Don’s Blog
Watt's Happening?
Introduction to Watt's Happening Blog
by Don Pettit
Darn near 20 years ago I wrote a column for the local newspaper called EnviroNews. In it, I prophesied the coming of wind power to the Peace Region (I was right), and the revival of rail across North America (I was wrong). Perhaps the paper was desperate for filler, but over 300 EnviroNews articles were published between 1995 and 2001 on everything from backyard composting to TV addiction.
Well, here I go again.
But there are ways to change course to a more sustainable world, and the good news is that it’s starting to happen. The media is so filled with a surplus of doom and gloom that there’s not much room left for the REALLY GREAT STUFF, so that’s what I’m going to focus on in Watt’s Happening.
Latest Posts
- Watt's#265 NEW BC HYDRO SOLAR REBATES
- Watt's#264 BC's Electric Highway
- Watt's#263 I LOVE MY HEAT PUMP!
- Watt's#262 ENERGY STORAGE REVOLUTION
- Watt's#261 SOLAR- THE QUIET REVOLUTION
- Watt's#260 SOLAR CO-OPS help everyone go solar
- Watt's#259 IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN
- Watt's#258 LOW CARBON ENERGY cheaper and cheaper
- Watt's#257 NOT the end of the world
- Watt's#256 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY Is it the next big thing
- Watt's#255 The Coop Revolution
- Watt's#254 Walking with Thoreau in 2024
- Watt's#253 CLEAN ENERGY QUICK FACTS
- Watt's#252 BECAUSE WE ARE AMAZING
- Watt's#251 IS 100% RENEWABLES POSSIBLE
- Watt's#250 GOING GREEN IN CANADA
- Watt's#249 BAD NEWS, GOOD NEWS
- Watt's#248 TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK
- Watt's#247 SOLAR ENERGY EXPLAINED
- Watt's#246 TAKE THE JUMP!
- Watt's#245 Renewable energy in the Peace
- Watt's#244 SOLAR FARM OPEN HOUSE- You are invited!
- Watt's#243 Bill McKibben Does the Math
- Watt's#242 ELON MUSK'S PLAN
- Watt's#241 CALL TO ACTION
- Watt's#240 IS IT TOO LATE FOR FUSION
- Watt's#239 The Energy Transition-we've done this before!
- Watt's#238 GOOD NEWS FOR 2023
- Watt's#237 COP15-A message of hope for life on Earth
- Watt's#236 FUEL FROM AIR AND SUNLIGHT
- Watt's#235 VIRTUAL POWER PLANTS
- Watt's#234 AGRIVOLTAICS
- Watt's#233 IT'S TIME FOR OPTIMISM
- Watt's#232 HEAT PUMPS-do they work in the north
- Watt's#231 WHY EVs MAKE SENSE
- Watt's#230 THE PARTY IS ALMOST OVER NOW
- Watt's#229 CLIMAGE CHANGE-it's not all bad
- Watt's#228 SOLAR ENERGY- power to the people!
- Watt's#227 OurThirdEnergyTransition
- Watt's#226 Three Shades of Green
- Watt's#225 Renewable Energy- Power to Spare!
- Watt's#224 Watt's Happening and Why
- Watt's#223 THE ENERGY TRANSITION - Watt's Happening
- Watt's#222 THE ENERGY TRANSITION- A War Effort
- Watt's#221Busting More Energy Myths
- Watt's#220 Cooperatives- NOT business as usual
- Watt's#219 EV Climate Hero Ernie Freeman
- Watt's#218 BEATING CLIMATE CHANGE - going solar
- Watt's#217 BEATING CLIMATE CHANGE - three big things you can do
- Watt's#216 WELCOME ABOARD SPACESHIP EARTH
- Watt's#215 ELECTRIFY EVERYTHING!
