tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21808906277091432172024-03-05T00:11:54.896-08:00Gate 38Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-66217857041437790912009-04-19T08:57:00.000-07:002009-04-19T11:29:38.265-07:00The Distance DynamicSome interesting dynamics are going to come into play in a few years, and beyond. As travel becomes less and less affordable with the price of fossil fuels climbing as supply starts to decrease, the American workforce will make increasing efforts to live near their places of employment. In large metro areas, where most of the population lives and works, distance from the office seems to be a determinant in housing location for only a small percent of the population. Most people have certain neighborhoods they like for various reasons, but home affordability is obviously key. A lot of people, perhaps most, consider where they live to be more permanent than where they work, so rather than trying to live as close to work as possible, they just focus on affordable neighborhoods within the distance they're willing to commute to work. So what will happen when the lower and lower-middle class can't afford to pay for gas to get to work? Buses can't go everywhere; they can pick people up at Park and Rides, but what if the final destination isn't in a major urban location (i.e. not in a spot served by mass transit)?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-79105509319629257442008-12-14T09:35:00.000-08:002008-12-14T09:50:28.620-08:00Auto Bailout - Part 1Normally I would be 100% percent against any sort of bailout of auto companies. I've thought for years that it made no sense that the U.S. government subsidized corporations who made unsafe, inferior, and environmentally harmful products. But now's our chance to change all that. This time I think we should give them money (assuming they really need it, more on that later) but with the following conditions:<br /><ol><li>the fleet average mpg must be at least 35 by 2012</li><li>at least 20% of new vehicles must be Hypercars by 2012</li><li>at least 20% of new vehicles must be electric by 2012</li><li>the top speeds of new vehicles cannot exceed 80 mph</li><li>all vehicles must have front and side airbags</li></ol>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-43648566974983042202008-10-06T14:41:00.001-07:002008-10-06T15:33:06.157-07:00Products to AvoidIf you don't know already, you should avoid products with triclosan and triclocarban. These are commonly found in <a href="http://broomhuggers.com/2007/07/29/antibacterials-part-2-triclosan/">anti-bacterial soaps, toothpastes, and other products</a>. Not only is it possible that they cause cancer in humans, but we've already seen harmful effects on marine life because so much of these chemicals is being emptied into major water systems after it leaves our houses through drain pipes.<br /><br />Thankfully I don't see either one in the list of ingredients in my Aquafresh, but I really liked my Aveeno shaving gel...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-1658683493966949502008-09-15T12:18:00.001-07:002008-09-15T12:18:54.370-07:00Saudi SolarBe prepared for Saudi Arabia to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/energy/2008/08/21/saudi-arabia-solar-biz-energy-cx_wp_0822solar.html?feed=rss_business_energy">continue its dominance in world energy markets</a>. Most of Saudi Arabia's 840,000 square miles is desert, perfect for capturing solar energy. And aside from the distinct possibility of a relatively weak world economy, there should be no shortage of capital moving into renewable energy as the price of petroleum continues to increase. Transferring the energy to places that need it will be the hard part, particularly to nations on the other side of the world. Considering the density of batteries, I'm not sure how feasible it is to carry batteries on a boat. I'm also not sure how feasible it is to have wires carry high-voltage electricity across the Bering Strait, if land transfer made more sense, particularly considering how far the electricity would have to travel if it came from the desert.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-67457046579769182072008-09-12T16:14:00.000-07:002008-09-12T16:20:13.831-07:00Booo to KLM/NWASo, I went to check when my girlfriend's KLM flight from Minneapolis would be arriving, but the KLM website says it's canceled. Since I don't want to assume that KL6161 is the same as NW161, I call Northwest's Flight Status line. It also tells me the flight is canceled. So I call the main NWA line and talk to an agent, and glean from her (since she didn't actually say yes when I asked her) that KL6161 and NW161 are the same, but she doesn't know why the KLM flight is listed as canceled. Wow. Negative 500 points for KLM and NWA.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-74365870803634082512008-09-07T10:36:00.000-07:002008-09-07T11:19:19.227-07:00Sound Transit Expansion Ballot Measure, Successor to Proposition 1In the fall of 2007 voters shot down <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004041565_transpopoll29m.html">Proposition 1</a>, a measure on the ballot in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties (the Seattle-Tacoma area). Some voted against it because they saw the big price tag attached to it, and some because they had the foresight to oppose private transit in a crowded, fossil-fuel powered transportation system. 