Solarpunk

I think all the information is pretty well-known in this community, but here's a summary:

• Renewables (specifically solar + batteries) are an inevitable future of energy production due to technological advancements and economies of scale improvements; you should not oppose them but welcome them
  • We are at a tipping point where solar + batteries is now the cheapest energy source available
  • Land use for solar farms is not a big issue, they are much more energy efficient per unit area than the ethanol corn that currently plagues the US
  • Replacing all ethanol corn fields with solar farms would make almost twice as much energy as the US grid is currently producing
• Renewables are better than fossil fuels because they do not require continuous extraction; when a solar panel or battery has been "used up" and is degraded, it can be recycled, whereas fossil fuels can only be burned once after extraction
  • The end goal is an almost-closed-loop system for all energy production, similar to what we have with lead-acid batteries already
  • Recycling solar panels is relatively easy because they are mostly glass and aluminum, which we know how to recycle well, and we could probably figure out silicon too
  • Recycling batteries is a harder problem but possible too if we put some effort in; currently the recycling capacity is lacking because there's not enough batteries being recycled, since most of them are still working fine in EVs sold since the start of EV boom
  • Worst-case, we can literally just grind up batteries into battery mush and refine it, same as we do with ores from which the raw materials come in the first place, but likely something better is possible
• Alec describes his personal politics, how he values labor and working-class people, and how he thinks immigrants are hard-working people who need to be welcomed and cared for
  • Trump and Republicans as a whole are fascists and lie constantly, which needs to be called out and stopped
  • ICE must be abolished and its thugs tried for their crimes
  • Democrats are not doing enough, and in fact are pretty bad on some points, but it's still better to vote for them
  • People need to organize with their neighbors, care for each other first and foremost, and defend themselves against the government

Alec's personal views are a relief, I think it's a shame he didn't go deeper into them before (IIRC he had a video where he called out right-wing misinfo but stopped short of any direct calls for action). I suppose the contrast between his usual "tech presenter/science explainer" and this clearly righteous political call for action might get through to some people better.