Get Energy Smart! NOW!

Earlier this week, two Washington Post articles demonstrated, yet again, the Post’s editors’ dedication to modeling Post reporting after Faux News when it comes to Global Warming: “Fair and Balanced” over objective and truthful. In what were otherwise quite interesting and even valuable articles to read, the Post inserted material from Global Warming deniers and skeptics to assure that they had ‘both sides of the story’.

Sunday’s Higher Learning Adapts to a Greening Attitude, two notable skepics each had a paragraph: Donald J Boudreaux and Richard Lindzen (for a bit of my perspective, see Newsweek: J’accuse …). These two are quoted with their serious sounding titles (which make them sound more authoritative than anyone else in the article. Any context provided about how they’re among the normal talking heads brought to the table to provide the “other side” to the overwhelming majority of scientists who have looked at the Theory of Global Warming, tested it, and found that (sadly) it passed the tests? Of course not.

Monday, in an article about Jim Hansen’s 20th anniversary of speaking out publically on Global Warming issues, Turning up the Heat on Climate Issue, James Inhofe (R-Exxon) was given a couple paragraphs to comment. Any indication that Inhofe is the most virulent global warming denier in the Congress and that he has called global warming “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people”. For Inhofe, in essence, Global Warming is the latest Black Helicopter craze of UN conspiracy to take over the United States (and the globe).

Sigh …

Yet again, “Fair and Balanced” Washington Post threw into the trash the concept of objective and truthful reporting when it comes to Global Warming.

A brief discussion about the economic imperatives for greening the nation’s taxi fleets. But, first, acronym definition:

• CtB: Cost to Buy: acquisition price, how much to purchase something
• CtO: Cost to Own: total ownership costs, from purchase through operating to disposal

Quite simply, moving our collective mindset from CtB to CtO is a societal imperative.

But, to question of greening taxi fleets: When it comes to these issues, while the CtB is slightly higher, the CtO figures are overwhelming for moving taxi fleets (rapidly) toward hybrids or other high-fuel efficiency vehicles. This is something that should be happening nearly everywhere in the country. Now!!!!

Yet, obstacles exist …

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Energy has become an ever-more central part of my life – personal, intellectual, and professional. This ranges from working with the Energize America team (and leading revamped EA2020 for 2007 and legislative action), to serving on the Board of The Energy Consensus (a non-profit working to change the discussion of energy in DC), being trained by The Climate Project and giving lectures, writing letters to the editor and OPEDs on energy/environmental issues, advising organizations as to energy options, to efforts to foster local initiatives re renewables and energy efficiency patterned on San Francisco’s Vote Solar to spending a few minutes at the end of the day (especially before weekends) turning off lights and computers in many offices at the end of the work day, to trying to change the energy patterns in my home.

RE the home … a question from a Congressional staffer helped me realize something about the implications of these efforts …
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When asked about the potential for finding a position for Dick Cheney in a McCain Administration, John McCain has a expressly straight talking response: “Hell Yeah!”

Asked whether he’d be interested in Cheney had the vice president not already have served under Bush for two terms, McCain said: “I don’t know if I would want him as vice president. He and I have the same strengths. But to serve in other capacities? Hell, yeah.”

John McCain seems intent on running away from George W. Bush, even as John McCain has voted consistently for Bush policies and so many of his policy concept seem to be close to cookie cutter with Bush-Cheney plans. Earlier this month, John MCain seemed to be striving to distance from Dick Cheney, attacking the Dick Cheney’s energy plan.

But … hold on a second here. John McCain’s energy policy concepts are beginning to look suspiciously close to those that have emerged from various Cheney-Bush Administration task forces. Are we looking toward John McCain asking Dick Cheney his Secretary of Energy?

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Until late last week, Exxon-Mobil was the sponsor of the seventh-inning stretch at the Washington Nationals’ stadium. The incongruity of a company that has poured $10s of millions into trying to undermine understanding of global warming having a prominent role in the greenest stadium in professional baseball sparked a movement to “Strike Out Exxon at Nationals Park!”

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Last evening, amid gorgeous weather, a call to action sent me out to the ballgame. While the 14-inning game was great (GO NATS!), play on the field wasn’t the only action.

The Strike Out Exxon campaign began yesterday. The Washington Nationals new stadium is the “greenest” baseball. And, who is one of their principle advertisers: that great friend of the environment Exxon-Mobil. A coalition has come together to call attention to this absurdity and to Exxon-Mobil’s roadblocking of action against Global Warming.
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Recall Deep Throat (All the President’s Men), that basic piece of advice: “Follow the Money.” As we listen to the George W. Bush’s, John McCain’s, the Republican Party’s, and the RWSM’s response to what George W. Bush described as America’s “addiction to oil”, remember those words.

In face of addiction, is the Republican Party fighting to get us (the US) to a treatment center? Struggling to help us (the US) get off the addiction? Preparing us (the US) for going cold turkey? No, they are struggling for ways to feed the addiction and keep us hooked. Hooked, that is, as the problem worsens even more such that the inevitable crash truly will be a crash and burn of our nation.

