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Renewable Tuesday: Here Comes the Sun [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-09-02

Bill Mckibben has set the equinox as a Sun Day to celebrate the coming triumph of solar power, including wind that is powered by the sun. We have seen in these posts the exponential rise of renewable energy and storage, and also the Denial and Obstruction that the Fossil Fools and the NIMBYites and many bureaucrats put in our way. We’ll get to that. There is more in this new book, just out last week, Here Comes the Sun, than I can squeeze in today. That’s good. There will be other Tuesdays to look at all of the important points, and consider what we can do about them. McKibben doesn’t prescribe a slate of actions, but suggests how you can find the pressure points where you can be particularly effective, locally, nationally, or globally. That doesn’t have to mean immediately effective. It took 20 years to convince NYC to put in congestion pricing, and people were astonished that, just as predicted, congestion and pollution went down on the first day. Nobody was really surprised that the iDJiT-in-Chief tried to undo it, and not too many were surprised that he failed. Our Stonykill was particularly gratified that it happened, and that we discussed it in these posts and in our Good News Roundups. We are coming up to a new event. Like the original Earth Day, in a way, but this time emphasizing solutions rather than looming disaster. Rise Up for a Sun-Powered Planet Day of action: Sunday September 21, 2025 Sun Day is a day of action on September 21, 2025, celebrating the power of clean energy. The clean energy revolution is here. Solar, wind and batteries are the cheapest form of power on the planet, lowering costs, creating new jobs, and strengthening our communities. But some politicians and industries are trying to hold it back. On Sep 21, we’ll celebrate the progress we’ve made and push for more. We’ll install new solar, host e-bike parades, give heat pump tours, and rally for change. Together, we’ll make the sun rise on our clean energy future.

So let’s get to it. I will let Bill tell his story, and play two of his favorite sun songs to get the ball rolling. Bill McKibben wrote his first book on the Global Warming crisis, The End of Nature, in 1989. Now, 20 books later, he no longer has to tell us about our encroaching doom, but can point the way to saving civilization (and the planet). The first big tipping point he highlights now is when wind and solar power became cheaper than Fossil Carbon. But you, Faithful Reader, and I know of tipping points galore.

The End of Nature a Quarter Century After

x YouTube Video

The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun (2019 Mix)

Bernie: the Podcast | Episode 9: Bill McKibben

Good Day Sunshine (2009)

Songs About the Sun & Bill McKibben on "Sun Day"

Featured Songs: The Beatles, "Here Comes The Sun," Abbey Road, Apple, 1969 The Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967 Nina Simone, "Here Comes The Sun," Here Comes the Sun, RCA Victor, 1971 Bill Withers, "Ain't No Sunshine," Just As I Am, Sussex, 1971 The Vaselines, "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," Dying for It EP, 53rd & 3rd, 1988 The Polyphonic Spree, "It's the Sun," The Beginning Stages of..., Hollywood, 2000 Yes, "Heart of the Sunrise," Fragile, Atlantic, 1971 Eleanor Friedberger, "Stare at the Sun," Personal Record, Merge, 2013 Pink Floyd, "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun," A Saucerful of Secrets, Columbia, 1968 Boney M., "Sunny," Take the Heat off Me, Atlantic, 1976 Swirlies, "Sunn," They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days In The Glittering World Of The Salons, Taang!, 1996 Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, "Sun Zoom Spark," Clear Spot, Reprise, 1972 The Kinks, "Waterloo Sunset," Something Else By The Kinks, Pye, 1967 Pedro The Lion, "Indian Summer," Control, Jade Tree, 2002 Common and Pete Rock, "When The Sun Shines Again," The Auditorium Vol. 1, Loma Vista, 2024 Stevie Wonder, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," Talking Book, Motown, 1972 The Jimi Hendrix Experience, "Hey Joe," Are You Experienced?, Reprise, 1967

I’ll use them all in future posts. Thanks, Bill.

I know of some others beside those—They Might Be Giants, Donovan, Bob Marley, John Denver, Gilbert & Sullivan…

Life on the S Curve If this book has a heart, we’ve now reached it.

This diagram of the logistic curve does not appear in the book, because it is so familiar, but I want you to look at it again.

In June or July 2023 the world started to install a gigawatt of solar panels every day. In terms of the logistic curve, solar power moved out of the Innovator and Early Adopter market segments into the Early Majority. In 2024 that moved to a GW every 18 hours. We don’t know what the number will be for the end of 2025, of course, just that it will be faster yet.

We were suddenly on the steep part of the S curve, with wind and solar scaling faster than energy technology before them.

Mckibben claims that every prognosticator missed it. Now I happen to have been a Global High Tech Market Analyst for 17 years, and I can assure you that I didn’t miss it. But nobody in government or business or academia was paying any attention to me. I am not good enough at publicity for that, and some of my predictions were dismissed as science fiction, or even fantasy.

Well, no more. The heavyweights are in the ring now—Mckibben and others like him vs. the corporate denial machine. It is now in its second highly profitable century, after lead poisoning, acid rain, burning rivers, ozone, hexavalent chromium, tobacco, and now vaccines and renewable energy.

In Other Environmental News

x Still planning on taking advantage of the US EV tax credit? Here's the latest list of EVs and hybrids that qualify. insideevs.com/news/702784/...



[image or embed] — SparcMotion (@sparcmotion.bsky.social) August 30, 2025 at 10:23 AM

🎩🎩🎩 Jessiestaf, Killer300, Bhu

In the vast, ancient forests of Canada, a revolutionary approach to conservation is taking root, one that intertwines environmental stewardship, Indigenous rights, and long-term economic stability. This innovative strategy, known as Project Finance for Permanence (PFP), is moving beyond traditional, short-term conservation efforts. It’s creating a powerful, lasting legacy by empowering the original guardians of the land—Indigenous communities—to lead the way in protecting some of the planet’s most vital ecosystems. This isn’t just another environmental program; it’s a paradigm shift in how we value and protect our natural world, with Canada’s carbon finance model at its heart.

Brunel Solar Team from the Netherlands wins 2025 World Solar Challenge

This was the first time this race across Australia was run in their winter. Cooler for drivers, but less daily sunlight.

x NASCAR is embracing solar energy, installing #EV chargers, and committing to going carbon-zero by 2035. Oh, and it's developing a prototype electric race car with more than 1,300 horsepower. 🔌💡



[image or embed] — Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (@cleanenergy.org) December 10, 2024 at 2:59 PM

Denial and Obstruction vs. Resistance and $$Real Money™

Some things cannot be said too often.

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