2008 brings a ballot measure which brings back the good parts of Prop 1 while leaving out the bad parts. Please vote Yes on the new Sound Transit ballot measure, so that you can receive:<br /><ul><li>light rail expansion, 5-7 years faster than Prop 1</li><li>commuter rail expansion</li><li>express bus service improvements</li><li>station access improvements </li></ul>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-81545512339358241832008-09-07T08:24:00.000-07:002008-09-07T10:31:14.962-07:00Washington: I-985If you live in the state of Washington and can vote on <a href="http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/initiatives/text/i985.pdf">I-985</a>, please vote No.<br /><br />I-985 is sponsored by the anti-tax, anti-equality, anti-environment <a href="http://permanent-offense.org/">Tim Eyman</a>, which to any hardcore liberal means a vote of <em>you can't be serious </em>(or is that not an option on the ballot yet?). Eyman seems to think that petroleum is a renewable resource and that population growth will slow to a halt soon. His latest initiative aims to provide congestion relief by:<br /><ul><li>opening car pool lanes to everyone during non-peak hours</li><li>locking away tolling revenue from mass transit, securing its use road expansion/improvement projects</li><li>using all money collected from red-light camera fines to "reduce traffic congestion and increase traffic flow"</li><li>increases funding for road emergency response (mind you this is not to help the victims, it's to help the vehicles being slowed by obstructions) </li></ul><p>As with a lot of conservative solutions, this all seems reasonable at first glance. But when you think about its long-term effects, it makes almost no sense at all. Reducing congestion on roads will leave people thinking personal transit is the way of the future, that they can continue to live many miles from work without major consequences. It's clear that the market is not working quickly enough in motivating people to switch to mass transit. The future will inevitably be one of reduced energy, powered by wind and solar and biokinetic energy, where people live within walking distance of the place their food is grown, electric mass transport connecting villages to one another. This means <em>extremely </em>major changes in a relatively short period of time. In ten or fifteen years, when gasoline is unaffordable to the lower and lower-middle classes, weather patterns are beginning to spiral out of control, and the economy is in ruin, do you want to look back and think we didn't do everything we could to avoid the situation?</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-61101560299578508812008-08-11T13:22:00.001-07:002008-08-11T17:51:22.961-07:00The Risk of Small StepsThere were some interesting articles in yesterday's The New York Times Magazine (Aug. 10, 2008) . Although about completely different topics (one was about Obama and "the end of black politics," the other about recycling toilet water into the tap water system), there was a common thread between the two which really got me thinking. That thread was the notion that one must be careful when taking steps toward their goal, being sure that the step they're taking will not harm satisfying their goal completely. <br />Take for example the recycling of plastics. While most of us would agree that recycling is a great thing because it reduces the amount of energy we use (<a href="http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/saving/recycling/solidwaste/plastics.html#energytoburn">usually</a>), reduces the amount of petroleum we use, and feels darn good, we can't deny that recycling is worse for the environment than not consuming at all. By letting the general public feel like they're doing what they can for the environment by recycling, we may be endangering the goal of reducing consumption to sustainable levels.<br />So how does one determine if a step forward is worth the risk? I'm not sure there is a good answer. But small steps often raise awareness, and if the general public is not aware of something, they are far less likely to support a big step, particularly if it will result in a short-term financial loss. After a series of small steps, that big step no longer seems so big. (Obama's presidential candidacy is a perfect example, considering blacks went to separate schools, etc. less than half a century ago.)<br />The hardest part may be knowing when a big step is necessary. Do we fix the rusty bridge, or rebuild it completely? Do we tax gasoline gradually to let the market adjust to renewable energy, or do we outlaw combustion engines? Only time will tell, and hindsight is 50/50.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-74761221483539147692008-07-26T13:19:00.000-07:002008-07-26T20:03:30.744-07:00Avoiding VinylAll vegans and some animal-rights activists and environmentalists try to avoid purchasing products made with leather. <a href="http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_176.html">Cows do a lot of burping</a>, emitting tons of methane into the atmosphere, and methane accounts for 18% of greenhouse gases, second only to CO2, so the mass breeding cows, particularly to be slaughtered, is clearly bad for the environment, without me even getting into the environmental problems with trying to feed so many cows.