- Watt's#214 HOW TO STOP THE CLIMATE CRISIS
- Watt's#213 WILL COP BE A FLOP
- Watt's#212 APOCALYPSE NOW
- Watt's#211 CLIMATE INFO-too much or too little
- Watt's#210 NEW ENERGY UPDATE
- Watt's#209 TIME TO VOTE FOR CHANGE
- Watt's#208 GOING SOLAR- should I
- Watt's#207 RED ALERT FOR PLANET EARTH
- Watt's#206 A JUST TRANSITION
- Watt's#205 ENERGY IN TRANSITION
- Watt's#204 WARNINGS ABOUT WARMING
- Watt's#203 SCIENCE applied curiosity
- Watt's#202 CLEAN ENERGY UPDATE
- Watt's#201 BEYOND PREDICTIONS, BEYOND DOOM AND DOUBT
- Watt's#200 Welcome to the Future
- Watt's#199 CARBON PRICING – finally!
- Watt's#198 Confessions of a Solar Geek
- Watt's#197 21st Century Energy in the Peace Region
- Watt's#196 SUSTAINABLE ENERGY NEWS
- Watt's#195 CLEAN ENERGY PLUS STORAGE
- Watt's#194 CAN SOLAR PANELS BE RECYCLED
- Watt's#193 The Green New Deal
- Watt's#192 GOOD NEWS for a change!
- Watt's#191 LESSONS WE HAVE LEARNED
- Watt's#190 YOU MATTER!
- Watt's#189 CHANGE HAPPENS
- Watt's#188 FINDING HOPE in Tough Times
- Watt's#187 Climate Threats, Climate Solutions
- Watt's#186 Hydrogen- part of the answer
- Watt's#185 Electric Vehicles Charging Ahead
- Watt's#184 THE J0Y OF MEDIOCRITY
- Watt's#183 CLEAN ENERGY UPDATE
- Watt's#182 ACHIEVING CLIMATE SUCCESS PART2
- Watt's#181 ACHIEVING CLIMATE SUCCESS
- Watt's#180 Welcome to the Energy Internet
- Watt's#179 How to Decarbonize, Part 2
- Watt's#178 How to Decarbonize, Part 1
- Watt's#177 AN OCEAN OF ENERGY
- Watt's#176 SEEING THE SPRING COME IN
- Watt's#175 Walking with Thoreau
- Watt's#174 Lessons from the Pandemic
- Watt's#173 Earth water wind and sun
- Watt's#172 An Awesome Future
- Watt's#171 WHY SOLAR
- Watt's #170 Solar Energy Explained
- Watt's #169 Science - Should We Trust It?
- Watt's #168 Solar - Still Growing Strong
- Watt's #167 Massive Change
- Watt's #166 New Energy Update
- Watt's #165 The 1.6% Philosophy
- Watt's #164 A Just Transition
- Watt's #163 Climate Inaction - Why?
- Watt's #162 Climate Solutions
- Watt's #161 Things Can Change If We Change Them
- Watt's #160 Big Answers - The Worldwide Grid
- Watt's #159 Climate Myths
- Watt's #158 Hidden Benefits
- Watt's #157 My Solar Home
- Watt's #156 Needed – A 21st Century Space Race
- Watt's #155 Welcome to Electric World 2
- Watt's #154 Climate Action - And So It Begins
- Watt's #153 Climate Action - What Can We Do
- Watt's #152 Climate Action - Now or Never
- Watt's #151 Carbon Pricing 101
- Watt's #150 Climate Emergency
- Watt's #149 Solar Questions Answered
- Watt's #148 New Energy, a global snapshot
- Watt's #147 The Solar-EV Connection
- Watt's #146 The True Cost Of Transportation
- Watt's #145 Energy - An Industry in Transition
- Watt's #144 The Good News About Clean Energy
- Watt's #143 We Need Facts, Not Opinions
- Watt's #142 Don's Rant - PR, Carbon Taxes and Our Climate Mess
- Watt's #141 Alaska to Argentina with Solar Energy
- Watt's #140 We Test Drive the Toyota Prius Prime
- Watt's #139 We Test Drive the Tesla Model 3
- Watt's #138 Good News, Bad News
- Watt's #137 Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
- Watt's #136 Newest EV in Dawson Creek
- Watt's #135 The New Energy Revolution
- Watt's #134 Electric Cars – Do They Make Cents?
- Watt's #133 Going Solar - Making Cents Of It All
- Watt's #132 Seeing the Light
- Watt's #131 Watt's New?
