All Things Environment

[Farfromgeneva]

Coming to your town soon? Check your elevation and the surrounding watershed.

"They are among 21 known victims of the historic rain and flash flooding that swept central Tennessee on Saturday, devastating the small city of Waverly, about 60 miles west of Nashville."

"The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) called the torrential rain and flooding “catastrophic.” One observation site recorded 17 inches of rain in 24 hours, blowing past the state’s nearly 14-inch record set in 1982, a meteorologist said. A flash flood watch issued Friday quickly became a “flash flood emergency” Saturday as some people yelled for help from their rooftops while others found themselves trapped in vehicles."

They might want to abandon this site:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.0989557 ... m2!1e1!1e4

How would the highest point in a valley work? Should’ve kept my moms house .

[Farfromgeneva]

It’s clear EV is a conspiracy in true Patriots of our country...

[youthathletics]

Heads up Chevy Bolt owners. $1B Global recall due to battery fires.

Park outside don't charge > 90%.

https://www.autonews.com/article/201603 ... 24-billion

Don’t sit in front of the steering wheel when you drive.

Much like don't put that Android phone in your front pocket

[RedFromMI]

Heads up Chevy Bolt owners. $1B Global recall due to battery fires.

Park outside don't charge > 90%.

No recall is ever cheap. Way too much paperwork and documentation required, plus you are paying some dealer $$ or more to actually accomplish whatever fix is needed - and in this case full battery pack replacement, due to the nature of how GM is handling it.

The reduced charge/etc. is a temporary fix until the pack is replaced.

I paid for almost all my undergraduate education working in the summers for Buick in Flint, MI. I was told then that the absolutely cheapest recall that GM had run up until that point was about $10K - and that was for just a few cars that had never actually left the plant. I spend some number of hours in the summer of 1977 high up in an old plant cage finding documentation to help limit another recall that was in the early planning stages. Almost got locked in for the night - thank goodness I could climb out of that cage...

[Typical Lax Dad]

Heads up Chevy Bolt owners. $1B Global recall due to battery fires.

Park outside don't charge > 90%.

No recall is ever cheap. Way too much paperwork and documentation required, plus you are paying some dealer $$ or more to actually accomplish whatever fix is needed - and in this case full battery pack replacement, due to the nature of how GM is handling it.

The reduced charge/etc. is a temporary fix until the pack is replaced.

I paid for almost all my undergraduate education working in the summers for Buick in Flint, MI. I was told then that the absolutely cheapest recall that GM had run up until that point was about $10K - and that was for just a few cars that had never actually left the plant. I spend some number of hours in the summer of 1977 high up in an old plant cage finding documentation to help limit another recall that was in the early planning stages. Almost got locked in for the night - thank goodness I could climb out of that cage...

I interned at a GM plant in the 1980’s. My father and my sister worked there on an assembly line and my sister thought I was crazy for not taking a job there out of college. She had a nice car and an apartment. My father didn’t think a career in auto was a good move but figured I would be ok whatever I chose to do. Went into banking and had to avoid traps and land mines but managed.

[Farfromgeneva]

Heads up Chevy Bolt owners. $1B Global recall due to battery fires.

Park outside don't charge > 90%.

https://www.autonews.com/article/201603 ... 24-billion

Don’t sit in front of the steering wheel when you drive.

Much like don't put that Android phone in your front pocket

That’s how you can perform on bourbon!

[Farfromgeneva]

Heads up Chevy Bolt owners. $1B Global recall due to battery fires.

Park outside don't charge > 90%.

No recall is ever cheap. Way too much paperwork and documentation required, plus you are paying some dealer $$ or more to actually accomplish whatever fix is needed - and in this case full battery pack replacement, due to the nature of how GM is handling it.

The reduced charge/etc. is a temporary fix until the pack is replaced.