<br />The problem with avoiding leather, besides the fact that it can be difficult in some situations, is that its primary alternative is vinyl, also known as polyvinyl chloride, or PVC (though vinyl comes in other forms). The production and distribution of vinyl is just plain <a href="http://www.healthybuilding.net/pvc/SortingOutVinyls.html">nasty for the biosphere</a>. Thankfully there are some alternatives, but they're catching on somewhat slowly. The easiest thing you can do to start ridding your home of PVC is to buy a <a href="http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/towels-bathware/smarts-nonpvc-shower-curtains-022155">non-PVC shower curtain</a>. If you have vinyl flooring or siding that will obviously be more difficult and more expensive to replace, but it may be worth it for your family's health in the long run. And by not buying PVC products in the future (and potentially forcing producers to change to EVA), you may be helping the health of people across the globe.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_176.html"></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-66667101687801857042008-06-21T22:36:00.000-07:002008-06-22T20:47:43.502-07:00Cap n' Dividend (Not To Be Confused With Cap'n Crunch)I recently found out about a new idea for speeding up the economy's transition away from fossil fuels, called <a href="http://www.capanddividend.org/?q=readfirst"><em>c</em><em>ap and dividend</em></a>. Basically the idea is that the government places an upstream cap on carbon dioxide by forcing first sellers* of fossil fuels to buy permits equal to the CO2 content of their fuels. Then checks are sent out each year (or month) to all legal citizens (<a href="http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2008/06/mccain-obama-and-cap-and-trade-we-need.html">or just adults</a>) of the country based on the total value of the carbon permits purchased. The thing I really like about this idea is that it's progressive, meaning each individual gets the same amount no matter what. This is the first idea I've heard that has a decent chance of keeping the lower class above water (at least those who are able to find affordable housing within a distance to work that allows affordable transporation) while the economy is in transition. The average family of four might receive $1,200 to $6,000 per year, according to a <a href="http://web.mit.edu/globalchange/www/MITJPSPGC_Rpt146_Summary.pdf">study by MIT</a>. The only potential problem I see with cap and dividend is that the inflation that is bound to occur with increasing energy costs affecting all sectors of the economy might overtake the rate at which dividends increase, possibly leading to economic collapse if energy alternatives are not available in large enough quantities (<a href="http://anewhope.com/">and they won't be</a>). My hope is that people will <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri-retail-incentive-may-stijun06,0,7004728.story">continue to spend less money on frivolities</a> and focus more on necessities and conservation, with green jobs replacing those that will be lost when people stop buying yachts and hot tubs and Hummers. <p><span style="font-size:85%;">* I'm not sure if "first sellers" means prior to any processing or not, but it affects all the players downstream regardless.</span></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-15109845168485213612008-05-25T17:43:00.000-07:002008-05-25T17:45:37.217-07:00Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?This is a response to Ben Stein's article "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/business/25every.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin">Running Out of Fuel, but Not Out of Ideas</a>."<br /><br />Mr. Stein, while I have great respect for you, I have to disagree with your article, and admit that I'm puzzled by it. First of all, I'm curious what your goal was when writing it. The title makes it sound like its primary content relates to the many potential replacements for fossil fuels (biofuels, hydrogen, etc.), but it makes very little mention of new energy sources. Was your goal to alleviate people's worries about an energy crisis by repeating that you think we're in a "short-term oil bubble"? If so, you did not provide any items to support that hypothesis. In fact, you even made a case for the opposite by reminding people how little the government has done to support alternative energy.<br /><br />It seems like your goal was to persuade people that even though we are in a "true crisis," we need to ramp up oil production as much as possible to get through it, rather than starting to wean ourselves off of oil for good. This hypothesis requires some important assumptions about the somewhat-distant future in order to make any logical sense.<br /><br />The first assumption is that damaging some ecosystems in order to find oil now will be worthwhile in the long run. Besides the possibility of destroying links in the food chain and reducing the number of livable habitats for humans, there's no guarantee we'll find enough oil to offset a significant amount of economic damage. A related assumption is that the current science being spouted by the overwhelming majority of the scientific community is wrong. By putting forth the idea that we can continue to burn as much oil as we currently do, you're rejecting the assertion from scientists that immediate reductions in carbon dioxide are necessary to avoid worldwide (yes, I'm pointing at you as well, China) catastrophic damage to the environment.<br /><br />While a stronger economy now probably increases the chances scientists will come up with a long-term solution to our hunger for energy by providing greater resources for research and development, I believe the vital question we need to ask ourselves is this: Is it more important to us that we can live in the suburbs and drive Hummers for the next two decades (probably won't be able to) and avoid complete anarchy from the demolition of our economy/lifestyle (not likely to happen, at least in the U.S.), or is it more important that we save the biosphere before millions or even billions die from incredible natural disasters, a lack of food, etc.?