- Watt's #130 Let's Get Serious
- Watt's #129 Global Clean Energy Snapshot
- Watt's #128 In Defense Of Science
- Watt's #127 Solar Questions Answered
- Watt's #126 Solar Will Replace Everything
- Watt's #125 Building a Virtual Power Plant
- Watt's #124 Clean Energy Update
- Watt's #123 Solar Q and A
- Watt's #122 Solar Myths Debunked
- Watt's #121 The end of Energy Scarcity
- Watt's #120 Waking up to Clean Energy
- Watt's #119 The Power of Pessimism
- Watt's #118 Earth In Human Hands
- Watt's #117 Solar and Site C
- Watt's #116 Energy Pioneers
- Watt's #115 UPDATE Hudson's Hope Solar
- Watt's #114 Site C Under Review
- Watt's #113 Energy Storage Revolution
- Watt's #112 Hudson's Hope Goes Solar, Big Time
- Watt's #111 New Energy Update
- Watt's #110 Sun Power Getting Brighter
- Watt's #109 Adapt or Disappear
- Watt's #108 Revenge of the Electric Car
- Watt's #107 The Proof Is In The Pudding
- Watt's #106 The Rise of Eco-Anxiety
- Watt's #105 Check Out The Numbers!
- Watt's #104 Five Things You Need To Know
- Watt's #103 Global Energy Update
- Watt's #101 Free Solar Workshop
- Watt's #100 The Tesla Gigafactory
- Watt's #99 When More is Never Enough
- Watt's #98 2017 New Year For New Energy
- Watt's #97 2016 - A Historic Year
- Watts #96 The Energy Debate Is Over
- Watt's #95 Global Energy Update
- Watts #94 It's Wake Up Time
- Watt's #93 Creative Solutions
- Watt's #92 Cost of Renewable Energy
- Watt's #91 Creative Energy
- Watt's #90 More Solar Myths
- Watt's #89 Global Energy Update
- Watt's #88 Solar Questions Answered
- Watt's #87 What is Energy?
- Watt's #86 Global Energy Update
- Watt's #85 Perfect Solar Energy
- Watt's #84 Solar Myths
- Watt's #83 Ontario's New Climate Action Plan
- Watt's #82 Electric Cars - Do They Make Sense?
- Watt's #81 More Than A Gadget
- Watt's #80 SunPower - A Bright Idea
- Watt's #79 Global Update
- Watt's #78 Got His Cheque!
- Watt's #77 Solar In The Winter
- Watt's #76 4th Energy Revolution
- Watt's #75 EV Test Drive
- Watt's #74 Global Update 2016
- Watt's #73 Let's Get Serious
- Watt's #72 Paris
- Watt's #71 The End of Energy
- Watt's #70 Virtualizing Pt. 1
- Watt's #69 Planet Goes Solar
- Watt's #68 Global Energy Update
- Watt's #67 VOTE
- Watt's #66 Feed-In Tariffs
- Watt's #65 Powering the Whole Planet
- Watt's #64 Wind Electrons
- Watt's #63 Wind and Birds
- Watt's #62 Coop Revolution
- Watt's #61 Clean Energy Boom
- Watt's #60 Change & Opportunity
- Watt's #59 Yukon YES Conf
- Watt's #58 Power To Spare
- Watt's #57 Renewables Take Lead
- Watt's #56 Canadian Update
- Watt's #55 Got My Cheque
- Watt's #54 The Sword of Technology
- Watt's #53 Cooperatives
- Watt's #52 Grid Tie-In BC
- Watt's #51 My Solar Year
- Watt's #50 Watt Happened in 2014? Lots!
- Watt's #49 Report from Clean Energy Canada
- Watt's #48 Storing Energy With New Battery Tech
- Watt's #46 Site C Alternatives
- Watt's #45 Signs Of Hope
- Watt's #44 Recycling Rant
- Watt's #43 My Solar Pt. 2
- Watt's #42 My Solar
- Watt's #41 Canadian Energy Update
- Watt's #40 Electric Vehicles Come of Age
- Watt's #37 Solar Questions Answered