Over the past 20 years, Pennsylvania has locked itself into a future where its utility rates are tied to the global price of natural gas. The people paying the highest price are the same ones that fracking companies promised to help. insideclimatenews.org/news/2109202...

At the Munich car show, BYD, Xpeng, Changan and Dongfeng showed electric vehicles with advanced technology and prices that undercut Western models, making it clear that Europe is the main target in their worldwide export plan. www.economist.com/business/202...

China is tying its economic future to the clean-energy sector. Last year solar power, electric vehicles and batteries were responsible for 10% of its GDP. These industries are also helping China reduce its dependence on oil imports from conflict-ridden regions. www.economist.com/china/2025/0...

Governor Jerry Brown in his 2011 inaugural address, said "The innovations of Silicon Valley, the original thinking coming out of our colleges and universities, the skill of our farmers, the creative imagination of Hollywood, the Internet ... give hope for an even more abundant future."

Given the solar industry’s resilient mood and fair prospects Trump’s anti-solar crusade may end up calling to mind the Eagles’ best-known hit, “Hotel California”. He can check out any time he likes, but he can never leave. www.economist.com/business/202...

China’s leaders sense an epic opportunity. Trump’s erratic trade policy, gaping fiscal deficits and threats to the independence of the Federal Reserve risk badly hurting the dollar. It has slumped 7% since January, and had its worst start to a year since 1973. www.economist.com/china/2025/0...

We need human feet on Martian soil. All the rovers and probes that we have sent to the dusty world — each a majestic feat of engineering — cannot compare to what explorers could achieve on the ground. There is so much more to learn from the Red Planet. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Last month, when Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian exports took effect, Brazil said its global exports actually rose 4 percent because of increased purchases by China. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/w...

Enviado por el rey Felipe II, Francisco Hernández de Toledo describió en la Nueva España unas 3,000 especies de plantas. Del tomate dejó dicho: “Son redondos, están encerrados por una membrana y participan de alguna acidez. Los más grandes se llaman xitomame. - No mandes. elpais.com/economia/neg...

🇲🇽🍅 En la carrera de obstáculos a la que el gobierno de Estados Unidos viene sometiendo al de México, la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum ha tenido que orquestar algunas medidas para sortear el asunto del tomate dozz.es/pi5rh14

ANALYSIS: Charlie Kirk has no real equivalent on the left — and such a counterpart is likely impossible, writes our @ianwardreports.bsky.social. Why a figure like Kirk may only be possible within the unique circumstances of Trump’s GOP👇

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung reaffirmed support for renewable energy and questioned the use of nuclear energy for powering data centers. Lee said it takes at least 15 years to build a nuclear plant. www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/com...

Jair Bolsonaro along with five military officers were convicted of plotting a coup in Brazil. The verdict marks the first time since Brazil became a republic that military officials have been punished for attempting to overthrow democracy. www.cnbc.com/2025/09/11/b...

Residents in at Least 41 States and Washington, D.C., Are Facing Increased Electric and Natural Gas Bills www.americanprogress.org/article/resi...

China’s political system has learned to harness market forces, Ma Tianjie explains in his book, "In Search of Green China". The state has adopted policies which have kicked off a virtuous circle of technology learning, cost reduction and market penetration. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

China’s path to becoming greener wasn’t driven by environmental litigation or citizen pressure, but by centralized, top-down governance. And while that model may be hard to transplant to other countries, the journey itself holds lessons. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

On September 2nd Bolsonaro and seven of his closest associates will stand trial on charges that they tried to orchestrate a coup. If convicted, several of them face up to 43 years in prison. www.economist.com/1843/2025/08...

Charles T. Munger, Jr. is the main contributor to the group that paid for ads flooding mailboxes in California. Munger is the son of the late billionaire Charles Munger, former vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. laist.com/news/politic...

The growing competitiveness of Chinese EVs in many parts of the world is only just beginning. www.cnbc.com/2025/08/28/a...

"The last 12 months saw a big rise in Africa’s solar panel imports. Imports from China rose 60% in the last 12 months to 15,032 MW. The rise happened across Africa. Twenty countries set a new record for the imports of solar panels in the 12 months to June 2025." - Ember

Renewable energy accounted for almost 40% of total power generation in China in the first half of 2025. New solar and wind generation covered the total growth in electricity demand. China had installed 212 gigawatts of new solar capacity in the first half of the year.

Financing provided to oil, gas and coal projects by Wall Street’s top six banks fell 25% to $73 billion this year through Aug. 1 from the same period in 2024, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Energy Information Administrations forecasts electricity demand will grow at an annual rate of over 2% in 2025 and 2026. Until 2020, demand was relatively flat. Electricity demand growth will be higher in areas with plans for large data centers, such as in Texas and in Northern Virginia.

For years, cities like Miami and Austin have tried billing themselves as up-and-coming tech hubs. As the A.I. boom takes over the tech industry, companies and entrepreneurs have once again chosen California as their home. In the process, Silicon Valley, too, has changed. - NYTimes

Over the past decade, China’s CO2 emissions have risen by nearly a fifth, with ups and downs along the way. More recently, there are signs that China’s CO2 emissions could be reaching a peak. The latest data shows that China’s CO2 emissions have now been stable or falling for more than a year,

Greenhushing, where corporations downplay their climate efforts, has spread in the US and Europe with companies trying to avoid accusations of greenwashing and political attacks.

The most expensive single human-built object on Earth is the Itaipu Dam on the Paraná River between Paraguay and Brazil. Itaipu has is an installed electricity producing capacity of 14,000 megawatts.

Last year, Texas generated 124,934 gigawatt hours of wind energy, enough to power 11.6 million homes and nearly three times the amount of the second-largest wind-producing state.

Trump thinks he cut a good trade deal with Japan. The U.S. will lower its tariff on Japanese autos from 25% to 15% and Japan will have a 0% tariff on American manufactured autos. How many right-hand drive F-150s will Japan import now?

Electricity prices in wholesale markets fluctuate throughout the day and night due to varying supply and demand. Prices are lower during off-peak hours when demand is low and renewable generation (solar) is abundant. Batteries are profitably charged and discharged during these time periods.

Hypostatization refers to treating an abstract concept, idea, or quality as if it were a real, concrete thing with its own independent existence. It's the mental habit of ascribing as real something that is not inherently material.

One-third of workers in the construction industry crossed the border illegally to come to America to work. ICE has not yet start rounding up the million or so undocumented workers building highways, hospitals, data centres, schools, etc.

A recent Harvard/University of Pennsylvania found that new homebuilding in sunbelt metro areas such as Atlanta, Dallas, Miami and Phoenix has dramatically slowed, leading to higher prices. It looks like red states’ cheap-housing advantage are shrinking. - As reported in the Economist Magazine

The AI economy is intensively concentrated on the West Coast, The Bay Area will remain the central AI hub well into the future. Seattle and Los Angeles will also be important AI hubs.

Electric vehicle sales are on track to outpace gasoline car sales in China this year. Battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and extended-range electric cars a are projected to top 16 million by the end of the year December — slightly more than their combustion-powered competitors.

Drill, baby, drill will be a long forgotten meme this fall. World oil consumption is expected to grow at the slowest pace in the last 16 years outside of the 2020 pandemic slump. Demand contractions are occurring in countries targeted for high tariffs, including China, Japan, and Korea.

Solar electricity is expected to account for 7% of total U.S. power generated in 2025 and 8% in 2026 according to the Energy Information Administration

Russia saw the Qing Dynasty’s decline as an opportunity to dismember the Chinese Empire and reattach its ‘central dominions’ with Russia. Turnaround is fair play now that Russia is weak and China strong.

The Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. It mandates that no warrants shall be issued unless supported by probable cause, a specific oath or affirmation, and a particular description of the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

DOGE was nothing more than attempt to intimidate federal employees. Musk and his minions did not understand or care to understand what the word "efficiency" meant. wapo.st/4kumlCM

Fossil fuel spending to fall for first time since pandemic https://www.ft.com/content/35edc55a-3860-4d6e-9963-fc7067516b80

Consumption makes up about 40% of China’s GDP, compared with 50% to 70% in developed economies. Investment, including in the manufacturing sector, also makes up about 40% of China's economy — roughly twice as much as in the US, and at a historic level compared with the rest of the world. - Bloomberg

"The most fundamental shift required to alter global trade patterns is for China to reduce its savings rate by running larger budget deficits and for the United States to do the opposite by reducing its budget deficit." - Peter Orszag

"Unless there is an underlying change in national savings patterns, tariff increases will be offset by exchange rate changes that discourage exports and encourage imports, with little or no net effect on the overall trade balance." - Peter Orszag

The New York Times published lists of the most imported goods from China. Plastics accounted for over $100 billion in annual U.S. imports from China. Most of these plastic things are bought by households.

Gotion to begin building Morocco gigafactory 'within days' reut.rs/3YUNnL2

"Political parties have become so weak that whoever becomes their nominee can dominate them. Biden’s vanity, and that of his family and closest aides, overrode common sense about whether he should seek a second term. Few Democrats spoke up about his infirmity while he was in office." -The Economist

Let's hear it for the good guys. www.wsj.com/business/ene...

DOGE turned out to be a big ego trip for Musk and a complete failure in rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. Its legacy will be the mess at the Social Security Administration. wapo.st/4ksrPxM

A hopeful message from Charlie Chaplin www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7GY...