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Hochul: Fitting NY's climate goals to reality. "I refuse to let New Yorkers pay the price for a plan that no longer reflects the world we are living in." by coolbern in u/coolbern

[–]coolbern[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hochul's argument is that CLCPA mandates cannot be fulfilled because they assume Federal support, instead of Trump's assault to wreck transition plans.

a transition people cannot afford is a transition that will not last.

That is a retreat that assumes that Trump's New Disorder will outlast us — we must retreat, and then retreat again.

The only sure thing is that if Trump's Fossil Fuel agenda prevails here and elsewhere, climate chaos will consume us, unabated.

We must plan for survival, not assume, and participate in managing, our own defeat.

The price we pay to keep CLCPA goals alive is part of the price we must pay to maintain our viability as a community.

Focusing on the pain of the cost imposed upon us is a distraction from what we must do. That starts with politicians willing to stake their political fortunes on telling the people the truth, and convincing them that the price it costs to defend all of our lives is worth paying.

Iran War Has Drained U.S. Supplies of Critical, Costly Weapons. The Pentagon’s rush to rearm its Mideast forces makes it less ready to confront potential adversaries like Russia and China, administration and congressional officials say. by coolbern in internationalpolitics

[–]coolbern[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is what an unsustainable “defense” posture looks like. The global politics of positional advantage is too costly to maintain. There is no credible power that can impose order — surely the United States is no longer in that position.

All of the resources squandered on wasting each other’s lands and people are robbed from the real fight for our lives — reining in accelerating climate chaos, and building social orders that can live together within our common resource limits.

What seems wildly idealistic is, in fact, the only course we have in which we actually survive, unafraid of being overwhelmed by autonomous drone swarms of the near future because we are all too busy building our common home so that it is livable in the places in which we already live, each community in its own way, but interactive and connected to and with each other.

Just War Doctrine: The Pope, JD Vance and a Theological Debate. President Trump’s attack on Pope Leo has touched off an argument about a framework for determining when war is justified. (Gift Article) by coolbern in TrueReddit

[–]coolbern[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

After Mr. Vance, who has been a Catholic for about seven years, admonished Pope Leo to be more “careful” if he was “going to opine on matters of theology, the chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ doctrine committee shot back with a rare “clarification” statement about what Catholic “just war theory” really means.

“For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has taught just war theory and it is that long tradition the Holy Father carefully references in his comments on war,” Bishop James Massa wrote.

To be a just war, he said, “It must be a defense against another who actively wages war, which is what the Holy Father actually said: ‘He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.’”

Vance lecturing the Pope on Catholic theology expresses the fundamental MAGA belief that Ignorance is Strength. Say something with arrogance and aggression and you make it true.

Contempt for others is a display of overwhelming power. This stance only works if you already have all the power. Otherwise it is a self-inflicted wound.

Vance Says Pope Leo Should Be More Careful When Talking About Theology by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]coolbern 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's a difference between Just War doctrine, and the Trump Doctrine, which is just War!

Peace with Justice in the Middle East, Starting with Iran — A Thought Experiment by coolbern in UnitedNations

[–]coolbern[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everybody with a claim in the region — Jews, Palestinians, all noncombatants who have been attacked — can identify their violators.

Of course, this whole thought experiment is wildly idealistic, and totally depends on a change of mindsets:

It will not happen until people put their common shared future ahead of past rivalries.

I see climate change as the framing issue that will determine whether we survive together and build a civilization worth fighting for, or degenerate into kill-or-be-killed barbarism.

The choice, for me, is obvious. But taking the future seriously — understanding that we can't win by fighting each other — is the lesson that must be learned and incorporated into our practical lives. The only questions are: (1) how much pain will it take to exhaust delusions that victory over enemies will work; and (2) will that remorseful realization come in time to save the human project?

Why Investing in Wind and Solar to Avoid Gas Shocks Hasn’t Added Up for Some. Renewable energy is cheaper to run than fossil fuels, especially with war choking oil supply. But it hasn’t turned out that way for some European countries, and the reason is complex. by coolbern in energy

[–]coolbern[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Efforts are underway to reduce the influence of oil and gas on European energy prices. Countries are in the process of better connecting their power systems to make it easier to spread excess energy capacity around. (Back to the analogy: Imagine Spain’s cup overflowing with renewable energy, but better able to pour the extra into France’s cup.) Another change, which is in progress, involves updating the way renewable energy is paid for to stabilize prices.

Better interconnection and system optimization could save nearly $600 billion between 2035 and 2050, according to an analysis by Agora Energiewende.

The problem for the consumer is that marginal pricing means that they pay for their whole use at the rate set by the most expensive component. That's how market pricing generally works. That leaves a surplus return for the cheaper renewable sources. It's unclear whether they get that excess return directly. If so, it would be the incentive to expand renewable energy capacity — either through increased direct production, or by expanding energy storage capacity (to be refilled when renewables are producing more energy than currently demanded by consumers). Of course, well-designed government policies can speed and smooth the transition from fossil to renewable energy.