I paid for almost all my undergraduate education working in the summers for Buick in Flint, MI. I was told then that the absolutely cheapest recall that GM had run up until that point was about $10K - and that was for just a few cars that had never actually left the plant. I spend some number of hours in the summer of 1977 high up in an old plant cage finding documentation to help limit another recall that was in the early planning stages. Almost got locked in for the night - thank goodness I could climb out of that cage...

People have little sense of scale too as it represents 0.8% of 2020 revenues (1/122.5). I’m just going to throw out a number and hope people think it’s crazy large. Same with Brooklyn repeatedly and dogmatically citing this $2Tn number on the war which is a lot but it’s $100Bn/yr a lot front loaded in the first few and making all sorts of allegations on this supposedly large number. Now I think dedicating 14% ($100bn avg on $730mm, or 10% of a $7.3Tn budget in 2019) of my 2019 defense budget there is inefficient but that’s not what he’s using the number for.

[Farfromgeneva]

Heads up Chevy Bolt owners. $1B Global recall due to battery fires.

Park outside don't charge > 90%.

No recall is ever cheap. Way too much paperwork and documentation required, plus you are paying some dealer $$ or more to actually accomplish whatever fix is needed - and in this case full battery pack replacement, due to the nature of how GM is handling it.

The reduced charge/etc. is a temporary fix until the pack is replaced.

I paid for almost all my undergraduate education working in the summers for Buick in Flint, MI. I was told then that the absolutely cheapest recall that GM had run up until that point was about $10K - and that was for just a few cars that had never actually left the plant. I spend some number of hours in the summer of 1977 high up in an old plant cage finding documentation to help limit another recall that was in the early planning stages. Almost got locked in for the night - thank goodness I could climb out of that cage...

I interned at a GM plant in the 1980’s. My father and my sister worked there on an assembly line and my sister thought I was crazy for not taking a job there out of college. She had a nice car and an apartment. My father didn’t think a career in auto was a good move but figured I would be ok whatever I chose to do. Went into banking and had to avoid traps and land mines but managed.

My uncle lived in Webster for years had a CC degree and became a line manager for Kodak making like $125-$150k in the 1980s. Last decade there was a mess and he took a buyout in early-mid 2000s. His wife died in late 2000a and he killed himself in 2014 leaving his dog at his house with a note that said “body hurts, heart hurts” (dads side so he was like 6’3” 300lbs or more had a knee replacement etc) drove into the woods, he was now living in Rome a little closer to his kids, and shot himself in his car.

Then a few years back I have a friend who is from RI might've started in audit but went to Textron Financial, Wells Fargo Foothill and one or two other stops but been bumping around seems happy running an office for a BDC sponsored by Owl Rock (one of the founders of well known high yield shop GSO named Dan Ostrover). We were having lunch before he took this and was bummed telling me his dad told him he’d always hve a job if he studied accounting which he did somewhere in the NE but he realized any advice like that to his kid was bad advice and really it’s about maintaining contemporary knowledge and skills and never being complacent in this democracy/capitalism paradigm we live in today (paradigm part is me paraphrasing his language).

I know every time I’ve had things fall sideways there’s always been an element of recent complacency to some extent on my part. What makes us all dumb is imagine when we were cavemen. Surviving from day to day however it took while dinosaurs were trying to literally eat your a** and your kids would murder you for water. Why do we think as the same species things are supposed to ever be out in any degree of cruise control?

[old salt]

Heads up Chevy Bolt owners. $1B Global recall due to battery fires.

Park outside don't charge > 90%.

No recall is ever cheap. Way too much paperwork and documentation required, plus you are paying some dealer $$ or more to actually accomplish whatever fix is needed - and in this case full battery pack replacement, due to the nature of how GM is handling it.

The reduced charge/etc. is a temporary fix until the pack is replaced.

I paid for almost all my undergraduate education working in the summers for Buick in Flint, MI. I was told then that the absolutely cheapest recall that GM had run up until that point was about $10K - and that was for just a few cars that had never actually left the plant. I spend some number of hours in the summer of 1977 high up in an old plant cage finding documentation to help limit another recall that was in the early planning stages. Almost got locked in for the night - thank goodness I could climb out of that cage...

