Breaking Down: Collapse

Renewables have made massive strides in the 2020s. I answer the question that still comes up from time to time: Can a successful rollout of renewables save society from collapse?Tracking the energy transition: Where are we now? | McKinseySo, where exactly does the US energy transition stand? | Canary Media

A new UN report officially announced that limiting warming to +1.5C is no longer a viable goal:Global heating will hit at least 1.8C, UN warns, and there are ‘no good outcomes’ | Climate crisis | The Guardian

Sources:Judge Tells RFK Jr. to Stop Using Fake AI Studies on Teen Pregnancy | The New RepublicJudge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Stanford Students Who Criticized Israel - The New York TimesThe U.S. Has Killed 227 Civilians in Boat Strikes During “A Year of Murders”IRS Softens on Businesses in Wake of Agency Worker ExodusWyoming judge weighs transgender woman’s self-defense | Advocate.comThe Trump Administration is Now Claiming That Being a Trans Ally Makes You More Violent. Yes, Really.James Talarico: "Nothing terrifies them more, than people who show up to vote...Wyoming Governor Objects to ‘Very Odd’ D.O.J. Election Monitoring - The New York TimesICE Plans to Pay $5 Million to Create National Voting Database | WIREDDHS chief says ICE could make arrests at polling places — ignoring federal ban on armed agents at voting sites - Democracy DocketMail voting live updates: Judge weighs fate of Trump’s anti-voting executive order - Democracy DocketICE owes millions to hospitals and detainees can't get treatmentICE holds man with stage 4 cancer in detention despite permanent US residency | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) | The Guardian'Who is Profiting from ICE?' Texas mom's site sparks secret DHS note

The US military is simultaneously contributing to collapse, as it also says it's working to fight against it (climate change and resulting instability). Meanwhile, it's also tying up its resources, firing all its best people, and opening the world to destabilization.Sources:West Point’s only climate scientist fired after insisting on human causes of climate change | US news | The GuardianDOD Preparing for Climate Change Impacts, Official Says > U.S. Department of War > Defense Department News | U.S. Department of WarThe US military’s fatal stance on climate change - Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsMission impossible? Quantifying military emissions - Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsExperts raise concerns of Army readiness amid Pentagon changes under HegsethDan Driscoll’s Parting Shot - The AtlanticMilitary leaders warn Hegseth against extending Iran war operations - The Washington PostPentagon furious over Washington Post’s Iran war scoop

A collection of articles highlighting the current mess that is the US. And we're just getting started:Gary, Indiana’s Suffering in a Blackout Brings a Global Crisis Home - BloombergUS kindergarten vaccination rates dip as exemptions hit record high | Vaccines and immunisation | The GuardianBaby goats had rabies at NC petting zoo, attendees urged to contact health officials | CNNNew Mexico’s largest reservoir shrinks to its lowest level in 55 yearsThe US has a plan to save the Colorado River. Experts say it won’t be enough to stop the crisis | Colorado river crisis | The GuardianICE purchasing Boston Dynamics robots to support operations - Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7NewsNearly 300K California students are homeless, enough to fill 5 Dodger Stadiums: UCLA | KTLA

A look at stories across the world related to climate change, including the story of a landslide/flash flood along the Tibet/Nepal boarder that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds, and likely thousands.It's all gone. Flash Flood in Nepal sweeps away cities after cities. : r/collapsePanama Canal to cut daily ship traffic as drought worsens from El Nino - France 24Japan's farmers go nocturnal as deadly heat intensifies‘Like smoking a cigarette’: Indonesia chokes on haze as blazes intensify amid super ‘El Niño’ | Indonesia | The GuardianBrazil's President Lula hails oil discovery near Amazon riverA melting glacier contributed to the deadly Nepal floods. We can expect more like this : NPR

A look at several articles highlighting this summer of climate chaos in Europe:Lake Zurich sees water level hit record low amid droughtEuropean farmers face ‘unprecedented crisis’ after successive heatwaves | Farming | The GuardianFrance faces lowest potato yield in over 30 years as drought hits cropsHeat wave-hit Europe logs over 30,000 excess summer deaths: First figuresEurope: Wildfire affected area could triple due to climate change | PreventionWebUK to warn citizens to stock up on food amid threat from climate crisis and hostile states | Defence policy | The GuardianLast year’s output from Norway’s fossil-fuel giant ‘will kill up to 58,000 people’ – EUobserverFotograf dokumenterer hvordan norske breer forsvinner – NRK Innlandet – Lokale nyheter, TV og radio

Sources:Supreme Court Sides With Trump for Now on Mail Ballot Curbs - BloombergHalf the Country Sues to Stop Trump’s Dangerous USPS Mail Ballot Rule | The New RepublicTrump Pardons of Fraudsters Cost Victims Nearly $2 Billion | The New RepublicTrump Administration Ends Corporate Ownership Reporting Rule, Orders U.S. Records DeletedTexas Secretly Started Torturing Trans Prisoners By Forcibly Detransitioning Them ‘a Few Weeks Ago’Federal judge strikes down Rubio's immigrant visa freeze on 75 nations | Fox News20260814175803632_TRUMP_Petition for a Writ of Certiorari.pdf (PDF)Trump admin says Kennedy Center 'cannot be saved' without his nameTrump administration is preparing to revoke visas of up to 200,000 foreigners | AP NewsJudge strikes down Texas ban on drag shows, tells people offended by them ‘just don’t go’

A Substack breaks down the troubles that Europe may experience this winter due to the effects of catabolic collapse:Blackout Europe: The Coming Winter Energy Crisis