Metro Green

Volt vs. Leaf

2010-08-15T11:36:00.000-07:00

Here's an informative look at the features, limitations and the relative advantages of the new breed of electric cars. The electric-only Leaf by Nissan and GM's electric/gas "hybrid" the Volt. The article appeared in the Arizona Daily Star yesterday and was a good primer on what to expect from these two new products.

Easy Answers

2010-07-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

An excellent new blog from Marketplace Update called Easy Answers written by Adriene Hill.

The link above will direct you to her most recent post about the BP Gulf Oil Spill. She's a thoughtful and provocative writer and a seasoned and curious reporter. Check out her new blog... and make it easy on yourself to get some of the answers you may have been after.

Here's a summary of the blog and a bit about its author:

About Easy Answers

Life is complicated — especially if you want to live right and make clear, thoughtful choices. Paper or plastic? Carbon Footprint? Do they really recycle Styrofoam?

Marketplace’s Easy Answers is your definitive source, your last word, your conundrum un-conunned--and in a nutshell. Check in everyday for an easy answer to life’s tough questions about the environment and sustainability.

Ask us about:

* The latest news and headlines
* Perplexing personal decisions
* Tough choices
* Big things
* Small things
* Green things
* Yellow, red or blue things

Don’t see your question here? Ask us yourself. Know something more? Leave a comment and share your knowledge.

About the author, Adriene Hill

I'm Marketplace's new multimedia sustainability reporter. I'm not a climate scientist, environmental activist, global warming denialist, or profiteering capitalist. I'm a reporter driven by curiosity to figure out how things work and can work better. I’m not lazy, per se, but I do like my answers easy.

The Genius of Jon Stewart & The Daily Show

2010-02-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

Posted without comment.

Enjoy:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Unusually Large Snowstorm

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

Accordian Photo-bioreactor: Very Cool! (But where do I plug in my toaster?)

2010-02-02T08:48:00.000-08:00

A very cool video about biofuels... produced using algae in a lab at the University of Arizona.

Sorry, no embed code available... so click here to view.

Biosphere 2: An Arizona Relic Roars to Life

2010-01-14T09:21:00.000-08:00

Writing for the e-zine Sphere, author David Knowles explores awakening interest among climate scientists in Southern Arizona's iconic - if misunderstood - Biosphere 2.

Biosphere 2's Second Chapter: Climate Change

(Jan. 12) -- Long ridiculed as a symbol of scientific self-indulgence run amok, the Biosphere 2 facility in Arizona is suddenly proving to be an important tool in understanding global climate change.

Over the past 15 years, experiments conducted at Biosphere 2 by researchers from Columbia University and the University of Arizona have helped shape scientific understanding of how climate change will affect the planet. The story of the facility's evolution, however, is as entertaining as it is surprising.

Great Hopes

Biosphere 2 was built by Space Biospheres Ventures in the late 1980s at a cost of $200 million. The project was heralded around the world as the experiment that would eventually lead to the colonization of other planets. The concept was to create a sustainable ecosystem entirely sealed off from the outside world.

Lonely Planet/ZUMApress.com

No longer a sealed-off environment, Biosphere 2 now offers guided tours.

Inside 7.2 million cubic feet of sealed glass, several artificial environments were created, from desert to rain forest to a coral reef. Spanning 3.14 acres -- the size of several football fields -- the scale of the facility, which is about 25 north of Tucson, was unprecedented.

In 1991, along with a number of animals including goats, chickens, birds and fish, eight human researchers were locked inside the structure for the next two years.

What followed is said to have inspired the creators of the reality television program "Big Brother," in which human beings forced to live together in a restricted space often turn on one another. Factions among the researchers developed. Romantic relationships blossomed and died.

In terms of science, Biosphere 2 was no less free of drama. Due to a series of improper calculations, oxygen levels plummeted over the the two-year period as carbon dioxide spiked. Ants and cockroaches overran the facility, and a great number of the animals died.

Financial and managerial problems plagued the project as well, forcing the facility to shut down altogether in 1994. All in all, if Biosphere 2 was meant to demonstrate a possible future for the human race, that future looked rather bleak.

Second Life

After a year of entropy, Biosphere 2 was sold to an investment company, which, in turn, allowed New York's Columbia University to manage the property. Under Columbia's supervision, the focus of the project shifted to the study of how the high concentrations of carbon dioxide inside the structures affected plant life. Biosphere 2, it turned out, was a great laboratory for tracking the effects of climate change on a number of different ecosystems.

"They were able to show that as more carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere, coral reefs are endangered and die off," said Joaquin Ruiz, dean of the College of Science at the University of Arizona, who now oversees Biosphere 2.

According to Ruiz, Biosphere 2's initial attempts at creating a fully enclosed system have produced a unique tool to study a similarly enclosed environment: Earth's. "Because of its scale, there is no other facility like it."

Researchers at the University of Arizona have made important findings about the effects of drought on varying species of trees planted inside the biosphere more than two decades ago.

"We like to say that the Biosphere 2 was built slightly before its time," Ruiz said. "But now, it has become one of the best places to study the effects of climate change."

Biosphere 2 has also regained its appeal as a tourist attraction, drawing nearly 70,000 visitors in 2009.

David Knowles

A musician and a novelist, David has covered politics for AOL for the past three years. His writing has appeared in such publications as USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.

"Food Rules"

2010-01-05T16:02:00.000-08:00

In this era of empty calories, rampant obesity, profound sugar addictions and a diabetes pandemic fueled largely by a mephistophelian pact between the processed food-manufacturing industry and those who subsidize its continued production of culinary garbage, we at Metro Green feel it is our obligation - nay, our sacred duty! - to bring you this clip featuring "Food Rules" author Michael Pollan and The Daily Show's irrepressible Jon Stewart.

