Many scientists beileve if we're going to "win" the battle against climate change, we're going to have to learn how to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.  A book with many ideas as to how this might be done is Drawdown, edited by Paul Hawken.  Steve Gahn, a climate scientist, claims to have coined the term "Make Earth Cool Again" and it's becoming popular on baseball caps and t-shirts.  Elizabeth Warren was photographed wearing the cap.  This site does not sell the caps or shirts, so if you're interested in buying one, do an online search for "Make Earth Cool Again".  Gahn is seen in the photo wearing one of the caps. 

Here's a website that claims to have 100 solutions to reverse global warming - www.drawdown.org.

For those who'd like to experience a solar boat, you can do so in four locations mentioned on this site.  Read about each at Kingston (NY), Greenport (NY), Key West (FL), and Minneapolis (MN).  For those interested in staying on a solar house boat there are three sites to visit.  Two are in North Carolina - Bryson City and Fontana Lake - in the mountains on Fontana Lake.   A more expensive solar house boat rental on Lake Powell can be read about at Page (AZ).  Most of the solar boats and solar house boats are not 100% solar powered.

An NBC documentary about America's first solar town

A business in the forefront of solar fabric technology

If your living space has a gas stove with the pilot constantly on, you could save money, breath less polluted air, and leave a smallar carbon footprint by turning it off, but if you botch the job, you could also end up dead from carbon monoxide, an odorless and colorless gas.  Does your space have a carbon monoxide detector that functions?  Some energy utilities will turn off your stove's pilot for free.  If you want to try turning it off yourself you may want to consult:

 How to Safely Turn Off the Pilot Lights on Your Gas Stove by Wiki How to do anything...

Perhaps the best way to reduce slave labor in Chinese solar panel factories, and other Chinese factories, is to bring those manufacturing jobs to the U.S.

2020 Had the Warmest September on Record   NY Times 

We need to use our parks - federal, state, and local - for a new purpose.  With the the effects of global warming becoming more prominent and more species facing extinction as their habitats dwindle, why not use our parks to try to protect species facing extinction?  One species that should benefit from such a policy is the monarch butterfly.  Why not open parks throughout the country to having an area where milkweed is grown, and people are educated about why it's being grown.  Other threatened species could be helped in some parks too.

The annual migration of the monarch butterfly east of the Rocky Mountains between Mexico and Canada is the longest insect migration in the world, and it might end.  I like monarchs.  They're beautiful.  They're agile and athletic.  I don't like the idea of summers without them flying in and out of my life.  Parks should help them by creating milkweed patches.  There should be monarch fesitivals or gatherings in parks when a park starts a monarch patch.  In some parks it might be an annual event to have fun, discuss other troubled species, and talk about other issues of the day.

If you want to help monarchs, contact Monarch Watch of Lawrence, Kansas.

WORLDWIDE HEAT WAVE RESEARCH AND PREDICTIONS

 I was on a facebook page recently where I read:  I'm hearing too much "recycle, compost, go vegan!" and not enough "100 corporations cause 71% of emissions."  Does anyone know what 100 corporations these are?  I'd like to list them on this website.  They need to be boycotted until their attitudes improve.

The 10 states doing the most to slow the development of solar energy according to the Center for Biological Diversity, by Greer Ryan, April 2016.

One of my favorite places may be mutilated by transmission lines.  It's in the hills of southwest Wisconsin, where the lines would run from Iowa across much of this geologically unique area.  If it happens, which is up to decision makers in Iowa, I hope someone or some group could take photos of the project as to what the land looked like before and after the lines were built.  It might make for some great exhibits. 

People in Wisconsin were told the lines were needed to bring wind energy to Wisconsin.  The people who first supported renewable energy saw it as being generated on-site, or at least local.  They never dreamed of it being delivered by transmission lines, which millions feel have made the nation more ugly and find repugnant.

I searched for a website of ugly transmission lines to link to here, but couldn't find one.  So I thought maybe I should have a section on this website devoted to ugly transmission lines.  Have you got photos you own that should be included in such a section?  Then I thought if the section was powerful and entertaining, perhaps it should become a coffee table book to be used in offices where people wait, and some look for reading material.

One of my fears is that in our transition to renewable energy we create more transmission lines to make the nation even less attractive.

How Coal Loving Australia Became the Leader in Rooftop Solar   NY Times

SURREAL AND MYSTICAL - Kickapoo Valley Reserve

Have you ever walked, biked, ridden a horse, kayaked, canoed, and/or camped in an area where much of what you see was not supposed to be seen because our federal government's Army Corps of Engineers wanted much of it to be under water?   First it was going to be a flood control project, then it morphed in to making a manmade lake that would bring tourism to the area.  In 1975 environmentalists won a nationwide battle to have it shutdown.

