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In this episode of CleanTech Talk, renowned climate author and social movement leader Bill McKibben and I talk about the climate change crisis we’re quickly rolling into, climate grief and how to deal with it, US climate policy, rampant conspiracy theories, the great energy transition, and more. Listen to this first part of a two-part interview via the embedded SoundCloud player below or on your favorite podcast platform (links below).

You can subscribe and listen to CleanTech Talk on: AnchorApple Podcasts/iTunesBreakerGoogle Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket, Podbean, Radio Public, SoundCloud, Spotify, or Stitcher.

We quickly jumped into the core issue society is facing in the 21st century: even though we are quickly deploying and adopting cleantech solutions (solar energy, wind energy, electric cars, electric buses, etc.), we consistently remain a little behind what’s needed in order to stop our growing climate crisis. In fact, at times, it seems like we’re falling further and further behind in our challenge rather than catching up. Unfortunately, one thing we’ve discovered in recent years is that as scary and “alarmist” as climate scientists’ messages were a decade ago, those scientists were largely underestimating the risk and destruction. The situation looks worse today than it did then. The following tweet thread from climate scientist Peter Gleick was not covered in our discussion, as Gleick just published it last night and McKibben and I had recorded the podcast long before that, but it captures the point well:

McKibben, who wrote the first book about climate change for a general audience back in 1989, noted in his introduction of himself that he now spends much of his time “volunteering at the task of failing to save the world.” In response, I said, “Yeah … we’re making so much progress, but it always feels like we’re a sizable distance behind what we need to do to solve the climate challenge.” McKibben’s framing in response was superb: “That’s exactly right, and the reason it’s right and the thing that’s the hardest to get across always to people is this one’s a timed test. And we’re just not used to timed tests in our public life.”

My first question for McKibben came from one of our top writers, Steve Hanley (who McKibben seemed to be a fan of). Steve’s question was about climate grief. He wanted to know McKibben’s take on climate grief, and on how climate grief could be leveraged to create political change. With his characteristic straight honesty, McKibben noted that he’s been feeling more climate grief lately due to all that has been going on this year — extreme flooding in some regions (like Europe and China), extreme wildfires in others (most notably Greece and the US West, which created so much smoke that it actually blew over in large volume to the East Coast). I think many of us have felt the same this year — even, as he noted, with decades of understanding that this was coming.

“In my experience, the only way to deal with that emotional toll — and it’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a partial one — is to be as active — as activist — as possible,” he said. “And I think that there are times when the only antidote in my life for that sadness that works is anger, and anger particularly at the forces in our society — the fossil fuel industry above all — that have systematically lied about this for decades and put us in the position where we are.” A Zen master might have said something else, but I think many people can relate to this, especially many CleanTechnica readers and listeners. McKibben did then add, “I’m not sure that that anger is any emotionally healthier than the grief, but it’s probably more productive in terms of getting stuff done, because we’re still at a place where breaking the political power of the fossil fuel industry is crucial to working at the pace where we now need to go.”

Continuing on the topic of climate politics, I brought up Senator Joe Manchin and the fact that he is a huge blockade to climate progress in Congress. Democrats have a slim majority in both the House and Senate and a rare chance to initiate strong climate legislation, but Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema have been blocking progress on this for months. The former, Manchin, has received more campaign funding from fossil fuel industries than any other US senator (Republican or Democrat), and the latter has completely swerved from being a member of the Arizona Green Party to being the opposite of a Green.

“I gotta say, it feels to me like the Biden administration is doing what they can right now […] — not everything, and there’s plenty that I wish they were doing that they could, like stopping big fossil fuel projects and things — but on this front of getting legislation passed, you know, it now looks like we’ve got this bipartisan infrastructure bill, which isn’t particularly good on climate — it includes a lot of stupid giveaways to the fossil fuel industry — but it’s something, and it was the price for getting this other reconciliation $3½ trillion thing that we’re going to be fighting over for the next couple of months, and that really seems to represent the one big chance that America will take a big cut at the climate crisis in this decade. So, I think it’s incumbent on all of us to think how we can help make that happen. It is incredibly frustrating that Prime Minister Manchin gets to sign off on everything that happens, but that’s where we are! It’s a reminder that it would be good to win a few more senate seats next time around, so we weren’t in quite the same hamstrung position.

“But, look, our political machine is clearly geared to prevent change, not to accelerate it. It’s an antiquated system in every way, from the filibuster and the Electoral College on down. Right now, in an era when we need incredibly urgent action, that’s particularly frustrating. But, that said — what a difference a year has made! At least the country is no longer run, for the moment, by absolute jackasses. The fact that we came into 2020 with a president of the United States who believed that climate change was a hoax invented by the Chinese — I mean, if you were sitting on a bus next to someone who was muttering that, you’d get up and change seats, but this was the guy who was running our country.”

I took the opportunity to point out that the first article I wrote about Donald Trump running for president was “Could The US Really Elect A Conspiracy Theorist?” Unfortunately, the country’s propensity for dangerous, idiotic conspiracy theories was even much greater than I anticipated.

