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Renewable Energies

 

Photo credit:  Seagul. Pixabay License

 

Introduction

 

This page explores the technologies, policies, and politics of renewable energies.

 

Messages and Resources on Christian Restorative Justice, Environment, and Health

 

A practical Study and Action Guide for use by small groups discussion or personal reflection. The guide covers topics that are actionable on the personal and policy levels: sugar’s impact on our bodies and sugar corporations’ truth-telling and accountability, corn and corn subsidies creating over-supply, plastic and its biological impact on animals and humans, the true cost of meat in terms of soil depletion and air pollution, and food waste and the practices which can diminish it.

 

Resources on Renewable Energy

 

Radcast:  monitoring radiation levels across the country 24x7 (website)

Laura Italiano and Kerry Murtha, Navy Soldiers Have Radiation Sickness After Japan Rescue. New York Post, Dec 22, 2013.

Rob Wile, Endless Electricity: Here's A Way Of Turning America's Roads Into Gigantic Solar Panels. Business Insider, May 14, 2014.

Jon Major, Japan: "Solar Islands" Replace Nuclear Power. Ecologist, Sep 13, 2014.

William Pentland, Lockheed Martin Claims Fusion Breakthrough That Could Change World Forever. Forbes, Oct 15, 2014.

Fairport Electric (website) On municipal electricity company using hydro power.

Umair Irfan, Europe is Building More Wind and Solar — Without Any Subsidies. Vox, May 31, 2018.

David Roberts, Solar and Wind Are Coming. And the Power Sector Isn't Ready. Vox, Jun 22, 2018.

Nicholas K. Geranios, The Trump Administration Plans to Reclassify Nuclear Waste, Arguing It Could Save Billions. Critics Say That's Because Much of the Waste Could Be Left in the Ground. Business Insider, Dec 10, 2018.

Mindy Lubber, After The Pandemic, Massachusetts Can Build A Climate-Smart Recovery. WBUR, Jul 24, 2020.

Neel Dhanestra, Clean Energy is Buried at the Bottom of Abandoned Oil Wells. Vox, Apr 19, 2022. Geothermal energy: “The US, in the wake of an oil and gas boom, just so happens to have millions of oil and gas wells sitting abandoned across the country… So, the DOE asks, why not repurpose them? That’s exactly what the agency’s pilot program, called Wells of Opportunity: ReAmplify, aims to do, awarding a total of $8.4 million to four projects across the country that will each try to tap into some of those old wells to extract geothermal energy rather than gas or oil. If they work, they could be the key to not only reducing the country’s use of planet-damaging fossil fuels, but also helping answer the question of how to transition many of the more than 125,000 people who work in oil and gas extraction across the country into clean-energy jobs.”

Siddarth Kara, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives. St. Martin’s Press | Amazon page, Jan 2023. See interview by Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, "Cobalt Red": Smartphones & Electric Cars Rely on Toxic Mineral Mined in Congo by Children. Democracy Now, Jul 7, 2023.

CNBC, How Sodium-Ion Batteries May Challenge Lithium. CNBC, May 10, 2023.

60 Minutes, California’s Lithium Valley Could Power Electric Vehicle Industry.  60 Minutes, May 9, 2023.  “As the U.S. auto industry goes green, companies are developing lithium extraction for batteries in California’s Imperial Valley,” which is next to the Salton Sea in Southernmost part of CA.

Gerry Shih and Lorenzo Tugnoli, Rich Lode of EV Metals Could Boost Taliban and Its New Chinese Partners. Washington Post, Jul 19, 2023. “The Pentagon dubbed Afghanistan ‘the Saudi Arabia of lithium.’ Now, it is American rivals that are angling to exploit those coveted reserves.”

DW Documentary, The Cobalt Challenge - The Dark Side of the Energy Transition.  DW Documentary, Jul 20, 2023.  An 85 minute video documentary. 

Deutsche Welle Planet A, How to Cool Our Homes (Even Without AC’s). Deutsche Welle Documentary, Aug 5, 2023. Some solutions include: Trees and greenery; traditional architecture as opposed to glass that lets in natural light; district cooling where cool water is underground.

Noah Smith, Our Climate Change Debates Are Out of Date. Noahpinion | Substack, Sep 7, 2023. Solar and batteries are going to win.

CNBC, Could Deep-Sea Mining Fix The Global Minerals Shortage?  CNBC, Sep 20, 2023.  A corporation called The Metals Company asserts that this would be a better way to mine nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese, etc. than in Indonesian rain forests and using Congolese forced labor.

Shannon Osaka, What the World Would Look Like Without Fossil Fuels.  Boston Globe, Sep 30, 2023.  “A thought experiment shows the complexities of phasing out oil, gas and coal.”

Matt Ferrell, Is This Accidental Discovery The Future Of Energy?  Undecided by Matt Ferrell, Oct 10, 2023.  Hydroelectric energy, or electric energy in humid air.

Matt Farrell, Why Hydrogen Does Have a Future.  Undecided with Matt Farrell, Dec 5, 2023. 

 
 

Christian Restorative Justice, Environment, and Health: Topics:

This page is part of our section on the Environment, which explores the following topics: Animal Antibiotics; Animal Extinction; Climate Change; Coal, Gas, Oil; Corn; Food and Nutrition Misc; Food Waste; Health Care Systems; Lead, Mercury, Heavy Metals; Marijuana; Meat’s True Cost; Pesticides; Plastics; Renewable Energy; Sugar; Tobacco; Water; Wheat.

 
 

Christian Restorative Justice Critique of the Right: Domestic Policy Topics:

This page is part of our section Critique of the Right, which engages the following topics: Banking and Finance examines the economic and political power of financial institutions; Bioethics discusses abortion policy; Business and Economics examines economic theories, taxes, housing, environment, corporate law, labor law, automation, and inequalities of wealth and power; Civil Unions makes the Christian case for civil unions for all and removing marriage from the culture wars; Criminal Justice examines crime statistics and definition, policing, prosecution, sentencing, prisons, and reintegration; Education examines public education and conservative resistance to it; Environment and Health highlights the many challenges we face related to animals, climate change, food, and health systems; Government Corruption spotlights political compromises and dealings contrary to the public good; Gun Rights examines gun policies and rhetoric; Media spotlights failures of, and possible fixes to, left-wing or left-leaning media; Power and Politics highlights the impact of racial considerations and racism on political campaigns, voting rights, public investments, and other political procedures; Race examines the impact of white supremacy on virtually every aspect of American life.

 
 

Christian Restorative Justice Critique of the Right: Philosophical Influences: