2026 Mid-Term Elections

[Jimmy Higgins]

Of course, things could have been much worse. Had President Sanders, Warren or Harris been elected in 2020, fracking would have been banned and that would have made dealing with supply issues stemming from Russia's invasion 1000x more difficult to handle.

There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Derec, than are dreamt of in Fox News.

A best-case scenario is a big push of construction of renewable-energy systems nuclear power plants, something that would make fracking less necessary.

FTFY.

Nuclear power plants are FAR better for the environment than renewable-energy systems.

A big push of construction of renewable-energy systems isn't the best-case, despite being a better-case than fracking for fossil fuel.

I did see the math where the US transitioning the acreage for corn used to create ethanol to put into gasoline becoming solar panels, would provide enough energy to power the country. It clearly isn't that simple as corn territory snows, cloudy, very big as well as the battery backup would be unthinkable. But it was an interesting thought experiment.

 

[bilby]

Of course, things could have been much worse. Had President Sanders, Warren or Harris been elected in 2020, fracking would have been banned and that would have made dealing with supply issues stemming from Russia's invasion 1000x more difficult to handle.

There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Derec, than are dreamt of in Fox News.

A best-case scenario is a big push of construction of renewable-energy systems nuclear power plants, something that would make fracking less necessary.

FTFY.

Nuclear power plants are FAR better for the environment than renewable-energy systems.

A big push of construction of renewable-energy systems isn't the best-case, despite being a better-case than fracking for fossil fuel.

I did see the math where the US transitioning the acreage for corn used to create ethanol to put into gasoline becoming solar panels, would provide enough energy to power the country. It clearly isn't that simple as corn territory snows, cloudy, very big as well as the battery backup would be unthinkable. But it was an interesting thought experiment.

Interesting thought experiments don't store electricity for use at night.

I wish they did; All our troubles would be so easily resolved.

Sadly, lots of people think wishing makes things so, and that if it's not working, they just need to wish harder.

 

[Derec]

Sadly, lots of people think wishing makes things so, and that if it's not working, they just need to wish harder.

 

[Derec]

There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Derec, than are dreamt of in Fox News.

You say this (or a version of it) a lot. But that dog won't hunt. I don't even watch Fox News, and in any case, it's a way to dismiss things you don't want to deal with out of hand. It's a fallacy.

Of course, we need to decarbonize World's economies. But that takes time. It will take decades to transition to electric cars and cost-effective carbon-neutral synfuels for jet aircraft, not to mention power plants with useful lives measured again in decades, not years.
And not fossil fuels are created the same. Getting rid of most coal-fired electricity in the US was only possible due to the Shale Revolution.

A best-case scenario is a big push of construction of renewable-energy systems, something that would make fracking less necessary.

Europe is well ahead of US in both renewables and energy conservation (so-called "negawatts"). And yet, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, LNG imports from US were necessary to reduce the continent's dependence of Russian gas.
Europe was the main destination for U.S. LNG exports in 2022
Without fracking, we would not have had any gas to export.

With oil, US more than doubling production means that the World is less vulnerable to supply disruptions. Even if we do not export a drop, having to import less means more to go around for everybody else.

 

[bilby]

Renewables, being intermittent, make fossil gas essential.

If we want to reduce fossil fuel consumption by thirty or forty percent, renewables plus fossil gas is the way to go.

If we want to reduce fossil fuel consumption by ninety five percent or more, nuclear fission is the only way to do that.

And if you have a power grid that can generate all the electricity you need from fission plus hydro on a windless night (and we do need that, if we are hoping to reduce carbon emissions to ultra low levels), also having solar and wind supplying that grid when they are available is a pointless and expensive waste of time, effort, money, and resources.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

What is crazy is that some no one in Maine is leading Sen. Collins by 6 to 8% according to Echelon, Maine's People's Resource Center, and Emerson. Of which , Emerson is the most common of them and has him up by 7%... and polling at 48%. Echelon has him at 51%! Emerson's poll has a fat 11% undecided, but still polling at 48% is remarkable.