Pollan's money-quotes: "Eat food. Avoid edible food-like substances."
And, right now "the food industry creates patients for the health care industry."

Bon appetit!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Michael Pollan

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

Google Goes Green

2009-12-14T21:42:00.000-08:00

In honor of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) taking place this week in Copenhagen, Google, who some are suggesting deserves its own permanent seat on the UN Security Council (with veto power... of course!), has posted the following just above its iconic mid-page search bar:

"New! Explore impact of climate change on Google Earth"

The link leads to an easy-to-access series of 12 videos - with a 5-minute lead-off piece by Al Gore - on a variety of subjects and issues germane to the impact and consequences of Global Climate Change. Videos include a causation primer with Stanford Professor and former NCAR Climatologist Steve Schneider, a piece on climate and health in Africa by IRI (The International Research Institute for Climate and Society); Greenpeace is represented, as is the WWF (World Wildlife Federation) and many more ardent advocates of sane and rational policies for containing and controlling the further unregulated pumping of carbon-based pollutants into the atmosphere.

The final video, produced by Conservation International, introduces the climatic effects of global deforestation - then focuses on projects in Madagascar - where local communities are working intensively to deliver carbon emissions reductions through - among other activities - reducing deforestation and replanting native forests. Here is the final video:

Check it out... Go to Google and click the link... while it lasts.

And a hearty Metro Green salute to Google for the effort and the intention.

UPDATE: As of this afternoon, the folks at Google had removed both the green and white flag draped over their logo and the symbolic global consciousness solidarity link from their main search page. But the videos can still be accessed via the "Google Earth" hyperlink in paragraph 2 above.

If that's too much effort, here it is again: Google Earth

A way to live....

2009-11-27T22:07:00.000-08:00

Back to the land.

Perfect for Thanksgiving.
A way to eat,
a way to teach children,
a way to live.

Shhhh... Don't tell Shai Agassi: Electric cars are so two-minutes ago...

2009-10-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

Meet the GMC hydrogen-powered Hy Wire:

Exhaust product? Water.
I can live with that.

UPDATE:
After posting the above, Metro Green received an email from our favorite Austin, Texas-based genius/expert who responded as follows:

A good healthy dose of skepticism is needed. Before buying into any Detroit or Big US automotive lures, check what the real world leaders are already doing (not claiming).

For instance, check this out: The Honda Clarity is on the road NOW, 10-20 years ahead of GM’s latest 10-20 year mirage.

GM’s Car of the Future? Yep, always 10-20 years in the future, for the last 50 years. My guess is that GM has timed this PR splash to coincide with their request for another 30 or so BILLION of taxpayer money.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for Detroit 3 to do anything innovative; if they had anything to offer but yet another concept car, and a bunch of PR the automotive world would look a lot different today.

If you haven't visited the link above, here's a sneak peek:

Reality? I can live with that...even better.

Shai Agassi & Better Place: Making Electric Cars Practical

2009-10-11T09:46:00.001-07:00

Back in March, Metro Green introduced readers to Shai Agassi and his Better Place; an ambitious concept for electric cars and for developing the support network and infrastructure needed to make them practical alternatives to petroleum-based internal combustion engines.

An innovative master stroke, Agassi proposes overcoming the range limitations of "traditional" battery-powered cars first by redesigning and standardizing the automobile's power plant (e.g. battery packs) then constructing an international - even a global - network of support stations (like the gas/service stations of old) that would be called charging stations but their method would offer a little-or-no-wait process wherein rather than recharge the customer's battery while he/she waits up to 2 to 3 hours, the Better Place service facilities would simply slide out the discharged battery and replace it with one that is fully-recharged. According to Agassi's proforma, if car manufacturers cooperate and actually standardize both the batteries and their housings, the exchange process should take no longer than filling a tank with gas.

Six months later, Mr. Agassi continues to pursue his vision and investors continue to support his projects. Today's Parade Magazine had a small feature about Agassi, Better Place and the future of this particular vision for the transformation from gas to electric:

Making Electric Cars Practical

Shai Agassi is the founder and CEO of Better Place, a company with plans to bring affordable electric cars to the U.S. by 2012.

Q & A by Brooke Lea Foster/Parade Magazine

What does Better Place do?
We’re an energy network for electric cars. We don’t make the cars—we’re working with Renault to do that—but we’ll build a network of stations and charging spots so that people can use them. Think of us as the equivalent of AT&T for electric cars.

Why don’t more people drive electric cars?
It’s a question of the chicken and the egg. Until now, nobody produced these cars, so there was no energy network in place. But if you don’t set up a network, nobody buys the cars. It’s the same with cellphones—no one would buy the phones if there were no networks to support them.

How close are you to setting up a system in the U.S.?
We’re already running pilot programs in Northern California and Hawaii. We plan to build more than 10,000 charging spots in public areas in California and have them operating by 2012.

If Americans switch to electric cars, will we have enough energy to power them?
To drive 30 miles each day—the American average—you need 300 watts. That’s about the equivalent of having your computer or plasma TV turned on all day. A study by the U.S. Department of Energy showed you could power 200 million electric cars without a single change to the grid.

What’s happening in other countries?
Better Place is building charging stations in Denmark, Israel, and Australia. By the end of 2011, the networks will be open for consumers. China is moving very rapidly, investing billions in infrastructure. Once they get going, it will be extremely hard for the U.S. to catch up.

From Stewart Brand's "We are as Gods, so we may as well get good at it," to...

2009-09-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

...we are as Gods, and we HAVE to get good at it!

Legendary environmental activist and progenitor of the Whole Earth Catalog talks about climate change, global energy challenges, nuclear energy and some out-of-this-world resource prospects.

Couldn't figure out the embed code, but the video is HERE.
Below the video is Brand's essay on climate change which begins:

WE ARE AS GODS AND HAVE TO GET GOOD AT IT

About 40 years ago I wore a button that said, "Why haven't we seen a photograph of the whole Earth yet?" Then we finally saw the pictures. What did it do for us?

The shift that has happened in 40 years which mainly has to do with climate change. Forty years ago, I could say in the Whole Earth Catalog, "we are as gods, we might as well get good at it". Photographs of earth from space had that god-like perspective.

What I'm saying now is we are as gods and have to get good at it. Necessity comes from climate change, potentially disastrous for civilization. The planet will be okay, life will be okay. We will lose vast quantities of species, probably lose the rain forests if the climate keeps heating up. So it's a global issue, a global phenomenon. It doesn't happen in just one area. The planetary perspective now is not just aesthetic. It's not just perspective. It's actually a world-sized problem that will take world sized solutions that involves forms of governance we don't have yet. It involves technologies we are just glimpsing. It involves what ecologists call ecosystem engineering. Beavers do it, earthworms do it. They don't usually do it at a planetary scale. We have to do it at a planetary scale. A lot of sentiments and aesthetics of the environmental movement stand in the way of that.

By all means, read the rest... I trust you'll find his take on nuclear energy as surprising as I did. For a more complete profile, visit this link at Edge.org.

For a brief bio of Stewart Brand, visit this page at The Third Culture.

The Mood is Electric...

2009-09-17T08:34:00.000-07:00

You may recall, in August Metro Green reported on the promise of the new 230 mpg gas/electric hybrid by GM called the Volt. Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that, "Electric is the big buzz at the 63rd Frankfurt Auto Show this week, and nearly every major automaker has at least one on display."

Read the article here.

If anything were to be a harbinger...

"The Next 25 Years"

2009-08-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

Not exactly breaking Metro Green news, but this fascinating conversation between Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas Friedman and Rocky Mountain Institute's Amory Lovins 2 years ago (8/07) is an extraordinary look at what the future may hold and how to approach - and support - the kinds of changes necessary for a sustainable global community.

An intensely thought-provoking 19 minutes of video:

If you find this as interesting as I did, you might browse the RMI video catalog. For more on this ground-breaking scientific think-tank cum research facility, visit the Rocky Mountain Institute online.

Edward M. Kennedy, 1932-2009

2009-08-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant."(h/t)

World leaders pay tribute...

The Telegraph reminds us of the divides EMK was able, in part, to bridge and of the disparate forces he was able to unify.

Good night, sweet prince,
and flights of angels
sing thee to thy rest.

UPDATE: At 8:59 (PST) this evening the following note from President Obama (info@barackobama.com) hit my inbox:

Terry -- Michelle and I were heartbroken to learn this morning of the death of our dear friend, Senator Ted Kennedy. For nearly five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well-being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts. His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives -- in seniors who know new dignity; in families that know new opportunity; in children who know education's promise; and in all who can pursue their dream in an America that is more equal and more just, including me. In the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle. His seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth and good cheer.

He battled passionately on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear, and yet still maintained warm friendships across party lines. And that's one reason he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy. I personally valued his wise counsel in the Senate, where, regardless of the swirl of events, he always had time for a new colleague. I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the Presidency. And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I've benefited as President from his encouragement and wisdom. His fight gave us the opportunity we were denied when his brothers John and Robert were taken from us: the blessing of time to say thank you and goodbye.

The outpouring of love, gratitude and fond memories to which we've all borne witness is a testament to the way this singular figure in American history touched so many lives. For America, he was a defender of a dream. For his family, he was a guardian. Our hearts and prayers go out to them today -- to his wonderful wife, Vicki, his children Ted Jr., Patrick and Kara, his grandchildren and his extended family. Today, our country mourns. We say goodbye to a friend and a true leader who challenged us all to live out our noblest values.

And we give thanks for his memory, which inspires us still.

Sincerely,
President Barack Obama

A touching and appropriate tribute.

A very stirring Kennedy retrospective from The Boston Globe (published in 2003 - marking EMK's 70th birthday) by Charles S. Pierce: Kennedy Unbound. (h/t)

So, go on then, Professor... (or, "Torturing the data until it finally confesses")

2009-08-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

Geology, Carbon and Metro Green (e.g. Mr. Non-Science-Guy) Trying to Sort Stuff Out

2009-08-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

Every now and then we at Metro Green (well, actually, "I") become seized with an overwhelming urge to separate (or at least to educate myself enough to be able to separate) political propaganda from scientific fact. The last time I was so moved was during a hotly contested political campaign involving the uses of Colorado River water supplied by federal contract via the 335-mile-long Central Arizona Project canal to southern Arizona. The side I supported proposed enacting local legislation - The Water Consumer Protection Act - which would ban the direct delivery of chemically treated Central Arizona Project water to the potable water supply in the Tucson Metropolitan service area.

The Act allowed for numerous other productive uses of this important natural resource - including farming and agriculture, mining and industry, stream-bed and basin recharge - just not for direct delivery to water-users' taps and faucets for drinking.

The various campaigns (1995, 1997, 1999) in which I was involved and in which I played an important advocacy role were waged at ever-higher emotional pitches (as the carte blanche formerly enjoyed by the real estate development and business community began to evaporate and as its members felt more and more threatened) and by the time the issue was more or less settled about $1.5M had been spent by interests on both sides of the questions.

The goal - to once and for all settle the issue of surface water use in a region blessed with one of the largest and purest fresh-water aquifers in the world - was not achieved easily nor without lots of hard feelings on both sides; there were lots of political and bureaucratic casualties and - despite having essentially duked it out three different times - the subject to many remains as raw and unpleasant today as it was when the first experiment with direct delivery went horribly wrong in the Tucson service area back in 1992. (For some background, see here.)

We who have lived here all our lives can do little but resign ourselves to the axiomatic wisdom that in the desert, "Whiskey's fer drinkin' and water's fer fightin.'"

This is a somewhat long introduction to the topic at hand: With all this chatter about carbon pollution and the consequences of unchecked carbon emissions and minimizing carbon footprints, etc., etc., what scientific data is available about carbon to the average blogger-type person and can anything useful be learned from it?

I don't know much (e.g. "zero") about the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) but I did find their web page entitled "Frequently Asked Global Change Questions" quite instructive. It includes question such as:

Q. What percentage of the CO₂ in the atmosphere has been produced by human beings through the burning of fossil fuels?
Q. Why is the sum of all national and regional CO2 emission estimates less than the global totals?
Q. What is the greenhouse effect? Is it the same as the ozone hole issue?
Q. Is it possible to reduce CO2 emissions without cutting back on the burning of fossil fuels? In other words, can higher efficiency or better technology reduce the impact of the consumption of fossil fuels?

And the question I was particularly interested in:

Q. Is it possible to separate the carbon and oxygen from CO2 as is possible with other molecules?

So, if at this point you find yourself inclined to do more of your own research, this is not a bad place to start. My questions have simply led to more questions which is, to me, the ideal nature of any intellectual inquiry.

Next, what about real scientists who dispute AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming)? Is it possible that the globe is warming (in cycle with phases of cooling - as it has for all of recorded geologic time) and it has absolutely nothing to do with what mankind does or doesn't do, burns or doesn't burn, drives or doesn't drive, etc?

Is that possible? Let's ask Australian geologist and best-selling author (Heaven and Earth - Global Warming, The Missing Science) Ian Plimer. Here are a couple of interviews with Plimer which I found arresting to the point of feeling compelled to wrestle these science questions to the mat prior to proceeding with the good fight.

Particularly the following of Plimer's assertions, quoted from a piece by James Delingpole writing for spectator.co.uk:

"‘The hypothesis that human activity can create global warming is extraordinary because it is contrary to validated knowledge from solar physics, astronomy, history, archaeology and geology,’ says Plimer, and while his thesis is not new, you’re unlikely to have heard it expressed with quite such vigour, certitude or wide-ranging scientific authority. Where fellow sceptics like Bjorn Lomborg or Lord Lawson of Blaby are prepared cautiously to endorse the International Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) more modest predictions, Plimer will cede no ground whatsoever. Anthropogenic global warming (AGW) theory, he argues, is the biggest, most dangerous and ruinously expensive con trick in history."

Obviously, I'm still exploring. And I will continue the exploration. After all, what's the use of advocating a major political sea-change if your position won't stand up to some good, old-fashioned, hard-nosed scientific scrutiny?

Smartest people in the country - Chu, Gore, Wm. Clinton, Boone Pickens, Reid, etc - nod in agreement...

2009-08-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

...run America's six million plus 18-wheelers on natural gas.

According to the eponymously-titled Pickens Plan, to do so could cut foreign oil imports in half. Here's a video clip from the recent Natural Clean Energy Summit 2.0. The momentum appears to be building. Despite the long-term promise of electric vehicles, it's gratifying to see, at this summit, that none are promoting conversion of the trucking industry to electric power just yet. Today's electric motors will not power an 18-wheeler. But, apparently, natural gas will.

An impressive collection of luminaries at this table seem to concur. See what you think:

If you're up for some exploration, additional info on T. Boone Pickens and The Pickens Plan is available here and here.

For what it's worth, Boone Pickens impresed me enough to sign up for emails from his "Army headquarters" (All his emails all start: "Hey Army!")

My kinda guy.

UPDATE: Here's the latest propaganda... if you're so inclined:

UPDATE 2: Are the possibilities for real? Here's a press release from last May issued by Kenworth Truck Company regarding it's client Border Valley Trading, a California agri-trucking company, that just replaced it's diesel fleet with 15 new Kenworth LNG(liquefied natural gas)-powered T-800s. Judge for yourself.

UPDATE 3: The Austin Statesman (newspaper) weighs in on T. Boone, The Pickens Plan and the Nat Gas Act with its September 16th editorial "Break the Curse of Oil Addiction." From the editorial:

Big rigs are constantly on the move, spewing fossil fuel emissions in their wake. Incentives for trucking companies to buy natural gas-burning vehicles would lessen dependence on foreign oil and contribute to cleaner air. Transmission and delivery costs would be miniscule when compared to the savings, Pickens said.
Though battery powered vehicles are hailed as the transportation future, batteries aren't practical for powering 18-wheelers, Pickens says, and there are transportation experts who concur...
Like the junkies we are, we promise to get clean after just one more fix. And so it goes until the next time OPEC dries up the supply and drives up the price of U.S. energy.

Rigs that burn natural gas may not be the whole solution, but that certainly is a move in the right direction.

UPDATE #4: From the Arizona Daily Star, October 16:
New compressed-natural-gas station opens

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.16.2009

A Tucson Unified School District bus gets a fill-up with gas literally in gaseous form. On Thursday, Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the school district and the Pima Association of Governments/Tucson Clean Cities Coalition debuted the new natural-gas station at 1744 E. Winsett St., near South Kino Parkway. It's open to the public. At front, from left, bus driver Verlin Mosley, Jeff Ell of Tucson Young Professionals and county schools staff members Vaughn Croft and Curtis Dutiel observe the fueling process. The district, which has 70 CNG buses, is expected to be a large customer for the relatively clean-burning fuel, which is sometimes cheaper than gasoline. The station is operated by Clean Energy.

The Chevy Volt for 2010... 230 MPG?

2009-08-11T13:37:00.001-07:00

Take a look at this item from CNN Money.com. It's a feature on the 2010 Chevy Volt. A promising sounding new automotive product combining the best in electric car technology with the most miserly and fuel efficient of traditional internal combustion engines. It's designed to begin using gas only after the car has gone around 40 miles. And with most day-to-day road trips averaging fewer than 40 miles round trip, the gas in this car's tank could last a long, long time.

(There's also a brief video presentation at the above link but, as of this posting, the embed function was disabled. If/when it returns, I'll embed the video for easier viewing.) Meantime, here's a YouTube info piece:

Being an old time ad guy I admit to having swooned a bit over GM's recent ad campaign with the tag line: "We're not going OUT OF BUSINESS, we're GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS."

Read the story. I guess some ad campaigns aren't all fluff and hooey after all. We at Metro Green wish GM all success with the new Volt and hope (and encourage) other car manufacturers to follow their lead.

Chevy Volt... the optional humor upgrade:

Live-blogging Al Gore / Repower America National Conference Call

2009-06-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

RePower America's prearranged nationwide conference call... off to a late start (scheduled for 8:00 pm, Tuesday, June 23) by a few minutes. Steve Bouchard, veteran political strategist and Repower America Campaign Manager, intro.

Discusses new Waxman-Markey legislation and how overdue it is.

Promos phone poll following call to register support for the bill.

Introduces Vice President Al Gore at 5:08 PT:

AG: Begins with expression of gratitude for all the Repower America members. Ideal timing: Final obstacle for a floor vote on the Waxman-Markey bill has been removed and legislation will come up for a vote this week, Friday, in the US House of Representatives. So this is a timely opportunity for calling members of Congress.

AG: This is the moment. This new legislation is an important first step. It achieves real reductions in carbon emissions... below the levels stipulated for 2020. The vote is on Friday. Refers to the siginificance of the passage of Obama's Green Stimulus Bill. This next bill is another key step toward reducing GHG emissions. (AG) Solicits volunteers to call members of Congress.

Passage sends a signal around the world that we in the United States are indeed serious about reducing GHG emissions. House Energy & Commerce Committe voted 33 to 25 in favor of this bill. Unheard-of success in bringing clean energy legislation to the House floor... unthinkable only 2 or 3 years ago. This is the time to get the House of Representatives fully on board. Hearing from constituents will get house members over their "fear" that this does not have universal support.

(AG) Reality is our strong ally. The opposition has only discredited information and data to use in lobbying against Waxman-Markey. This bill, plus the stimulus investment, will result in 1.7 million new jobs in the green energy and technology sectors.

Launched a new RePower America TV ad last week.

1) Stay on call following this message to record a message to your congressperson;
2) Lobby your friends and family to contact their representatives;

Steve Bouchard, Thank you Mr. Vice President. Press 1 on your phone to volunteer; stay on this line for prompts to leave a message for elected representaive.

I recorded a brief message encouraging my congressional representative, Gabrielle Giffords (D, Az) to vote "Aye" this Friday in support of the Waxman-Markey Clean Energy Bill.

Call or write to your congressional representatives and encourage them to do the same.

UPDATE: This "National Conference Call with the Former Vice President" was, after a night to sleep on it and some reflection, a tad less substantive and inspiring than I'd hoped it would be. Still, glad to have been part of it.

And in case you didn't read through the bill at the link above and are as yet unfamiliar with the tenets of this newly proposed piece of legislation from Senators Waxman and Markey, here's the link again: Waxman/Markey Bill in convenient bullet points.

Do read through it and, please, lend your support.

UPDATE #2: Repower America sign-up link. And a new video message from Vice President Gore:

Tucson, AZ - Clean Energy Jobs Day - a MoveOn.org event

2009-06-20T17:13:00.000-07:00

Last month, I attended an informative, inspiring and very-well-organized event hosted by MoveOn.org featuring four prominent Tucson, AZ business projects - united by the sustainability theme. The event, (essentially a half-day tour) called Clean Energy Jobs Day, began at The Solar Store (one of Tucson's oldest retailers of solar energy products) with short rousing speeches by Southern Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva (D, Az), Tucson Vice Mayor Steve Leal (D), Tucson City Councilwoman Karen Uhlich (D) and Solar Store President Katherine Kent.

Among other things, the event was organized to rally support for additional federal green-jobs legislation (and the stimulus money to fund it) by introducing the local community to diverse, pioneering, successful projects and businesses that have provided significant leadership in green technology, sustainability in architectural design, green cooperative technical trades contractors and even in the food-services business. The tour ended at a fully solar-powered pizza parlor - Brooklyn Pizza - whose rooftop 82-panel PV grid - during the heat of the day - was not only powering the pizza ovens, the air conditioners, the beer coolers and the food-storage freezers, it was doing so while returning .72 kWh of green electrons back into the grid - the net effect of which was to run UniSource Energy's specially-designed feed-in electric meter backwards, providing a cost-saving credit onto the restaurant's electric bill.

Most impressive was the tour of legendary Tucson green pioneer builder/developer John Wesley Miller's award-winning downtown barrio renovation project Armory Park del Sol. Adjacent to - and just south of - downtown Tucson in one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, the project's plat stipulates roughly 100 single family residences, all designed to maximize renewable energy sources - PV electric, solar hot water, thermal mass energy production - to recycle grey water, to optimize insulation and to minimize energy leakage and other forms of waste.

All in all, it was a very impressive tour and an inspiring reminder of both the possibilities and the delights of looking at business and enterprise from the perspective of sustainability using clean, green, carbon free renewable energy.

Look for a follow-up on John Wesley Miller here at Metro Green... coming soon.

In which we at Metro Green salute the courage of those marching in the streets of Tehran. We stand with you and wish you freedom.

