineering, Climeworks, and Global Thermostat. At that point there were some really smart people like Bill Gates and the Bronfman’s, who understood that there was this imperative and that the math just said, you were going to have to do this.
But there was no general public understanding, certainly no political will to move the needle. There was nothing to actually drive investment.
In the last three to four years, led by good science and the series of reports out of the IPCC, there has been consistent reinforcing of the fact that direct air capture had to be considered as part of a net zero solution. It has started to build some public acceptance, because 10 years ago it was seen in a super skeptical light.
Click here for the article.
The top 20 direct air capture companies
Net-Zero America Reports:
Potential Pathways, Infrastructure, and Impacts
If you want to see what it’s going to take, what it’s really going to take to get to Net Zero carbon sometime this century, we advise you to examine this data rich source. Bookmark it. Use it.
It’s pretty darn cool.
(From NetZeroAmerica)
The Net-Zero America research quantifies five distinct technological pathways, all using technologies known today, by which the United States could decarbonize its entire economy. With multiple plausible and affordable pathways available, the societal conversation can now turn from “if” to “how” and focus on the choices the nation and its myriad stakeholders wish to make to shape the energy transition.
This website presents the pathways in an interactive context to enable policy makers and other stakeholders to extract specific results that are most useful to them. The site should be used in conjunction with the Net-Zero America report to fully understand the data contained herein.
Click here for the article.
Matt Taibbi and the shifting of American liberalism
Matt Taibbi is arguably the greatest investigative journalist alive. His coverage of the bailouts in 2008-2009 is where I first came to know him. His characterization of Goldman Sachs as the great “vampire squid” was one of the best turns of phase in mainstream journalism in the last 15 years. He was once celebrated as the heir to the great Hunter S. Thompson. In fact he had Thompson’s job at Rolling Stone for many years. He was and is a dyed-in-the-wool liberal. But he is no authoritarian and it is his contempt for authority that has alienated him from some on the modern left.
The shift mentioned in the headline is a curious shift. Your editor has watched it up close as some things that were once “liberal” somehow became “conservative” over the last decade. At some point over the last 10 years free speech, long a core component of what it meant to be liberal, was abandoned by some on the left. Nor do we hear these days the critiques from the left of government abuse like we did in the 1970s and 1980s.
Actually we do hear it from the left still but these journalistic champions of modern liberalism (Taibbi and Co.) - or what used to be modern liberalism - are often attacked. Glenn Greenwald, Bill Mahr, Michael Schellenberger, along with Taibbi and a handful of others are treated as liberal turncoats when it seems to your editor that it isn’t these reporters and writers who have shifted, but what constitutes much of the “official” left that has changed.
It’s is a fairly sharp indictment we’ll admit. But one of the reasons this publication exists is because we believe that modern (and even classical) liberalism is supposed to push envelopes, to embrace free speech and inquiry, and the attack by some on the left on these thinkers is deeply troubling.
(From Allsides)
It’s very clear that Taibbi, who recently identified himself as a liberal that feels estranged by the “values of the current Democratic Party,” has been at war with the Democrats. And he’s not the only one. Accomplished mainstream journalists like Shellenberger, Fang, and Glenn Greenwald who remain particularly hard on the American intelligence agencies and current Democratic Party, can logically be categorized alongside Taibbi.
Whether the mainstream liberal media outlets like MSNBC or House Democrats like Plaskett have the best interest of the American people at heart can be debated. One can believe in a strong central government — or an outrightly authoritarian one at that. Those are great privileges that come with American livelihood — freedoms of thought, speech, and press.
And that’s where the anti-Taibbi belligerents have lost the plot entirely.
Click here for the article.
Where does our energy come from? Where has it come from?
How to dispose of a washer and dryer in an eco-friendly way.
Debilyn Molineaux: Anyone can suffer. Any. One. Of. Us.
In a time when everyone is looking for a scapegoat, it is important to remember that suffering is universal. It does not see gender or “race” or ethnicity or sexual disposition. Suffering is one of the most challenging constants of humanity. Suffering happens, and for some people it is overwhelming. Sadly it was for a friend of Ms. Molineaux.
Depression is one of the most treatable illnesses there is. But it is also one of the most widespread. In fact it is believed to be the number one cause of disability worldwide.
Two thirds of those who deal with a depressive episode do not seek help. This is a shame because there is so much that can be done to alleviate suffering and to return the suffering individual to a full and productive life. It happens all the time. But so many people get caught in the stigma associated with the disease and suffer for far too long.
It is wise to remember that we are all humans. We are not JUST Democrats, or Republicans, men, women, Black, White, whatever. We are HUMANS and sometimes we need help from other humans. And that is one of the things that makes us human.
In the attached article Ms. Molineaux examines the death of her friend through the lens of gender. It is an interesting take. But I think the most important part of what she has to say is in the above headline.
“Anyone can suffer. Any. One. Of. Us.”
Click here for the article.
IBT Podcasts
Event
May 10 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm CDT
Unify Challenge
Location: Online
Take the Unify Challenge, a guided video conversation that you will take with another American who may vote or think differently than you. It is a small but powerful way for everyday people to heal our national divide. Consider this your official invitation to step out of your “bubble.” We the People can lead the way.