Aside from the fact that they are listening to propaganda, itās also a matter of framing. They think of solar as green weenie shit, the ineffectual limp dick replacement for tried and true all American machine power.
It all starts sounding different when you frame it as a security issue. Large scale solar will keep working through almost anything, even if parts of it are damaged. Most other forms of power need constant maintenance and can suffer catastrophic failure that renders the whole thing inoperable and costing a fortune to replace.
More importantly, it adds flexibility since it can be rapidly deployed and remains effective at smaller scales. The military wants solar because the alternative is often a gas generator that needs fuel shipped in by truck, a common target for attack. If your house has a solar roof and battery backup, a blackout isnāt going to effect you. Power can be out for weeks and youāll barely notice, while previously the only option was a gas generator that only powers a few circuits in your house and is inevitably going to run out of fuel.
The more widespread solar and battery gets, the more secure we are as a civilization against large scale catastrophes that disrupt the grid, whether thatās war, sabotage or natural disasters.
Best way Iāve seen to explain solar power and EVs to a right winger is tell them I donāt have to fill my car with expensive Saudi oil, I make good clean American electricity when the sun hits my roof and I use it to drive around. If oil was worthless because we have better forms of power, we could stop caring what some Arab princes think we should be paying to drive to work.
You can appeal to self-sustaing types or prepper logic as well. Way easier to make your own electricity then it is to extract and refine your own oil. EVs will remain operational much longer after societal collapse then gas powered vehicles will.
Electric motors also require far less maintenance and have far fewer ways they can break down. Oh, and if you live in a cold climate, you can warm it up in the garage without killing yourself.
And actually, if we reach a point where a solar roof and battery are the norm, and basically every vehicle on the road is an EV, civilization collapse becomes that much more unlikely. Thereās no longer a domino effect of the grid going down, pumps and refineries stopping, supply chains collapsing, and technology ceasing to function. Disruptions would be far more localized and their impact would be drastically reduced.
Isnāt that one of the things many Americans want? To be self-sustaining and to not rely on others for their energy? Or am I getting this wrong? (silly european here)
A good friend of mine uses very little energy (just a smol fridge, a router, a smol TV and a phone charger) and he can actually get by easily with his solar panels up top and some batteries he got.
He barely has to purchase any energy anymore, sometimes even in winter.
Which is another security thing, I just didnāt include it because I was typing on my phone and running out of time. But yes, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela, and all the other OPEC countries that your conservative uncle likely has a long history of not liking will lose influence if their oil revenues plummet.
Also, gas goes bad and it can easily become contaminated by something as simple as moisture building up, after which it will damage engines if used. Not to mention that dangers of fire or leaks. The sun wonāt hit its expiration date for a few billion years, and for the most part the worst thing that can happen with solar is that efficiency goes down slightly if the panel needs cleaning.
the ineffectual limp dick replacement for tried and true all American machine power.
the fossil lobby has done a fantastic job of deceiving people about the superiority renewables bring to the generation problem. the fact that they still roll out bullshit like āyou wonāt be able to watch TV at nightā tells you everything.
Meanwhile, in REALITY, the US has installed record amounts of renewables and battery storage.
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/us-battery-energy-storage-deployments-jump/729248/
The real tragedy here is that the educational standards have been allowed to drop so far that ācanāt watch TV at nightā is a legitimate issue with solar to some people.
While youāre not wrong in the educational standards, I think a lot of this, in 2024, is obvious, no shit sherlock ārevelationsā, and the FUD should be combatted on every front - eliminating foreign oil influence, superior quality of life all over, rebuilding the grid, doing FUCKING ANYTHING about realistically reacting to climate change etcā¦
Donāt forget that big turbines can provide inertia into the power network, allowing large power spikes to occur without forcing equipment offline, that can be solved with hydro, flywheel batteries, windmills etc
I honestly think itās egotistical dipshits who canāt admit to being wrong about āthereās no such thing as climate changeā theyāve been going on and on about, for decades.
Only now they really canāt deny it, so itās this little nit-picking of everything that still lets them say āsee, Iām still so smart about this stuff, and smart me thinks we still shouldnāt do anything about climate changeā.
Gonna get us all killed.
nit-picking of everything that still lets them say āsee, Iām still so smart about this stuff"
Ah, the famous Jordan Peterson gambit:
- Present a problem in great detail.
- Explain how this problem is just how things must be, and obviously the only way forward is to roll over and maintain status quo.
- If anyone proposes a solution theyāre a silly liberal who doesnāt understand the complexity of the problem.
If anyone proposes a solution theyāre a silly liberal who doesnāt understand the complexity of the problem.
I find it hilarious that thereās a debate going on about climate scientistsā objectivity when the other side IS LITERALLY THE PETROL LOBBY, and we have decades of data showing how their industry has destroyed the ecosystem.
And Iād suggest people consider: when shit gets really bad, thereās going to be backlash - people crying out āwhy didnāt the scientists save us, why didnāt they stop things if theyāre so smartā and all science will have is decades of warnings going back to the 80s.
meanwhile - the fucks on the right side of OPās image will be the ones leading the torch wielding mobs, probably saying itās a conspiracy by the scientists to profit off the worldās end. which is what the petrol lobby has done.
Farmersā protests against the European Green Deal has to be one of the most mind-boggling movements Iāve witnessed. Itās exactly as you say: by 2050 farmers will be asking for even bigger handouts because their crops failed, while also crying about how EU didnāt stop global warming. Literal children protesting because EU put greens on their plate.
Mfer do you think burnt coal or a coal powerplant can be recycled?
Coal is made of carbon which is 6 proton, 6 neutrons, 6 elections. They are literally spreading hell mass that to no surprise is heating the world to be like hell. We need more trees to cast carbon back to the earth! We need to use the power from the pure light given to us by our God. Praise the Sun!
The sad thing is that arguments like this are actually more likely to get through to these people than actual, logical and/or scientific arguments.
This is the kind rhetoric Iām considering for my future political career. F@#ing sad itās come to this. Same energy as when I tell wife beaters āthey are keying their own carā. I donāt feel women are objects but for the kind of men that do, I think it reaches them.
Or āyeah but weāre burning fuel to make energyā without understanding that a large powerplant burning fuel at 60% efficiency (or whatever percent) is better than 1000 small ones (cars) at the same efficiency
I feel like this is missing āPrime Farmlandā
I keep quoting this article but there are lots of others. Grazing & solar go together quite well.
Thatās a great point. We had a local private solar project that was fenced off and used to graze sheep. The sheep kept the field tidy and had built-in shelter from the sun and rain in warmer months.
It was also part of a farm-to-table project. Unfortunately, that aspect drew the outrage of a neighbor who had ties to PETA. The sheep are gone now and I donāt know the details aside from the local media blowup. There may have been more to the story.
I would love it if they used it to graze goats and rented them out to local property owners. My backyard has some weird terrain that makes it a PITA to mow. Goats will even take out poison ivy with no ill effects. Iād pay for that service.
Point being - that land doesnāt need to be dedicated to a single use.
No cancer? What kind of right wing conspiracy doesnāt make you gay, transgenders your kids or gives you cancer?
Well, something made me gay and trans >:3 wiggles queerly ^.^
And I did have cancerā¦ š¤ But allā that happened whilst with my fashy right-wing parents who tried to protect me from all forms of modern medicine and sense. Maybe itās the right whose ideas are crap and are ruining/killing America š”