2009-06-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

Though I'd heard it earlier today, a friend just emailed me the text of Obama's newly-released formal statement on the Iranian uprising. I am particularly moved by his MLK quote: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Obama calls on Iran to 'stop all violent and unjust actions'

Obama directly addresses the Iranian government for the first time after a day of violence in Iran:

"The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said - “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness."

By all and any means.

UPDATE: "Clerical Error." Best Iran-related headline to date. (h/t)

UPDATE #2: Thomas Friedman provides a well-crafted explanation/analysis of the current political situation in Iran in his op/ed Bullets and Barrels.

The Poetry of Paul Hawken's (Commencement Address)

2009-06-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

You Are Brilliant and the Earth is Hiring!

Paul Hawken is a friend of CharityFocus, renowned entrepreneur, visionary environmental activist, founder of Wiser Earth and author of many books -- most recently Blessed Unrest.

In May, when he was presented with an honorary doctorate of humane letters by University of Portland, he delivered this superb commencement address.

Here's just one little gem from this extraordinary speech:

This planet came with a set of operating instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or air, and don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with no need for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really good food - but all that is changing.

There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive, and in case you didn’t bring lemon juice to decode it, I can tell you what it says: YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH IS HIRING. The earth couldn’t afford to send any recruiters or limos to your school. It sent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine, and that unbelievably cute person you are dating. Take the hint. And here’s the deal: Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in the time required. Don’t be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.

A tad later come this:

We have failed bankers advising failed regulators on how to save failed assets. Think about this: we are the only species on this planet without full employment. Brilliant. We have an economy that tells us that it is cheaper to destroy earth in real time than to renew, restore, and sustain it. You can print money to bail out a bank but you can’t print life to bail out a planet. At present we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domestic product. We can just as easily have an economy that is based on healing the future instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for the future or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration and the other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the earth we exploit people and cause untold suffering

This is as Metro Green as it gets, and full of the kind of inspirational morality and poetic authority that leads armies into battle.

My favorite of the many, many magnificent notions and turns-of-phrase in this address is Hawken's simple assertion, "Working for the earth is not a way to get rich, it is a way to be rich."

Go ahead. Read the rest. It's a 10 out of 10. (And in case you missed it above, here's the link to Hawken's speech one more time.)

Van Jones on NOW/PBS - Green Collar Jobs

2009-06-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

While in Austin, Texas last week, I caught David Brancaccio's NOW segment on PBS. He was interviewing Van Jones, author (The Green Collar Economy), environmental activist, founder of "Green for All," an environmental group dedicated to bringing green jobs to the disadvantaged, and recently-appointed special advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Jones is passionate, articulate and well-versed in the broad lexical vocabulary of sustainability.

Now that he has the President's ear, will Jones be creating a new career frontier for America? Let's hope so.

This is an inspiring and encouraging segment... especially for those eager to transition into the green(er) jobs market:

"The Three Rs" by Mitchell Musso

2009-05-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

My six (soon-to-be-seven) year old son Xander showed me this kids vid. Reduce, Re-use, Recycle.
So very Metro Green. Enjoy:

Grand Canyon Goes Solar

2009-05-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

Some may consider this blog unduly Arizona-centric and they may have a point. If it is so, (and surely it is), doubtless it's because I live in Tucson in the southern part of the Grand Canyon State and am particularly attuned to Metro Green activities here in my own back yard.

Here's a cool one:

Having been a professional musician for many, many years and having played at virtually all the lodges in Grand Canyon Village (including Bright Angel, Maswik and El Tovar), the following news item in this morning's paper caught my eye and struck me as particularly Metro Green:

Arizona Daily Star: Business
Grand Canyon goes solar
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.19.2009

Phoenix-based Arizona Public Service Co. has installed 84 photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Grand Canyon National Park Visitor Center and on ground-mounted platforms next to the building.
The panels will produce 18 kilowatts of electricity, enough to offset 30 percent of the center's power needs. APS, the state's largest utility, said the site creates the opportunity to educate more than 4.5 million visitors to the Canyon's South Rim each year about renewable energy.
Funding for the project came from APS customers through a state-approved surcharge for renewable energy programs.

House OKs $6.4B for schools that are greener

2009-05-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

It's a start!

Associated Press: WASHINGTON — The House passed a multiyear school construction bill Thursday with the ambitious goals of producing hundreds of thousands of jobs, reducing energy consumption and creating healthier, cleaner environments for the nation's schoolchildren.
Opponents, almost all Republicans, objected to the cost associated with the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act. The cost would be $6.4 billion in the first year with similar outlays approved over the next five years.
It passed 275-155, and now goes to the Senate, which did not act after the House passed similar legislation last year.
The situation has changed this year. While then-President George W. Bush threatened to veto the measure, objecting to a costly new school construction program, President Obama made school improvement projects an element of his economic stimulus initiative.
The bill would provide states with money to make grants and low-interest loans so school districts could build, modernize and repair facilities to make them healthier, safer and more energy-efficient. The funds would be allotted under a formula based on a district's share of students from low-income families, but the bill guarantees that every district that receives federal money for low-income students will get at least $5,000.

Transition Town Japan: Hidetake Enomoto

2009-05-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hidetake Enomoto: A very soft-spoken, sensible and forward thinking young man.

Transition Town Japan: Hidetake Enomoto from UNUChannel on Vimeo.

Stand By Me

2009-04-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

Though some may dispute, it just doesn't get any more Metro Green than this:

Enjoy.

UPDATE: OK, maybe it does get more Metro Green:

UPDATE 2: Interested in more? Check it out here: Playing For Change.

TerraCycle - Near Perfect Eco-Capitalism

2009-04-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

Caught a glimpse of a National Geographic TV special featuring TerraCycle, a company that makes all its products from waste. All its products. Every part of everything, recycled, upcycled, repurposed, reused.