<br /><br />It's a difficult question to answer, as, with most things, the poorest will suffer the most from high energy prices now, but try to imagine telling your great-grandchildren that they have to live in constant fear of survival because you couldn't imagine riding your bike to work or replacing your swimming pool with a garden for growing vegetables.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-80989483707349390692008-05-25T10:18:00.000-07:002008-05-25T10:19:56.113-07:00Gas or Guns?Judging from <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2249853620080523">this article</a>, Mark Muller will most likely be president of the United States within the next 20 years.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-41906204283522763382008-05-24T14:13:00.001-07:002008-05-24T14:14:59.171-07:00Free Gas!One of Colbert's best "Words" ever...<br /><br /><br /><embed name="comedy_central_player" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" src="http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/video_player/view/default/swf.jhtml" width="332" height="316" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="videoId=167579" quality="high" bgcolor="#cccccc" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="external"></embed>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-70667753019520121142008-05-22T14:00:00.000-07:002008-05-22T14:03:46.866-07:00Quote of the Day<span style="font-size:85%;"><em>"McCain led among whites, NASCAR fans, and elderly voters."</em> </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">--<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2034087120080521?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=10112">John Whitesides, Reuters, in reference to the latest Obama-McCain poll</a></span><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2034087120080521?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=10112"></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-76479459847717225672008-05-20T21:41:00.000-07:002008-05-21T15:36:48.382-07:00Using the StrikeSometimes I wonder if car companies are secretly run by oil companies and mechanics. How else does one explain the following contradiction?: The goal of a car company, above all else and no matter what they might say, is to make money. Options exist (e.g. the Hypercar, gas-electric hybrids, compressed-air vehicles) that would allow car companies to make money while slowing the destruction of the biosphere. I would say 9 people out of 10 enjoy whining about gas prices, even many people who make so much money it doesn't really affect them.<br /><br />If so many people want vehicles that lower their fuel expenses, why do car companies continue to manufacture conventional vehicles as the overwhelming majority of their product lines? I think there a few reasons. For one, hybrids have not been profitable <a href="http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/004932.html">until recently</a> according to car companies, presumably because the manufacturing process needed ironing out, and as greater numbers are built the pain points are easier to recognize. Another reason is that new hybrids are not easy to afford for most people (the consumer most affected by gas prices is least likely to be able to afford a hybrid). Also, some people prefer whining to actually being proactive about changing things.<br /><br />My hope is that we can convince the car companies that changing all of their vehicles whose main purpose is not towing or carrying heavy inanimate loads to Hypercars or something similar would be beneficial to their bottom line and ensure they survive the transition to a non-petroleum economy. This is where the use of the strike comes in. If what I'm saying is true and we can convince the automobile manufacturer's labor unions that they might not have jobs in five years without major changes, they could attempt to use strikes to put pressure on the executives to agree to the product shift. I would imagine the executives would stick by their line of "It's too dangerous to switch without knowing what the market will be like in a few years." Or something like that.<br /><br />Even if my idea makes sense, it's hard to imagine people striking about something that seems so intangible/unpredictable and isn't explicitly about pay or working conditions.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-52038974763752572892008-05-13T12:06:00.001-07:002008-05-17T21:28:01.914-07:00Me Agree With Bush?! That's Unpossible!<em><span style="font-size:85%;">"Jittery about a political backlash over gasoline costs as prices set yet another record Tuesday, Congress voted to halt deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in defiance of President Bush."</span></em> <span style="font-size:85%;">--LA Times</span><br /><br />When the Senate votes 97-1 on something, it's pretty much guaranteed that they're doing so because voting Nay puts them at risk of being voted out in the next election. (Note that the <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9244995">one Nay vote</a> was by a senator who's retiring. Also note that on that page there is a poll, and as of 5/15/08 the highest votegetter is No, meaning a lot of people are opposed to the Senate's vote.)