Latest Articles
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When the Rivers Run Dry
After reading a few things -- namely this from Ezra Klein, this from Brad Plumer, and a Prospect article by Jon Margolis -- I resolved to learn more about the world's water woes. After all, I'm already a giant energy nerd, so why not become a giant water nerd?
Perhaps I should lose some weight, and be a more modestly-sized nerd. In any case, number one on my reading list was When the Rivers Run Dry by Fred Pearce. Read the Salon review here.
The one-word review of Pearce's book is: Terrifying. Whether he's writing about the Indian peasant farmers who draw from poisoned wells every day, the oblivious Arizonans who run fountains in the desert, or the apocalyptic moonscape that is the Aral Sea (once a thriving fishery, now a toxic cesspool), Pearce manages to convey the immense wreckage human activity is making of our lifeblood. No, not oil. The other precious fluid.
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Harvesting energy
Freaky. Check out this BBC piece on harvesting energy expended by human bodies and the vibrations caused by transport like trains and subways.
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NYT mag stuff
The latest issue of New York Times Magazine is devoted to architecture, and there's tons of good stuff in it. Two things in particular:
Check out the interview with Richard Rogers, a Brit architect. He doesn't trumpet his environmental consciousness -- he just takes it for granted. He's delightfully matter-of-fact.
Even better is this in-depth story on how New Urbanist dreams for rebuilding Biloxi fizzled. It's a fascinating look at how issues of class, race, and culture collide in stressful circumstances. Originally I was going to write a long post about it, but here it is 4:45, so ... just go read this post at Oil Drum instead.
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MIT and me
I must apologize for posting on this subject yet again, but an article was recently brought to my attention that reflects my viewpoints so exactly that I feel compelled to tell you about it, so I can bask in the warm glow of smug self-righteousness. From Technology Review (an MIT enterprise):
Because the advanced lithium-ion batteries put a lot of power into a small, light package, a much smaller battery is needed to power the car, which could reduce hybrid prices. As a result, a variety of cars in a fleet could come with a hybrid option that costs about as much as the option for an automatic transmission...
In the short term, however, [this] seemingly logical assumption about lower-cost hybrid cars might not be right. ...a major reason consumers buy hybrids today is to have a "badge of honor" that shows their commitment to the environment or to curbing gasoline use. ... Part of this distinction... comes from having to pay a price premium for the vehicle. Hence, in the short term... it might actually be wise for carmakers to leave hybrid prices higher. -
The future is (still) coming!
Looks like they're going to try to build a fusion reactor. Maybe this time it will work.
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Grist on BusinessWeek
Over at BusinessWeek Online, they're doing a series of podcast interviews about blogs.
Today they're running an interview with yours truly about the green blogosphere. How much Grist hype can a person squeeze into five minutes? Click to find out!
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Al Gore on Today show
Hey, NBC's Today is focusing on -- wait for it -- climate change! Check out Katie Couric's interview with Al Gore. (Sigh, requires IE.)
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Funny vision of a hopeful future
RenewUS has posted a newscast from 2055.
It's funny in the vein of Gore's SOTU on SNL.
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Americans and Climate Change: Packaging climate change as an energy issue
"Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action" (PDF) is a report synthesizing the insights of 110 leading thinkers on how to educate and motivate the American public on the subject of global warming. Background on the report here. I'll be posting a series of excerpts (citations have been removed; see original report). If you'd like to be involved in implementing the report's recommendations, or learn more, visit the Yale Project on Climate Change website.
Below the fold is the bulk of the report's third chapter, "Packaging climate change as an energy issue." It discusses how climate change can piggy-back on growing energy concerns. Tomorrow's excerpt will discuss the dangers of that strategy.