Check it out:

(As of this posting, their website (www.terracycle.net) was down so no link can be provided at the moment. But I'll update this post with a link when their site comes back up.)

UPDATE: Here's the link to www.terracycle.net.

UPADTE 2: From the TerraCycle home page: Terra-Ific!

Earth Day 2009 - Kids Edition

2009-04-22T22:18:00.001-07:00

I want to take a minute on this Earth Day 2009 to acknowledge the efforts of elementary educators (everywhere, really, but particularly those under whose influence my children fortunately fall) in whom I've seen a commendable dedication to spreading the word about sustainability, recycling, respect for the earth and all the elements that will enrich their imaginations and spur them to green living, thinking and action.

You may even recall this March 13th Metro Green post about Project Rescue, a "play" my 3rd-grade daughter's combined classes staged.

The image above is the cover of an elementary education news publication produced by Time, Inc. called "Time For Kids. This week's issue, titled "Green Schools," features articles on resource conservation (particularly water and electricity), trash recycling, photo-voltaics and solar collection, and even a charming little piece on composting, which, for the benefit of the first-graders, exaggerates the "ewww!" factor by describing how "worm poop is mixed with soil."

On the back a little "test" challenges kids to study a schoolyard illustration and then circle all the "Earth-smart choices" they see and "X" all the things they see that should be changed.

My son and I went over it together and he was sufficiently inspired to urge us to observe another Earth Hour tonight before bed. So we did, thoroughly revisiting the camaraderie we had shared on March 28th when we'd offed all the lights and snuggled together outside looking at the stars and talking about what it means to be kind to Mother Earth.

Tonight before bed we read together a poem called "Mother Earth Needs Your Help" by Tonda Rae Nalle that my son's first-grade teacher had sent home in his backpack:

Our world is a large and beautiful place,
But soon we will run out of space
For all our litter trash and cans.
So let's start now and lend our hands
To clean up our roadsides, parks, and streams.
It's not as impossible as it seems.
Our world will remain a beautiful place
And future generations won't run out of space.

Recycling is a lesson learned
From Mother Nature, who in turn,
Will teach us if we only try
To recycle the things we use and buy.
If we all work hard and do our share
Our world will survive because we care.

Admittedly, not Shakespeare, but a lovely little message to send home with the kids as the effects and the effectiveness of each progressive Earth Day become more and more critical to the health of the planet and to the quality of our lives on it.

The Sunday NY Times Magazine - The Green Issue

2009-04-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

For those coming late to the party, pick up a copy of last Sunday's (April 19) New York Times. Pull out the magazine and you'll find what's being called the Green Issue. For those who prefer investigating online: The Green Mind. (May be behind a subscription wall... but I believe registration is free).

Of greatest note here at Metro Green is the Times' focus study of Shai Agassi and his visionary efforts to promote electric cars with interchangeable batteries. Batteries Not Included is an in-depth look at the progress Agassi has been making with his Better Place concept for the operating mechanisms of viable all-electric car transportation. Metro Green readers will remember Agassi from our March 23rd post entitled "E=MC2 for E value "Electric" (as in car)..." Central to the topic of electric cars is this puzzling conundrum:

"The most advanced electric car currently for sale, the Tesla Roadster, runs for no more than 250 miles on a charge, and others can do only 50 miles or so; then they require two or more hours of plug-in time to recharge. The problem of refueling is so significant that fans of electric cars have a phrase for it: range anxiety, the nagging fear that you’ll run out of juice before you can find a charge spot and be stranded at the side of the road. It is the major reason that most Americans, even as they cheer on the development of low- or no-emissions vehicles, are leery of actually buying one. And if people won’t buy them, carmakers won’t make them."

It is the single question best answered thus far by Agassi's Better Place battery changing stations. Author Clive Thompson also updates our original essay touting in summation the recently-committed Obama stimulus plan's $2.4B in development grants for electric cars and plug-in electric hybrids.

Jon Gertner also has a worthwhile psycho-social inquiry into the nature of our struggle to get 100% behind sustainability efforts and the green lifestyle in his essay "Why Isn't The Brain Green?"

All in all a very worthwhile read and what better way to ring in April 22nd: Earth Day 2009?

Congress for the New Urbanism

2009-04-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

Metro Green acknowledges and salutes Congress for the New Urbanism, a non-profit (501(c)(3) corporation) think tank dedicated to sustainability at the urban (city/neighborhood) level. From their "Who We Are" web link:

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is the leading organization promoting walkable, neighborhood-based development as an alternative to sprawl. CNU takes a proactive, multi-disciplinary approach to restoring our communities. Members are the life of the organization – they are the planners, developers, architects, engineers, public officials, investors, and community activists who create and influence our built environment, transforming growth patterns from the inside out. Whether it's bringing restorative plans to hurricane-battered communities in the Gulf Coast, turning dying malls into vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods, or reconnecting isolated public housing projects to the surrounding fabric, new urbanists are providing leadership in community building.

Our relationship with our members allows us to do more than just talk about the problems of the built environment. Together, we are creating tools that make it easier to put New Urbanism into practice around the world.

