Texas Basks in the Sun (and Wind)
An abbreviated version of the newsletter about the human and environmental costs of renewable energy and digital technology —and how we can do better.
Apologies to one and all, but I didn’t manage to put together a proper issue of Power Metal this week. I've been helping pack my oldest kid off to college, and am seizing the last sliver of summer here in British Columbia for a quick backpacking trip! I’ll be back next week, but in the meantime here’s some quick-format news worth knowing:
American Solar Power Manufacturing Has Quadrupled In the Past Two Years. The industry has been given a huge boost by the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which provides billions in various supports for renewable projects. The state leading the charge on such projects is, of all places, Texas. Over the next 18 months, according to Michael Thomas’ Cleanview Newsletter, the once oil-dependent Lone Star State plans to add more than twice as much wind and solar power as second-place California. Worldwide, the annual amount of solar power generating capacity installed last year was a record 428 gigawatts—almost triple the figure in 2020. Bonus encouraging fact: for the first time ever, the European Union now generates more energy from wind and solar than fossil fuels.
💀 Dozens of Anti-Mining Activists Were Killed Last Year, according to an annual tally by Global Witness. Of the 79 “land and environment defenders” killed while opposing various industrial projects, 25 were protesting against mining operations.
🧑🚒 Lithium-ion Batteries Sparked Two Fires in One Day around Portland. Meanwhile, investigators found it took 50,000 gallons of water to put out a burning battery-powered Tesla truck in California last month.
🚶🏾♂️➡️More Kids Are Walking to School Thanks to Clean Air Measures In London
🦋 Solar Farms Can Be Havens for Plants and Animals (Maybe!)
Thanks for reading, and…