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Sometimes you can’t make things up.

Under the title “Fact Check”, Andrew Ferguson starts his Sunday Washington Post OPED

You can’t really blame Al Gore for not using footnotes in his new book, The Assault on Reason.

Ferguson is absolutely right … and, amazingly arrogant in his disdain for common understanding of “truth” …

Like almost every academic / scholarly work published nowadays, Assault on Reason does not have footnotes … rather it has endnotes.

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Al Gore received a barrage of criticism about his electrical bill (some of it most eloquently here, here, and here — all courtesy of Bill Hobbs here at Ecotality).  It will be interesting to see the reaction when Gore’s renovated home receives certification for its energy efficiency. [Read more →]

In wind, geothermal, tidal, biomass, hydrogen, and so on, amazing developments are emerging every day. Advocates of specific options make them seem like the Silver Bullet solution to all our problems even though some (corn ethanol, for example) create as many problems as they solve.  In any event, the real issue is that we should be acting as if there is no silver bullet (which I believe to be the case) and pursuing as many silver bullets as possible. 

For many, active Solar Power generation is their silver bullet even though solar electricity remains a miniscule part of the US electrical grid and non-competitive with baseload power systems.  But … but … but … there are things in the works that look to change the equation. [Read more →]

Looking toward mankind’s relationship with and use of natural resources (whether fossil fuels, water, air, or otherwise), one serious question we all must ask is whether humanity has overshot. Whether

Mankind has exceeded the carrying capacity of its habitat and will have to face some sort of adjustment to go back into balance with it.

Was Malthus right? Are there, simply, limits beyond which we can’t go beyond in a sustainable fashion? And, if we’ve exceeded those limits — if we’ve facing Overshoot — what can we do about it?

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For many, shipping is out of sight, out of mind. So much so, for example, that shipping emissions are not covered in the Kyoto agreement or other proposed carbon reduction treaties. Few people realize that carbon dioxide emissions from the shipping industry exceeds that from aviation.  As one UK Member of Parliament put it, Shipping

has got away with doing nothing and maintained a clean image which it does not deserve.

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Should we be surprised that out Denmark, nation of windpower and bicycles (18 percent of trips by bicycle), comes an excellent approach to parental (and shopper) bicycling?  The trioBike provides real options for the biking parent. This carrier bike can carry two children (up to 180 lbs) and the carrier can be separated so that it is a bike and/or a stroller. 

As they tag line it

“trioBike is the worlds first carrierbike, bike, and pushchair in one.”

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Around the globe, there seems to be a renaissance in automobile design with (I hope, with fingers crossed) ever more attention to energy efficiency and environmental responsibility along with pure stylistic beauty.  The Loremo (Low Resistance, Mobile) is one of those highly efficient beautiful vehicles that we can hope (cross your fingers too) will start gracing the roads …

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On May 16th,

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences joined 12 other national science academies … in calling on world leaders — particularly G8 leaders who will meet in June — to address global climate change and energy-access issues by promoting low carbon-emission energy systems and more efficient use of energy. The academies also urged leaders to facilitate scientific and technical innovation, and to simplify and enforce a balanced intellectual property regime.

This is a strong and clear statement … a clarion call even.  Sadly, it is unlikely that you saw anything about this in your local paper or another ‘traditional’ news source. I hadn’t.  Thanks to Michael Tobis at Grist for the tip to this important statement.

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The automobile industry is investing “way north” of one million dollars to gin up grass roots opposition to the Senate proposals for moving automobile fuel standards to 35 miles by 2020.

As per the Detroit News

Despite rising gas prices and a growing concern about climate change, the auto industry is going on the offensive to convince Americans to oppose dramatically higher fuel economy requirements.

There is so much wrong here that it is hard to know where to start … the outrage meter is in the red zone … [Read more →]

There are good examples out there, of places and areas which are moving on a path toward a better tomorrow, who are taking the steps to Energize America.

Arlington County, Virginia , in sight of the US Capitol and home of Arlington Cemetary and The Pentagon, is one of those communities.

Paul Ferguson, the County Board Chairman, announced his objectives with his inaugral speech, with the key section:

My special focus this year is on the environment.

Let’s take a quick look at that focus and how it is going.

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