It is Thursday morning, June 23, and I am starting my day with a glass of water while the coffee brews. I am halfway through my solutions architecture class for the week, and next week I get to do a repeat of the same material. I’m glad it’s a repeat, as I have a feeling that I’m going to have to spend some time on the mower this weekend. The rain the other day has kicked off a little growth spurt in our local flora.
Saw some news this morning from NASA Climate Change, a government-sponsored group within NASA that, quite obviously, monitors our climate trends. May 2022 was the 6th hottest May on record. That might seem like a good thing at first blush, but when you take a look at the trend over time, it isn’t good news. The site can be found here.
Part of my interest in checking the site was a meme – a little “haha” moment. An old friend posted the graphic pointing out that if the current grid can’t support our electrical needs now, how can will it handle a bunch of electric cars bring plugged in to recharge their batteries.
There are several important points that the meme addresses, sidesteps, and fails to consider.
I immediately pointed out that most people would be charging their cars at night, when the draw on the grid is substantially less due to changes in temperature overnight. I thought that was a valid point, but of course I got a little pushback from a relative of that old friend, who I have argued with before (he’s an adamant Trump supporter that refuses to get vaccinated).
I was also thinking about the heat, and rising temperatures, and the CO2 parts per million. I thought the red line was about 300, and we reached that almost 20 years ago… we’re now at 421. You think your air conditioning is running hot now? LOL.
We’re backing down on our fossil fuel use these days. Lisa is the only family member that has to drive to work with any regularity, and she drives a hybrid. I go into town once or twice a week. Part of the problem we have with gas prices is based in market forces – demand exceeds supply – therefore, driving less helps. I don’t think a gas tax holiday will help the supply portion of the equation, in fact, it might exacerbate it. If people get a break on gas taxes and gas prices per gallon go down, a bunch of people are going to go out and fill their tanks… and that will affect supply.
That’s enough for now.
I hope the world is treating you better than you deserve.
Peace y’all.