People have little sense of scale too as it represents 0.8% of 2020 revenues (1/122.5).

I included the cost, simply becaise it was part of the story reported.
The was irt the warning to park outside.
Ref pt -- GM's TARP bailout was $11.2B.

[Farfromgeneva]

Heads up Chevy Bolt owners. $1B Global recall due to battery fires.

Park outside don't charge > 90%.

No recall is ever cheap. Way too much paperwork and documentation required, plus you are paying some dealer $$ or more to actually accomplish whatever fix is needed - and in this case full battery pack replacement, due to the nature of how GM is handling it.

The reduced charge/etc. is a temporary fix until the pack is replaced.

I paid for almost all my undergraduate education working in the summers for Buick in Flint, MI. I was told then that the absolutely cheapest recall that GM had run up until that point was about $10K - and that was for just a few cars that had never actually left the plant. I spend some number of hours in the summer of 1977 high up in an old plant cage finding documentation to help limit another recall that was in the early planning stages. Almost got locked in for the night - thank goodness I could climb out of that cage...

People have little sense of scale too as it represents 0.8% of 2020 revenues (1/122.5).

I included the cost, simply becaise it was part of the story reported.
The was irt the warning to park outside.
Ref pt -- GM's TARP bailout was $11.2B.

It’s just a headline. Wasn’t there a car in the 70s that was prone to engine fires? There was. I wouldn’t equate this headline with any suggestion that EV is problematic and some great conspiracy of the liberals to screw entrenched power though.

Tarp = 9% of revenues.

I also didn’t believe any money should’ve gone to the automakers because I watched Ford who did not take federal money because they got liquid knowing they were all structurally f**ked in the early 2000s ans had begun rightsizing its business from unloading its “premier auto group” subs to liquifying everything not nailed down such that my German bans us general counsel was being asked if we didn’t have to find out portion of revolving facilities if drawn upon (answer was “yeah you do, these were bilaterally negotiated with Big 3 docs in the late 90a on their terms”) so it was evident as day to me that they were only struggling because of their own mismanagement and not the financial crisis.

[old salt]

Heads up Chevy Bolt owners. $1B Global recall due to battery fires.

Park outside don't charge > 90%.

No recall is ever cheap. Way too much paperwork and documentation required, plus you are paying some dealer $$ or more to actually accomplish whatever fix is needed - and in this case full battery pack replacement, due to the nature of how GM is handling it.

The reduced charge/etc. is a temporary fix until the pack is replaced.

I paid for almost all my undergraduate education working in the summers for Buick in Flint, MI. I was told then that the absolutely cheapest recall that GM had run up until that point was about $10K - and that was for just a few cars that had never actually left the plant. I spend some number of hours in the summer of 1977 high up in an old plant cage finding documentation to help limit another recall that was in the early planning stages. Almost got locked in for the night - thank goodness I could climb out of that cage...

People have little sense of scale too as it represents 0.8% of 2020 revenues (1/122.5).

I included the cost, simply becaise it was part of the story reported.
The was irt the warning to park outside.
Ref pt -- GM's TARP bailout was $11.2B.

It’s just a headline. Wasn’t there a car in the 70s that was prone to engine fires? There was. I wouldn’t equate this headline with any suggestion that EV is problematic and some great conspiracy of the liberals to screw entrenched power though.

Tarp = 9% of revenues.

I also didn’t believe any money should’ve gone to the automakers because I watched Ford who did not take federal money because they got liquid knowing they were all structurally f**ked in the early 2000s ans had begun rightsizing its business from unloading its “premier auto group” subs to liquifying everything not nailed down such that my German bans us general counsel was being asked if we didn’t have to find out portion of revolving facilities if drawn upon (answer was “yeah you do, these were bilaterally negotiated with Big 3 docs in the late 90a on their terms”) so it was evident as day to me that they were only struggling because of their own mismanagement and not the financial crisis.

