From jeff tiedrich:
Good morning, Scottie’s Playtime!
From jeff tiedrich:
Category: Economics / Economy / Income / Financial
In The Republican War On Libraries
This came in email a few days ago. The email has a few stories in it that are pertinent to our interests. This was going to be a snippet post of those, but as I read this, I realized everyone needs to read it all, because there’s not much opinionating in it, but/and the actual information does not stop.
The Institute for Museum and Library Services Was Just Gutted
Kelly Jensen Mar 31, 2025
Today, members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) gutted the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). As of this afternoon, all staff members have been placed on administrative leave. They received a letter from the Director of Human Resources that the leave would be paid for 90 days and that no one will be allowed on IMLS property during that time.
The union representing IMLS staff, AFGE Local 3403, indicated that the decision to fire staff came after a short meeting between DOGE and IMLS leadership. Everyone working at IMLS was required to return government property before exiting the workplace.
Email addresses for all IMLS staff were being disabled today. Those with questions or concerns over IMLS funding will no longer be able to reach the individual or individuals with whom they’d been working.
Further, all processing work on 2025 funding applications is over and there is no information about the status of awards that have already been granted for the year. The union believes most grants will simply be terminated.
IMLS makes up .0046% of the federal budget.
Two weeks ago, President Trump issued an Executive Order targeting funds allocated to libraries and museums nationwide. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is a federal agency that distributes fund approved by Congress to state libraries, as well as library, museum, and archival grant programs. IMLS is the only federal agency that provides funds to libraries. The Executive Order states that the functions of the IMLS have to be reduced to “statutory functions” and that in places that are not statutory, expenses must be cut as much as possible.
One week later, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) entered the IMLS offices. Many at IMLS were prepared to see their jobs disappear, but that didn’t quite happen. Instead, DOGE installed a new Acting Director of the agency, Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling.
It wasn’t just a new Acting Director, though. The IMLS took on a new direction thanks to the Executive Order and DOGE. It would now operate “in lockstep with this Administration to enhance efficiency and foster innovation. We will revitalize IMLS and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country’s core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations.”
The new goal of the administration with the IMLS is for it to function as a propaganda machine. This wouldn’t be the first nor the last federal cultural institution to see its mission shift from serving the needs and interests of all of America. On March 28, the administration would issue another Executive Order, this time demanding that the Smithsonian, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and other federal museums stop the “revisionist movement” through displays and installations that showcase American history and culture as “racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”
Such institutions are now to engage in “igniting the imagination of young minds, honoring the richness of American history and innovation, and instilling pride in the hearts of all Americans.” The Executive Order specifically notes that the Independence National History Park see time and energy poured into these pro-patriotic efforts in order to be prepared for the 250th American anniversary events in 2026.
The defunding and gutting of the IMLS did not happen without strong support shown for public library and museum resources across the country, both on the ground and in congress.
On March 24, the board of the Institution of Museum and Library Services drafted a letter that went to Sonderling as their new Acting Director. The letter outlines the essential functions of the agency, making it clear that any cuts to the IMLS would have a direct and long-lasting impact on public museums and libraries nationwide. It emphasized that an Executive Order alone is not enough to change the functions or services provided by the IMLS.
All such statutory obligations may not be discontinued or delayed under an Executive Order or other executive action. Sections 9133 and 9176 of the Act affirm IMLS’s duty to obligate and disburse funds to grantees, subject only to the availability of appropriations, not to executive discretion. Any failure to fulfill these legal obligations or to reduce staffing or program operations below the minimum required to meet statutory mandates would place the agency in noncompliance with Congressional intent.
Several members of Congress also pushed back against the Executive Order. On March 26, a bipartisan coalition consisting of Senators Jack Reed, Kirsten Gillibrand, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski sent a letter to Sonderling as well. The letter again defines the role of the IMLS and its obligation when it comes to funding institutions across the US.
