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How is the US not improving as well? Renewable energy usage went up from ~9% to ~13% from 2002 to 2013[1]. The growth in photovoltaics continues[2]. The portion

by avar 9y ago

How is the US not improving as well? Renewable energy usage went up from ~9% to ~13% from 2002 to 2013[1]. The growth in photovoltaics continues[2]. The portion of electric cars as part of the fleet is going up[3] etc. It is true that the US could be doing better, but it's not doing the opposite of what China is doing when it comes to energy & environmental improvements. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_United... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_of_photovoltaics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_of_photovoltaics 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car_use_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car_use_by_country

mattmanser 9y ago
Trump just pulled out of the Paris climate accord. It was in the news for days?
- AlgorithmicTime 9y ago
  Until that actually causes the US to stop increasing the proportion of renewable energy, I'm skeptical it's an issue.
- Shivetya 9y ago
  A fake treaty based on hype and slogans. whose temperature goals when overlaid with existing models shows no change. a fake treaty which allows each nation to set their own goals, change them at will, and no fines or similar mechanisms to insure compliance? A treaty which then veered off into rules on gender equity, biodiversity, disabled people, migrants, and a just transition of work forces. as in, it was propaganda act by politicians who used ignorance of what it stood for so you would think they were doing something about it when they were doing absolutely nothing. it had no power of enforcement because they could not even come to an agreement of who would be allowed to enforce it. when you let the fox set the rules the chickens outcome does not change. it was worse than no treaty. with no treaty people can be brought back to the table and iron out one that has limits that apply equally to all nations with an agreed to enforcement. (per capita limits are the means some countries used to skirt any impact they have on the world)
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- soundwave106 9y ago
  Trump may make the national optics look bad, but that doesn't change the optics completely at the state and city level. For instance, on the renewable energy angle, according to the American Wind Energy Organization, five states now regularly generate 20%+ of their energy from wind. (http://www.awea.org/MediaCenter/pressrelease.aspx?ItemNumber=9999 http://www.awea.org/MediaCenter/pressrelease.aspx?ItemNumber...) That number would've been unthinkable 10 years ago. (Note that the windy states tend to be Republican voting rural mid-west ones. That doesn't mean that Trump isn't going to stop mocking wind energy (as he just recently did). Rather, it does mean there is bipartisan support in these states for wind energy, and that Trump's negative comments on wind in Iowa didn't go down very well with Iowans and Iowa politicians from both sides of the aisle -- https://apnews.com/a2b500b82d5a44eeb9759ca31d0b4a33 https://apnews.com/a2b500b82d5a44eeb9759ca31d0b4a33) Having a national leader that seems hostile to anything environmental certainly doesn't help matters, but it's not all doom and gloom.
- angersock 9y ago
  Luckily for us and the environment, that's more a talking point than a policy point.
- oh_sigh 9y ago
  I'm curious if you believe there is any room for people who care about the environment, but thought the Paris agreement was a waste of money and resources?
rf15 9y ago
> ~9% to ~13% from 2002 to 2013[1] that's 4% in 11 years, basically flatlining compared to other countries.
- KekDemaga 9y ago
  I can presume that you personally only use renewables?
  - rf15 9y ago
    Fair criticism. On the other hand, if we're going down this road of argumentation: I am renewable.
- pc86 9y ago
  The United States' energy use per capita[0] is the largest in the world. How does the total energy consumption of renewables v. non-renewables compare? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consumption#/media/File:Energy_Use_per_Capita.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consumption#/medi...
  - mikeash 9y ago
    Nitpick: the US is #3, behind Iceland and Canada. Iceland is an incredible outlier, with a figure well over two times higher than Canada, I assume because aluminum production is such a huge part of the economy due to cheap geothermal and hydroelectric power.
    - avar 9y ago
      The US is actually #9 behind Iceland, Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, Kuwait, Brunei, Luxembourg, UAE and Canada[1]. Just sort that table by kgoe/a. You're right about why Iceland is so high, see [2]. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_energy_consumption_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_energy_co... 2. https://askjaenergy.com/2014/11/17/iceland-is-the-world-largest-energy-consumer-per-capita/ https://askjaenergy.com/2014/11/17/iceland-is-the-world-larg...

by avar 9y ago

mattmanser 9y ago

Trump just pulled out of the Paris climate accord. It was in the news for days?