<br />I think I see <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil14-2008may14,0,6063899.story">Bush's point about energy security</a>, but the key thing here is that people would only save 2 to 5 cents per gallon. Even for the lower class, 75 cents is not enough to make a difference in people's ability to pay their bills. Yes it could make a difference for somebody who drives a large truck for a living, but considering how we're <a href="http://www.modbee.com/local/story/297918.html">already seeing positive effects</a> from the [relatively] high gas prices, I'll have to disagree with the Senate on this one.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-73752933583367209172008-05-03T10:30:00.000-07:002008-05-17T21:28:15.309-07:00Kunstler On Colbert ReportTwo of my favorite things came together on the evening of May 1st, and not just because I ate a peanut butter cup. One of my favorite writers, James Howard <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Kunstler</span>, appeared on the Colbert Report to <a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?videoId=167409">talk about his new novel</a>, <em>World Made By Hand</em>. It's getting decent <a href="http://www.amazon.com/World-Made-James-Howard-Kunstler/dp/0871139782">reviews at Amazon</a> so far, but I plan on picking it up regardless of any reviews since it's a book I might have attempted to write had he not. It's currently the #15 on the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/10132/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_b_1_3_last">top-seller list</a> in Amazon's "Literary" category, so either Atlantic Monthly Press is doing some good marketing or a lot of people are becoming interested in what a post-oil world might look like.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-18219208374466797362008-05-01T23:07:00.000-07:002008-05-01T23:16:46.597-07:00Have Sergei and Larry Gone Mad?I don't understand why Google is slowly becoming more and more like other search engines. Half the reason I started using Google was that I was frustrated that other search engines didn't search for the exact terms that I typed. Now if I search for, for example, "watin download" (WatiN is a program for computer programmers), a lot of the results, possibly the majority, are returned because of the word "waiting," even though that has nothing to do with what I was searching for. I can force Google to search for exactly the terms I want it to, but it's annoying that I have to do that now.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-10967740207795816192008-05-01T22:03:00.000-07:002008-05-01T22:20:40.732-07:00Clinton Should Be Ashamed of Herself<a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/viewbydate.asp?id=1757"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195643816822676386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9PIEGpW17gPlypfIwk88G5kk3sJLypnd9E3hUz7cf4aRpsutNzrF3NiZIgV7r3WrCutqneYyQ-uDKbo9sIsf33mxAlq1VHoyQeE1-P0t_2PZfiOYghqDc67XwfXOLHBZy46DfuRnbPs/s400/Cartoon20080502.gif" border="0" /></a>Seriously. How can a supposed Democrat support McCain's gas tax holiday, even if part of it is attempting to raise taxes on oil companies <strong>(which we should be doing no matter what)</strong>? If I didn't already think the Obama was a better choice than Clinton, this would be the clincher. Since Horsey and Friedman can express my irritation much better than I, I'll let them do the work:<br /><br /><a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/361248_friedman01.html"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">"It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer's travel season. This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: We borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country."</span><br /></em></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-77846882631453951232008-04-26T15:54:00.000-07:002008-04-26T16:16:58.750-07:00Seattle Green FestivalI went to the second day of the <a href="http://www.greenfestivals.org/content/view/767/390/">Seattle Green Festival</a> a couple weeks ago. It was basically several rooms with 45-minute speeches/forums and a gigantic main hall with many many booths. All in all it was a good experience, though I did have some complaints. My main problem was that it was too small and too brief to cater to a wide variety of people. By that I mean people just getting into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">greenosity</span>--whether for financial gain or for the betterment of the planet--on one end, and expert <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">greeners</span> on the other end. <br />The first speech I went to was given by a former local-news weatherman who now works for Puget Sound Energy, who was there to talk about ways to make your home greener. For some reason I was expecting to hear something new and exciting rather than the same old stuff (e.g. compact <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">fluorescents</span>) mixed with a sales pitch for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">PSE</span>. The speaker meant well, and maybe the other people there learned some things, but I found it disappointing.<br />The second speech I went to was given by Chelsea Sexton, the former GM employee featured in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/"><em>Who Killed the Electric Car?</em></a><em>, </em>along with a couple other people. It was interesting to hear the optimism of the speakers, but again I didn't walk away feeling like I had learned a lot.