Published

1 year ago

December 24, 2023

Alice Rush

From his home in Buckinghamshire, England, my colleague Gary Tulie (pictured) writes:

Dear Craig,

I have been watching with interest the unfolding legal drama concerning whether or not Donald Trump did or did not engage in insurrection, and if he did, whether such disqualifies him from seeking the office of presidency.

The Supreme Court of Colorado has now ruled that he did engage in insurrection and so is disqualified, however said decision will now almost certainly result in an appeal to the federal Supreme Court whose ruling might in some way differ!

The sad thing is that whichever side the court rules on, there will be a substantial proportion of the population which considers the ruling an illegitimate use of the court’s powers and therefore considers whoever is eventually voted into the role to not be legitimately elected as president.

It seems to me that there is huge potential for civil disobedience, violence, filibustering, blocking the process of governing and decision making, and even a likelihood of assassination attempts, further attempts at insurrection and the nation potentially all but ungovernable with national guard units widely on the streets supporting the police and trying to keep a lid on the trouble so arising. US democracy (flawed as it is) deserves better, and the people deserve to have a system which is broadly considered legitimate with candidates who are broadly respected by those across the aisle. At present, a consensus on the legitimacy of the forthcoming election does not exist leaving government in the US deeply distrusted and in disrepute.

I see little chance of this situation getting better any time soon and am concerned that unless a new generation of politicians emerges to high office who are held in wide cross-party respect, and prepared to work together to heal that US, democracy might devolve into a deeply sectarian mess in which no one respects the other side, and government and democracy become increasingly fragile.

You bring up a matter of great concern to most Americans. Whether civil unrest / violence erupts as a result of this particular set of rulings (associated with disqualifying Trump via the 14th Amendment) remains to be seen. I would think the more obvious precipitating events would be Trump’s upcoming criminal trials, conviction, and the handing down of prison sentences. I suppose your response would be that it really doesn’t matter which match we use to light the bomb, and I, of course, would agree.

Sadly, I don’t see a mechanism by which we can elect candidates respect one another across the aisle, and a U.S. government that is anything other than the “deeply sectarian mess” you describe. I’m sure there are many reasons for this, but a significant one is the fantastic amounts of money that are at stake.

Our media is going wild covering all this. Donors are emptying their pockets, both billionaires and the working-class Trump supporters who are contributing their meager savings to the former president’s legal defense fund.

It’s pathetic. Wish I had something more constructive and uplifting to say at this holiday season.

Thanks for writing. Best wishes.

Fomenting of U.S. Civil Unrest

Related Topics:Buckinghamshire colleague England

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Renewable Energy

CIP Offshore in Taiwan, RWE Buys GE Vernova for Texas

Published

19 hours ago

March 24, 2025

Alice Rush

Weather Guard Lightning Tech

CIP Offshore in Taiwan, RWE Buys GE Vernova for Texas

CIP achieves financial closure for an offshore wind project in Taiwan and the UK may shift towards a domestic offshore wind supply chain. GE Vernova plans to equip two RWE farms in Texas, and Masdar will potentially acquire TotalEnergies’ renewable assets in Portugal. Register for the start of our webinar series with SkySpecs!

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Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!

Welcome to Uptime Newsflash, industry News Lightning fast. For market intelligence that generates revenue, visit www.intelstor.com.

Allen Hall: Starting off the week, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has secured financial close on the 495 megawatt Fengmiao offshore wind project off Taiwan’s Coast. This Marks CIP’s third offshore wind project in Taiwan and is the first of Taiwan’s round three projects to start construction.

The project secured approximately $3.1 billion in financing from 27 banks with debt partially guaranteed by export credit agencies. Now Vestas will supply 33 of its latest 15 megawatt turbines for the projects and construction will finish by late 2027 with six corporate customers already signed for long-term power purchase agreements covering its entire capacity. Dan McGrail Interim, CEO of Britain’s new state owned GB Energy believes the UK should challenge oversee renewable energy companies by exporting its expertise globally. McGrail sees floating offshore wind as a huge opportunity for British technology leveraging existing supply chains from the oil and gas industry.

He aims to shift focus from importing parts to building them domestically, which could create an export industry over time. GE Vernova will equip two RWE farms in Texas with over 100 turbines with deliveries beginning later this year. The projects will help RWE surpass one gigawatt of rebuilt and repowered wind capacity across the US and generate enough electricity to power approximately 85,000 Texas homes and businesses annually. Boosting US content. Then the sales for the project will be manufactured at GE Vernova’s Florida facility, which employs about 20% Veterans.

RWE’s Chief Operating Officer emphasized their commitment to American energy production and strengthening domestic manufacturing and supply chains. GE Vernova’s Entre Wind Division currently has a total installed base of 56,000 turbines worldwide with nearly 120 gigawatts of installed capacity.

Abu Dhabi’s Masdar is considering acquiring a stake and total energy’s Portuguese renewable energy assets. The deal will likely be through SATA yield. The Green Energy Company masar purchased from Brookfield last year. This would add to MAs dollar’s growing European portfolio, which includes recent acquisitions in Spain and Greece as the company works towards its global target of 100 gigawatts by 2030.

Total Energy is currently has about 600 megawatts of installed renewable capacity in Portugal, mostly higher valued wind power assets. Total energy. CEO previously mentioned plans to divest around two gigawatts annually as part of portfolio consolidation. And that wraps up our wind industry headlines from Monday, March 24th. The conversation continues tomorrow on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast, where we’ll explore even more insights shaping the future of renewable energy.

And don’t forget to join our exclusive live webinar this Wednesday featuring Sky Specs New CEO Dave Roberts. He’ll be sharing his roadmap for the company’s exciting future. All access details are awaiting for you in the show notes.

https://weatherguardwind.com/cip-taiwan-rwe-ge-vernova/

Renewable Energy

Our Criminal Insanity

Published

1 day ago

March 23, 2025

Alice Rush

Almost all Americans respect and admire Canada and the kind, intelligent, and respectful people who make their homes there. Accordingly, we are appalled at our country’s decision to attack one of our oldest and finest friends.

In addition, as shown at left, there is a certain fraction of us who are losing our livelihoods due to our president’s rash insanity. We all need to feel a particular sympathy for them.

Our Criminal Insanity

Renewable Energy

Why?

Published

2 days ago

March 23, 2025

Alice Rush

Answer to the question posed at left:

A plurality of American voters elected a man with terrible values, and now our nation is realizing that the toothpaste can’t go back into the tube.

Worse, while the president’s power is theoretically limited by the Constitution, those limits are vague and extremely difficult to enforce by Congress and the Judiciary.

The Founding Fathers clearly never dreamed that the electorate would choose a criminal sociopath as the country’s (and world’s) most powerful person.