Articles by Biodiversivist
My real name is Russ Finley. I also have my own blog called Biodiversivist, which contains articles in addition to those submitted to Grist. I live in Seattle, married with children. Suffice it to say that although I am trained and educated as an engineer, my passion is nature. I very much want my grandchildren to live on a planet where lions, tigers, and bears have not joined the long and growing list of creatures that used to be.
All Articles
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African ethanol producers accepting employment applications
Wanted: Young cane cutters for part time seasonal work. Must be willing to work ten hours a day swinging a machete in tropical sun while wearing gloves, long sleeved shirt, and hat — no retirement benefits (because you won’t live that long). Apply within. The comment below ElMarto’s photo on Flickr titled “Truck Shadow Escape” […]
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What can families do to reduce home energy use?
My name is not Earl. I've crossed everything off my list, and I'd like to share what I have learned about home weatherization.
I'll start with my results to date. I spent roughly $400 and achieved a 60 percent reduction in my gas-heating bill for the month of February. That huge reduction is testimony to what an energy hog my house was before I started this project.
My goal is an 80 percent reduction but that last 20 percent isn't going to come easy. To obtain that I will need to install a solar hot water panel in the one sunny patch of yard I have, a heat exchanger on the first floor shower drain, and possibly one of these bad-boy heat pumps. Our hot water accounts for almost 20 percent of our gas use.
Here's my list of weatherized add-ons:
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Biosphere still being fed to our cars, threatening rainforests
The battle between science and the profit margin is heating up. In case you missed it, the American Association for the Advancement of Science held its annual meeting in Chicago a few Saturdays ago (Al Gore was one of the speakers). This is the same group that publishes the journal Science. Following is an excerpt from a blog post by Erik Stokstad titled Fill 'Er Up With Rainforest [$ub. req'd.]:
Update [2009-2-23 14:46:46 by biodiversivist]: Erik Stokstad just informed me that you don't need a subscription to read the blog. -
1972 Datsun dominates drag strip
I put up a post in March of 2007 titled Electric cars: Going nowhere fast. It contained photos of electric cars available at the time. Erik Hoffner sent me this link in an email the other day. Coincidentally I ran across this same clip while channel surfing on TV that same night.
Conversions may outstrip production cars in the not too distant future, if somebody out there would just give us the battery we need at prices that we can afford. I've got my eye on this company.
