Latest Articles
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Blue plus green equals sustainability
Manufacturing can be a source of pollution, and the iconic image of manufacturing is the smokestack hurling smoke into the atmosphere. But in order to create a sustainable economy, we're going to have to manufacture the necessary windmills, solar energy systems, trains, and electric vehicles. We have a negative demonstration of the necessity of manufacturing in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, in an article entitled "Alternative Energy Hurt By a Windmill Shortage" (attention web surfers: the Wall Street Journal is free all day today!):
The race to build new sources of alternative energy from the wind is running into a formidable obstacle: not enough windmills.
In recent years, improved technology has made it possible to build bigger, more efficient windmills. That, combined with surging political support for renewable energy, has driven up demand. Now, makers can't keep up -- mostly because they can't get the parts they need fast enough.It turns out that mostly European utilities have locked up the consumption of most of the wind turbine builders in the world, so if in particular a small U.S. utility wants to expand its wind power base, it has one alternative: sell itself to a European utility. The wind turbine manufacturing capacity in the U.S. is so small that much of our wind turbine industry could soon be mostly European:
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A few random observations before getting back to work
Well, here I am, back from a nine-day vacation in the South, sunburned, mosquito-bitten, jet lagged, and generally dazed. Rather than wading through the 300 or so emails demanding my attention, how about a few vacation observations? I split my time between big-city Atlanta and the sort of not-quite-rural, not-quite-city, not-quite-suburb nether regions that, it […]
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Trees are good for a lot of things; carbon offsetting isn’t one of them
The first rule of offsets, according to Joseph Romm, is "no trees." This is a pretty good rule, as these thing go. The TerraPass offset portfolio contains no tree-planting projects, despite the fact that most consumers love trees and the fact that tree-planting projects are typically cheaper than offsets from renewable energy projects.
So if trees are both consumer-friendly and cost-effective, why avoid them? There are lots of reasons, and Romm chooses to focus on one of the more minor ones: a recent study suggesting that trees outside of tropical zones actually cause a net increase in global warming by absorbing sunlight.
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While planet burns, Boeing scores a PR victory
At the gym, in between hearing an EMT talk about the heat stroke issues he expects tomorrow, I marveled at how awful news programs were today, devoting huge chunks of time to talking up Boeing's new "Dreamliner" jet, which the blow-drieds say will consume 20 percent less fuel per mile. I even heard one blow say "eventually reducing the cost of air travel."
Man, talk about delusional.
(Oh, and I know I'm not supposed to connect things like our craze for jet travel and high temperatures, as if to suggest a connection between another spate of record breaking temperatures in what's shaping up to be a record breaking year ... bad me. I'll report to reprogramming.)
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Welcome Back, Kosher
Popularity of “eco-kosher” diet growing in U.S. Eco-food awareness has undeniably seeped into the mainstream, and religious communities are no exception. More and more, a low-impact diet is seen not just as a matter of health or ethics, but as a spiritual obligation. As evidence, look no further than the quickly growing “eco-kosher” movement; its […]
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The Sweet Smell of Politics
Rep. John Dingell proposes carbon tax, doesn’t really mean it Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the powerful chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, plans to introduce a carbon-tax bill that would raise the cost of burning fossil fuels. Yep, you heard that right: Dingell’s proposal, announced in an interview on C-SPAN, would impose a […]
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Soap Opera
New documentary takes a look at eccentric soap purveyor Dr. Bronner The wackadoo jargon encircling bottles of Dr. Bronner’s organic, animal-friendly soap products is infamous (“ENJOY ONLY 2 COSMETICS, enough sleep & Dr. Bronner’s ‘Magic Soap’ to clean body-mind-spirit instantly uniting One! All-One!”), and the story of the not-really-a-doctor and his all-purpose cleaning empire is […]
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If I Could Escape
Ford, Southern California Edison partner to test plug-in hybrids Two No. 2 businesses have unveiled a first-of-its-kind alliance: Ford Motor Co., the No. 2 automaker in the U.S., and Southern California Edison, the country’s second-largest utility, will partner for “real-world” testing of plug-in hybrid vehicles. Starting late this year, Ford will begin sending 20 plug-in […]
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Rocking the Cradle of Democracy
Energy debate leads to unprecedented government shutdown in Pennsylvania More than 24,000 state workers in Pennsylvania are back on the job today, after a fierce debate over budget issues — including transportation and clean energy — led Gov. Ed Rendell (D) to enact an unprecedented partial government shutdown yesterday. At a late-night press conference, Rendell […]
