Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why 'Space Force' is nothing new...

Source: Patriot Patch Co.

In a previous blog post, I introduced the concept of a space force as portrayed in popular news.  Remember at the end of the post, there was a brief video in which Commander Scott Kelly was interviewed in which the introduction of the 'orbital perspective' was unveiled.  What is an 'orbital perspective'?


What Commander Kelly was arriving at was the mutual respect with which space is explored by many different nations.  Specially, when each nation is collectively working in the 'International Space Station' -- looking back through the window -- they collectively see 'Planet Earth' - not each geographical location from where each have travelled from.  All that is visible from space is "One Planet Earth" which implies that all residents (of Planet Earth) should be working together rather than waging war between each other.  Which is why a 'space force' does not necessarily make sense.



Although, ever since each nation pursued travel into space, the commercialization from that initial travel has produced a presence over the past decade which is staggering in comparison to just five decades earlier.  The commercialization of space -- near commercialization -- more appropriately, each nation's presence in space had made the endeavor more about information collection rather than actual warfare.  Hundreds of satellites reside in near orbit and collect/serve as information carriers to various corporations which span across the globe (i.e. the planet).



With the above in consideration regarding the tremendous growth in space, what role do physicists play in space?  Or helping to create a 'space force'?  As you will see shortly, in the video segment from the YouTube channel of MSNBC, Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why the concept of 'Space Force' is not new and misunderstood:

Nice.  Space warfare is not necessarily warfare as it is more about access to information.  The overall arching statement made by Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson regarding a space force in the video above is the 'fall out' from shooting satellites or other commercial space infrastructure down is going to be enormous and impact us all in some direct or indirect way. 



Which is to say, that if a certain government/enemy force were to shoot down a satellite or space hardware, the 'fall out' would be dangerous to say the least.  The explosion from destroying a satellite or other space hardware would fragment (break apart) into tiny pieces -- each of which -- would be traveling at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour.



To put that speed into perspective would be to cast that speed into traveling around planet Earth.  The circumference of the Earth is 24,901 miles -- the total distance around Earth at the equator.  Traveling at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour, a traveler would go around the entire planet Earth in 1 hour and 38 minutes.   The point is that destroying a piece of equipment in space could very easily result in destruction of other satellites -- such as our own.  We could potentially lose out in the process of shooting another country/nations' satellite down.



There is no need at the present time to create an independent 'space force' in the United States.  Each citizen of the planet should be working together rather than finding divisions.  Each country should aspire to work towards common goals -- especially when concerned with reaching out into space and beyond. 



Related Blog Posts:


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Was Enough Coal Ash Spilled Into A Local Lake To Fill Up 2/3 Of An Olympic Sized Swimming Pool?

Source: The Daily Beast

Hurricane Florence has no doubt had a devastating and long lasting impacts on the East Coast which will unveil themselves over time.  Already at the outset, a forecaster predicted that nearly 17 trillion gallons of rain would fall over four states - which has partially come true.  The damage has caused lawmakers to call or write elected politicians in Washington D.C. for around $1.2 billion - just for South Carolina alone.  Unknown to most, is that additionally, other potentially dangerous spills have occurred which have not made the popular news cycle.  As noted in an e-mail from Politico Energy, a coal ash pit broke and spilled a fair amount of toxic solution into a lake as stated below:

Coal ash collapse: Duke Energy said Saturday that heavy rains from Florence had caused the collapse of a slope in the coal ash landfill at a closed plant outside Wilmington. About 2,000 cubic yards of the toxic waste was displaced, the company said in a statement — roughly enough to fill two-thirds of an Olympic-sized swimming pool — although it could not say how much reached a lake that the plant used as a cooling pond or if any coal ash reached the Cape Fear River. Environmental groups that have been fighting in court to force the cleanup of coal ash pits pointed out that the lake is used for recreation and fishing. "After this storm, we hope that Duke Energy will commit itself to removing its ash from all its unlined waterfront pits and, if it refuses, that the state of North Carolina will require it to remove the ash from these unlined pits," Frank Holleman with the Southern Environmental Law Center said in a statement.

In the blog post below, we will verify the statement: "About 2,000 cubic yards of the toxic waste was displaced, the company said in a statement -- roughly enough to fill two-thirds of an Olympic-sized swimming pool..."  Additionally, another potential disaster -- a coal ash spill will be analyzed at the very end of the blog post from South Carolina.

