Category Archives: Politics

Why It Is Hard to Convince the US Public of Climate Change

The primary reason that acceptance of climate change has been opposed in America, is that climate change is mainly caused by CO2 from fossil fuel burning, and is strongly opposed by those industries, which are the richest in America.  They … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Fossil Fuel Energy, Natural Gas, Oil, Politics, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Wind Energy | Leave a comment

Universal Background Check Defeat and its reflection on the US as a democratic nation.

In some past posts, I have commented on how the US differs from a perfect, real, or even effective democracy.  There have been many excellent articles in major newspapers on the need for universal background checks, and I don’t have to … Continue reading

Posted in Guns, Politics | Leave a comment

Climate Change Suffering, Adaptation, and Mitigation and Their Funding

In his talk at the National Academy of Sciences Distinctive Voices series, the National Academy President, Ralph Cicerone, described the three aspects of climate change as Mitigation, Adaptation and Suffering.  I use them here in reverse order, because the Suffering is already … Continue reading

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General Comments on the Leak of the Second Draft of WGI of the IPCC Assessment Report 5

First of all, it is an extremely impressive scientific endeavor in terms of the number of scientists involved in each topic or chapter, and the number of references that contribute to it in terms of seven more years of scientific … Continue reading

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Election Savings and California Education

Yea!  All the teachers that I know and the students cheering at a talk I went to applaud the state of California for passing proposition 30, which add funds and avoids cuts and tuition hikes to our schools at all … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Education, Energy Efficiency, Politics, Renewable Energy, University Funding | Leave a comment

What if One Presidential Candidate Wins the Popular Vote, and the Other the Electoral Vote?

Since the Electoral Vote is the only one that matters for getting elected, all of the political genius of the candidates advisers and the candidate’s positions, and their funds and the PACS are directed to winning the electoral vote.  The popular … Continue reading

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The Unfairness of the Electoral System

I had a previous post in my “politics” category, where I discussed the much greater number of electoral votes of the smallest states with the same total population as California.  The 21 least populated states had less population than California, but … Continue reading

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Talk by Prof. Richard Hasen on Voting Wars

This is a summary of today’s UCI Forum by Prof. Richard Hasen on “Voting Wars”.  He is the Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science in the UCI Law School.  He is a prominent national expert on election law and … Continue reading

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Comments on Larry Agran’s Talk on San Onofre

I read Larry Agran’s talk to the packed Irvine City Council meeting on the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).  I want to make comments on some of the statements made there. First of all he makes the comparison that … Continue reading

Posted in Earthquakes, Nuclear Energy, Politics, Solar Energy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Evaluate Before Acting on California Reactor Risk

From what I have read in the local papers, there is much concern locally about earthquakes, tsunamis and other problems at the SONGS nuclear reactors in San Onofre, California.  There have been city council meetings in Laguna Beach and Irvine … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Earthquakes, Electric Power, Fossil Fuel Energy, Nuclear Energy, Politics, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Tsunami | Tagged | Leave a comment