{"id":236586,"date":"2022-12-29T10:28:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-29T09:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=236586"},"modified":"2022-12-29T10:28:29","modified_gmt":"2022-12-29T09:28:29","slug":"bill-mckibben-renewables-are-cheap-and-everyone-wants-them-but-there-are-big-gaps-in-our-ability-to-get-it-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=236586","title":{"rendered":"Bill McKibben: \u201cRenewables are cheap, and everyone wants them, but there are big gaps in our ability to get it done\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bill McKibben. Screenshot from Michael Moore’s\u00a0“Planet of the Humans”<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by Eric Worrall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Bill McKibben quoted, renewables are so cheap, people have to be coerced into embracing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

From Climate Exhortation to Climate Execution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Inflation Reduction Act finally offers a chance for widespread change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Bill McKibben<\/a>
December 27, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are about a hundred and forty million homes in the United States. \u2026 It took centuries to build all those homes from wood and brick and steel and concrete, but, if we\u2019re to seriously address the climate crisis, we have only a few years to remake them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fear is not that nothing will get done; it\u2019s that not enough will get done, because meeting the climate challenge means, essentially, changing everything. And in America that includes changing a hundred and forty million homes. E \u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe market won\u2019t do it on its own<\/strong>, because the market of goods and labor\u2014the market of machines\u2014is a fossil-fuel market,\u201d Matusiak said. \u201cMy house has gas pipes in it. If my furnace goes out, or my water heater goes out, the contractor is not going to sell me a heat pump, even though it\u2019s better. They\u2019re going to sell me a replacement for what I already have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scale of the task somehow looks more enormous the closer you get to the ground.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider Boston, the home town of Varshini Prakash, the executive director of the Sunrise Movement, whose push for the Green New Deal was instrumental in getting the I.R.A. passed, \u2026 In 2020, Massachusetts voted for Biden by better than two to one; Boston did by nearly five to one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u00a0even getting\u00a0new\u00a0construction to go electric is a trial\u2014as attorney general, Healey had no choice but to rule that state law prohibited town ordinances from banning gas hookups in new buildings.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A renewable-energy engineer based in Massachusetts pointed out to me that Construction on the state\u2019s first big offshore wind farm, Vineyard Wind, is just now beginning, after a decade of bureaucratic battles, and when it\u2019s done it will supply less than half a gigawatt of power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan Massachusetts really build the needed twenty-five offshore wind farms in a decade?<\/strong>\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least Massachusetts has\u00a0something<\/em>. Sam Evans-Brown, who heads Clean Energy New Hampshire, says that his state has just five per cent of the installed solar capacity that Massachusetts has. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRenewables are cheap, and everyone wants them, but there are big gaps in our ability to get it done,<\/strong>\u201d he told me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, beyond inertia, vested interest also presents a challenge. According to\u00a0an analysis of World Bank data<\/a>\u00a0conducted earlier this year,\u00a0the oil industry has averaged the equivalent of $3.2 billion, adjusting for inflation, in profits a day for the past fifty years. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0both\u00a0a prize worth fighting for<\/strong>\u00a0and a war chest ample enough to make the fight prolonged and bitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/annals-of-a-warming-planet\/from-climate-exhortation-to-climate-execution<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKibben wants us to believe renewables are so cheap, we are struggling to muster the resources to build them? That green advocates should fight for a share of the $3.2 billion \/ day oil companies make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill McKibben wants us to believe plumbers and electricians are shielding us from cheaper options because \u2013 I don\u2019t know, because they are too lazy to ask householders to agree to extra work? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because they don\u2019t think householders might be willing to discuss options for saving money?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKibben\u2019s claim the market won\u2019t embrace the cheaper option on its own, that people have to be coerced, is absurd. My electrician and gas people make suggestions when I call them, I\u2019ll always go for a cheaper option if it is available, if I have the cash, and if there is no downside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, I switched to LED lightbulbs years ago on the advice of an electrician, even though they are more expensive than incandescents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t like the more toxic compact fluorescent energy saving light bulbs, because one time I broke three bulbs in a row in a confined space, trying to fit a bulb to an awkward fitting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that I figured I had had enough mercury exposure from that particular green technology. But LED lightbulbs, they just work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be fair I\u2019m not planning to get rid of my gas cooker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I run my gas cooker on bottled gas, so it is definitely more expensive than an electric cooker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But my gas cooker has one big advantage over an electric cooker \u2013 it keeps working, even when the electricity fails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our new age of renewable energy which is so cheap nobody can muster the resources to build it, even with truckloads of government cash, the risk of power blackouts is becoming an increasingly serious problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our new age of renewable energy which is so cheap nobody can muster the resources to build it, even with truckloads of government cash, the risk of power blackouts is becoming an increasingly serious problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":236590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-236586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","9":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-891.png?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-ZxU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":349036,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=349036","url_meta":{"origin":236586,"position":0},"title":"How EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms Expose FALSE Cheap Green Energy Claims","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"If Renewables are the cheapest form of energy, why does the EU need a carbon border tax to protect EU based industries?","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon border adjustment mechanism\u00a0(CBAM)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon border adjustment mechanism\u00a0(CBAM)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism-cbam"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0CBAM.jpg?fit=1200%2C748&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0CBAM.jpg?fit=1200%2C748&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0CBAM.jpg?fit=1200%2C748&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0CBAM.jpg?fit=1200%2C748&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0CBAM.jpg?fit=1200%2C748&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":325442,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=325442","url_meta":{"origin":236586,"position":1},"title":"Renewable energy is too expensive to make \u201cgreen hydrogen\u201d \u2014 Twiggy goes to Arizona instead","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/05\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Only 18 months ago the Australian government gave\u00a0$14 million dollars to Andrew \u201cTwiggy\u201d Forrest\u00a0to figure out if his team could build a 500MW electrolyser to make hydrogen gas on an island near Brisbane. It was going to be a glorious Australian green-techno future, the largest hydrogen plant in the world,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Australian Government\"","block_context":{"text":"Australian Government","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=australian-government"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0green_hydrogen.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0green_hydrogen.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0green_hydrogen.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0green_hydrogen.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/0green_hydrogen.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":181034,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=181034","url_meta":{"origin":236586,"position":2},"title":"SOLAR POWER REDUCES MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/01\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"LINK TO SOURCE:\u00a0https:\/\/www.irena.org\/newsroom\/articles\/2021\/Jul\/How-Solar-Power-is-Reducing-Maternal-Mortality-Rates-in-Zimbabwe A BRIEF SUMMARY OF WHAT THE SOURCE ARTICLE SAYS THE MIRACLE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IS SEEN IN THIS PRIMITIVE MATERNAL CARE HOSPITAL IN RURAL ZIMBABWE. 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But AI did not spring out of the heavens. 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All renewable energy subsidies from all levels of government should cease.\u201d","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1046.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1046.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1046.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1046.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1046.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=236586"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236595,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236586\/revisions\/236595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/236590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=236586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=236586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=236586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}