Favorites August 17th 2022

Atherton, August 2022

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Sanctions successfully kneecapped Russia’s ability to import things, but they’ve been finding evasion methods and are rebounding — the West is going to need to adapt our enforcement. theovershoot.co/p/the-squeeze-…

"The good news is that the increase in Russian imports in May and June was largely attributable to goods that don’t have direct military value". A significant proportion of the new imports to Russia are from China, related news, China will be holding join military exercises with Russia soon.

vo @vanillaopinions

nimbys are killing renewable energy projects all over the country

The biggest thing standing in the way of Renewables is NEPA, not intermitancy or cost. Transmission lines too. Alan Cole points out: The US has 42 MW of Operation offshore wind, 932 MW under construction, and 18,581(!) MW tied up in permitting.

Jake Gotta @jake_gotta

This week for the @LongBeachPost I went up to LA with @JackieRaeTV to see what happens when you build more homes - even if they’re all market rate (luxury) apartments - and compare that to what happens when you *don’t* build

I've seen the various studies of how allowing more apartments stops rents from going up as fast, but nothing beats specific examples.

sarah jeong @sarahjeong

this starts out as a guide to EV tax credits and quickly veers into The Thing Giving Me Agita Today

theverge.comYes, the new electric vehicle tax credits are really confusing, but we can helpThe tax credits may slow down EV sales in the short term.

This guide was very helpful for me. As for the heartburn, I'm less worried than Sarah, bringing more battery component sourcing to the US seems like it's worth it.

Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇦 @Noahpinion

Most people don't realize how totalitarian China is. I had heard of the "Grid system" (created in 2004), but until recently I didn't look into the details. This is absolutely wild stuff. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid-styl…

This was not something I was aware of! And my understanding is that things have gotten significantly more restrictive since COVID. The justifications for this level of control, from it's supporters, are wild.