Libraries and museums play a vital role in our communities. Libraries offer access for all to essential information and engagement on a wide range of topics, including skills and career training, broadband, and computing services. IMLS grants enable libraries to develop services in every community throughout the nation, including people of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, individuals with disabilities, residents of rural and urban areas, Native Americans, military families, veterans, and caregivers. Museums serve not only as centers for education but also as drivers of local economic development. The IMLS Office of Museum Services is the largest dedicated source of investment in our nation’s museums, which typically support more than 700,000 jobs and contribute $50 billion annually to the U.S. economy. IMLS funding plays a significant role in this economic impact by helping museums reach more visitors and spur community development.
While that letter circulated, another was passed around the House of Representatives. Led by Representatives Dina Titus (NV-01) and Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), the letter was shared among House members. It urged them to sign on in asking for the administration to reconsider its Executive Order related to IMLS funding and structure.
Public libraries and public library associations nationwide have spoken loudly about how potential cuts to IMLS could impact state and local level services. Among the services that could most quickly and directly impact library users would be the end of digital resource availability through apps like Libby.
It is worth noting that despite some viral claims made online in the wake over fears of IMLS funding cuts, OverDrive’s Libby app and other similar digital resource programs are not funded by IMLS directly. They are, however, sometimes made available in individual states via funding received via IMLS. This is a crucial distinction. Libby and other eresources are not creations of libraries themselves by third-party systems that license access to materials. Libraries pay for that access.
Ebook and digital audiobook services are not funded by IMLS money in every state, and because of how many different types of ebook and digital audiobooks are available–indicative of how many different audiences and needs are being met–essential services without the Libby name recognition are being overlooked. In states where such services are made available through IMLS money, many times the apps and resources are not explicitly named by state funding, making it difficult to determine where such impact would be felt immediately. For example, Indiana libraries use IMLS funding for the Indiana Digital Library, which among its many databases and services provides access to Libby.
Find below a roundup of state library associations, local-level libraries, social media library workers/advocates, and/or local/regional news sources who have identified where and how IMLS cuts would directly impact their state libraries. This isn’t a comprehensive list, but you’ll see within the states here, many rely on IMLS funds to help acquire, fund, and maintain essential digital resources:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina (the reddit post is from a verifiable news source)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
The future of IMLS remains uncertain, and with ongoing efforts to rewrite the truth of America via Executive Orders and whitewashing cultural institutions funded and respected by American taxpayers, it’s essential to continue speaking up on behalf of your local library, as well as one of your local library’s most crucial federal agencies.
Those which stand to be most devastated by potential cuts are rural and small libraries, who are also most impacted by the administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education and the United States Postal Service.
Whether or not Trump and his DOGE team have the legal authority to shut down the IMLS completely remains to be seen. Eliminating all staff and pausing all funding certainly defies the administration’s own order that only activities outside of “statutory requirements” be touched. Expect a lawsuit to be filed in the courts, much as we’ve seen with the other slash-and-burn efforts taken by an executive branch overstepping its constitutional authority.
Peace & Justice History for 4/17
| April 17, 1959 22 were arrested in New York City for refusing to take shelter during a civil defense drill. |
| April 17, 1960 Inspired by the Greensboro sit-in of four black college students at an all-white lunch counter, nearly 150 black students from nine states formed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, with Ella Baker, James Lawson and Martin Luther King, Jr., the founders set SNCC’s initial goals as overturning segregation in the South.   They also considered it important to give young blacks a stronger voice in the civil rights movement, as many had participated in sit-ins that had proliferated to dozens of cities over the previous three months. At the Raleigh conference Guy Carawan sang a new version of “We Shall Overcome,” an adaptation of an old labor song. This song would become the national anthem of the civil rights movement. People joined hands and gently swayed in time singing “black and white together,” repeating over and over, “Deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome some day.” History of SNCC (It’s a Stanford.edu page, which “cannot be reached.” Take from that what you will. I’ve decided to note these things when they happen.) What SNCC did to make change happen (This page is good.) |