It came so close to being built there remains a concrete dam tower that's a few stories tall that was built in the middle of a meadow not far from woods.  It may be the most out of place thing you'll ever see, and there's nothing else from the project near it.  It's an ugly concrete blob in the midst of a great natural area.  The dam tower can be seen well from the dam trail on the far south side of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.

Check out the Kickapoo Valley Reserve visitor center.  At least 149 families of European ancestry had to be moved in the area to make way for the lake that was going to be made, including an entire small town.  When the project was ended before its completion the Army Corps of Engineers no longer wanted the land, and gave it to Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  The DNR gave it to the Ho-Chunk Nation to administer.  A  lot of their dead had been buried on some of the property.  The Ho-Chunk have built a visitor center that includes a building that is a tribute to the 149 or more forcibly removed families.  The tribute is on the outside, where there are bricks on the sides that each have the surname of one of the families that was forcibly removed by the federal government to make way for the lake.  I like the idea of the first people who were kicked off their land by the feds paying tribute to others who were kicked off their land by the feds.

When you're recreating in the Reserve it might all look different when you realize that much of what you see was not to be seen or experienced the way you're experiencing it.  Might you appreciate it just a little more?  Might your sense of awe be greater? 

WILL OUR CONVERSION TO RENEWABLE ENERGY MAKE AMERICA MORE UGLY WITH MANY MORE TRANSMISSION LINES?

Before our recent use of renewables millions of people felt there were already too many transmission lines that had desecrated America's beauty.  They always muck up the scenery, and now transmission lines may become quite popular for delivering the renewable goods.  There are two factions in solar - rooftop, including pole, and solar farms, and if solar farms should win out, expect many more transmission lines.
 
Kansas produces more wind energy than any state.  How many transmission lines have been built to deliver that energy to other states?
 
There's a transmission line builder headquartered in Madison - American Transmission Company - that's owned by utilities and municipalities.  (Its website has a list of the owners.)  How many of the transmission line companies in the U.S. that will be delivering renewables are owned by utilities and municipalities?  Aren't they creating demand for transmission lines by building solar and wind farms and trying to make themselves appear like good guys for doing so?  Have you seen photos from above of some of the large solar farms?

Months ago there was a very controversial vote by Wisconsin's Public Service Commission that approved a transmission line crossing southwest Wisconsin, a very beautiful and geologically unique area.  We were told it was needed to bring wind energy to Wisconsin.  Wisconsin's Public Service Commission voted two to one in favor of it, and the two commissioners who voted for it had conflicts of interest.

In partnerships between government and utilities Madison is going to be surrounded by five solar farms.  How are they going to get that energy in to the city?  Would those transmission lines have to be built if the solar panels had been placed on roofs in Madison?

When you build a solar farm you're subjecting who knows how many organisms to a new lifestyle of total shade, and perhaps a far drier or wetter one.  How many of these organisms will adapt?  How many organisms do you kill when you slap solar panels on a roof?

Moving electricity through transmission lines always loses a little energy.  Rooftop solar should lose less energy.  It's local.

Which is better for homeland security - solar farms and transmission lines or rooftop solar?

Which is going to produce more jobs in metro areas?

Most of the people who were first infatuated with renewables simply wanted to live off the grid and never imagined renewables requiring transmission lines that might further compromise the environment.

I've written a little about this subject in the potpourri section of www.buyrenewablesnow.com.  (What you've just read was an email I sent to a journalist who I hope will write about my work.  You can read more that I've written about the subject below.)

Steve Kokette

Is China taking the rest of the world for suckers when it comes to global warming and renewable energy?   China's Incentive to Pollute: Global Warming is Big Business - by Dr. Anders Corr in Eurasia Review.

What Corporate Media and the Neoliberal Establishment Can't Admit About the Climate Emergency

Solar Panels and What to do About Snow by Michael Drews of Drews Solar in Madison, Wisconsin

In promoting this website I contacted one climate change organization that got back to me and said they were in to systemic change and not changing consumer habits.  I've no desire to try to change anyone's idea of what they believe is the best way to reduce climate change, but systemic change has been awful slow in coming, and it probably wouldn't hurt, whatever you believe, to change consumer habits too.

Climate Change's Great Lithium Problem

Racism is Killing the Planet

If you want to invest in energy modifications for your building with great returns on your investment, it's possible energy conservation measures may pay off more handsomely than renewable energy measures.  Consult with others locally about your situation and educate yourself.

