Author Archives: Charlie Carin

Social Security Is More Important Than a Lot of People Realize

by Charlie Carin Posted on August 17, 2015

Mother Jones

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The 2015 Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute is out, and it shows the usual: hardly anyone thinks that Social Security benefits will remain stable in the future. They expect cuts, cuts, and more cuts.

This may be part of the explanation for the two charts on the right. If you ask current workers, only a third think that Social Security will be a major source of retirement income. But if you ask current retirees for a reality check, two-thirds report that Social Security is a major source of their retirement income.

Why the big difference? If workers think Social Security benefits are likely to be cut, that’s probably a part of the explanation. But a bigger part is almost certainly just invincible optimism. Current workers are sure they’re going to save enough, or get a big enough return on their 401(k), or get a big enough inheritance, or something—and this will see them through their retirement. Social Security? It’ll just be a little bit of extra pin money for fun and games.

But in reality, that’s not how it works. For most people, it turns out they don’t save nearly as much as they think, which in turn means that their little Social Security check is what keeps them solvent. If more people understood this, public acceptance of conservative plans to cut Social Security benefits would probably be a lot lower.

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Social Security Is More Important Than a Lot of People Realize

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Survive one Chevron fracking explosion, get a pizza and pop FREE!

by Charlie Carin Posted on February 18, 2014

Survive one Chevron fracking explosion, get a pizza and pop FREE!

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If a multibillion-dollar company started a frack pit fire in your backyard that burned uncontrollably for five days and killed one person, what would you consider fair compensation? A stable of miniature horses? An all-you-can-eat shrimp dinner served on Drake’s private jet? One large pizza AND a two-liter beverage? Strike that last one; maybe we’re just getting greedy.

Or not: Chevron Appalachia deemed the last option an appropriate gesture of goodwill for the residents of Greene County, Pa., where a natural gas well exploded into flames last week. In a letter to 100 residents dated last Sunday — proof that Chevron employees will work even on the Lord’s Day to ensure that those wronged by their explosions can still enjoy a delicious cheesy treat — the Chevron Community Outreach Team acknowledged the accident and enclosed a gift certificate redeemable at Bobtown Pizza for a “Special Combo Only.” To those Greene County residents who perchance desired mozzarella sticks: Better luck next time.

If this tale of egregious corporate tone-deafness seems too good to be true — as we certainly thought — Pennsylvania’s Raging Chicken Press claims to have contacted a Chevron spokesperson and received the following reply:

As part of our comprehensive response to the Lanco well fire that occurred last Tuesday, we have communicated with area residents to answer any questions or concerns. Our operational response has included construction activity, resulting in increased traffic and congestion in the area. As part of our meetings with a small group of immediate neighbors impacted by this activity, we have offered a token of appreciation for their patience during this time.  We also wanted to support Bobtown Pizza, a local business that has been providing meals to our first responders and workers at the well site. Chevron’s priorities remain responding to this incident safely.  We appreciate the strong support we have received from nearby residents and our first responders.

A Bobtown Pizza employee confirmed to Grist on the phone that some customers had already cashed in their gift certificates, although he declined to provide an exact number.

A Special Combo, for those who want to put a price on thoughtfulness, is worth $12.00.

See the full letter below:

Raging Chicken PressClick to embiggen.

Eve Andrews is a Grist fellow and new Seattle transplant via the mean streets of Chicago, Poughkeepsie, and Pittsburgh, respectively and in order of meanness. Follow her on Twitter.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

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Survive one Chevron fracking explosion, get a pizza and pop FREE!

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World Bank says no to nuclear as it lays out universal energy plan

by Charlie Carin Posted on November 28, 2013

World Bank says no to nuclear as it lays out universal energy plan

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The leaders of the United Nations and World Bank have hatched a plan to make sure everybody in the world has access to electricity by 2030. It would involve a huge ramp-up in electricity generation, including continued growth in renewables, and vast improvements in energy efficiency. It would also require hundreds of billions a year in investments.

But not all energy sources are welcome. “We don’t do nuclear energy,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in announcing a push for financing for the plan. (The World Bank doesn’t do much coal anymore either.)

The Sustainable Energy for All initiative is a joint effort by the U.N. and World Bank. From a World Bank press release:

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim [on Wednesday] announced a concerted effort by governments, international agencies, civil society and private sector to mobilize financing to deliver universal access to modern energy services such as lighting, clean cooking solutions and power for productive purposes in developing countries, as well as scaled-up energy efficiency, especially in the world’s highest-energy consuming countries.

Agence France-Presse reports on the no-nukes angle:

“The World Bank Group does not engage in providing support for nuclear power. We think that this is an extremely difficult conversation that every country is continuing to have[,” Kim said.]

“And because we are really not in that business our focus is on finding ways of working in hydro electric power, in geo-thermal, in solar, in wind,” he said.