No conspiracy. What's problematic is that we do not yet have the battery technology necessary to support the forced conversion to EV's & the infrastructure to operate them, just as we do not have the storage capacity adequate to effectively use all the wind & solar electrical power we already generate, let alone depend more on them.

[Farfromgeneva]

Forced? I didn’t know the big three were held at gunpoint. A growing consensus is not force. Fossil fuels do not need to run our vehicles. We know this. Cost benefit is a question but look at it like this, a the c store gas stations that have LUSTs (leaking underground storage tanks) that have gotten into water supplies will go away forever eventually. The investment in an EV charging station network is going to make some entrepreneurs rich (trust me I’ve been banging on my FIL to get his business in that game for two years now). It will force upgrades in quality and security of our power grid by extension which you will appreciate.

It sounds like you see anything that you don’t like hope int as it’s being forced or coerced into people but it’s the will when it’s what you like.

[RedFromMI]

Transportation is the single biggest source of CO_2 emissions in the US since ~2017. While electrifying it will not remove all of that CO_2 from the input to the atmosphere (since at least some of the power will continue to be produced by fossil fuels for a while), it does set us on a good path forward.

Batteries, while still needing development, are consistently getting better and better. But it is the infrastructure to provide not only charging stations but get it everywhere it is needed plus without onerous charging times that is a bigger roadblock in adoption of EVs.

If you have to carefully plan a long trip and stop every 200 miles for an hour long charge, that will not be acceptable. But extending ranges to 350-400 miles, and getting nearly full charges in more like 15 minutes or less will go a long way toward the adoption of EVs. And the reduced maintenance costs of an electric power system will then be able to drive adoption in a big way.

[Farfromgeneva]

Transportation is the single biggest source of CO_2 emissions in the US since ~2017. While electrifying it will not remove all of that CO_2 from the input to the atmosphere (since at least some of the power will continue to be produced by fossil fuels for a while), it does set us on a good path forward.

Batteries, while still needing development, are consistently getting better and better. But it is the infrastructure to provide not only charging stations but get it everywhere it is needed plus without onerous charging times that is a bigger roadblock in adoption of EVs.

If you have to carefully plan a long trip and stop every 200 miles for an hour long charge, that will not be acceptable. But extending ranges to 350-400 miles, and getting nearly full charges in more like 15 minutes or less will go a long way toward the adoption of EVs. And the reduced maintenance costs of an electric power system will then be able to drive adoption in a big way.

Most utility cos will hook you up for charging or using energy in off peak hours. I have a friend who is a coupon clipper type and got a leaf for free and would do his dishes, laundry and car charging overnight and it cut his utility bill in half .

[NattyBohChamps04]

Batteries, while still needing development, are consistently getting better and better. But it is the infrastructure to provide not only charging stations but get it everywhere it is needed plus without onerous charging times that is a bigger roadblock in adoption of EVs.

If you have to carefully plan a long trip and stop every 200 miles for an hour long charge, that will not be acceptable. But extending ranges to 350-400 miles, and getting nearly full charges in more like 15 minutes or less will go a long way toward the adoption of EVs. And the reduced maintenance costs of an electric power system will then be able to drive adoption in a big way.

We're already there. There are EVs with 350-400 mile ranges (some close to 500). With a 15 minute charge (stretch your legs, bathroom break, let the dog out) you can get an additional 200 miles. The car plans the trip itself via the dashboard. Input your destination and it'll tell you where to stop and for how long. It'll also tell you how much money you saved vs. using gas if you wanna know.

Interstates are already set up with charging stations and more are being added every month. Road trips may take a little more planning than a gas car, but they're perfectly fine for most daily drivers.

[Farfromgeneva]

That’s not nearly enough for a full conversion though.

I’m telling you power grid, ev stations and private water infrastructure are where folks are going to make some serious killings next 10-15yrs.

