Still, Slashdot doesn't have to play along with their weasel wording. For example, "ergonomic collars that deliver an electric pulse" - just say "shock collar". Don't help them whitewash what they're talking about.

The capacity in the cited article is peak power. Divide by 3 or 4 to get a reasonable annual energy estimate. It's still a surprising and encouraging trend.

The sun's energy hitting a photocell that is not turned into electricity is also waste heat, and that's waste heat that's very hard to put to use.

Wood contains a lot of minerals. Much of this remains in the ash, which is part of the reason some land is cleared by fires. Some of the minerals are airborn, and that's pollution.

There have been some scientific reports that the sound from wind generators is detrimental to whales. I don't know how valid those reports are, but they're something to be considered.

Conservatives want the U.S. to be self-sufficient with petroleum. They want Europe to not have to depend on petroleum from Russia.

40 years ago leftists were having hissy fits about diamonds from the Union of South Africa. Petroleum is far more important and the Islamist and Russian governments far more dangerous.

It can be overcast for weeks at a time, and low wind for a few days. With that in mind, your analysis still looks like a valuable contribution, but a bit too optimistic.

Pumped hydro efficiency is in the range of 70% to 80%. That's a lot of waste. The the ability to make pumped hydro depends heavily on local geography. Substantial capacity would require building new reservoirs, and many environmentalists are already unhappy with the reservoirs already in place. They aren't maintenance-free, but I'd guess the effective mean time between refurbishments is not much different than lithium batteries.

History is littered with the corpses of seemingly immortal companies. The East India Company is centuries gone. General Motors went bankrupt and the name now exists on top of a new corporation. The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company is a shadow of its former dominant self, and Sears Roebuck is dying. Standard Oil and Bell (AT&T) were shattered by the U.S. government.

But I thought the way it worked is a bunch of workers agree to strike if their demands are not met.

That's done by majority vote. If 49% of the employees want to work, they will often be prohibited either because the business requires most people to be working or the company can't run at all (think steel mill) or they'll be physically threatened.

"totally fair and level headed people". This is the "benevolent dictator" fallacy that is thousands of years old.

In the unlikely event that a person can be found that initially qualifies, it won't last. As Lord Acton observed, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

At least 7 political organizations have taken the title of "American Party". The best known of those was popularly called "Know Nothing."

In actual business practice, employees seldom negotiate their wages. They just take what they get. Those who do negotiate, do so with their boss, their boss's boss, and/or someone in personnel.

Unions are blind to individual merit. Those who want unions are slackers or people who see themselves as helpless victims.

In some states, in some companies, union membership is mandatory. Part of pay goes directly to the union. Of the union's portion, a small part goes to wage negotiation and other valid employee concerns, some goes to union thugs to make trouble, and some goes to payoffs to mostly Democrat politicians.

Legally mandated corruption.

A tailgater is endangering the life of the person he tailgates, his own life, and others.