I also asked McKibben if he thought the extreme weather events we’ve been seeing lately have been bringing more people into the climate action cause and could make the difference we need. To hear McKibben answer this question and talk more about the positive trends of the past few years, listen to the whole podcast chat. Of course, we also talked more about the urgency of the matter and the challenges we’re facing. Part two will be coming soon too, so stay tuned to CleanTechnica. I will preview that it covers significantly more complicated and nuanced matters within the US and global climate solutions community.

 

Appreciate CleanTechnica’s originality? Consider becoming a CleanTechnica Member, Supporter, Technician, or Ambassador — or a patron on Patreon.

 

 


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Daily EV Recap: NJ signs law approving a punitive $250 new EV registration fee

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Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded Monday through Thursday and again on Saturday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee new episodes are delivered as soon as they’re available.

Stories we discuss in this episode (with links):

‘Pro-EV’ New Jersey just OK’ed the US’s highest dumb EV fee

BYD says EVs have entered the ‘knockout round’ with next-gen tech rolling out

Ford drastically cuts workforce at F-150 Lightning EV plant amid ‘much slower’ demand

XPeng (XPEV) launches two EVs in Germany with plans to enter more EU nations later this year

Tesla starts using ‘Supervised Full Self-Driving’ language

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The first entirely US-made crystalline solar panels are coming to market

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The first entirely US-made crystalline solar panels are coming to market

All US-made solar panels featured only imported solar cells until now, but two US manufacturers just struck a three-year, $400 million deal. 

Canada-headquartered Heliene, which makes solar panels in Minnesota, will incorporate Georgia-based Suniva’s US-made monocrystalline silicon solar cells into its panels, and those “Made in the USA” panels will hit the market in mid-2024, thanks to a new three-year strategic sourcing contract between the two companies.

Heliene’s modules will be the first crystalline solar panels with US-made solar cells. Suniva says the catalyst for the pairing was solar project owners and developers wanting their projects to qualify for the 10% Domestic Content Bonus Investment Tax Credit. That’s achieved by using US-made cells based on the US Department of Treasury’s guidance published in May 2023 – and that’s in addition to the 30% IRA tax credit for renewable energy factories.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who visited Suniva’s Norcross, Georgia, factory yesterday, said, “Before this Administration, solar companies across the United States were struggling. Between 2016 and 2020, nearly 20% of solar manufacturing jobs were lost. Now, though there remain significant challenges, Inflation Reduction Act tax credits are helping change the game.”

Cristiano Amoruso, CEO of Suniva, said, “We are proud to fulfill our long-standing promise to bring back cell manufacturing to the United States at our Norcross facility.”

Read more: The US’s oldest solar factory filed for bankruptcy in 2017 – but now it’s back


If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –ad*

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Porsche retires gas-powered Boxster and Cayman in the EU with all-electric model coming

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Porsche retires gas-powered Boxster and Cayman in the EU with all-electric model coming

The gas-powered Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman models are being discontinued in Europe as an all-electric version approaches its debut.

Porsche retires gas-powered 718 Boxster, Cayman cars

After announcing plans to retire its best-selling SUV in Europe, the Macan, Porsche will do the same with its 718 Boxster and Cayman models.

Porsche retired the gas-powered Macan early due to new cybersecurity rules. Its availability ends in July 2024. The gas-powered 718 Boxster and Cayman are now set for the same fate.

In a statement to Auto Express, Porsche said as a result of the rule changes “sale of the 718 models with an internal combustion engine is discontinued in the EU and some states that apply EU legislation from now on, thereby ensuring that the vehicles can be delivered to customers and registered by the deadline.”

Porsche did note the 718 Cayman GT4 RS and 718 Spyder RS are not impacted “due to small series regulations.”

Porsche-Macan-EV-Turbo
Porsche Macan EV (left) and Turbo (right) versions (Source: Porsche AG)

Although the regulation applies to all vehicles (ICE and EV), Porsche is preparing to launch an all-electric 718 model. It’s not expected to have any issues with the new rules.

Like with the Macan, updating the gas-powered version would be too costly with an electric model rolling out anyways.

Porsche’s electric 718 is getting closer to production ahead of its debut. We got a sneak peek of the EV this week after it was spotted testing in the Arctic Circle rocking production headlights.

Porsche 718 EV testing (Source: CarSpyMedia)

The German automaker is expected to reveal the electric 718 model before the end of the year with deliveries kicking off in 2025. Porsche has already begun preparing its Zuffenhausen plant for the new EV.

Porsche CEO Oliver Blume confirmed plans to begin Macan EV deliveries later this year. Up next will be an electric 718 model followed by the long-awaited Cayenne EV.

Porsche-retires-Boxster
(Source: Porsche AG)

Porsche said it’s expanding “upward” with plans for an ultra-luxury electric SUV, slated to sit above the Cayenne. Blume called it “a very sporting interpretation of an SUV.”

Despite several automakers pulling back Porsche is sticking to its target of an 80% EV delivery share by 2030.

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