[old salt]

Forced? I didn’t know the big three were held at gunpoint. A growing consensus is not force. Fossil fuels do not need to run our vehicles. We know this. Cost benefit is a question but look at it like this, a the c store gas stations that have LUSTs (leaking underground storage tanks) that have gotten into water supplies will go away forever eventually. The investment in an EV charging station network is going to make some entrepreneurs rich (trust me I’ve been banging on my FIL to get his business in that game for two years now). It will force upgrades in quality and security of our power grid by extension which you will appreciate.

It sounds like you see anything that you don’t like hope int as it’s being forced or coerced into people but it’s the will when it’s what you like.

I think EV tech & solar/wind are great. No matter how much happy talk you recycle, they are not practical at scale without a breakthrough in battery technology. The conversion to both is being driven by govt incentives & penalties, not by market forces.

Until there are as many charging stations as there are gas stations & you can charge up as quickly as you can fill up, EV's won't be competitive without govt incentives/penalties to force a conversion.

[Farfromgeneva]

Forced? I didn’t know the big three were held at gunpoint. A growing consensus is not force. Fossil fuels do not need to run our vehicles. We know this. Cost benefit is a question but look at it like this, a the c store gas stations that have LUSTs (leaking underground storage tanks) that have gotten into water supplies will go away forever eventually. The investment in an EV charging station network is going to make some entrepreneurs rich (trust me I’ve been banging on my FIL to get his business in that game for two years now). It will force upgrades in quality and security of our power grid by extension which you will appreciate.

It sounds like you see anything that you don’t like hope int as it’s being forced or coerced into people but it’s the will when it’s what you like.

I think EV tech & solar/wind are great. No matter how much happy talk you recycle, they are not practical at scale without a breakthrough in battery technology. The conversion to both is being driven by govt incentives & penalties, not by market forces.

Until there are as many charging stations as there are gas stations & you can charge up as quickly as you can fill up, EV's won't be competitive without govt incentives/penalties to force a conversion.

I’m a fairly strict libertarian in general and don’t like almost all subsidies. If they have to exist I want the transparent and the costs explained. I think with renewables in general the first is very much true and TBD on the second but a fairly bad grade overall so far. Not the liberal conspiracy some go bonkers on. I spent a stretch hyper focused on ethanol for a few months in the mid 2000s. While my research and white paper were sufficient to get our masters in Frankfurt to allow us to allocate a few hundred million to the space really in the 6th-7th inning of that play after Metalmark (MS spin-off) and TH lee had big business/portfolio trades at like $5+/gal of production capacity in bulk scale operations where there was a 45 cent or so subsidy and a few pennies of co product (CO2) revenue (which was wildly overestimated as additional revenue). Anyway our sugar subsidies to a few states made this way worse in that Brazil could cheaply run E85 but we had to protect a few states and therefor built a Corn input based industry in the Us around the Bush (well intentioned) mandate. we could see supply blowing through the mandate and as we all know price/ supply floors/ceilings become each other Ie the marginal barrel above the mandated production was worth wayy less. And it drove corn prices per bushel equivalent through 2x 30yr highs per Bloomberg data into the $8+ range affecting all corn based products. And each plant pitched growth and jobs around these beat up garbage Midwest towns where the corn was but it was like 85-90 $13/hr gigs and 5-10 $40k+ professional jobs in areas that had lost thousands of jobs over the years. Whole thing was a disaster out of a well intentioned mandate. I get it. I also see a flood of private VC money into it way more and in spite of the subsidies though they help. Could argue monetary policy provides the subsidy w cheap risk taking money but that ignores the ridiculous currency sterilization and loose monetary policies throughout the rest of the world.

I don’t see it as forced. I don’t like the subsidies and have other issues with the space but also see it as a tide coming anyways so I’ll hold my nose and accept the wealth transfer here vs most others I live with every day of my life.