John McCain went to Houston Oilers’ territory for his first major energy speech. Totally apropos, because the best he could come up with was to argue for putting drills everywhere one can imagine. Never mind that those wells would have, at best, a marginal impact (perhaps less than 5 cents per gallon) on gasoline prices years (if not decades) into the future (opening ANWR would have less than a 2 cents/gallon impact in 2025). Never mind that the resources are, generously speaking, limited. Never mind that there are efficiency measures that could lead to the equivalent of shaving 50 cents or more gallon. Efficiency measures that all of us (all of the US) could put into action immediately. Never mind because helping us (the US) really doesn’t seem to be behind this mindless, truthiness laden, and often simply false rhetoric.

No, why not follow the money.

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Prior to the industrial era, the atmosphere was at about 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Now, we are about 387 and growing at nearly 2 ppm per year.

The ‘old’ (a few years ago) scientific consideration was that it seemed we could stabilize, without utterly catastrophic risk, at 450 ppm or below. This is the guiding thinking behind cutting carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Jim Hansen, NASA and one of the strongest voices in climate research, came out with work stating that we must fall to 350 ppm to avoid catastrophic climate change, considering the impacts that we are already seeing globally. 350 is required, Hansen tells us,

If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted.

350 . Video (must watch)

We face a simple challenge, as a society (and species): 350 or bust!
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Across the world, people are passing around with great excitement the news that there might be a bug that will create oil. And, not just bio-derived oil, but carbon-negative oil. One little bug, too small for the naked eye to see, and all our problems are solved!

Peak Oil? Forget it. Solved.

Global Warming? Forget it. Solved.

Export of dollars overseas for energy? Forget it. Solved.

Failure of the Big Three Automakers to adapt to a new world? Forget it. Solved.

Risks to American National Security due to funding both sides of the world? Forget it. Solved.

Average Americans’ financial challenges in face of skyrocketing gas prices? Forget it. Solved.

My sleepless nights concerned about the above? Forget it. Solved.

Time to roll over and go back to sleep? Forget it. At least for now.

I am a techno-optimist. I believe that scientists and engineers provide part of our solution paths forward. I believe (know) that there are tremendous things being developed in laboratories and garages around the world that will help us (the US) deal with the challenges we face. Yet (that “but”), I am leary of leaping upon the latest news, the item from the laboratory, the newest press release that screams “PROBLEM SOLVED” because, for whatever reasons, those miraculous answers all too often head back to the laboratory, turn out to be more difficult and costly than first described, and end up doing less than imagined.

This is the “Silver Bullet” solution concept, the idea that there is something magical out there, one single path toward solving all our problems. Silver Bullets are often thrown out when it comes to Peak Oil. When it comes to gasoline problems, for example, the Republican solution path is to feed what George W. Bush called our oil addiction and empty America’s limited oil reserves through a crash program of DRILL! DRILL! DRILL! (Of course, they won’t mention that this drilling program will have no influence on prices for years and perhaps only a 1-2 cent impact 15 years from now.) Vinod Khosla has been making a lot of news (and making real investments) in the idea that biofuels will be the Silver Bullet for awhile now. And, he might be right … he might be … But, what if he is not? What if we (the world) seized upon this magical bug and said: full stop on everything else, problem solved? If Khosla is right, problems solved and I can roll over and go back to sleep. If not?

The other idea is the Silver BB, that there are a myriad of responses and answers to our challenges. Each Silver BB (and silver speck of dust … do you compost?) is part of the a larger, system-of-systems, holistic response to our global challenges (energy, water, global warming, food, economic development, etc …). And, if a Silver BB turns out to be a false path, to not be a precious metal but something less, then we continue with our other approaches, not having made a bet on that single Silver Bullet.

We must continue to tackle our challenges in a holistic manner. We must tackle energy efficiency. We must look toward paths for retiring coal from the electrical system. We must pursue renewable energy. We must look toward non-oil based transportation paths. We must … approach our challenges in a holistic, system-of-system manner. And, we should do this in a flexible, (mainly) technology-neutral fashion, ready to incorporate (and even embrace) Silver Specks of Dust that might turn into Silver BBs and that might … might … might … turn into true Silver Bullets that change the game.

Will Khosla’s bugs solve humanity’s problems? Maybe. And, I might even bet some bucks on it. But I won’t bet our future.

The Washington Nationals have a beautiful new stadium. A tax-payer paid stadium. A stadium padded itself on the back for its green attributes. This beautifully green stadium is plastered with: advertisements for that every so environmentally friendly Exxon-Mobil. Yes, that Exxon-Mobil that has so happily (and generously) supported global warming denialists as a path to keep the taps running as long as possible on their ability to dump their trash into the atmosphere without financial constraints. This is now going further: visitors to the stadium have the ability to work their tightened muscles during the Exxon-Mobil 7th inning stretch. Wonder whether they hand out some black massage oil to work out those kinks and knots built up during tense games?

This is, of course, all part of Exxon-Mobil’s greenwashing efforts, to use their $10s (and growing) of billions of profits to influence the discussion and debates to keep the window open as long as possible for ever more excessive profit making off their serial polluting.

leaders from three concerned climate groups met with Nationals officials in April to demand the team stop accepting Exxon’s ad dollars in this supposedly “green” park. But the Nationals have refused.

The time has come to call more attention to this absurdity and to make it counterproductive.

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