What Is The Volume Of An Olympic-sized Swimming Pool?

In a recent blog post regarding the amount of oil flowing through a pipeline in Canada, the Olympic-sized swimming pool was used as a metric -- i.e. a volume which to compare other large volumes too.  A typical Olympic-sized swimming pool is shown in the picture below:

Source: Spring Pool Builder

The volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool is 660,430 gallons as noted in the previous blog cited above.  With the metric -- i.e. Olympic-sized swimming pool -- defined in terms of volume, we can proceed to verify the statement above -- to prove that the amount of coal ash spilled would fill nearly 2/3 of an Olympic-sized pool.  Let's get on with the analysis...



In order to compare the amount of coal ash which spilled to the volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, both values (statistic and metric) need to be defined in uniform (the same) units of measurement.  The author states the volume of coal ash in units of 'cubic yards' whereas the volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool was cited above in units of 'gallons'.  Therefore, to proceed forward, a unit conversion is necessary: change units from 'cubic yards' to 'gallons'.



To determine the unit conversion factor from units of 'cubic yards' to 'gallons', first we consult Google with the following question: How many gallons are in a cubic yard?   The answer is shown below:

The answer indicates that there are 201.974 gallons in a single cubic yard.  With this unit conversion factor in hand, the conversion from 'cubic yards' to 'gallons' is accomplished below:

Now that both statistics (coal ash spill and metric) are expressed in the same units of measurement, a simple division of the two values will yield the number of Olympic-sized swimming pools which could be filled with 2,000 cubic yards of coal ash as shown below:

How do we make sense of the answer shown above?  Comparing the amount of coal ash which spilled to the volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool yields the number 0.61 -- but remember the author states that the amount which spilled is around 2/3 of an Olympic-sized swimming pool.  Therefore, compare 0.61 to 2/3 -- a fraction computed below:

The answer indicates that the two numbers -- calculated 0.61 and 0.67 (2/3) are within 10% of one another -- which is good.  The author was good in his assertion in the excerpt above.  Readers of this blog site might inspect the answer and think critically about the size of the spill relative to other spills discussed in previous blogs.  Why worry about a volume of coal ash equivalent to 2/3 the size of an Olympic-sized swimming pool?



The fact of the matter is that any sizable amount of coal ash which leaks into a natural waterway could harm the public and future damage down the line.  Which is unacceptable.  As you will learn below, the analysis goes further and identifies a much larger volume of coal ash which could potentially cause an unbelievable amount of damage to waterways.

South Carolina - Potential Spill?

Recently, in the news, the statistic was reported from South Carolina which caused me to wonder how the reported number compares to the reported one above.  The article was titled "SC coal ash pit with 200,000 tons of waste could start taking on water Tuesday":

A pit of coal ash holding some 200,000 tons of toxic sludge in Conway could start taking on water Tuesday as the Waccamaw River sloshes over its banks.

How does the reported number or value of 200,000 tons compare to 2,000 cubic yards?  To start the analysis, a unit conversion factor is needed.  We can consult Google with the following question: How many grams are in 200,000 tons?  The answer is shown below:

In previous blog posts, the methodology follows that above, which is to determine a 'unit conversion factor' then convert initial numbers to the desired units.  For the purposes of brevity, taking a slightly different route, we just asked Google to help us convert from units of 'ton' to 'gram'  directly.



With the mass determined in units of 'grams', the proper way to extract a volume of a given mass of a substance is to use the density of a substance.  Using the density, a volume can be determined as shown below:

The answer is expressed in units of 'milliliters'.  A couple remaining steps are needed to arrive at a final answer.  First, we need to consult Google with the following question: How many milliliters are in a gallon?  The answer is shown below:

Next, the desired units are 'gallons' which can be determined using the conversion factor above.  The number of gallons in 200,000 tons is where we would like to travel towards in the present analysis.  To get there, the conversion of mass to a volume needs to be accomplished.  This can be done by using the concept of a substances' density -- amount of mass per volume.  Below, the conversion of the mass of coal ash (mass) is converted to a volume (milliliters) is shown:

The approximation above is that the density of water was used in place of the density of 'coal ash' which is closer to 1.6 gram/mL.  Readers might be slightly disappointed, although, the final value will not change dramatically.  The conversion from 'milliliter' to 'gallon' is shown below:

Last but not least, the total amount of Olympic-sized swimming pools which could be filled with 47.9 million gallons of coal ash - potentially which might spill in South Carolina is shown below:

The answer indicates that the potential spill of 200,000 tons would have been equivalent to 73 Olympic-sized pools.  Compared to the amount which spilled in North Carolina, the above value is very large and could cause an unbelievable amount of damage to the environment.  The analysis above has shed light on two very different volumes of coal ash.  At the same time, the analysis gives the reader the ability to analyze the amount of coal ash which could damage the environment and is reported in two different news articles.

Conclusion...

Looking at this value might not seem large compared to the total quantity of rain which fell as a result of Hurricane Florence.  Although, the toxic nature of coal ash could have much greater damage than flooding.  Not to say that flood damage is not bad too to residents.  Contaminating the local water supply for decades could be a much greater risk.  For the present time being, the dams have held up.  That could be temporary given the tremendous amount of rain which has already fallen.



Never the less, the spill in Wilmington is dangerous enough to have potentially damaging effects which might not be realized for quite a while.  The potential amount under threat in other areas should be concerning.  Mining companies should be regulated to a greater extent regarding the large storage pools of coal ash which are commonly stored near mining sites.  The analysis above drives home the point which is that the potential spills along with those already occurring can be quite devastating to the surrounding ecosystems and natural resources on which residents rely.



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Typhoon Mangkhut Drops Enough Rain On Philippines To Fill 25,000 Superdomes per hour?

Source: Time

As Americans were watching Hurricane Florence ravage the East Coast of the United States over the weekend, residents of the Philippine Islands were experiencing an equivalent destruction of their country from Typhoon Mangkhut.  According to the New York Times article titled "See Inside Typhoon Mangkhut in 3-D" at the height of maximum rainfall over the Philippines, the rate of rainfall reached 11.7 inches as shown in the excerpt below:

Rain tends to be heaviest near the center of a storm, in what is known as the eyewall, visible here in red. The highest rainfall rate for Typhoon Mangkhut reached 11.7 inches per hour inside the southern wall on Friday.

With this astounding rate of rainfall in mind, regular readers of this site will naturally ask themselves the following question:



How many Superdomes were filled per hour by Typhoon Mangkhut?



In the paragraphs below, the amount of Superdomes are calculated using dimensional analysis.  The result as indicated (potentially 25,000 Superdomes per hour) is astonishing.  Following the analysis is a video confirming the astounding number which should blow your mind.

How Many Superdomes Per Hour?

Basically, for the current blog post, the same methodology which was used to calculate the number of Superdomes which could be filled with the predicted rainfall due to Hurricane Florence - which I posted last Friday.  The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is located in Louisianna and has an interior volume of 125,000,000 cubic feet.  Shown below is a picture of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome:

Source: The Advocate

Superdomes can be a 'metric' which are commonly used to cast large (enormous) values of volumes or statistics popularly reported in the news.  The maximum rate of rainfall reported in the New York Times article above is a perfect candidate along with the landmass of the Philippine Islands -- which makes a volume -- to be used in an analysis with the metric above used.  The volume of rainfall can be expressed as an equation as shown below:

The volume for a geographic area is the land mass area multiplied by the amount of rainfall over the given land mass area.  If we consult Google with the following question: Rainfall?  The definition of the term 'rainfall' is shown below:

The definition of rainfall is 'the quantity of rainfall falling.'  To begin the analysis (with actual numbers) the land mass (total area) of the Philippine Islands needs to be determine.  As usual, Google is consulted with the following question: Philippine Area?   The answer is shown below:

Notice that the area (land mass) is expressed in units of measurement of 'square mile'.  When the maximum rainfall is reported in units of 'inches', a decision to convert one number to the other needs to be made.  For this analysis, 'inches' will be the unit of measurement for analysis -- at least the beginning of the analysis.  In order to convert the land mass area of Philippine Islands from units of 'inch' to 'mile' the following question needs to be asked in a search engine like Google: How many square inches in a square mile?  The answer is shown below:

For every single square mile, there are 4.014 billion square inches.  The conversion of units from 'square miles' to 'square inches' is shown below:

The answer above shows that Philippines is around 116 thousand square miles which when converted to square inches turns out to be 460 trillion square inches.  Now that the land mass area is converted to units of square inches, the volume of rain which fell at a maximum on Friday due to Typhoon Mangkhut can be calculated using the expression for volume from above:

Wait?  The above equation is 'rate of rainfall' -- whereas I stated that the volume was being computed above?  Why the difference?  As I stated above, the amount of rain falling over and hour was reported to be 11.7 inches/hour.  Which is a rate.  Therefore, the volume is actually the rate of volume of rainfall over a given time as shown below:

With 11.7 inches/hour of rainfall pouring down due to Typhoon Mangkhut, the total amount (volume) of rain would be 5,400 trillion cubic inches per hour of rain.  Wow!  Based on the calculations in the previous blog post regarding the total amount of rain predicted (by a forecaster) due to Hurricane Florence, lets cast the rate of rainfall into comprehensible units.  To do so, a unit conversion needs to be accomplished from units of 'cubic inches' to 'gallons'.  A conversion factor needs to be determined.



If the following question is typed into Google: How many cubic inches are in a gallon?  The answer is shown below:

With the conversion factor known, the conversion is carried out by using the same methodology as above:

Therefore, the amount of rainfall over the Philippine Islands at maximum rainfall is shown below:

Wow!  23 trillion gallons in a single hour.  In my previous blog post about the predicted amount of rainfall over four states (in a few days) was expected to be 17 trillion.  The difference shows that Typhoon Mangkhut is larger than Hurricane Florence.  This is not to say that Hurricane Florence is not inflicting a large amount of damage in the United States over the weekend.  The East Coast is in terrible shape and we are keeping the residents there in our thoughts.  Be safe.



The metric which has been used to visualize large volumes of rain is the Mercedes-Benz Superdome as shown above.  With a volume of 125,000,000 cubic feet, the Superdome is a perfect metric to which compare the large volume of rain falling over a given region in a storm.  To calculate the number of Superdomes which could be filled with 23 trillion gallons/hour, first a unit conversion needs to be accomplished.  In order to compare the 23 trillion gallons/hour to 125,000,000 cubic feet, a unit conversion from 'gallon/hour' to 'cubic feet/hour' needs to be accomplished.



To determine the number of 'cubic inches' are in a 'cubic feet', we type into Google the following question: How many cubic inches are in a cubic foot?  The answer is shown below:

The conversion of units between 'cubic inch' and 'cubic feet' is shown below:

Next, to determine the number of Superdomes which could be filled with the amount of rain falling over an hour over the Philippine Islands is shown below:

Wow!  The total amount of Superdomes which would be filled at the rate of rainfall equal to 3.1 trillion cubic feet per hour is a whopping 25,000 Superdomes per hour.



The final question is the following:



Does the amount of rainfall -- 3.1 trillion cubic feet per hour over the Philippine Islands make sense?



To answer the question above, lets view the video from YouTube below taken over the weekend during the storm - Typhoon Mangkhut:

Wow!   I am left speechless by the video above.

Conclusion...

Oh my goodness?  The amount of rain is enormous and unparalleled.  Between the total number of storms hitting the globe over the weekend, the amount of rainfall is historic and unparalleled in volume.  The rainfall must be surging into the hundreds of trillions of gallons of water falling on land masses like Philippine Islands and the East Coast of the United States of America.  Destruction is inevitable.  Just think of the amount of time and effort which will be required to restore basic resources like power and water?  The destruction is huge and should not be understated.  Keep the residents experiencing these terrible storms in our thoughts and prayers.



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A Forecaster Predicts That Hurricane Florence Will Drop Enough Rain To Fill 18,400 Mercedes-Benz Superdomes

Source: Axios

Hurricane Florence has arrived on the East Coast of the United States with a force which seems unparalleled compared to previous storms.  The category has changed with time, though, without dispute, hurricane Florence is present and causing damage which will take years to recover from.  To comprehend the predictions from weather forecasters, dimensional analysis is necessary to cast the enormous predictions into light.  How much rain is going to fall on the East Coast from hurricane Florence?  Here is an excerpt from a weather forecaster interviewed by 'Mashable' in an article titled "Hurricane Florence is forecast to dump a historic amount of rain. Here's how much" which states the huge amount of potential rain to be dropped:

Meteorologist Ryan Maue of WeatherModels tweeted some projections on Thursday morning. 

