Get Energy Smart! NOW!

Perhaps it is simply human nature or perhaps driven by the skewed nature of early 21st century capitalism or perhaps simply an oddity of American society, but there is a fundamental societal challenge that undermines our ability to pursue sensible policy objectives: the often huge hurdles to investing just a little bit today to avoid […]

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In pure economic efficiency terms, the most cost-effective system for establishing a price on carbon pollution and starting a societal move toward a lower-carbon future, might be an upstream simple price. Carbon Fee not tax This price is not a “tax”, because a ‘tax’ implies a taking of a good. That assumes that we have […]

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The catastrophic damage already having occurred and to occur due to Deepwater Horizon is beyond the comprehension and imagination of all but a few. And, for far too many, this is occurring out of sight, out of mind, as we go along our daily lives, get caught up in watching world cup soccer and going […]

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For too long, on my “to do” list has been to post on the serious questions related to the booming in America’s natural gas reserves due to the development of “Fracking” (hydraulic fracturing) technology and approaches that have enabled exploitation of the massive amount of carbon atoms in shale natural gas. We know that “Clean […]

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To look at images of the oil sheen across the Gulf, oil covered wildlife, the gushing oil from the damaged well, the faces of devastated residents along the coast should overwhelm all of us emotionally.  Words fail even as those images overwhelm. In the face of this catastrophic damage, we seek the paths to express […]

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If embraced, solar cooking has the potential for providing a meaningful Silver BB in the fight to mitigate climate change, in the struggle to reduce health damage from polluting cooking (such as wood or coal burning in inadequately vented homes), and aiding economic strengthening for some of the world’s poorest people (reducing costs (both monetary […]

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BP…lie lie ieesss Yah so what, some birds die Laugh Laugh to the bank HA HA, an oil rig sank. There are many ways to deal with tragedies and painful situations, with parody often being an effective path. Well, rewriting Lady Gaga with “Oilmance” might have captured how to think about Bloody Polluters. See the […]

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Raging Grannies can create attention to issues through the unexpected image of a ‘friendly granny’ screaming “you suck”. The video that follows rewrites the Battle Hymn of the Republic to express The video starts off with an identification of the real challenge: “America is addicted to oil.” Understandably — but mistakenly — the outrage turns […]

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A very simple point, brought home to more Americans every day due to the disaster that British Petroleum arrogance and potential criminal negligence has wrought in the Gulf of Mexico: If we are going to move Beyond Petroleum, it is time to start bringing “externalities” into the cost of fuel. These externalities include: Paying for […]

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Another guest post from Mark Louis on, well, news on the alternative (clean) energy front. Time for another trip to the world of renewable energy.  The last item that I wrote generated a great deal of debate.  Of course, I did blame everyone for the oil spill, which caused a few angry comments.  But, I […]

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