Favorites August 29th 2022

San Diego, June 2022

Rep. Josh Harder @RepJoshHarder

Great idea. This makes a ton of sense.

cbsnews.comCalifornia to install solar panels over canals to fight drought, a first in the U.S.California will be the first state in the nation to install solar panel canopies over canals to combat drought and climate change.

This looks very cool, "could save an estimated 63 billion gallons of water annually", plus they generate power. For reference, San Francisco requires about 13 billion gallons of water per year.

Blake Allen @Blake_Allen13

End of the day, to be able to create more clean energy, we need permitting reform. So many projects are tied up in permitting/lawsuits they’re non-viable right now. We have learned over time that energy prices are tied to the broader public’s appetite for climate policy

Jonathan Larsen @jtlarsen

NEW: At least 30 House Democrats are said to have signed onto a letter urging leadership NOT to attach Manchin's pipeline bill to a must-pass bill to keep the government operating past Sept. 30. Story from Washington Correspondent @CandiceColeNews: https://t.co/MXx5z7zZPN

The permitting reform impacts all energy projects, and renewable energy projects are constantly blocked by obstructionist NIMBYs. Stuff like... putting solar panels over California's canals perhaps?

Jim Roberts @nycjim

The U.S. State Department and Yale identify 21 detention/deportation sites in Russian-controlled territory. *Satellite images show signs of mass graves. nytimes.com/live/2022/08/2…

One could kind of assume this given what we've heard previously about people being forcibly migrated out of Ukraine, but still, holy shit, concentration camps in Europe.

Nick Bloom @I_Am_NickBloom

The shift to WFH is the largest shock to labor markets in decades. Pre-pandemic WFH was trending towards 5% of days by 2022. Now WFH is now stabilizing at 30%, a 6-fold jump. In America alone this is saving about 200 million hours and 6 billion miles of commuting a week.

If you're wondering why the data gets so choppy suddenly, it's because we started collecting more data on WFH trends during the pandemic.

Nat Bullard @NatBullard

US commercial/residential solar market: 2012: 1.6 gigawatts, 60% commercial 2022: 7.5 gigawatts, 75% residential bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

He goes on to point out that the we're going to install 3x the International Energy Agency's 2014 predictions for 2040's installations.

Armand Domalewski @ArmandDoma

The California legislature just passed: ✅ AB-2011: Building housing on commercial properties ✅ AB-2097: Significantly curtail parking mandates ✅AB-2183: Expand the ability of farmworkers to organize ✅AB-257: Establish sectoral bargaining for fast food workers What a day.

AB2011 alone is about half the impact that SB50 would have had, here's an in-depth analysis. These are some great wins for California YIMBY, on to the Governor's desk!