Maue's models suggest that around 17 trillion gallons of rain will fall across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia with some spots receiving as much as 30 inches of rain before Florence is finished. 

According to the excerpt shown above, 17 trillion gallons is predicted to fall on North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia over the next few days.  This will cause terrible damage to the infrastructure in cities lining the coast and displace many thousands of residents from services (which are much needed) such as electricity, emergency services, and make returning to work nearly impossible.  In order to understand the terrible destruction of the storm, the amount of rain (17 trillion) should be placed into context.  In the paragraphs below, dimensional analysis is used to compare the amount of rain to the number of Mercedes-Benz Superdomes which could be filled with 17 trillion gallons.

How Much Space Occupies The Mercedes-Benz Superdome?

The metric which has been chosen to compare the enormous amount of rain that is expected to fall over the 4 states mentioned above on the East Coast over the next few days is the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.  The Superdome is located in Louisianna and has an interior space (volume) equal to 125,000,000 cubic feet of space.  Yes, I said 125,000,000 cubic feet of space as shown below:

Which fills the Superdome shown below:

Source: The Advocate

That is an large space indeed.  Football games are played in the Superdome and at max capacity will hold a total of 73,000 people.  Although, during a super bowl, the capacity has expanded beyond capacity to hold upwards of 79,000 people.  Needless to say, when an HUGE volume is reported of liquid such as the amount of rain which will fall over the next few days, a perfect metric to compare is that of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.



According to the excerpt taken from the news, the amount of rain expected to fall is 17 trillion gallons.  First, lets look at the amount of zero's after 17 -- trillion.  If 'Wikipedia' is consulted for the page defining 'trillion', the following definition is shown below:

Trillion (short scale) (1,000,000,000,000; one million million; 1012; SI prefix: tera-), the current meaning in both American and British English.

Therefore, if the number 17 trillion is written out in entirety, the number would appear as follows:

The first line above shows 17 trillion in long form.  For the purpose of shortening up a number to move around in calculations used in dimensional analysis, the value 17 trillion could be expressed in 'Scientific Notation' as shown in the second line above.  Which makes writing and expressing the number much easier.  Compared to writing out all of the unnecessary zero's involved.



Notice that the unit of measurement in which the amount of rain projected to fall are expressed in units of 'gallons'.   Remember that the interior space of the Superdome is expressed in units of 'cubic feet'.  Therefore, if the two numbers are going to be used in the same analysis (the purpose of the blog post), then a 'unit' conversion is necessary.  For this blog post, I will arbitrarily use the units of 'cubic feet' as a comparison.  We just as well could have converted over the units of 'cubic feet' to 'gallon's in order to compare the two values of interest (i.e. volume of Superdome and volume of rain).



In order to convert the units of measurement from 'gallon' to 'cubic feet', a conversion factor is needed.  To simplify the search for a conversion factor, consult Google with the following question: How many cubic feet are in a gallon?  The answer is shown below:

For every gallon, there are 0.133681 cubic feet.  Written as a conversion factor, the unit conversion from gallon to cubic feet is shown below:

The answer to the conversion shows that 17 trillion gallons is equivalent to 2.3 trillion cubic feet.  Which means that 17 trillion gallons of water is equivalent to 2.3 trillion cubic feet of water.  Same volume, different units of measurement. Now that both values are in the same units of measurement -- 'cubic feet' -- a simple division of two values (total volume of rain divided by total volume of a single Superdome) yields the total number of Mercedes-Benz Superdomes which would be filled with 17 trillion gallons of rain:

The answer indicates that if 17 trillion gallons were poured into 18,400 Superdomes, there would be no water remaining.  Wow.  With this enormous amount of Superdomes as a result, there should be no wonder why residents should be concerned about their health and safety.  That enormous amount of rain will inevitably wreak havoc on the four states listed above.

Conclusion...

In the blog post above, the number of Mercedes-Benz Superdomes were calculated which would be needed to hold a total volume of rain of 17 trillion gallons.  At this moment, you may be wondering how 17 trillion gallons compares to the amount of rain that Hurricane Harvey dropped on Houston (Texas).  Hurricane Harvey dropped 58.3 billion cubic feet of rain.  That is enough to fill 560 Dallas Cowboy Stadiums.  Note that the total amount of rain is distributed across very different amounts of land masses.  Different amounts of rain across different proportions of land.  Still, these hurricanes are dropping enormous amounts of water (in the form of rain) which is wreaking havoc on the surrounding land.



Hopefully, the blog post above along with other dimensional analysis blogs on this site shed light on the severity of storms hitting the world over the past two years.  In the index of blogs below, other storms have been analyzed in a similar fashion.  Regardless of the size of the storm, any loss of life is tragic and unacceptable.  Please keep the residents of hurricane Florence in your thoughts over the next few days (and months).  If you are in the path of hurricane Florence, stay safe please.



Related Blog Posts:


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How Much Rain Did The East Coast Receive From Hurricane Matthew?


How Much Rain Did Haiti Really Receive?

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How Big Was The "Water Bomb" Of Rainfall In Macedonia?

How Much Rain Did Huauchinango (Mexico) receive?

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Governor Jerry Brown Leads The U.S. With Ambitious Calls For 100% Renewable By 2045 -- Wow!!!

Source: Governor Jerry Brown

President Trump vowed to pull the United States out the the Paris Climate Agreement as then 'candidate Trump' - then followed his with the words 6 months into his presidency.  The only problem as I have noted in a previous blog is that there is no way (technically) to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement.  As the Paris Climate Agreement stands of right now, every few years, each country (nation) will evaluate the goals which are self imposed and self-regulated to serve as a check point to see where their respective nation is headed into the next few years.



With the shocking news of President Trump's attempt to convince the United States of his intention to withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, came news (in the form of tweets and press releases - written about here) from various states that they would remain committed to sticking with the Paris Climate Agreement.  Specifically, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding' with China stating that California would remain committed to the Paris Climate Agreement.  Furthermore, Governor Brown committed to hosting a 'Climate Convention' in California less than two years later.  That date has arrived and the convention is convening in San Francisco (California, United States of America).

Great News From California Early!

Right before -- as of Monday -- the conference (summit) was to begin, Governor Brown announced and signed into law SB100 -- to transition California to 100% renewable energy by 2045 as shown below:

With the following excerpts regarding SB100 and Governor Brown's intentions for sustainable energy and California provided by authors of 'Politico California Playbook' via e-mail as shown below:

Via POLITICO'S Jeremy B. White in Sacramento: "California's Brown signs renewable energy bill in another rebuke to Trump" -- "California will aim to derive all its retail electricity from renewable sources by 2045 under a bill Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law on Monday, with backers framing the measure as the state’s latest rebuke to environmental backsliding by the Trump administration.

-- "The bill 'is sending a message to California and the world that we are going to meet the Paris agreement and we are going to continue down that path to transition our economy,' Brown said, referencing the climate accord from which President Donald Trump withdrew the United States last year."

-- "Trump has made himself an outlaw on the matter of climate change," Brown said in a follow-up interview with POLITICO’s David Siders on Monday. "And since climate change is [an] existential threat, I would say that doing what he’s doing to undermine efforts that will save lives and prevent catastrophe for California, for America and the world, is about as reprehensible as any act that any American president has ever been guilty of.”

MORE BROWN: “The clash has intensified because Trump, more than anybody else in the whole world in terms of national leaders, is going in the opposite direction. He’s trying to subsidize coal, undermine vehicle emission standards, sabotage clean electricity, make it harder to buy electric vehicles and on and on. So, yes, we’re going on a certain course.”

More celebratory tweets such as those shown below are contagious with wonderful news from Governor Brown on the eve of the Climate Summit in San Francisco.  And as one observer notes in a tweet video that every place around the world should have California politicians who are super ambitious for a change toward renewable energy to better the environment:

I am here in #California where Governor @JerryBrownGov has just signed a bill to have the Golden State 100% green powered by 2045. This is ambitious, courageous and feasible. There should be more politicians like him around the world. #ActOnClimate #SB100 #GCAS2018 pic.twitter.com/VTD6As8MpG

— Bertrand PICCARD (@bertrandpiccard) September 11, 2018

Source: Brendan Pierpont

For the energy transition to happen, the challenge is much more psychological than technological. The goal is to get rid of old beliefs that keep us prisoners of the past and prevents us from seeing better solutions. #1000solutions #GCAS2018 pic.twitter.com/ubb1NoZH4q

— Bertrand PICCARD (@bertrandpiccard) September 11, 2018

The news on Monday was a good start to the beginning of the Climate Summit in San Francisco with a warm welcome to Mayors by Mayor London Breed of San Francisco as shown below:

Source: SF Environment

In her tweet, a thread is shown with a few exciting statistics which display the reality that a city (or region) can invest in renewable energy (i.e. implement environmental policy) and have a thriving economy:

Which Mayor London Breed closed the thread with the following message on behalf of all Mayors present in San Francisco for the Climate Summit shown below:

Signaling that there is a large amount of support for the Climate Summit.  Further, that there is a large support for the United States to stay with the Paris Climate Agreement.  This should be no surprise to those who follow this blog and read newspapers regularly.  The world is shifting continuously and dynamically (reshaping the investment landscape) to move away from fossil fuels and invest in renewable (sustainable) energy.  Remember the list of corporations along with the tremendous amount of capital (money) available for renewable energy last year?  Read here.



For those readers interested in the full press release, I have provided the release below from Governor Brown's web site:

Governor Brown Signs 100 Percent Clean Electricity Bill, Issues Order Setting New Carbon Neutrality Goal

Published: Sep 10, 2018

SACRAMENTO – Reaffirming California’s global climate leadership, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed Senate Bill 100, authored by Senate President pro Tempore Emeritus Kevin de León, setting a 100 percent clean electricity goal for the state, and issued an executive order establishing a new target to achieve carbon neutrality – both by 2045.

“This bill and the executive order put California on a path to meet the goals of Paris and beyond. It will not be easy. It will not be immediate. But it must be done,” said Governor Brown.

“In California, Democrats and Republicans know climate change is real, it’s affecting our lives right now, and unless we take action immediately – it may become irreversible,” said Senator de León. “Today, with Governor Brown’s support, California sent a message to the rest of the world that we are taking the future into our own hands; refusing to be the victims of its uncertainty. Transitioning to an entirely carbon-free energy grid will create good-paying jobs, ensure our children breathe cleaner air and mitigate the devastating impacts of climate change on our communities and economy.”

SB 100 advances the state’s existing Renewables Portfolio Standard, which establishes how much of the electricity system should be powered from renewable energy resources, to 50 percent by 2025 and 60 percent by 2030. It also puts California on the bold path to implement a zero-carbon electricity grid by 2045.

“California is committed to doing whatever is necessary to meet the existential threat of climate change,” said Governor Brown in his SB 100 signing message. “This bill, and others I will sign this week, help us go in that direction. But have no illusions, California and the rest of the world have miles to go before we achieve zero-carbon emissions.”

To further ensure California is combatting global warming beyond the electric sector, which represents 16 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, the Governor issued an executive order directing the state to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 and net negative greenhouse gas emissions after that. This will ensure California removes as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it emits – the first step to reversing the potentially disastrous impacts of climate change.

The state will reach its goals with continued significant reductions of carbon pollution and increased carbon sequestration in forests, soils and other natural landscapes and programs focused on improving air quality and public health, especially in California’s most impacted communities.

With Governor Brown’s order, California establishes the most ambitious carbon neutrality commitment of any major economic jurisdiction in the world – of more than 20 countries and at least 40 cities, states and provinces planning to go carbon neutral by mid-century or sooner.

This action comes days before grassroots activists, mayors, governors, heads of industry and international leaders convene in San Francisco for the express purpose of mobilizing climate action at the Global Climate Action Summit. Late last week, Governor Brown also signed legislation to block new federal offshore oil drilling along California’s coast and announced the state’s opposition to the federal government’s plan to expand oil drilling on public lands in California. The entirety of the state’s coast has been off-limits to new oil and gas leases for more than 30 years, and the state has not issued a lease for offshore oil or gas production since 1968.

The Governor’s signing message for SB 100 can be found here.

The text of the executive order can be found here.

California’s Leadership on Climate Change

California continues to lead the world in adopting innovative policies to fight climate change. Last week, the Governor issued an executive order to safeguard California’s unique plants, animals and ecosystems that are threatened by climate change. Last month, the state also issued its Fourth Climate Change Assessment, which details new science on the devastating impacts of irreversible climate change in California and provides planning tools to support the state’s response.

Earlier this year Governor Brown issued executive orders to improve the health of the state’s forests and help mitigate the threat and impacts of deadly and destructive wildfires, and get 5 million zero-emission vehicles onto California’s roads by 2030. Last year, the Governor signed landmark legislation to extend and strengthen the state’s cap-and-trade program and create a groundbreaking program to measure and combat air pollution at the neighborhood level.

Under Governor Brown, California has established the most ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in North America; set the nation’s toughest restrictions on destructive super pollutants; and will reduce fossil fuel consumption up to 50 percent  and double the rate of energy efficiency savings in buildings by 2030.

The state has met its 2020 target four years early, reducing emissions 13 percent while growing the economy 26 percent. From 2015 to 2016 alone, emissions reductions were roughly equal to taking 2.4 million cars off the road, saving 1.5 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel.

In addition, Governor Brown has helped establish and expand coalitions of partners across the nation and globe committed to curbing carbon pollution. The Under2 Coalition, which originated from a partnership between California and the German state of Baden-Württemberg, now includes 206 jurisdictions on 6 continents that collectively represent 1.3 billion people and $30 trillion in GDP – equivalent to 17 percent of the global population and 40 percent of the global economy. Members of the coalition make a number of key commitments, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 80 to 95 percent below 1990 levels or to less than 2 annual metric tons per capita by 2050.

Last year, California joined Washington and New York to form the U.S. Climate Alliance, which now includes 17 U.S. states – led by both Democrats and Republicans representing 40 percent of the U.S. population – committed to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and meeting or exceeding the targets of the federal Clean Power Plan. Governor Brown also partnered with Michael Bloomberg to launch America’s Pledge on climate change, an initiative to compile and quantify the actions of U.S. states, cities and businesses to drive down their greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Earlier this year, California and 17 other states collectively representing more than 40 percent of the U.S. car market sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to preserve the nation’s uniform vehicle emission standards that save drivers money at the pump, cut oil consumption, reduce air pollution and curb greenhouse gases.

Who can argue with the need for cleaner air (i.e. less air pollution)?  How about environmental justice?  How about jobs?  Who does not want to create more jobs?  The renewable energy sector has been growing tremendously over the last two years.  Just ask Google about the growth of renewable energy jobs and see if I am wrong.  The investment into a sustainable future makes sense on multiple fronts.  As a nation, we will not be traveling back in time.  Governor Brown correctly points out that President Trump is an isolationist and stands alone in regards to bringing back the coal industry to power the nation.  Whether we (as a nation) like the change or not, the transition is becoming a reality to keep in line with other developing nations towards a cleaner future.  A more prosperous future.

Skeptics Weigh In...

All is not sunny with the emerging news of ambitious targets set for California.  One major reason is that skeptics are concerned that California will not be able to meet the targets even with all other sources reduced dramatically.  According to an article in the Los Angeles Times titled "Until California curbs its oil refineries, it won't meet its climate goals" - the state has obstacles (refineries) which are paramount:

Concentrated in Los Angeles’ South Bay and the San Francisco Bay Area, the state’s 17 refineries comprise the largest oil processing center in western North America. Unless emissions from those refineries are curbed, the state has no chance of meeting its long-range climate change goals.

The cumulative greenhouse gas output from these 17 refineries will overshadow the tremendous progress made over the next 27 years. I will disagree with this notion.  Tell anyone that refineries will be going out of business in the new few years and undoubtedly, the response will involve the word "cars" and "California" and "dependent" and "Oil and Gas".  Although, to mitigate the continuous use of oil and gas, the transition toward cleaner energy will lead naturally to less demand for oil.

Conclusion...

Therefore, skeptics may weigh in and laugh at the thought of refineries shutting down over the next few decades.  But the reality is that as demand for oil and gas continues to decline over the next few decades with a corresponding rise in use of renewable energy, the refineries will be looking to close their doors.  Of course, large refineries are owned by gigantic corporations such as Shell Oil Company.  Which has already started transitioning (and investing) in renewable energy.  That path puts them at an advantage rather than an expected disadvantage.  I expect others will follow -- that is, if their respective corporations have not already entertained the transition (in discussion) already.



Regardless, the news that has been breaking regarding emission reduction along with increase investments in renewable energy is very exciting.  I am excited to hear about more exciting news coming out of the Climate Summit this week in San Francisco.  I will write more as more develops.



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