AlgorithmicTime 9y ago
Until that actually causes the US to stop increasing the proportion of renewable energy, I'm skeptical it's an issue.
Shivetya 9y ago
A fake treaty based on hype and slogans. whose temperature goals when overlaid with existing models shows no change. a fake treaty which allows each nation to set their own goals, change them at will, and no fines or similar mechanisms to insure compliance? A treaty which then veered off into rules on gender equity, biodiversity, disabled people, migrants, and a just transition of work forces. as in, it was propaganda act by politicians who used ignorance of what it stood for so you would think they were doing something about it when they were doing absolutely nothing. it had no power of enforcement because they could not even come to an agreement of who would be allowed to enforce it. when you let the fox set the rules the chickens outcome does not change. it was worse than no treaty. with no treaty people can be brought back to the table and iron out one that has limits that apply equally to all nations with an agreed to enforcement. (per capita limits are the means some countries used to skirt any impact they have on the world)
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
soundwave106 9y ago
Trump may make the national optics look bad, but that doesn't change the optics completely at the state and city level. For instance, on the renewable energy angle, according to the American Wind Energy Organization, five states now regularly generate 20%+ of their energy from wind. (http://www.awea.org/MediaCenter/pressrelease.aspx?ItemNumber=9999 http://www.awea.org/MediaCenter/pressrelease.aspx?ItemNumber...) That number would've been unthinkable 10 years ago. (Note that the windy states tend to be Republican voting rural mid-west ones. That doesn't mean that Trump isn't going to stop mocking wind energy (as he just recently did). Rather, it does mean there is bipartisan support in these states for wind energy, and that Trump's negative comments on wind in Iowa didn't go down very well with Iowans and Iowa politicians from both sides of the aisle -- https://apnews.com/a2b500b82d5a44eeb9759ca31d0b4a33 https://apnews.com/a2b500b82d5a44eeb9759ca31d0b4a33) Having a national leader that seems hostile to anything environmental certainly doesn't help matters, but it's not all doom and gloom.
angersock 9y ago
Luckily for us and the environment, that's more a talking point than a policy point.
oh_sigh 9y ago
I'm curious if you believe there is any room for people who care about the environment, but thought the Paris agreement was a waste of money and resources?

rf15 9y ago

> ~9% to ~13% from 2002 to 2013[1] that's 4% in 11 years, basically flatlining compared to other countries.

KekDemaga 9y ago
I can presume that you personally only use renewables?
- rf15 9y ago
  Fair criticism. On the other hand, if we're going down this road of argumentation: I am renewable.
pc86 9y ago
The United States' energy use per capita[0] is the largest in the world. How does the total energy consumption of renewables v. non-renewables compare? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consumption#/media/File:Energy_Use_per_Capita.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consumption#/medi...
- mikeash 9y ago
  Nitpick: the US is #3, behind Iceland and Canada. Iceland is an incredible outlier, with a figure well over two times higher than Canada, I assume because aluminum production is such a huge part of the economy due to cheap geothermal and hydroelectric power.
  - avar 9y ago
    The US is actually #9 behind Iceland, Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, Kuwait, Brunei, Luxembourg, UAE and Canada[1]. Just sort that table by kgoe/a. You're right about why Iceland is so high, see [2]. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_energy_consumption_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_energy_co... 2. https://askjaenergy.com/2014/11/17/iceland-is-the-world-largest-energy-consumer-per-capita/ https://askjaenergy.com/2014/11/17/iceland-is-the-world-larg...