In Between Times 7-6-2023
Texas saved from the heat by renewables, J.D. Vance and Liz Warren come together on banks, India's energy future, AI good-bad-other-all of the above?
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How solar and wind energy are saving Texans from a record heatwave
You know what state leads the nation in renewable energy instalations?
(From The Week)
The Texas power grid — which, uniquely, only serves Texas — has shuddered and occasionally broken in recent years under the weight of extreme weather, a growing population and aging infrastructure. But so far, the grid has held up this summer. In fact, ERCOT has only asked customers to voluntarily reduce electricity use once during the heat wave.
And that's due in large part to another record Texas has shattered this summer: Solar and wind farms set a new high water mark for renewable energy generation — 31,468 megawatts — on June 28, helping offset the 8,000 megawatts knocked offline at ailing natural gas and coal-fired plants. "Wind and solar are giving us a big enough buffer that even when we have a handful of power plants go offline, it isn't causing disruptions," Dan Cohan at Rice University in Houston told The Washington Post.
Click here for the article.
An (odd) power couple in the Senate, J.D. Vance and Elizabeth Warren taking on the big banks
In another life your editor was in finance and watched the implosion of 2008 in excruciating detail. I remember the fall of 2008 and the cold beginning of 2009 almost day to day. At the end of the chaos (the initial chaos anyway) I was no longer in finance.
One thing I rememeber particularly were the big bank bailouts. One of the big banks, which we will leave unnamed, was reportedly leveraged over 100 to 1 at the time of The Crash (and very possibly much more than that). Then US taxpayers bailed this company out. Two quarters later, in the middle of 2009 when all economic hell was breaking loose in most of America, this bank paid out the biggest quarterly bonuses in its history. These bonuses were hundreds of thousands of dollars per employee on average.
Even worse, the bank that had been bailed out by taxpayers was now forecloseing on the very taxpayers that saved its bacon.
It was wrong then and it is wrong now. This historical episode is something your editor will never forget. Thankfully there are still some people in power who have not forgotten either, who understand that “to big to fail” is inherently unfair and anti-market. Two of these people, apparently, are J.D. Vance and Elizabeth Warren.
(From Politico)
Sen. J.D. Vance — the Trump-backing former venture capitalist — is trying to lead Republicans in a new cause: cracking down on big banks.
Following a Senate campaign in which he pledged to prioritize rural America over titans of industry, the Ohio lawmaker is using a seat on the Banking Committee to flex his populist bona fides, teaming up with Democrats including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Dick Durbin of Illinois on bills that the industry’s biggest players despise — while championing legislation that protects smaller banks.
He’s taking a lead role in advancing bipartisan proposals that would penalize bank executives when their companies fail, make it harder for giant lenders to get bigger by acquiring other banks and rein in credit card fees. Along the way, he’s had some success in recruiting fellow Republicans to the cause — creating fresh headaches for big bank lobbyists, who are gearing up to fight the Vance-backed policies.
Click here for the article.
World Bank approves $1.5 billion in financing to support India’s low-carbon transition
India presents a huge challenge on both the climate and geopolitical fronts. Of course both fronts dovetail.
India is now the world’s most populous country. It has a hungry and crowded populace.
Over the last 20 years India has started to really stretch its international economic muscles. This increased economic activity and significant rise in population has meant an upsurge in carbon emissions.
India is currently the world’s third largest emitter of carbon. It follows the US (twice the emissions of India), and China (with over 4 times the emissions of India.) But India is just getting going as a global economic power. It’s population is young and represents a massive addition to the global workforce. This means more economic activity and more carbon emissions.
However, like China to the northeast, India recognizes the need to to transition to a generally lower-carbon regime. $1.5 billion from the World Bank is coming to help facilitate that transition.
(From ESG News)
The First Low-Carbon Energy Programmatic Development Policy Operation – the first in a series of two envisaged operations – will support India in developing green hydrogen. The low-carbon energy is produced by electrolysis of water powered by renewable energy. The financing required to implement India’s energy transition is such that public sector funding alone will not be sufficient. Building on recent successes, this operation will help stimulate private financing and other support by addressing viability funding gaps, reducing off-taker risks, boosting grid integration of renewables, and stimulating demand for renewable energy.
Click here for the article.
How India’s population exploded to overtake China’s and what’s next
What’s the future for a growing India?
International media shows biases, varying approaches to Artificial Intelligence around the world
Artificial Intelligence is something we’ve been following closely for years. We have watched it get smarter, and smarter, and smarter. We have watched its development with both hope and caution. This perceptual balance, such as it is, is the subject of the attached article from AllSides.
It is our opinion that AI constitutes a revolutionary technology that has the potential to change life at a near fundamental level. Work is changing. Art is changing. Politics is changing. Warfare is changing.
The truth is, no one knows where this train is headed. Are there AI miracles ahead? Almost without doubt. Is there AI inflicted pain coming too? Almost without doubt.
AI has drastically shortened the horizons for businesses and policymakers. When it comes to AI, in mid-2023, we’re all flying by the seat of our pants.
(From AllSides)
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in 2023 sparked both excitement and fear in the United States and around the world. Many marvel at new software systems’ capabilities to interact with and respond to human inputs to generate content. June stories reported that The Beatles were able to complete a final song with an AI regeneration of the late John Lennon’s voice, AI is being used to aid in the evacuation of crowds on flooded beaches, and scientists are even using the technology in cancer research.
But AI’s increased prevalence and power also raises concerns. Calls for regulation have grown as academic circles began attempting to detect and limit the use of AI chatbot ChatGPT in student work, concerns about deepfakes – a form of AI manipulation that can place a person into any scenario and replicate their voice patterns – have increased, and some warn that AI can grow more powerful than its human creators – perhaps even leading to human extinction.
Click here for the article.
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Event
July 11 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm EDT
Climate Change Solutions with Bill McKibben
Network for Responsible Public Policy
Location: Online
Most understand the climate is changing before our eyes. Implementing solutions has been slowly occurring, but much more needs to be accomplished. Join Bill McKibben for an in-depth discussion on the opportunities, priorities, and diverse solutions to address the challenges of carbon emission and climate change. Find out what each of us can do to make a difference.