Letters for Thursday, July 20, 2017

• Some opinions smell • Solar trend beats Paris Agreement

Some opinions smell

On Saturday morning I read John Dreisch’s hate-filled rant about Gary Hooser’s hate-filled rant about our current president and the enormously entertaining activities currently going on in our land of the free and home of the brave.

My friends and perhaps my enemies know my opinions about this nonsense so I will not belabor the issue, especially since I want to retain my few remaining conservative pals.

So no matter what side of the issue you find yourself in this fascinating discussion, you have to admit that this old adage has certainly some relevance.

My USMC drill instructor often said (and this is paraphrased because this it is a family paper), “an opinion is like an anus; everybody has one, and no one thinks theirs smells.”

William T. Ivison, Princeville

Solar trend beats Paris Agreement

Solar power has been growing by around 40 percent per year over the past 10 years. Currently, solar supplies about 2 percent of the world’s electricity. World energy use has been growing by about 2 percent per year.

With these figures, a spreadsheet calculation shows that world non-solar energy consumption will peak in 2023 at about 6 percent higher than today’s levels. By 2027, non-solar energy use will be below today’s levels and declining.

This result is based on trends that are already in place. It is much better than the Paris Agreement targets, which allow the biggest polluter, China, and many other countries to increase emissions through 2030.

Mark Beeksma, Koloa