April 17, 1961 Cuban leader Fidel Castro during the Bay of Pigs invasion. An army of 1500 anti-Castro Cuban exiles, mercenaries equipped and trained at a secret Guatemala base by the CIA, landed at Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) in an attempt to “liberate” Cuba from Communist rule. Within three days, the invasion proved disastrous with nearly 1200 members of Brigade 2506 (who had been trained in the U.S.) taken prisoner. Known as Operation Zapata, it was conceived by Vice President Nixon, planned and approved by the Eisenhower administration, and executed shortly after President John Kennedy’s inauguration.  President Kennedy receives the Brigade 2506 flag in Miami in 1962 and declares: “I promise to return this flag in a free Havana.” Soviet General Secretary Nikita Kruschev sent a telegram to President Kennedy: “Mr. President, I send you this message in an hour of alarm, fraught with danger for the peace of the whole world. Armed aggression has begun against Cuba. It is a secret to no one that the armed bands invading this country were trained, equipped and armed in the United States of America. The planes which are bombing Cuban cities belong to the United States of America, the bombs they are dropping are being supplied by the American Government . . . .” What actually happened |
April 17, 1965 The first national demonstration against the Vietnam War took place in the nation’s capital. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the organizers, had expected about 2000 marchers; the actual count was 15,000–25,000. This was the largest anti-war protest ever to have been held in Washington, D.C. up to that time. The number of marchers approximately equaled the number of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. Several hundred students in the protest broke away from the main march and conducted a brief sit-in at the U.S. Capitol’s door. An exam prepared by SDS about the Vietnam War (answers available) |
April 17, 1965 Gay rights advocate Jack Nichols The first demonstration promoting equal treatment of homosexuals, Jack Nichols, Barbara Gittings and others picketed in front of the White House. There were no media present.. Read more |
| April 17, 1986 Reverend Jesse Jackson, future congresswoman Maxine Waters and others co-founded the Rainbow Coalition, initially intended as a progressive public-policy think tank within the Democratic Party.  Representative Maxine Waters, Harry Belafonte, John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO, Reverend Jesse Jackson, and Willie Nelson August 6, 2005-Atlanta, Georgia. Brief history of Rainbow Push Coalition |
| April 17, 1992 On Good Friday morning, about 50 people accompanied Fr. Carl Kabat and Carol Carson to Missile Silo Site N5 at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, the same silo that Carl and other members of the Silo Pruning Hooks (see below) disarmed in 1984. They cut through a fence and, once inside, Carol used a sledgehammer on the concrete lid of the silo while Carl performed a rite of exorcism. Eventually, the police arrived and arrested Carl and Carol. They were jailed and held until their court appearance. At that time, they made a preliminary agreement with federal prosecutors wherein they would plead “no contest” to trespass in exchange for the property destruction charge being dropped; they were sentenced to six and three months, respectively, in a halfway house.  Carl Kabat A History of Direct Disarmament Actions About the Silo Pruning Hooks action |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april17
The last few days and the next few.
The last few days I have been trying to help Ron as he took drywall and cabinets down to move the wall between the bathrooms. I am terribly bruised and Ron wants me to tell everyone that may see them that he did not cause them. He is worried that if my doctors see all these bruises, marks, and cuts that they will ask me the question we were required to keep asking in the hospital … do you feel safe at home? He is terrified that one of my providers will suspect him of abusing me. No it is that my health is so fragile that I bruise easily and helping him as best I can leave me marked.
Today Ron slept until 8:30 am. I had made it a thing that if the shopping included more than 5 items we went together. Since we both had to shower, it was late when we got to it. So we did a quick shop and tomorrow will be the big shop at multiple stores which will exhaust me. Ron wanted to me to make a spaghetti red sauce so he could use the ravioli he bought and eat up the leftover pasta. But at the same time due to the work on the house, normal chores that wear me out such as laundry which I am trying to do, and I am going to be too tired to really post. I am struggling to finish this. I will be able to click and paste, I will be able to watch videos, but serious thinking, answering comments I will try but doubt I will make much head way. Best wishes for all, loves and hugs for those that wish it. I am almost too tired to eat and I have not eaten yet today. Hugs
Peace & Justice History for 4/16
| April, 16, 1971 The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimated over 2,000 people openly refused to pay part or all of their income tax. “If a thousand [people] were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them and enable the state to commit violence and shed innocent blood.” Henry David Thoreau on the Mexican War  National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee |
| April 16, 2000 Between 10,000 and 20,000 activists blockaded meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. Sitting down at intersections and locking arms to form human chains, the protesters were opposed to Bank and IMF policies that increased third-world indebtedness and did little to directly benefit the poor in those countries. “The World Bank is subjugating our economic and social independence,” Vineeta Gupta, a doctor from the Punjab in India, said in a letter he delivered to World Bank President James Wolfensohn at his home. “It is time that we shut the bank down, and this boycott is a great start.” |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april16
More ugliness from republicans
Let’s talk about Johnson admitting they’re cutting Medicaid….
