US Politics Mega-thread - Page 7585

On May 19 2017 11:00 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
So what was given in return?

On May 19 2017 12:15 TheLordofAwesome wrote:
Mattis. Gorsuch. The fact that Trmp's rhetoric alone decreased illegal immigration sharply.

A stretch of sunny, windy days, combined with brimming reservoirs at hydroelectric plants across the state, helped California reach a renewable energy milestone last weekend.

Early Saturday afternoon, renewable sources produced a record 67.2 percent of the electricity on the portion of the state’s power grid controlled by the California Independent System Operator. That figure does not include large hydropower facilities, which added another 13.5 percent.

Based in Folsom, the ISO runs 80 percent of the state’s grid.

More than half of the renewable energy flowing across the grid at that moment on Saturday came from large solar facilities and wind farms. The ISO’s numbers do not even account for electricity from rooftop solar arrays.

Overall, renewables accounted for 42 percent of the California grid’s power on Saturday, not counting the large hydropower plants.

“The fact that the grid can handle 67 percent renewable power from multiple sources — it’s a great moment, and it shows the potential we have,” said Sachu Constantine, the director of policy at the Center for Sustainable Energy, a nonprofit clean energy advisory firm in Berkeley.

Sustaining such high levels, however, will be challenging, he said.

California law requires utilities to get 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020, rising to 50 percent by 2030. Last year, California's three large electric utilities collectively got 32.3 percent of their electricity from renewables. (Neither the state requirement nor the 2016 figure includes large hydropower facilities.)

Saturday’s numbers are the latest benchmark in what is expected to be a record-setting year for renewable energy production in California, because of the growing number of solar power plants in the state, the seasonal increase in sunshine and the flush hydroelectricity reserves produced by last winter’s rain.

For a span of three hours on March 11, solar power met roughly half of all electricity demand across much of the state, according to the federal Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s statistics division. The proportion of power produced from renewables that day peaked at 56.7 percent — a record at the time.

The torrents of rain that fell in the state have filled hydroelectric dams to levels not seen in decades. Up to 21 percent of the state’s total electricity output could come from hydroelectricity this year, according estimates from the California Energy Commission.

And on Tuesday, the state set a new record for wind power generation, producing 4,985 megawatts. A megawatt is a snapshot figure roughly equal to the amount of energy used by 760 homes at any given moment.

“It’s going to be a dynamic year for records,” said Steven Greenlee, a spokesman for the ISO. “The solar records in particular are falling like dominoes.”

It is possible, Greenlee said, that the state could cross the 70 percent threshold for renewable production this summer.

The steady stream of record-breaking days is a positive sign that the grid is adapting well to the influx of renewable energy, according to Greenlee. “That shows how our grid is shifting from the old paradigm, the old grid we used to have,” he said.

On May 19 2017 12:27 Danglars wrote:

Cabinet. Gorsuch. Combative attitude towards a formerly sycophantic press.

The administration isn't filled with Clinton cronies having a smooth time going after Clinton's agenda. I'll choose chaos over chugging towards bad ends. But that's more things they aren't doing that I'm glad of, not things I like about the administration, which was the question.

On May 19 2017 12:40 biology]major wrote:


Trump's combative attitude towards the press, and the establishment in general is why his base will never ever leave him. It's cause the base also has that deep hatred, it burns bright and even if Trump fails to deliver on every campaign promise, so long as he is combative to the right targets, his base will be satisfied. I mean you can see the bloodlust in full force out right now of the press. If Mueller let's trump off the hook, I don't think the media will ever be able to recover, certainly not from half the country.

On May 19 2017 13:23 ZerOCoolSC2 wrote:
The best thing about this administration is that it brought out what we knew was lurking beneath the shadows. Mattis is the only good hire to come from this administration. He loves the military so I don't think he'll let us go into one half-assed and on some jackass's petty whims.

MS. CLINTON: Well, you up the pain that they have to endure by not in any way occupying or invading them but by bombing their facilities. I mean, that is the option. It is not as, we like to say these days, boots on the ground.

MR. BLANKFEIN: Has it ever worked in the history of a war? Did it work in London during the blitz or --

MS. CLINTON: No. It didn't work to break the spirit of the people of London, but London was a democracy. London was a free country. London was united in their opposition to Nazi Germany and was willing to bear what was a terrible price for so long with the blitz and the bombings. Everybody says that Iran, you know, has united --

MR. BLANKFEIN: Many -- they held out for an awful --

MS. CLINTON: They wanted -- yeah. But I mean, people will fight for themselves. They will fight for themselves, but this is fighting for a program. I mean, the calculation is exactly as you described it. It's a very hard one, which is why when people just pontificate that, you know, we have no choice. We have to bomb the facilities. They act as though there would be no consequences either predicted or unpredicted. Of course there would be, and you already are dealing with a regime
that is the principal funder and supplier of terrorism in the world today.

On May 19 2017 17:34 Grumbels wrote:
Meh, every morning I check the news to see if Trump is gone already. It's an unproductive obsession.

On May 19 2017 18:43 GreenHorizons wrote:


I'm hearing he said one thing from CNN, and another thing from MSNBC, one of them has to be wrong, maybe both, but at least one of them is reporting something factually wrong about words Trump said. Might as well just stamp "Fake News" on it themselves.

I can't believe how much these people get paid to do this crap.

On May 19 2017 12:05 biology]major wrote:
Is there anything you guys actually like about this administration? Anything thus far you can point to and say "hm, they did a good job there"

On May 19 2017 19:41 Liquid`Drone wrote:


From what I've seen, they've done a pretty good job 'crushing the hell out of ISIS'. Normally I'm inclined to consider the hawkishness the worst part of american governments, but crushing IS is more worthy than the average military operation, and regarding pretty much everything else, I've either been opposed to the goal, shocked by the incompetence, or both.