<br />The last speech I went to was from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Heinberg">Richard <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Heinberg</span></a>, one of my favorite nonfiction writers. He basically did a quick summary of his latest book, <em>Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines</em>. I found it enjoyable, and afterwards picked up the book, which he signed for me. I think hearing his speech and having <a href="http://www.fieldroast.com/products.htm">Field <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Roast's</span></a> Italian sausage for lunch were the highlights of the day.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-81017907366610753072008-04-18T13:02:00.001-07:002008-04-18T17:27:34.029-07:00McCain Ridiculed By MarketplaceI love it when <a href="http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/04/17/burman_commentary/">NPR backs me up</a> when I'm totally not expecting it. I <a href="http://gate38.blogspot.com/2008/02/case-of-poor-v-earth-dishonorable-judge.html">commented</a> a while back about how irritating it is (and just plain immoral) that politicians are obsessed with talking about lowering gas prices rather than raising them. Thank you, Len Burman, for helping me feel like I'm not crazy.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">"So why the empty rhetoric? Because we'll need much higher gas prices, not price cuts, to fend off the enormous threat of global warming. And no politician -- not even an infamous maverick -- wants to talk about that during an election campaign."</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br />I'm not sure why John McCain is an "infamous maverick," but Len certainly is correct that nobody except for possibly the Green Party wants to talk about higher gas prices during an election year.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-52287334487701946542008-03-30T18:38:00.000-07:002008-03-30T18:51:11.210-07:00Pass the Ammunition!I don't know how effective <a href="http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess.W0078/pg.1/">this</a> was in 1943, but it would be incredible if the overwhelming majority of our grease was used as an energy source rather than disposed of. Really all waste needs to be recycled in some fashion in order for civilization to survive into the next millenium, but I'll get into that another time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-55192467119713859912008-03-30T18:33:00.000-07:002008-03-30T18:35:00.784-07:00Has Our Eyesight Gotten Worse, Or Just Our Desire to Consume?Remember the good old days when a 12.5-inch television was big?<br /><br /><a href="http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess.TV0132/pg.1/">http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess.TV0132/pg.1/</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-15539326302835971592008-03-17T23:58:00.001-07:002008-03-18T00:00:31.716-07:00Good News Lately, StrangelyThings have been looking up as of late.<br /><br />I sent an email to the King County Department of Transportation a couple months ago about enforcing gas mileage minimums on taxis. They basically responded by saying it wasn't their jurisdiction, so then I wrote in to <a href="http://www.seattlechannel.org/AskTheMayor/">Ask the Mayor</a>, mainly about <a href="http://www.cascadiaprospectus.org/2007/10/seattle_taxis_going_green.php">taxis deadheading</a>. Seattle's Mayor Nickels responded on his show by saying they were looking into fixing the situation. Well anyway, while it's unclear from <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004279314_greentaxi13m.html">this article</a> whether it includes STITA taxis, Nickels has actually proposed that all Seattle taxi's get at least 30 mpg! We'll have to wait and see how long it takes before it really happens, if ever, but it's still good news.<br /><br />In other good news, people outside of the world of science and statistics are starting to see that only certain biofuels have any chance of becoming long-term solutions. Even Boeing and Continental seem to be <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/boeingaerospace/2004281463_continental14.html">wising up</a>.<br /><br />Housing prices are finally coming down from ridiculous heights. This means that I (and other middle-class folks like me) could afford a decent house in Seattle some day (maybe). But what's even better is that lending companies are finally <a href="http://seattlebubble.com/blog/2008/03/12/a-remarkable-period-in-time-a-changed-market/">cutting back</a> on terrible loans that <em>they thought </em>would only hurt the borrower, but are now coming back to bit them in the sit bones. If the U.S. didn't already have the largest proportion of its population in prisons, I might spend some time arguing that those involved in purposely ruining the borrowers' lives should go to prison, particularly those who cheated the system. But I digress.<br /><br />Last but not least, the economy is crashing! This isn't good news for those who have lost their jobs or soon will, but for the future of the world it's great. A crashing economy will surely result in:<br /><ul><li>lower consumption, which is obviously key to sustaining life on Earth</li><li>more realistic (i.e. higher) commodity prices that reflect the cost of unsustainable practices</li><li>more realistic (i.e. lower) stock prices for companies that don't care about the cost of unsustainable practices</li></ul><p>There is of course bad news with this. </p><ul><li><a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/fed-may-doing-more-harm/story.aspx?guid=%7BA998669F-3FCF-4A3C-B756-6FA6FC3C39B1%7D">Savers get hurt</a> by the Fed.