The destruction has begun
Australian Man With Valid Visa Deported And Banned From Return After Verbal Abuse From Border Agents
Jonathan says that when he asked a border agent to repeat a question, the reply was, “Are you deaf or just retarded?” He adds that he was then told, “Trump is back in town, we’re doing things the way we should have always been doing them.” Hit the link for much more. No paywall.
COPS: Nazi Teen Killed Parents To Fund Murder Plot Against Trump And Foment War To “Save White Race”
Jessica Craven’s Extra
Extra! Extra! 4/13 by Jessica Craven
What’s right with this picture? Read on Substack
Hi, all, and happy Sunday!
Also, a belated Chag Sameach to everyone who celebrated Passover yesterday.
I know it’s been a super tough week—it’s all the more reason that a pause for good news is important. So here’s everything I could find that went right in the last seven days. As always, there was a lot more of it than you might have thought.
Enjoy reading this list. And please share. Lots of folks need a morale boost—I’m sure you know a few of them.
And if you notice that I forgot something please drop it in the comments! Like everything in this newsletter, they’re open to everyone.
OK, my friends. Have a great rest of your day. Tomorrow we get back to the fight.
Read This 📖
Rebecca’ Solnit’s post about the Hands Off protests, which includes the speech she made at the one she attended, is an absolute must-read.
Celebrate This! 🎉
In an unexpected win for antitrust, one of the Republican commissioners remaining on the Federal Trade Commission will save the agency’s investigation into pharmacy benefit managers by unrecusing himself from the case.
A plan to study “social housing” passed the Portland City Council with unanimous support.
Four countries—Brazil, Thailand, Zambia and Poland—have successfully reversed democratic decline in recent years.
AOC is leading Chuck Schumer among Democratic primary voters by double digits.
A judge blocked the White House’s AP ban.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced that he plans to place a hold on ALL Trump nominees going forward.
Sen. Brian Schatz is placing holds on over 50 Trump nominees. He has also placed holds on all nominations at the State Department, bringing his total to over 300 positions. Bravo!
The American Library Association, the largest library association in the world, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest union representing museum and library workers, are suing the Trump administration over its gutting of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
In response to public backlash, the National Park Service restored original content to its webpage about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.
A federal judge in Texas (appointed by Trump) has issued a ruling blocking the removal of individuals under the Alien Enemies Act, citing concerns raised in the Supreme Court’s recent decision and the controversial Abrego Garcia case.
A Delaware judge ruled that Newsmax’s coverage of Dominion Voting Systems was false and defamatory.
Senator Adam Schiff called on Congress to investigate whether President Donald Trump engaged in insider trading or market manipulation when he abruptly paused a sweeping set of tariffs, a move that sent stock prices skyrocketing.
Indiana lawmakers in the state’s Republican-led senate are looking to take on pharma’s price-gouging middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers by creating a public system.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is auditing DOGE.
A federal court ordered multiple government agencies to provide additional details about their use of Signal for official government business.
A coalition of more than 240 pastors, Christian faith leaders, and faith-based nonprofit organizations across Tennessee have come together to oppose a bill that could allow public schools there to deny enrollment for migrant children without legal status.
American Oversight secured a significant legal victory after a Georgia court denied State Election Board member Janice Johnston’s motion to dismiss in its ongoing transparency lawsuit against the Georgia State Election Board.
Maine officials sued the Trump administration to try to stop the government from freezing federal money in the wake of a dispute over transgender athletes in sports.
The Supreme Court told the Trump administration to seek the return of a migrant mistakenly sent to a Salvadoran prison, rebuffing government claims that it need do nothing to remedy its error.
In Wisconsin, former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman agreed to surrender his law license following a disciplinary complaint related to his conduct during his investigation of the 2020 presidential election.