I think of Sarah Palin, though, and she polled well initially when she was named the running mate of McCain, but that quickly went sour once she started talking.

Same can happen with Platner. He sits at 42% favorable, 38% unfavorable, and most importantly 20% unheard of. That 20% will likely control who wins in November. Platner is likely less at risk for what he says now than for what he has said in the past.

On the other hand, Platner could also win for just being younger than 70. Things are getting that silly now in this country. Maine is a possible steal for the Democrats, but it far from certain. I imagine it is a cheap state to advertise in. But how hard will it be to push MAGA to support Collins?

 

[Elixir]

What is crazy is that some no one in Maine is leading Sen. Collins by 6 to 8% according to Echelon, Maine's People's Resource Center, and Emerson. Of which , Emerson is the most common of them and has him up by 7%... and polling at 48%. Echelon has him at 51%! Emerson's poll has a fat 11% undecided, but still polling at 48% is remarkable.

I think of Sarah Palin, though, and she polled well initially when she was named the running mate of McCain, but that quickly went sour once she started talking.

Same can happen with Platner. He sits at 42% favorable, 38% unfavorable, and most importantly 20% unheard of. That 20% will likely control who wins in November. Platner is likely less at risk for what he says now than for what he has said in the past.

On the other hand, Platner could also win for just being younger than 70. Things are getting that silly now in this country. Maine is a possible steal for the Democrats, but it far from certain. I imagine it is a cheap state to advertise in. But how hard will it be to push MAGA to support Collins?

Platner is well spoken. Collins sounds ever more like an advanced Parkinson’s patient. Her slow-talking used to look like careful consideration. Now it looks like impaired mental process. I’m sure that Mainers have their own impressions though; if they shared mine, Susan would have been gone long ago, punished for her forked, slow moving tongue.

 

[jonatha]

Oil needs to be above a certain level to justify the cost of fracking.

Rather expect it is, don't you?

 

[Politesse]

These are newer issues for our democracy that hasn't been a thing before.

 

[Elixir]

These are newer issues for our democracy that hasn't been a thing before.

View attachment 54166

Ah, the good old days, when a good old boy could put a lefty in their place and still get re-elected!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

These are newer issues for our democracy that hasn't been a thing before.

View attachment 54166

Somebody brutally attacks a guy with a cane in Congress, once... and people just can't let it go.

But more specifically, I was talking about whether we'd have an election or seat the Democrats from CA, NY, VA. Heck, the GOP might through the whole thing into thresher, saying black districts are all gerrymandered.

 

[Politesse]

These are newer issues for our democracy that hasn't been a thing before.

View attachment 54166

Somebody brutally attacks a guy with a cane in Congress, once... and people just can't let it go.

But more specifically, I was talking about whether we'd have an election or seat the Democrats from CA, NY, VA. Heck, the GOP might through the whole thing into thresher, saying black districts are all gerrymandered.

I meant to evoke the general era, but yes. When we start quibbling about whether, rather than how, to meet the requirements of the law in constituting a government, the entire structure is in great peril whichever way one decides.

 

[robnisch]

In Alaska's U.S. Senate race, Peltola takes aim at 'crooked' political elites

If you follow Mary Peltola on social media, maybe you’ve noticed that the former Alaska congresswoman is talking about more than fish, family and freedom as she runs for U.S. Senate.

alaskapublic.org

Polls look good for her.
A Dem and a RINO for Alaskans' senators!!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Peltola and the Oyster guy are leading incumbents, and Sherrod Brown is trailing an appointed Husted who has nothing to show for his service in the Senate.

 

[Derec]

What is crazy is that some no one in Maine is leading Sen. Collins by 6 to 8%

What's especially remarkable here is that this "no one" is an antisemite with a Nazi tattoo.

 

[Politesse]

The problem is Republicans only pretend to shocked and confused about the Nazi thing. They do actually know, and do not care, who their allies are so long as they get what they want.