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How do they do it?

Al Gore Caught Warming Globe To Increase Box Office Profits

‘Global warming is part of a natural cycle’–This idea is one short step above appealing to magic

(Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide)

Objection: Current warming is just part of a natural cycle.

Answer: While it is undoubtedly true that there are natural cycles and variations in global climate, those who insist that current warming is purely natural -- or even mostly natural -- have two challenges.

First, they need to identify the mechanism behind this alleged natural cycle. Absent a forcing of some sort, there will be no change in global energy balance. The balance is changing, so natural or otherwise, we need to find this mysterious cause.

Second, they need to come up with an explanation for why a 35% increase in the second most important greenhouse gas does not affect the global temperature. Theory predicts temperature will rise given an enhanced greenhouse effect, so how or why is it not happening?

For the geeks

A new, highly energy efficient power supply for your computer.

Umbra on wrapping creatively

Dear Umbra, Due to my procrastinating nature, I once again find myself in the position of having to wrap what seems like hundreds of gifts in wasteful wrapping paper, only to have it torn apart and thrown away the very next day. I’m a proponent of the “reduce, reuse, recycle” philosophy, but during the holidays, […]

Summer Arctic ice could nearly disappear by mid-century, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Santa’s Gonna Be Pissed Mileage in Mirror Is Smaller Than It Appears Unusual Weather We’re Having, Ain’t It? We’ll Be In the Fallout Shelter Once More Unto the REACH Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Fill ‘er Up The Barenaked Truth […]

Kunstler on the xmas classics

Veering dangerously close to self-parody, but not quite crossing the line, Scroogian apocaphile James Howard Kunstler deconstructs that Christmas fave of young and old, It's a Wonderful Life:

Barenaked Ladies vocalist Steven Page lays bare his hopes for a green future

Barenaked Ladies (L to R) are Ed Robertson, Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Tyler Stewart, and Steven Page. Photo: Nettwerk Records / Chris Woods Steven Page has seen the future. In it, there are walkable cities with plenty of bike paths, cleared for cyclists even in the dead of winter. Whole communities are powered by wind […]

Believe it

A while back I claimed that an all-dispatchable grid would require 75 hours of storage. I have been definitively proven wrong. Nothing like that is required.

In fact, tiny amounts of storage may do the trick if the grid is large enough -- and making the grid large enough is not that expensive. We may already have in place what we need for a completely renewable grid.

The 75-hour figure came from studies of single, isolated wind farms. But as you add wind farms, the odds of two wind farms being down -- or low producers at the same time -- drops.

I came across confirmation by accident: a Vehicle to Grid study (PDF) that evaluated data from eight sites showed that storing just 36 minutes of nameplate capacity would allow the widely dispersed farms to meet a firm power commitment ~90% of the time.

There are tricky steps involved. I am not necessarily advocating a 95%+ wind grid, as there are many ways to generate renewable electricity. But just as coal dominates power production in our current system, I suspect wind will dominate in any future grid. So consider the following a limiting case for wind.

A holiday meal inspired by New Orleans

A menu for a holiday meal inspired by a New Orleans Réveillon:

Sazerac cocktails
Appetizer of lobster salad with a lemon balm and tomato dressing
Adair Burlingham's chicken and ham gumbo, or a vegetarian gumbo z'erb
Roast turkey or a Turducken
Biscuits
King cake or bread pudding with whiskey sauce
Café Brulot or coffee with chicory

I'll post the first few recipes this week and the others next week.

A few months ago I started thinking about what would make for an environmentally sound holiday dinner. I wanted to create a menu that was festive and satisfying but not excessive or wasteful.

In which I finally come around to this whole video pod idea

I've mostly resisted the siren call of viewer-created video content. (One of the most-watched files on YouTube this month was of a guy sledgehammering a PS3 in front of a Best Buy. Really, America? Really?)

And then Thursday night I went to the Seeds of Tolerance Awards in Los Angeles, co-sponsored by the Third Millennium Foundation and Current TV.

Current TV is Al Gore's just-over-a-year-old cable channel, and a third of its programming is viewer-created content. Now, way back in 2005, everyone seemed to be talking about how crazy Al was for letting the public and its digital video cameras run amok on cable television. Then You-know-who-Tube exploded into pop culture in all its OK Go-breaking, PS3-smashing glory.

Who's crazy now, suckas?