</li><li>As companies and people have less disposable income, they're less likely to be green if it's more expensive (wave goodbye to research and development). </li><li>The <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120580966534444395.html">really annoying bad news</a> is that instead of liquidating corporations who can no longer stay afloat due primarily to their own faults (probably their stock was overvalued in the first place if you consider their <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0124/p09s01-coop.html">donation to the wealth gap</a> and use their ethics as part of their valuation) and making sure the little guy doesn't lose his savings, the Fed and the government are making sure the executives get their millions while the largest corporations gobble up the smaller ones and taxpayers end up paying the bill when megacorps eat up the assets but magically shave off the debts.</li></ul><p>I'd like to acquire some stuff, where's my $30 billion? </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180890627709143217.post-8305560383333799992008-03-15T14:54:00.000-07:002008-03-16T11:13:40.407-07:00BiomimicryI have always loved the idea of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomimicry">biomimicry</a>, even before I knew that anybody else thought about it outside of specific applications. Ever since I was little, when found out that the strongest animal in the world, the rhinceros beetle, could lift 850 times its weight (like a human lifting 65 tons), I've felt like understanding the mechanics of the incredible insect could result in amazing applications for humans in many different ways. We could probably learn something useful from a very large number of species. From Wikipedia:<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">One example is the attempt to learn from and emulate the incredible ability of termites to maintain virtually constant temperature and humidity in their </span></em><a class="mw-redirect" title="Sub-Saharan" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Sub-Saharan</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> Africa homes despite an outside temperature variation from 3 °C and 42 °C (35 °F at night to 104 °F during the day.) Project </span></em><a class="external text" title="http://www.sandkings.co.uk/index.html" href="http://www.sandkings.co.uk/index.html" rel="nofollow"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">TERMES</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> (Termite Emulation of Regulatory Mound Environments by Simulation) scanned a termite mound, created 3-D images of the mound structure and provided the first ever glimpse of construction that may likely change the way we build our own buildings. The </span></em><a title="Eastgate Centre, Harare" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastgate_Centre%2C_Harare"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Eastgate Centre</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;">, a mid-rise office complex in </span></em><a title="Harare" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harare"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Harare</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span></em><a title="Zimbabwe" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Zimbabwe</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;">, (highlighted in this Biomimicry Institute </span></em><a class="external text" title="http://biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/termite-inspired-air-conditioning.html" href="http://biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/termite-inspired-air-conditioning.html" rel="nofollow"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">case-study</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;">) stays cool without air conditioning and uses only 10% of the energy of a conventional building its size.<br />Another example is modeling the </span></em><a title="Animal echolocation" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_echolocation"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">echolocation</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> of bats in darkness and adapting that functionality into a cane for the visually impaired. Research performed at the </span></em><a title="University of Leeds" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Leeds"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">University of Leeds</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> (in the UK) led to the </span></em><a class="external text" title="http://www.soundforesight.co.uk/" href="http://www.soundforesight.co.uk/" rel="nofollow"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">UltraCane</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;">, a product manufactured, marketed and sold by Sound Foresight Ltd.</span></em><br /><br />Another popular example is how the beak of the kingfisher bird inspired the nose cone of the Japanese Shinkansen bullet train. The list goes on and on.<br /><br />Here are some problems I think biomimicry might ultimately solve if the world's economy doesn't completely and irreparably collapse.<br /><ul><li>desalination of sea water when not enough clean fresh water is available</li><li>safe transportation not requiring an insane amount of resources (metals to build, etc.)</li><li>refrigeration</li><li><a href="http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/termite-inspired-air-conditioning.html">cooling</a></li><li>heating</li><li><a href="http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/case-studies/red-seaweed-inspired-antibiotics.html">antibiotics</a></li><li>housing that is safe from natural disasters</li></ul>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369177908110621050noreply@blogger.com0