[old salt]

Forced? I didn’t know the big three were held at gunpoint. A growing consensus is not force. Fossil fuels do not need to run our vehicles. We know this. Cost benefit is a question but look at it like this, a the c store gas stations that have LUSTs (leaking underground storage tanks) that have gotten into water supplies will go away forever eventually. The investment in an EV charging station network is going to make some entrepreneurs rich (trust me I’ve been banging on my FIL to get his business in that game for two years now). It will force upgrades in quality and security of our power grid by extension which you will appreciate.

It sounds like you see anything that you don’t like hope int as it’s being forced or coerced into people but it’s the will when it’s what you like.

I think EV tech & solar/wind are great. No matter how much happy talk you recycle, they are not practical at scale without a breakthrough in battery technology. The conversion to both is being driven by govt incentives & penalties, not by market forces.

Until there are as many charging stations as there are gas stations & you can charge up as quickly as you can fill up, EV's won't be competitive without govt incentives/penalties to force a conversion.

I’m a fairly strict libertarian in general and don’t like almost all subsidies. If they have to exist I want the transparent and the costs explained. I think with renewables in general the first is very much true and TBD on the second but a fairly bad grade overall so far. Not the liberal conspiracy some go bonkers on. I spent a stretch hyper focused on ethanol for a few months in the mid 2000s. While my research and white paper were sufficient to get our masters in Frankfurt to allow us to allocate a few hundred million to the space really in the 6th-7th inning of that play after Metalmark (MS spin-off) and TH lee had big business/portfolio trades at like $5+/gal of production capacity in bulk scale operations where there was a 45 cent or so subsidy and a few pennies of co product (CO2) revenue (which was wildly overestimated as additional revenue). Anyway our sugar subsidies to a few states made this way worse in that Brazil could cheaply run E85 but we had to protect a few states and therefor built a Corn input based industry in the Us around the Bush (well intentioned) mandate. we could see supply blowing through the mandate and as we all know price/ supply floors/ceilings become each other Ie the marginal barrel above the mandated production was worth wayy less. And it drove corn prices per bushel equivalent through 2x 30yr highs per Bloomberg data into the $8+ range affecting all corn based products. And each plant pitched growth and jobs around these beat up garbage Midwest towns where the corn was but it was like 85-90 $13/hr gigs and 5-10 $40k+ professional jobs in areas that had lost thousands of jobs over the years. Whole thing was a disaster out of a well intentioned mandate. I get it. I also see a flood of private VC money into it way more and in spite of the subsidies though they help. Could argue monetary policy provides the subsidy w cheap risk taking money but that ignores the ridiculous currency sterilization and loose monetary policies throughout the rest of the world.

I don’t see it as forced. I don’t like the subsidies and have other issues with the space but also see it as a tide coming anyways so I’ll hold my nose and accept the wealth transfer here vs most others I live with every day of my life.

I can live with subsidies if I'm convinced the technology is going to work, at scale. With both EV's & wind/solar, I think it's still a big risk.

You mentioned soil & groundwater contamination from MBTE in mogas. That was one factor driving the subsidy of ethanol.

The addition of ethanol to mogas rendered obsolete & impractical many small aircraft, boats, farm & industrial vehicles whose fuel systems could not tolerate alcohol additives.

[MDlaxfan76]

We're going to need many forms of power generation, with as much generated and distributed hyper-locally as possible.

Think waves, tidal, wind, solar...whatever works locally. Getting this down to virtually 'free' at home or your business, due to local generation (roof panels, etc) will be happening. And having easy, fast 'fill-up' when traveling is indeed key. Yes, it's already happening, and the ability of the car to actually adjust where it stops to do so is very, very cool...and coming shortly are true, self-driving capabilities at scale.

I agree that we need more efficient power distribution lines (too much lost in transmission), but we'll likely see those improvements steadily as has already been occurring, and likewise, we definitely need continuing improvements in battery technology.

I'm very much in favor of gov't subsidies encouraging adoption and R&D, as I think this is a global race for solutions, benefiting all of mankind, but also providing very real good jobs in the meantime. The gov't $ spent spur multiples of such in private investment.