An update on the Right to Repair Ag bill, what powers Colorado (pt 2), and Holst's The Planets (a personal favorite).
Your right to repair your own Ag equipment in Colorado--an update
I posted earlier about a couple pieces of good news for those who want the right to repair their own Ag equipment. I just recently saw an update to the Colorado bill I mentioned in that post.
It's cleared its first hurdle: it passed the House Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee on a 9 - 4 vote.
Interestingly, and frankly surprising to me, was that the no votes were all Republicans (esp given that one of the co-sponsors is a Republican). Their reasoning is in the article below and I'll leave it to you to read up on why.
I have to say I think their arguments don't hold much water with me. I see their concerns, but I'm so much of a fan of protecting a farmer or rancher's ability to fix their own equipment that I think that takes precedence.
If you're interested in arguing either way on the bill, I linked it second below. As you can see in the screenshot, it was headed to the committee of the whole. If it hasn't already been voted on there, contact your state rep.
If, by the time I post this and you read it, it's passed the house (check "Bill History" tab), the next step will be a Senate committee. Watch there.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/legislature/colorado-advances-bill-on-right-to-repair-agricultural-equipment/article_9bfa5428-a66b-11ed-8dcf-679ef7ac5de4.html
http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1011
What powers Colorado? A look at how “reliable” (to use Polis’ words) renewables are.
While Polis touts "reliable"* sources of renewable energy, what is actually powering Colorado?
As our governor responds to the gigantic natural gas prices in this state, one of his main themes has been how the state needs to move away from its dependence on natural gas and coal.
I agree on a limited basis. I'm not concerned about Colorado's greenhouse gas emissions (more so about others like China for example), I also think that some of the price spikes have to do with international events and we are at their mercy. Diversifying our energy sources is a sound idea.
Still, one must reckon with reality and not political soundbites. And the reality right now is that we are years (decades?) away from being able to power our grid in any consistent fashion without coal and natural gas--all the more so if we want any transitions we make to not be painful.
As evidence, I want to point you to the screenshots attached. They come from the Twitter thread linked below.
Screenshot #1 shows our state's energy mix at the start of our most recent cold snap. The time stamps on the screenshots are in the upper right. I also, for convenience's sake, highlighted renewables in red and coal/NG in blue in all the screenshots.
Screenshot #2 is about 12 hours after the first.
Screenshot #3 is about is about 36 hours after the second.
See the pattern? We do okay on renewables, then they flag. To put some rough numbers to things, in screenshot #1 renewables provide about 38% of our needs. Then 5% and less than 1% in screenshots #2 and #3 respectively.
That's a huge shortfall that will have to be fixed somehow. In other words, before our golden future with electric everything and totally renewable power arrives, those numbers will have to come up and stay up regardless of weather and the time of day.
Until then, what?
Until then, we'd be wise to not push the transition. Until then we'd be wise to continue to get fossil fuels out of the ground and that includes here in the States (particularly Colorado which is rich in them).
You see "diversifying" our energy sources means, at least to me, exploring future technologies to replace fossil fuels, but it also means getting fossil fuels from OUR OWN REGION to insulate ourselves.
One last bit. If you look at screenshot 4, you'll see some of the finishing words from the Twitter thread. Give them a look. I couldn't have said it better myself.
*I don't disagree with Polis here if you take reliable in the sense that turbines and panels are not subject to constant mechanical or electrical failure. I do not if he means in the sense that they generate electricity in a consistent manner over time. I've not seen him specify which, but knowing what I do about Polis' ability with words as a savvy career politician I can't help but think the ambiguity is intentional.
Holst’s The Planets: a personal favorite.
Last one of the day and you know what that means: something for fun and not related to politics.
I want to keep this one short and so I won't write out a bunch here on the subject.
Holst's "The Planets" is a favorite of mine.
We played one of the movements when I was in orchestra in high school-- that's how I got introduced. I've been to see the whole thing live at the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. I've even got the CD (though who needs those anymore?).
I was listening again recently after not hearing it in a while, and it reminded me to share with your for your listening enjoyment.
The one we played when I was in high school was Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity.
The one that stays with me even today from hearing it at CSO is Neptune, the Mystic (they had hidden singers up in the atrium of the CSO concert hall so you couldn't hear the singers but their voices floated down out of the dark from above--wonderful way to do it and the reason it's so indelibly marked in my memory).
The others are good too. One last bit of trivia: don't expect these to correspond to the Roman/Greek myths of the planet names. Holst wrote this based on astrological signs and descriptions (thus Jupiter is the Bringer of Jollity and not the main god).
Happy listening and Happy Friday! If you have a favorite or get a favorite off the list, I'd love to hear which in the comments.