This is a bit of a potpourri. First, politicusUSA is reporting that Bernie has been making reassuring phone calls to senate colleagues like Dick Durbin and Barbara Boxer.
“We talked about the demonstrations and such,” Durbin said Thursday in an interview. “I am convinced, as Bernie has said repeatedly, he is going to be on the team to defeat Donald Trump. I don’t have any question in my mind.”……
Sanders also called Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) after the chaos at the Nevada Democratic convention. Here is how Boxer characterized their conversation, “He did phone me back last night and he was very distressed about it. It was a very warm conversation, and I told him, he expressed shock that his people would do it. I did tell him the vast majority of those Bernie supporters were sitting in their chairs, they were fine, But there was this group of 50-100 people, they were not young people, they were older people and he ought to check out and see, who these people are, and he said he would. In my mind when he says he does not support any type of violence, I believe him. And he’s got to make sure it doesn’t happen. People will follow his lead.”
I find this very encouraging.
I am also encouraged by these two news pieces reflecting the very rapid change in the state of the climate as enunciated by Joe Romm earlier this week. First, for the first time since the beginning of electricity generation in the UK, coal fired power has zeroed out multiple times in one week in the UK.
Juliet Davenport, chief executive of renewable electricity supplier Good Energy said: “This week marks an historic turning point for energy in the UK.
“Coal formed the backbone of the industrial revolution and was the fuel that powered Britain into the 21st century. But it’s time to begin to say farewell.
“Our energy is becoming cleaner and greener, with wind, solar and other renewables generating more of our electricity than ever before. We are celebrating this news as it shows that our future can be fossil fuel-free.”
And, Bloomberg has an interesting article about how, in the next decade, electric cars are poised — in a good and disruptive sense — to create a new oil crisis.
This isn’t something oil markets are planning for, and it’s easy to see why. Plug-in cars make up just one-tenth of 1 percent of the global car market today. They’re a rarity on the streets of most countries and still cost significantly more than similar gasoline burners. OPEC maintains that electric vehicles (EVs) will make up just 1 percent of cars in 2040. Last year ConocoPhillips Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance told me EVs won’t have a material impact for another 50 years—probably not in his lifetime.
The article is from February, but I just saw it today. Still, very intriguing, and reasons for optimism on a Friday afternoon.