Dan Lashof

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Fossil Fuels and Fossilized Minds What’s driving the doomed attempt to revive coal?

@pkrugman.bsky.social nails the absurdity of Trump's love affair with coal. One additional fact worth noting: In 2024 wind and solar generated more electricity than coal in the United States.

Fossil Fuels and Fossilized Minds open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

In Otter News (@inotternews) I just find everything feels a bit better when I watch this.

substack.com/@inotternews...

Wait, if coal is so cheap and clean, why does it need $625 million in subsidies and the repeal of clean air rules? Fact: Wind and solar generated more electricity than coal in the U.S. in 2024. Wind and solar will keep growing and coal will continue to decline. Trump may slow, but won't stop this.

I would rate the package at least "very good." It includes several significant improvements to the cap-and-trade (aka cap-and-invest) program, including deducting offsets from the cap, phasing out free allowances to gas utilities, and potentially reducing free allowances to other industries.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Statement on the Fundamental Freedom of Speech “Acts of political violence — from the recent murder of Charlie Kirk to the murder of Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman of Minnesota — have…

This is good statement and a good initial list of foundations but there are many names missing, including conservative foundations. Every foundation should be able to stand up to oppose violence and support the First Amendment! medium.com/@uniteinadva...

NEW WRI INSIGHTS: Powering the US Data Center Boom: Why Forecasting Can Be So Tricky and What We Can Do About It

‼️ How much more electricity will the US need to support new data centers showing up around the country?

Read our NEW article to find out what needs to be done to manage eye-popping forecasts rising demand 📈➡️

www.wri.org/insights/us-...

We need more of this #RadicalPragmatism. It’s radical because even limiting warming to 2 degrees requires a radical change in our energy system. And being pragmatic is essential. We can quibble about the role of CDR, hydrogen and COPs, but this is at least 90% right. LFG!

State leaders deliver transformational package of climate, energy affordability bills — Net-Zero California After intense negotiations going right until the final moments of the legislative session, the Legislature and Governor successfully delivered a comprehensive package of reforms to drive down energy c...

Nice summary of the climate and energy package passed by the California legislature this week by Sam Uden, Net Zero California / Conservation Strategy Group www.netzerocalifornia.org/blog/state-l...

NextGen California Celebrates Passage of AB 1207 – Cap-and-Invest Extension - NextGen Policy

BIG NEWS 🚨📣 CA just passed landmark climate legislation strengthening #CapAndInvest! This bill will reduce pollution while generating critical money for climate action for the next 20 years, cementing CA’s climate leadership.

👉 Read our full statement here: go.nextgenpolicy.org/joe2

Add the electricity market regionalization and the wildfire mitigation finance measures and this is a huge win for climate policy and consumers.

A simple extension of California’s emissions cap to 2045 would have been significant but the legislature significantly improved the program in several ways. See thread by @dave.bzky.team for details.

This is a huge deal and deserves far more attention than it’s getting. While federal climate policy is being systematically crippled by Trump and Congress California—the 4th largest economy in the world is making real progress.

So impressed by Governor Newsom and his team as well as the legislative Leadership in both houses today. They have, collectively, found a way to get to yes on a whole series of energy legislation that taken individually would represent a massive accomplishment.

It also includes SB 237, which is characterized as stabilizing oil production in California to lower gasoline prices. It may have some provisions that make sense (reducing the isolation of California's gasoline market), but others are troubling. @michaelwara.bsky.social What say you?

The package includes AB 825, which will allow California's electricity system to integrate more fully with the Western market.

Governor Newsom, legislative leaders announce major deal to save money on electric bills, stabilize gas market, cut pollution | Governor of California

The Governor's office has now come out in support of AB 1207 and SB 840, as part of a larger legislative package aimed at increasing energy affordability. www.gov.ca.gov/2025/09/10/g...

$1 billion is reserved for annual appropriations by the legislature, with intent language for next fiscal year, including $85 million for a new climate technology innovation fund.

It continues to allocation $1 billion per year to high speed rail, $800 million for affordable housing and community development; $600 million for transit; and $250 million for community air protection programs.

There is a companion bill for allocating auction revenue: SB 840, with the same set of leadership authors: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTe...

Another big change: Any offset credits used for compliance must be deducted from the next year's cap. This is a huge win for environmental integrity if I'm reading it correctly and appears to take affect immediately.

Biomass Can Fight Climate Change, But Only If You Do It Right Biomass can help achieve net-zero emissions goals, but it must be sourced sustainably to avoid hampering decarbonization efforts.

Our research shows that the best uses of these limited biomass resources are carbon removal and chemical feedstocks, not energy.

TL;DR?

In short:
- Land is scare.
- Turning food into fuel is a bad idea.
- Biomass carbon is too valuable to burn.

www.wri.org/insights/sus...

On the other hand, we could reach net zero emissions in 2050 without dedicating any land to biomass/biofuels production by relying on agricultural waste (such as corn stover) and ecological forestry residues (such as small diameter woody material removed from forests to reduce wildfire risks).

Without adequate guardrails, U.S. land used for biomass and biofuel production could increase to over 100 million acres (the size of California) by 2050, or more than 10 times as much area as needed for wind and solar.

Our research shows that the total direct land area needed for solar panels and wind turbine towers in 2050 (8.7 million acres) is less than one-third of the land the U.S. currently devotes to biofuel production (almost 30 million acres), which supplies only 10% of our road transportation fuel.

Biomass and Land Use in a Decarbonizing US Economy Biomass is a limited and land-intensive resource, yet many industries, including aviation, chemical manufacturing and carbon removal, are looking to biomass as a potential replacement for fossil fuels...

Do we have enough land to build all the renewable energy systems we need to decarbonize the U.S. economy, without increasing hunger or deforestation? New research from WRI says yes, but only if we stop doing stupid things like turning food crops into fuel. www.wri.org/research/bio...

Tesla Profits Drop 71% Amid Backlash to Elon Musk’s Role Under Trump The carmaker reported the sharp decline in quarterly earnings after Tesla’s brand suffered because of its chief executive’s role in the Trump administration.

It’s almost like people don’t want to buy cars from a fascist. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/b...

Pro Series Candela professional vessels, offer reduced fuel costs, minimal maintenance, and high profitability with electric hydrofoil technology.

This is so cool. Why can’t we have nice things?

candela.com/pro-series/?...