1. We have moved to "green" energy before it could make up for the loss in fossil fuel energy and nuclear energy (which is also "green" in emissions terms).
2. The lack of energy is imposing hardship on residents and businesses in the form of shortages, higher prices, and lack of reliability.
3. We are about to mandate electric vehicles at a time when we are also telling people not to charge their electric vehicles at certain times of day due to electricity shortages.
4. Ostensibly, we are going to find a way to expand the grid's capacity by 30% in the next 13 years without building new fossil fuel or nuclear plants, i.e. relying on solar and wind, and while accommodating for the loss of several of these.
5. 17 liberal states have pegged their energy/emissions policies to California.
6. Somehow electric vehicles are going to be made more affordable even though their batteries depend on rare minerals that China currently controls.
7. The movement to electric vehicles will have a negligible affect on global emissions and temperature unless China/India et al. follow suit (unlikely).
This is my first broadcast from the new office and studio in Washington, DC, where I'll be for a couple of years my neighborhood back in L.A. cleans up -- and as we follow the Trump administration from a little closer up than usual.
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This week’s portion tells the grand story of the prophet who tried to curse people of Israel and instead ended up blessing them.
I am reminded that these portions continue to be relevant anew, as this particular reading lent the title for Israel’s recent 12 Day War against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.”
This week's portion includes the commandment of the red heifer -- one of the classic "irrational" commandments whose fulfillment is an expression of faith. It also includes the regrettable episode in which Moses strikes the rock.
I referred to this story in a wedding speech last night. Why was Moses punished for striking the rock in Numbers, when he struck the rock without incident in Exodus -- both for the purpose of providing water to the people?
The answer is that in the interim, the Jewish people had received the Torah, which is like the marriage contract between the people of Israel and God. In a marriage, you do not resolve things by breaking boundaries, but through love.
The additional reading, from Judges Chapter 11, is the story of Jephthah (Yiftach), a man whom the leaders spurn, but to whom they must turn to save the nation. The parallels to our present political circumstances are striking.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Fourth of July!
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