“We are really focusing on increasing investment in those modalities and we don’t do nuclear energy.”

That decision could frustrate a handful of leading climate scientists, including James Hansen, who recently called for more investment in nuclear power to help fight global warming. But it will please many other environmentalists, who point to the risks and high costs of nuclear power.

Raising the $600 billion to $800 billion a year that Kim said would be needed to light up the developing world, however, could prove as challenging as building a perfectly safe nuclear power plant.


Source
World Bank says no money for nuclear power, Agence France-Presse
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim Outline Plans to Mobilize Financing for Sustainable Energy for All, World Bank

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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World Bank says no to nuclear as it lays out universal energy plan

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Did Berkeley Defund a High-Profile Pesticide Researcher?

by Charlie Carin Posted on August 17, 2013

Mother Jones

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Darnell lives deep in the basement of a life sciences building at the University of California-Berkeley, in a plastic tub on a row of stainless steel shelves. He is an African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, sometimes called the lab rat of amphibians. Like most of his species, he’s hardy and long-lived, an adept swimmer, a poor crawler, and a voracious eater. He’s a good breeder, too, having produced both children and grandchildren. There is, however, one unusual thing about Darnell.

He’s female.

Thus began Dashka Slater’s feature in the Jan./Feb. 2012 Mother Jones on Tyrone Hayes, the University of California/Berkeley biologist who has done groundbreaking research suggesting that atrazine, a widely used herbicide, can literally change frogs’ gender, even at at tiny exposure levels—a finding atrazine’s maker, Swiss agrichemical giant Syngenta, vigorously denies. This week, Darnell and other frogs under Hayes’ care have suffered another indignity, according to Hayes: he reportedly told The Chronicle of Higher Education (paywall-protected) that the university has cut off funding for his Berkeley lab. “We’re dead in the water,” Hayes told the Chronicle. He is now without funds “needed to pay for basic functional operations, such as the care of test animals,” the magazine reports. The university denies it has taken any action to defund Hayes—a spokesperson “suggested the possibility that he simply ran out of money,” the Chronicle reports.

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Did Berkeley Defund a High-Profile Pesticide Researcher?

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Lies Your Government Tells You

by Charlie Carin Posted on July 1, 2013

Mother Jones

This might be the least surprising statement of the year:

Details that have emerged from the exposure of hundreds of pages of previously classified NSA documents indicate that public assertions about these programs by senior U.S. officials have [] often been misleading, erroneous or simply false….An examination of public statements over a period of years suggests that officials have often relied on legalistic parsing and carefully hedged characterizations in discussing the NSA’s collection of communications.

Read the whole thing.

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Lies Your Government Tells You

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How Industry Insiders Are Quietly Finding Solar Panel Contractors Easily

by Charlie Carin Posted on May 29, 2013

Uh oh. That home renovation project is looming and you need a dependable person to run the job. Not much time and you need a solar panel installation contractor! You want someone charging fair rates who knows what they’re doing, but where do you even start? Don’t let the search overwhelm you. Here’s what you need to know to find the right person now.

A potential solar panel installation contractor who isn’t fully insured or bonded could cause a lot of expensive problems for you. When considering a potential contractor get their references and contact them to find out if the contractor is everything you need.

Interviewing solar panel installation contractors is very important, you might have done all the research you could on somebody and they’ve got stellar reviews, but it all comes down to opinion. If you feel like they don’t fit well with your or your project, you aren’t forced to hire them. Interview all of your potential contractors before you hire them.

Once the specialist is in your home, ask questions. Ask what could have prevented the problem or what could prevent it in the future. Knowing the source of the problem can prevent costly mistakes down the line.

You should never sign a written agreement with only an estimate, you always want the final price on any contracts you sign. If its just an estimate this can leave the solar panel installation contractor wiggle room to boost the price of you. If you can’t afford it, aska lawyer to review the agreement before you sign it.

Be clear about all the duties of the solar panel installation contractor that you hire. They are supposed to take care of all the aspects such as hiring solar panel experts, supervisors, getting permits etc. All these duties should be made part of the contract. This will save you from a lot of trouble at a later stage.

You will want to search for and hire a solar panel installation contractor who is willing and able to keep your interests in mind. Before hiring a contractor for your project, it is bets to take some time and explain all the requirements and expectations that you have for the contractor to ensure the project runs smoothly.

Visit a few job sites by yourself and ask the workers as to who they think is the best solar panel installation contractor. Hire the contractor on the basis of their recommendations because they will recommend the best one available around.

Finding the best solar panel installation contractor for your project will take quite a bit of time. It’s best to start your search way before you plan on starting your project so that you will get all the time you need. If the project is urgent you will have to deal with a longer time from than planned.

Going online to get more suggestions could be a fantastic idea. Go to Google and search for solar energy installation. You could be pleasantly impressed with new suggestions about solar energy.

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