Author Archives: Ed Fallon

Climate is on the ballot

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No matter where you live, the ballot you fill out on November 7 will impact the climate crisis. Maybe there’s a candidate committed to serious climate action running for city council. Maybe there’s a ballot initiative or referendum with a climate impact.

That’s the case in Polk County, Iowa. Public Measure A wants voters to approve a $350 million bond to expand the airport, which would have a resoundingly negative climate impact. 

I’ve never been good at sugar-coating my message, so to be blunt:

If you support building a bigger airport to increase air travel, you aren’t serious about the climate crisis.

From an online search: “Air travel accounts for about 4 percent of human-induced global warming, and the United Nations warns that airplane emissions are set to triple by 2050.”
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We beat Valero and BlackRock!

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The Navigator CO2 Pipeline — brought to you by the warm-and-fuzzy corporate duo of Valero and BlackRock — is officially dead. That’s right. We, the People, beat two Fortune 500 companies!

CO2 pipeline proposals by Summit and Wolf remain live rounds. But landowners along the Wolf route haven’t heard a peep from Wolf since March. And Summit just announced its pipeline would be delayed by two years. These developments are encouraging.

Here’s my analysis as to why we prevailed against Navigator and will eventually defeat Summit and Wolf: Continue Reading →

Meet Gary, my #1 detractor

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Most of the feedback I receive about my radio show, podcast, and blog is positive. There’s a fair amount of criticism, too, and much of that is solid. Sometimes, it causes me to rethink my position.

Then there’s Gary. He’s my most reliable detractor. I discuss my correspondence with him on this week’s program . Here’s a sampling of our back-and-forth:

CO 2 PIPELINES

Gary: The Democrat Party is the driver behind building CO2 pipelines.

Me: It’s crystal clear to all involved that Republican mega-donor Bruce Rastetter is the leading force behind the Summit pipeline. Of course, President Biden signed the legislation that expands the tax credits for CO2 pipelines. So there’s bipartisan culpability.

Gary: Anyone can receive a fair accommodation for pipelines crossing their property … contrary to all the LIES Democrats are telling.

Me: So you’re ok with Big Government allowing a Big Corporation to forcibly take someone’s land through eminent domain as long as they receive what you determine to be “fair accommodation”? Continue Reading →

Fired for refusing to fly?

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Grimalda had been conducting climate research in Papua New Guinea. He understands air travel’s significant contribution to climate change and tries to practice what he preaches. So last February, Grimalda managed the 14,000-mile journey to Papua New Guinea on cargo ships, ferries, trains, and buses. It took him 35 days.

Grimalda intended to travel back to Germany under the same conveyance, saving an estimated 7.2 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, round trip. Yet he was told by his employer, Kiel Institute for World Economy, that if he was not at his desk on October 9, he would be fired.

Grimalda’s research involved studying the impact of climate change on coastal communities in the Solomon Islands, where entire villages have already been forced to move inland to escape sea-level rise. “[Grimalda explained] to islanders how the carbon emissions of the industrialized world were causing the disasters they faced. And he promised them he would minimize his CO2 emissions on his journey back to Europe to avoid contributing to their suffering.”
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Water and the Endless Growth Economy

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As reported in Axios Des Moines this week, Microsoft’s West Des Moines data centers consume 11.5 million gallons of water for cooling each month! Globally, Microsoft’s water consumption spiked 34% from 2021 to 2022 to nearly 1.7 billion gallons.

Sidebar: For all you lovers of the “free” market, Microsoft has received $219,785,484 in taxpayer handouts for seven Iowa projects, according to Subsidy Tracker. Corporate socialism is alive and well in the US heartland!

What’s not alive and well is intelligent planning, which Mark Clipsham (pictured above) and I discuss this week. Running out of water may be what finally shakes the most staunch US capitalist (and the most hard-line Chinese communist) out of their stupor, compelling them to admit that the limits of growth have been surpassed.

We need to say it over and over again: the Endless Growth Economy is a failure. The “grow or “die” mentality is a lie. Billionaires must be abolished. Comfortable citizens of affluent nations must learn to live with less — and perhaps even discover they’re happier. Global population must plateau and eventually decline. We need to replace GNP with something like HDI (Human Development Index) — a tool developed by the UN to measure a nation’s well being beyond just economic growth. Continue Reading →