In catching up on some reading this morning, I came across this article: Eight Bio-based Technologies for 2050. (I seem to have been spending the last 40 years catching up on my reading. You ever get that?) The article, from Biofuels Digest via Renewable Energy World, mentions eight “bio-based” technologies (or systems) that have tremendous […]
We had a fabulous trip in, in the immortal phrase of Donald Rumsfeld, “Old Europe.” The only problem, Rummy, with your formulation is that … well, it’s wrong. France, in the Southwest, where we were for part of the trip, is smart, prosperous, progressive and with friendly folks. France, though, is far too reliant on […]
We’ve been on vacation – and happily quite busy – thus have I been away from blogging. A little bit relative to the trip itself and some thoughts regarding sustainability, renewables, etc. perhaps in a couple of days. For now, here’s this on some of the recent talks under the auspices of the Framework Convention. […]
(Thanks to ProPublica for this graphic.) Thankfully, we are, slowly but certainly, entering a new ballgame on hydraulic fracturing. Yes, we need the gas trapped in shale – in the medium term. Long term: renewables. But, for now, as we transition to renewables, we’ve got to reduce the carbon footprint of the electric power, transportation […]
We refer to the American dream. You know how it goes: house with a yard (with a blisteringly bright green lawn, swimming in fertilizers and pesticides), two cars in the garage, AC at a touch (freezing your brain, making you sick and drawing more and more power), that big plasma TV on which to watch the […]
I’ve written about White Roofs, Green Roofs, Solar Roofs and even Green Curtains. They’re all good. But Gary Trudeau, in his unbeatable way, brings it all back home.
CAFE – That stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy. What President Obama announced today was a much higher federal requirement, negotiated with the car companies, for more miles per gallon on average for cars sold in the United States. As we know, Lower Gasoline Consumption = Lower GHG Output. How much? Billions of tons of […]
Good on ya, Mike! $50 million bucks really means something when it’s being put to good use to phase out coal-fired power plants. As an old Sierra Club activist, I was very gratified to learn that you had written a stupendous check to support one of the most effective Sierra Club campaigns ever: Beyond Coal. […]
The UN Security Council met this week to consider whether or not climate change constituted a threat to international peace and security and, if so, what to do about it. As Deutsche Welle puts it here, “What might appear self-evident to many took days of complicated discussions and negotiations…” If droughts, heat waves, fires, ever-intensifying […]
The Guardian and Nick Davies deserve the prize for breaking open the biggest story of the decade: the extraordinary extent and maliciousness of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation violating not only British law but also the most basic elements of decency. On July 4th, the Guardian fanned the nearly cold embers of what should have long-since […]
The Australians have come a long way since 2007 when climate change was a big factor in the change of government from Tory to Labor. A few years later, in part because the new Labor PM, Kevin Rudd, wasn’t effecting legislation fast enough to put a price on carbon, he was replaced in his party […]
The Big Apple should not have to wait any longer: It’s time to become a center of renewable energy. We’re not talking about big solar and wind arrays as we’re going to see in the Sahara – although that’s a good thing too – but rather about distributed generation: making power where you live and […]
There’s been a fair bit of fur flying as a result of Al Gore’s recent article in Rolling Stone: Climate of Denial. Most of the controversy centers around the fact that Gore calls out President Obama for not doing enough on climate change – not using his “bully pulpit.” More about that tack in a […]