Two groups representing Harvard professors sued the Trump administration, saying that its threat to cut billions in federal funding for the university violates free speech and other First Amendment rights
The Trump administration restored USAID emergency food programs in Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Jordan, Iraq, and Ecuador.
After local residents organized a 1000-person march past Tom Homan’s house in rural upstate NY, the Sackets Harbor Superintendent announced that an ICE-abducted family—including 3 small children—would be returning home. Amazing!
Since Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcements his approval ratings have absolutely plummeted.
Solar energy in New York got a big boost with the announcement of a $950 million contract to construct the state’s largest solar farm, and the program has now broken ground.
A first-of-its-kind pilot to electrify homes on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard is set to finish construction in the coming weeks — and it could offer a blueprint for decarbonizing low- and moderate-income households in Massachusetts and beyond.
Initial analysis of the Wisconsin elections on April 5 shows that relative to 2024’s presidential race, every single county in Wisconsin moved left. Wow!
A federal judge rejected Johnson & Johnson’s third attempt to use a controversial legal maneuver to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits claiming its baby powder and other products were tainted with toxic asbestos and caused cancer.
A Mississippi judge on April 4 dismissed former governor Phil Bryant’s (R) defamation suit against a nonprofit newsroom for exposing potential corruption in his administration.
Companies are starting to tack tariff surcharges onto invoices as a separate line item.
Fossil fuels made up less than half of the U.S. electricity mix in March for the first month on record.
Senator Chris Murphy raised 8M in the first quarter of this year—even though he just won re-election last year! (Presidential run coming?)
Chevron was ordered to pay more than $740 million to restore coastal wetlands in Louisiana.
The U.S. solar industry has stockpiled 50 GW of imported equipment, which will help it stave off the impact of President Trump’s tariffs.
Some House Freedom Caucus members are apparently warming to the idea of a new 40% tax bracket for those earning $1 million or more to offset some new tax cuts. YEs, you read that right.
Alabama legislators unanimously passed a bill that would expedite access to Medicaid for pregnant women.
Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) told the Pulse of New Hampshire that he will not run for the U.S. Senate, a setback for Republicans’ hopes to flip the open seat.
The Senate parliamentarian ruled that Republicans in Congress cannot use an obscure legislative maneuver to stop California’s ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court dismissed a challenge last week that sought to limit municipalities’ authority to set early voting locations and prevent the future use of a mobile voting van.
Maryland lawmakers passed a package of energy bills that includes provisions for fast-tracking some community solar project approvals and prohibiting counties from banning solar development in hopes of curbing power rates.
Republican senators, led by Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, unveiled a bill Tuesday that would slap penalties on countries that generate high levels of manufacturing pollution. Yes, really.
The world used clean power sources to meet more than 40% of its electricity demand last year for the first time since the 1940s, figures show.
Jeff Bezos is funding a secretive EV startup based in Michigan called Slate Auto that could start production as soon as next year. Slate Auto is tackling a big goal: an affordable two-seat electric pickup truck for around $25,000.
36K people attended Bernie Sanders’ and AOC’s “Fighting Oligarchy” event in Los Angeles.
For the first time, a fully electric airplane flew from New York to California and back again.
The California Coastal Commission voted to fine Sable Offshore, an oil drilling company, nearly $18 million after Sable repeatedly ignored cease-and-desist orders, failed to obtain Coastal Development Permits, and proceeded to restart its work on oil infrastructure with a documented history of environmental disaster.
DOGE backed away from cuts to Social Security phone services following intense backlash.
Federal agents attempted to enter two Los Angeles Unified elementary schools this week. The principals of each school denied the agents entry and contacted legal support; the agents left. Let’s give a round of applause to the LAUSD community members and activists—some of whom I know—who “went deep on proper warrants for entry,” as soon as Trump was elected. Because of them, these schools were prepared and disaster was averted!
Russia freed a Russian-American ballerina in a prisoner exchange with the Trump administration.
Almost 300,000 new EVs were sold in the U.S. in the first three months of the year, a nearly 11% increase.
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal funding that was allocated to Maine from the U.S. Department of Agriculture — funds that had been withheld following President Trump’s clash with Maine Gov. Janet Mills over the issue of transgender athletes.
In Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, police have recommended criminal charges—including battery and false imprisonment—against the security team who brutally dragged Dr. Teresa Borrenpohl out of a town hall in February.
For the first time, fossil fuels accounted for less than half of U.S. electricity production across an entire month as clean power generation surged in March.
A federal judge in New York also blocked the Trump administration from continuing to deport people under the Alien Enemies Act.
A federal judge has rejected President Trump ‘s effort to dismiss a defamation lawsuit against him filed by the men formerly known as the Central Park Five
It’s official: The Tesla Cybertruck is a flop. (snip-a bit more)
Earth News
Would Some Climate Nice Time Recharge Your Batteries? Here You Go! by Rebecca Schoenkopf
40 percent of the world’s electricity now comes from clean power. That’s big! Read on Substack
With all the terribleness going on, we need to make those in power know that their attempts to bring fascism to America will not stand, man. But we also need to remind ourselves that a better country is worth fighting for, and that despite all the free range evil in our politics, humans really can do some amazing things, too. And so, let’s do another Climate Nice Time, not because we’re whistling past the graveyard and refusing to acknowledge the abyss, but because staring into that sucker all the time is exhausting.
Clean Energy Doing 40 Percent Of World’s Electricity, And Keeps Growing
The rapid growth of renewable energy in the last couple decades, especially the proliferation of solar, which has become almost ridiculously inexpensive, means that in 2024, a bit more than 40 percent of the world’s electricity came from carbon-free sources. That’s according to the latest annual review of world electricity by the clean-energy thinktank Ember, which looked at electricity use and generation data in 215 countries, not one of which is an island populated only penguins.
While solar has been the fastest-growing source of clean energy for 20 years running, all solar (both grid-scale power plants and rooftop home installations) still provides only seven percent of world electricity, with wind accounting for another eight percent. Thing is, those percentages keep growing, while the two top sources of carbon-free electricity, hydroelectric (14 percent) and nuclear (nine percent) have remained fairly static. Other renewable sources like geothermal, biomass, and tidal energy account for another three percent; the growth of enhanced geothermal in the next decade is almost certain to take it out of the “other” category as surely as the Professor and Mary Ann broke out of “And the rest” in the second season of “Gilligan’s Island.”
The Ember study notes that total solar generation has doubled in the last three years, and about half of that new solar has come online in China, which is beating the pants off the rest of the world in deploying clean energy.
Ember had previously predicted that the world’s emissions from electricity would peak in 2023 and begin declining after that, but a series of deadly heatwaves around the world that year boosted air conditioning use and therefore electricity demand past the growth of clean energy, also increasing fossil fuel generation by about 1.4 percent. Hello again, first chapter of The Ministry for the Future. Even if we don’t see a similar outbreak of heatwaves, increasing demand from data centers and for charging EVs means it remains critical to install as much new renewable energy as possible to keep up. Happily, the rest of the world doesn’t have That Man running it. [Guardian / Ember]
Germany: Balcony Solar Panels Help Renters Go Greener
Here’s just one of the energy success stories that contributed to the growth in clean energy: Germany has in the last few years seen a small revolution in solar panels that can be mounted right on apartment balconies. Unlike rooftop systems that are meant for homeowners, balcony solar is meant to be easily installed by renters, and the basic equipment can be bought online or even in supermarkets. Hell yeah, energy solutions for renters!
They start at around 500 Euros (around $570) for a simple system. In Germany, that socialist hellhole, government incentives also help with the purchase price. The systems include a “microinverter” that converts the panels’ DC output to AC home current, and plugs right into the wall. Regulations limit balcony systems’ output to 800 watts, because grid strain problems could result from lots of folks plugging more powerful systems into apartment walls. Still, it’s enough to
power a small fridge or charge a laptop, [and] the cumulative effect is nudging the country toward its clean energy goals while giving apartment dwellers, who make up more than half of the population, an easy way to save money and address the climate crisis.
Then there’s the sense of shared community involvement in doing one’s part: Neighbors see those panels and want to know more, and as renter Matthias Weyland said of his balcony solar setup,
“I love the feeling of charging the bike when the sun is shining, or having the washing machine run when the sun is shining, and to know that it comes directly from the sun. […] It’s a small step you can take as a tenant.”