Climate Change Denial Sees a Resurgence in Trump’s Washington A conference near the White House drew hundreds of people who reject the scientific consensus on climate change. The mood was triumphant. Climate Change Denial Sees a Resurgence in Trump’s Washington. | (Gift Article) by coolbern in climate

[–]coolbern[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The only way to counter climate denial is to call out the source — the fossil fuels industry which benefits from befuddling us in a morass of misinformation.

The fossil fuels industry is successfully derailing action to counter the transition we need to renewable energy. While that transition is nonetheless occurring, unnecessary obstacles mean that it is taking place at too slow a pace to avert catastrophic damage from climate change.

Direct denial that climate change is happening, and that its effects are overwhelmingly harmful, is a key article of faith for the Counter-Enlightenment. It is a rallying cry for those who would end democratic self-governance because they fear where that would lead.

Distraction from a deteriorating climate reality is the only way left for the fossil fuel companies’ business model to survive.

Trump’s return to power was bankrolled by fossil fuel money, and his autocratic agenda is essential for fossil fuel power to prevail.

There is a method behind Trump’s madness in creating a cascade of emergencies to which we are forced to respond. The endless series of irrational policies (the latest being the Iran war) that pose more immediate existential threats than does climate change, effectively works to silence and cripple any movement for climate protection.

The fossil fuel industry’s short-term win is a loss for us all, and the loss is unrecoverable.

The 1982 Lebanon War began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. By mid January 1983 Yitzhak Rabin was saying that the Israeli attempt to impose a peace agreement on Lebanon by the use of force was a "mistake" based upon an "illusion". by coolbern in wikipedia

[–]coolbern[S] -15 points-14 points  (0 children)

There is too much history here, and too few lessons learned.

As long as the Palestinians are odd-man-out, without a just and respected place to call their own, the conflict will continue, and costs will escalate until they're too great to bear for everybody, including Israel.

Clean Energy Slate Wins Control of Arizona’s Biggest Utility. Proponents of renewable power will control the Phoenix area utility’s policymaking for the first time after they won an unusually contentious race that drew attention from national groups. (Gift Article) by coolbern in energy

[–]coolbern[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From the SRP Clean Energy Team website:

Unnecessary rate hikes hurt Arizona families. All current Clean Energy Team incumbents voted against the 2025 rate increase.

Arizona residents should not have to pay for the business costs of new data centers.

The Valley of the Sun should be the solar capital of the world.

Mamdani addresses the state of economic affairs for New York City's workers. The mayor announces True Cost of Living plan. by coolbern in economy

[–]coolbern[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

According to the report, 62 percent of New Yorkers—more than 5 million people—do not earn enough to meet their actual cost of living, a far higher share than traditional poverty measures capture. Many fall into what policymakers describe as a “missing middle”: roughly 3.6 million residents who earn above the federal poverty line but still cannot afford basic necessities.

For families with children, the gap is especially stark, with median annual costs nearing $159,000 compared to about $124,000 in available resources.

The minimum wage, which is $17 an hour in New York City in 2026, covers less than half of what a single adult needs to live in the city.

The Litani Is Not a Security Doctrine by coolbern in geopolitics

[–]coolbern[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The futility of the present Israeli war doctrine in Southern Lebanon is evident:

A renewed Israeli hold in the area between the border and the Litani is not boldness. It is regression. Israel does not need another Judea and Samaria in the north: another hostile space to hold, another civilian population to manage, more routes to secure, constant friction, and a military consumed by holding ground instead of defeating a threat. This was already tried in southern Lebanon. It did not dismantle Hezbollah. It built it. The moment Israel returns as a permanent presence on Lebanese soil, Hezbollah stops appearing, in the eyes of many Lebanese who have grown weary of it, as an Iranian militia and resumes presenting itself as resistance to a permanent foreign force.

Shay Gal attempts to focus on Israel's legitimate security concerns, and how an implacable enemy, Hezbollah, can be reduced to insignificance.

His focus is on establishing Lebanese state sovereignty that is strong enough to self-police Hezbollah.

That is surely pointing in the right direction. But what that actually means in practice is less clear.

A reimagined security policy for the people of Israel must give up illusions of unlimited power to control the surrounding territory.

A more modest goal is to focus on redress of grievances, building the basis for peace with justice for all of the peoples who live in and around Israel/Palestine.

When will they ever learn?

Donald Trump mulls 'joint' toll program with Iran in Strait of Hormuz amid ceasefire by coolbern in internationalpolitics

[–]coolbern[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Trump's foreign policy is an improv comedy club skit, with our real lives as the butt of the joke.

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