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Google deletes net-zero pledge from sustainability website

nationalobserver.com

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Re: Google deletes net-zero pledge from sustainability website

#31

Post by physhster »

throw9394494i88 wrote: post #26
mullingitover wrote: post #7

Meanwhile China is on track to install as much solar power in the past year as the US has in its entire history . The US has maintained steep tariffs on solar panels. Clean energy isn't even some virtuous thing, it's just no-brainer smart energy policy. The only reason for Google to be backpedaling on its pledge is political. It's in a backsliding petrostate and it has to play the political game.

Importing solar panels from China is a security risk. Like when Europe depended on Russian gas... Edit: US has no competitive way to manufacture panels, and with cheap imports, it never develops such industry!

Better than not having solar panels at all...

Re: Google deletes net-zero pledge from sustainability website

#32

Post by wcunning »

dfxm12 wrote: post #10
mullingitover wrote: post #7

Meanwhile China is on track to install as much solar power in the past year as the US has in its entire history . The US has maintained steep tariffs on solar panels. Clean energy isn't even some virtuous thing, it's just no-brainer smart energy policy. The only reason for Google to be backpedaling on its pledge is political. It's in a backsliding petrostate and it has to play the political game.

Is there evidence that they are doing this to appease Trump? What if they wanted to do this anyway and recognize that at this time, they can use appeasement as a weaselly way to justify it.

There has been a move to get the FTC to start labeling these net carbon numbers as misleading advertising because it always includes a bunch of purchased offsets unrelated to the company. Further, there have been some real and complicated situations where carbon credits were sold more than the actual amount of offset carbon -- meaning for example BigCorpA and BigCorpB buy the same "green energy infra" credits from projects that are in construction and then never actually meet their listed goals, but both companies claim to be carbon neutral because of the claims for several years before that comes out. Matt Levine had a very interesting column on forestry in the US Southeast talking about places getting paid to not cut down trees far in excess of the number of trees that could realistically be harvested. Google might be frontrunning some of those arguments. Or might have done the real audit of the claims and realized that they had been less carbon offset than they thought, so safer to just pull the whole pledge at least in the short term.

Re: Google deletes net-zero pledge from sustainability website

#34

Post by unethical_ban »

throw9394494i88 wrote: post #26
mullingitover wrote: post #7

Meanwhile China is on track to install as much solar power in the past year as the US has in its entire history . The US has maintained steep tariffs on solar panels. Clean energy isn't even some virtuous thing, it's just no-brainer smart energy policy. The only reason for Google to be backpedaling on its pledge is political. It's in a backsliding petrostate and it has to play the political game.

Importing solar panels from China is a security risk. Like when Europe depended on Russian gas... Edit: US has no competitive way to manufacture panels, and with cheap imports, it never develops such industry!

Doubt. Considering the lifespan of solar panels and the ability to manufacture panels at a later date, totally different situations.

We should look to non Chinese suppliers strategically, but they can't remote shutdown panels in an instant like Russia can stop a flow of gas.

Re: Google deletes net-zero pledge from sustainability website

#35

Post by genter »

throw9394494i88 wrote: post #26
mullingitover wrote: post #7

Meanwhile China is on track to install as much solar power in the past year as the US has in its entire history . The US has maintained steep tariffs on solar panels. Clean energy isn't even some virtuous thing, it's just no-brainer smart energy policy. The only reason for Google to be backpedaling on its pledge is political. It's in a backsliding petrostate and it has to play the political game.

Importing solar panels from China is a security risk. Like when Europe depended on Russian gas... Edit: US has no competitive way to manufacture panels, and with cheap imports, it never develops such industry!

One of the fascinating things about solar panels is that they continue to produce electricity for many years. Unlike a gallon of gas, once you burn it, it's gone.

Re: Google deletes net-zero pledge from sustainability website

#36

Post by _mlbt »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #24
_mlbt wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a large nation the size of the former Soviet Union or China should be enough to invalidate communism and centrally planned economies if that’s what you’re suggesting.

Those just invalidate totalitarianism. On the other hand, the US government uplifted itself from the great depression and won WWII thanks to a centrally planned economy. People like to forget about that fact though.

How do you achieve nation or world scale communism without totalitarianism? I am one of many people who know the history of communism’s failures and will never accept it willingly.

Re: Google deletes net-zero pledge from sustainability website

#37

Post by [deleted] »

dpkirchner wrote: post #18
dfxm12 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there evidence that they are doing this to appease Trump? What if they wanted to do this anyway and recognize that at this time, they can use appeasement as a weaselly way to justify it.

I'm not sure we're going to find a smoking gun here -- like an executive saying this was removed because it made MAGAs irrationally angry, say.

[deleted]

Re: Google deletes net-zero pledge from sustainability website

#38

Post by cmcconomy »

genter wrote: post #35
throw9394494i88 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Importing solar panels from China is a security risk. Like when Europe depended on Russian gas... Edit: US has no competitive way to manufacture panels, and with cheap imports, it never develops such industry!

One of the fascinating things about solar panels is that they continue to produce electricity for many years. Unlike a gallon of gas, once you burn it, it's gone.

remarkable

Re: Google deletes net-zero pledge from sustainability website

#39

Post by gosub100 »

parthdesai wrote: post #6
barbazoo wrote: post #3

> “Running the global infrastructure behind our products and services, including AI, takes considerable energy,” said Google in its Environment 2025 report, which explained that it will be almost impossible to meet its erstwhile net-zero ambitions, partly due to its expansion in AI. Greed, greed, greed. They'd rather see the world burn than not be first in AI whatever that means. They could still achieve net zero, th…

AI is literally an existential threat to their business, what are you talking about?

That's a strange way to spell "competition". Where is it written that environmental considerations go out the window when having to compete in business?

Re: Google deletes net-zero pledge from sustainability website

#40

Post by immibis »

throw9394494i88 wrote: post #26
mullingitover wrote: post #7

Meanwhile China is on track to install as much solar power in the past year as the US has in its entire history . The US has maintained steep tariffs on solar panels. Clean energy isn't even some virtuous thing, it's just no-brainer smart energy policy. The only reason for Google to be backpedaling on its pledge is political. It's in a backsliding petrostate and it has to play the political game.

Importing solar panels from China is a security risk. Like when Europe depended on Russian gas... Edit: US has no competitive way to manufacture panels, and with cheap imports, it never develops such industry!

No, because you need a continual supply of gas to keep having factories, but once you have a solar field, you have it.

Ther rated lifespan for a solar panel is on the order of 20-30 years, but they're still producing 70-80% of their output after that time. They last a very long time - if not destroyed from above.

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