Neato! I’m always excited to hear about options for renters to become part of the energy transition, and when you elect me, I’ll make damn sure the next climate bill includes subsidies for ebikes, balcony solar, and incentives for EV charging for apartments and condos too! [Grist]
USA: Still Too Much Fossil Overall, But 96 Percent Of New Power Last Year Was Carbon-Free!
Thanks in part to the incentives in Joe Biden’s climate law, but also because solar is so friggin’ cheap, a whopping 96 percent of new energy capacity in 2024 was carbon-free. Here, have a nice chart from Canary Media:
Solar installations dominated power plant additions — 34 gigawatts of utility-scale solar were constructed across the U.S., a 74 percent jump from 2023’s record-high year. Texas and California drove most of this surge.
Grid batteries were the next-biggest new source of power capacity — and saw the fastest growth. The U.S. built 13 GW of energy storage last year, almost double 2023’s record-shattering 6.6 GW. Texas and California led the way here as well.
The amount of new wind resources coming online dropped for the fourth straight year, however. The pandemic’s supply chain disruptions, followed by high inflation and the Fed’s high interest rates meant to combat inflation, really did a number on wind, far more than on solar and storage. Wind has also been hit hard by the slow process of connecting new generation capacity to the grid, a huge problem for all new energy. Donald Trump’s bizarre hatred of wind is likely to seriously slow wind growth in the US in the next few years, as will astroturfed rightwing opposition in red states. Stupid, stupid Right creatures!
We still need to do a good deep dive on just how idiotic Trump’s “energy emergency” declaration is, since it leaves out renewables, the least expensive and fastest-growing energy sector, for the sake of trying to boost fossil fuels — even as his idiotic tariffs will play hell with fossil fuel prices, too! But today is climate nice time, so that deep dive remains on our to-do list.
Hey, speaking of nice, here’s another fun fact, also from Canary Media and Ember: March was pretty sunny and windy in the USA, and that meant that for the first time ever, America’s energy grid had more clean energy on it than electricity generated by fossil fuels. A decade ago, the US electric grid relied on fossil fuels for two-thirds of its power, and a good chunk of that (34 percent) was still coal, the most carbon-intensive source, and one that’s far more expensive than renewables. It’s down to just 15 percent of the energy mix today, and fuck you, Donald Trump, we ain’t going back. (Fuck Trump is always in the “nice” category). [Canary Media / Canary Media again]
Climate Nicetime McNuggets!
Just a few random nice climate moments, Tabs-style:
Two years ago, Helsinki, Finland, decided to ditch coal power, which at the time made up 64 percent of the city’s electric power. The effort to reach the decision took a decade, but once made, it’s gone into effect quickly. Thanks to being ideally situated for wind power (resulting in absurdly low electric rates that approached zero Euros per kilowatt hour) and having a huge distributed heating system that warms homes and businesses with hot water pipes, Helsinki has largely shut down the coal plants that it used to run on. [Fast Company (paywalled); archive link]
For Earth Day (April 26) this month, 54 streets in New York City will be closed to cars so people can stroll and bike and generally see what living without cars could look like. It’s a one-day cleaner, quieter, Euro-style socialist hellhole celebration that the city has been doing since 2016! [Time Out New York]
Thanks to aggressive socialist hellhole government regulations and oppression, plastic pollution along Australia’s coastlines has dropped nearly 40 percent since 2013, and the sea turtles and people walking and doing recreation On the Beach are pretty damn glad to see it. The number of surveyed sites that had no plastic debris at all increased by an impressive 16 percent in the same period. [The Independent]
Lego this week opened a $1 billion factory in Vietnam that will by 2026 be making the popular building bricks using entirely clean energy, primarily solar panels and battery storage. The playsets produced there will be almost entirely for the booming Asian market, although Crom only knows how stupid US tariffs on Vietnam and the rest of the world may affect that rollout. Possibly some! And yes, Lego bricks are made with oil-based plastic; the company is spending big on researching more sustainable materials, but so far with only mixed success. [AP]
Go have you a great weekend, keep your activist batteries charged, and remember that the bastards only win if we let them! (snip)
