{"id":167423,"date":"2025-03-13T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=167423"},"modified":"2025-03-12T16:28:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T20:28:02","slug":"thursday-notes-pollution-teslas-and-oopsie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=167423","title":{"rendered":"Thursday notes- pollution, Teslas, and oopsie"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Little notes today.<\/p>\n

You know all that funding we need to pay, the guilt we should suffer, in the cause of global warning? It’s all our damn fault here, ya bastards, and we need to CUT BACK to save the rest of the world. Etc, etc, etc\u00a0 (no similarity to Yul Brynner implied.) Well, a report by IQAir, a Swiss company that tracks pollution, shows the world’s most polluted cities. How many of ours made the list?<\/p>\n

Uh, none. Not even close – there is not one in all of Europe or both Americas. What a shock.<\/p>\n

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The majority of these cities \u2013 13 \u2013 are in the world\u2019s most populous country, India, where booming economic growth is fired largely by coal and where hundreds of millions live in traffic-clogged and congested megacities.<\/p>\n

Another four are in neighboring Pakistan, with one in China and Kazakhstan respectively.<\/p>\n

The only city outside of Asia featured on the list is N\u2019Djamena, the capital of Chad in central Africa \u2013 which was named the country with the worst air pollution.<\/p>\n

The report by IQAir, a Swiss company that tracks global air quality, looked specifically at fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, one of the smallest but most dangerous pollutants.<\/p>\n

PM2.5 comes from sources like the combustion of fossil fuels, dust storms and wildfires. It is so tiny \u2013 1\/20th of a width of a human hair \u2013 that it can travel past your body\u2019s usual defenses into your lungs or bloodstream.\u00a0 CNN<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So much for the US being the big bad wolf.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0What do we have going for us? Here’s a shocker… in the world of renewable resources, we all know California leads the way (because they tell us so, right) and Texas is the evil oil-spewing monster, right? Get rid of the Lone Star State and the rest of the country can breathe easier.\u00a0 Except…<\/p>\n

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As the saying goes, everything’s bigger in Texas.<\/p>\n

Among other things, this phrase applies to the state’s enthusiasm for renewable energy, as new data shows it has almost 80% more solar, wind, and battery capacity combined than the next-closest state, California.<\/p>\n

According to the latest statistics, tabulated at the end of 2024, the Lone Star State claims 42,000 megawatts of wind power, 22,000 MW of solar farms, and 6,500 MW of battery capacity. Since there was no battery storage in the entire state as recently as 2014, this is incredibly rapid growth and an exciting development.\u00a0 The Cool Down<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, suck THAT up, Newsom.<\/p>\n

Me, I don’t care – I flip the light switch and light comes on, I’m happy.<\/p>\n

Wind and solar farms are still only generating about 30% of the state’s electricity, but the second-largest state in the union’s using this much clean energy and increasing its electric car business by almost 4,000% in the last decade is a positive sign for sustainability.<\/p>\n

Per their data, at least 75% of Texas counties are receiving revenue from renewables production and battery storage, and these projects will pay billions of dollars in state taxes over their lifespans.\u00a0\u00a0The Cool Down<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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And Lord, how they love to eat their young…environment-saving genius Tesla is catching the heat for MAGA CEO Musk – violently. Musk lost a boatload of money in the recent market down dip, but people are violently hitting the Tesla empire, too.<\/p>\n

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Tesla car dealerships across the US have been attacked with guns and Molotov cocktails over Elon Musk\u2019s perceived overreach in government.<\/p>\n

Police arrested several protesters on Saturday night who had gathered outside Tesla\u2019s showroom in New York.<\/p>\n

Video showed police dragging one demonstrator from the showroom.<\/p>\n

In February, a man fired an AR-style semi-automatic at a Tesla store in Salem, Oregon. A few weeks earlier he attacked the same dealership with Molotov cocktails, according to investigators, causing an estimated $500,000 in damage.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Molotov cocktail attack and he is out on bail? Excuse me?<\/p>\n

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Last but not least – the chief spokesperson for the Office of Personnel Management – the folks who actually do all the recent firing, the ones who want you employees to justify your jobs and prove that you’re not screwing off all day AND YOU KNOW WHO I MEAN YOU YA LAZY….yeah, the spokeswoman for them – has been filming INFLUENCER videos from offices in OPM.<\/p>\n

In at least a dozen videos filmed in her OPM office, political appointee McLaurine Pinover modeled her outfit choices for the day, while directing followers from her Instagram account to a website that could earn her commissions on clothing sales.<\/p>\n

The videos were filmed inside the office of the OPM communications director on the fifth floor of the agency\u2019s Washington, DC, headquarters, according to three former OPM staffers. The office is across the hall from a secure annex that has become a hub for workers at the Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting effort pushed by Trump ally Elon Musk.\u00a0 CNN<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“See my pretty dress? And you can buy it for only a coupla hundred buckadingdongs* from XYZ website (which gives me a commission on the deal” – that’s the kind of videos. They do not need to be filmed by employees on the clock on government property.<\/p>\n

Me, I am thinking if OPM wants an ounce of cred – she needs to be shown the door, right now.\u00a0\u00a0 Today, by close of business.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n