These Billionaires Made Their Fortunes by Trying to Stop Climate Change 

California celebrates 1 million solar roofs

Californians accomplished 1 millions solar roofs for three reasons.  First, it's the most populated state.  Second, in 2006 it set 1 million solar roofs as a goal.  And third, Californians who did solar projects could take advantage of not only federal rebates, but genorous state rebates too.  If you don't already know, check to see if there are state rebates in your state.  With federal solar rebates scheduled to disappear at the end of 2021 for residential, people should contact their state legislators in states without solar rebates, and ask their legislators to introduce legislation to offer citizens in their state solar rebates of 15-50%.  If they don't give them to you, elect people who will.  And for those who start bad mouthing solar because it needs rebates, tell them to go study the history of rebates for the fossil fuel industry in this country

What's Green, Soggy, and Fights Climate Change?   NY Times

Although I bemoan the thought of there not being any mom and pop businesses left in 20 to 30 years, some large businesses have been doing impressive things to reduce global warming.  This was written by Bonnie Rochman of Starbucks and found on Starbucks' website.

For those thinking of buying a solar kit and solarizing their own home, you should read this article.  It mentions eight solar kits that can be found for sale online.

So, which way are we going to go?  Are we going to become a nation that builds large solar projects in rural areas, or one that goes more for solar panels on roofs?  My bias is roofs.  I read an article written by a man who had worked on the largest solar project in the nation in southern California.  It's in the desert and he wrote about moving troubled species that would be shaded by the project, including a large desert tortoise, to nearby areas, and having no idea whether their efforts to save the moved organisms would be successful.  I've noticed my local utility is involved with my city and county to build solar projects in the nearby country and move the electricity to the city.  Doesn't moving electricity via power lines lose some of the electricity?  Do we really want a nation filled with power lines moving electricity when we might have avoided this by favoring the placement of solar panels on roofs?  Will the day come when rural areas look less beautiful because of all the power lines?  In how many areas do utilities have strong incentives to build large rural projects because they own the transmission line companies and it's another way for them to make a buck?  Here's an article about a utility that wants to make it more difficult for their customers to build solar projects for their homes.  Might they be taking this stance because they prefer building large rural solar projects?  How many other utilities are taking steps to discourage roof top solar?  Lady Bird Johnson had a campaign to restrict biilboards in the 1960s because they were ruining so much of the nation's beautiful scenery, and it was fairly successful.  Is a movement needed now to discourage the proliferation of power lines?  Don't they put the nation at greater risk security wise?

Do solar panels keep your roof and attic cooler, thus reducing the cost of air conditioning and making your roof last longer?

    Depending on what candles are made of, they produce varying amounts of carbon dioxide when burned.  For those who might want to read more about it click here.

If anyone ever invents a tool or tools to clear snow off solar panels without damaging the panels, I may want to be the first to sell it.  How less effective are panels in snow country because of snow falls that cover them?  I have a feeling there are panel owners who have experimented with clearing their panels of snow.  Might a solution be some type of brush at the end of a pole, or a spray bottle with a non-toxic solution that won't damage your panels or roof at the end of a pole?  Many snow falls melt shortly after falling and/or are blown away, but some snow falls linger longer than a few days.  Does it make sense to favor panels mounted on a ground pole so they can be cleared of snow more easily?  Once a tool or tools are invented to clear snow, will it become like snow shoveling - a job neighborhood kids could do to make a few extra dollars?  The biggest economic reason to shovel snow may be so no one falls on your property and sues you, whereas with solar it would be to produce more electricity.   If you should do some experimenting on your own to remove snow, don't ever use hot water as it may shatter your panels.  In fact, it might be wise to ask your panel installers what they think of different ideas you want to try.  Don't do something to void your warranty. 

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/german-steelmakers-power-furnace-using-only-hydrogen/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190926101331.htm   battery research

For those who like the NY Times and those who might want to experiment with it, it's offering a free weekly newsletter  about climate change - Climate Fwd.

https://news.energysage.com/solar-panels-toxic-environment/           Toxicity of manufacturing solar panels

https://www.consumerreports.org/energy-saving/real-cost-of-leasing-vs-buying-solar-panels/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/the-western-us-is-locked-in-the-grips-of-the-first-human-caused-megadrought-study-finds/ar-BB12JQ6V?li=BBnb7Kz

A NY Times crash course on climate change published on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/19/climate/climate-crash-course-1.html

Babcock Ranch, Florida claims to be the first town in the U.S. to run 100% on solar:  https://www.babcockranch.com/lifestyle/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lavanyasunkara/2020/03/02/a-look-inside-babcock-ranch-americas-first-solar-powered-town/#53eea2422002

 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-06/a-1-billion-solar-plant-was-obsolete-before-it-ever-went-online 

Ever heard of solar powered trash bins?                                                                                                                      

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