In March, CNU's John Norquist testified before Congress earning a cooperative response from Obama administration officials:
"...bringing a message about how federal investments in integrated networks of walkable streets and public transportation will strengthen communities, bolster regional economies and dramatically reduce carbon emissions and other environmental impacts. “For thousands of years, urban thoroughfares were used for commerce, movement, and social interaction,“ says Norquist. “Only in the 20th century did engineers start to think that traffic should be segregated from other activities. Increasingly though, Americans are turning away from the isolation of automobile-dependent areas and choosing to live in neighborhoods with traditional walkable street networks. Federal policies should reflect the choices people are making. The time for grade-separated highways as the centerpiece of federal transportation policy has come and gone.“
Two key Obama Administration officials sounded similar themes in a remarkable joint appearance before the same subcommittee yesterday: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Secretary Shaun Donovan of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The two cabinet officials used the joint appearance to announce a Sustainable Communities partnership “to help American families gain better access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs.“ Although CNU and other reform organizations are eager to work with both agencies to put meat on the bones of these aspirations, the plans coming from both departments are highly promising. The NRDC's Kaid Benfield provides highlights of what's planned under this partnership in a posting at CNU's group blog:

Enhance integrated regional housing, transportation, and land use planning and investment. “The task force will set a goal to have every major metropolitan area in the country conduct integrated housing, transportation, and land use planning and investment in the next four years.”
Develop federal housing affordability measures that include transportation costs and other costs that affect location choices.
Ensure that the costs of living in certain geographic areas are transparent - using an online tool that calculates the combined housing and transportation costs families face when choosing a new home.
Research, evaluate and recommend measures that indicate the livability of communities, neighborhoods and metropolitan areas.

“One of my highest priorities is to help promote more livable communities through sustainable surface transportation programs,” concluded Secretary LaHood yesterday.

Further exploration into the activities of CNU (and membership in the organization!) could prove useful and productive as we move forward toward a sustainable future. Kudos to the Obama administration for responding so positively to community-generated leadership.

The Plastic Plague

2009-04-17T22:31:00.000-07:00

A very strong new blog called "Say No To Plastic..." makes a powerful case for the adverse impacts of non-biodegradable plastics on our global ecosystems. Though they don't cite their reference sources, if the following "quick facts" list is accurate, alarm bells should be sounding... from one end the planet to the other:

QUICK FACTS ON PLASTIC POLLUTION

* A plastic milk jug takes 1 million years to decompose. ONE!

* A plastic cup can take 50 - 80 years to decompose.

* Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every HOUR.

* Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1 million sea creatures every year.

* Today, Americans generate 10.5 million tons of plastic waste a year but recycle only 1 or 2 % of it.

* An estimated 14 billion pounds of trash, much of it plastic is dumped in the world’s oceans every year.

* The worldwide fishing industry dumps an estimated 150,000 tons of plastic into the ocean each year, including packaging, plastic nets, lines, and buoys.

* Each of us creates 1,500 lbs of trash every year that has to be disposed of . . . much of it could be recycled.

* Every year we make enough plastic film to shrink-wrap the state of Texas.

Now, take a look at what's happening in a region of the Pacific Ocean (between San Francisco and Hawaii) called the North Pacific Gyre:

Recycle all the plastic bottles you possibly can. If the local grocer uses plastic bags, create a recycling box or bin and from time to time return them to the store. The urgency of dealing with this plastic plague cannot be understated. Unchecked, it will eventually find its way onto our dinner plates... if it hasn't already.

If you REALLY love tofu... a bit of Metro Green humor

2009-04-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

I don't ordinarily watch (or pay much attention to) Fox News but this story made me laugh out loud. Was it the subject matter or the deeply "challenged" news anchors? Hard to say, but on the eve of tax day... here, for your quasi-green amusement:

If Westwood, NJ can do it, what's stopping the rest of us?

2009-04-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

Westwood, New Jersey... rethinking how an entire town operates. Sever ties with traditional energy? Why not? Garbage trucks running on bio-diesel? Hybrid cop cars? But of course! Wind turbines, solar panels and the installation of a hydro-generator on a nearby river? Obviously!

It's all in the works and Westwood City Hall is 100% on board. And the movement is generating considerable accolades and attention beyond the city limits.

Shows what leadership, political will and community buy-in can accomplish in a town not unlike say, for example... yours.

Video clip from CBS News this morning:

Watch CBS Videos Online

5 Ways To Monitor Energy And Money Use

2009-04-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

Dave Burdick writing the other day at Huffington Post had this interesting column on monitoring energy consumption and how to measure the direct expense. Self-explanatory and posted without further comment:

We all know we need to use less energy to save money. But we work best with goals -- how much energy, exactly, should we save? Easier to work in dollars, right?

Well, Michael Graham Richard over at Planet Green reports that there's an easy conversion:

Eric Drexler, a great scientist and engineer who also recently started blogging, noticed something interesting about the average electricity rate in the US ($0.115 per kilowatt-hour): One watt for one year costs one dollar.

Why is this interesting? Because most of us aren't really good at estimating our energy usage and what part of our electricity bill comes from what.

So, armed with that knowledge, here's how to get started monitoring the speed at which money and energy are leaving your home.

Coolest ways to monitor your energy use:

KILL-A-WATT and KILL-A-WATT EZ
Plug it in, plug your appliances into it and do some math (or don't, with the EZ model) -- and you'll know how many watts you're using.

TWEET-A-WATT
Monitor energy use from afar! Maybe you want to spy on your roommates to make sure they don't crank the A/C while you're out of town. Or maybe you're less crazy and you just wonder about natural fluctuations during the day. Either way, combining Kill-A-Watt and Twitter can keep you posted on your appliances' energy draw.

THE METER READER
Where Kill-A-Watt reports on energy use of specific appliances, the Meter Reader (runs about $200) will monitor your whole home's energy use.

WATTSON
An incredibly cool (and immodest, if you watch the video) device that monitors home energy use via your home's energy meter. It's like the Meter Reader, but looks much cooler -- and it knows it.

TATTLETALE HOUSE
This is not for your average consumer, but it's pretty incredible. When this house uses too much energy, the whole world knows -- because big, illuminated orbs outside the house will glow red!

Oh God, here they come...

2009-04-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

Did You Know? & 2.0

2009-04-09T09:35:00.000-07:00

Not exactly Metro Green, but since Aristotle held "the swift perception of relations" to be "the hallmark of genius," here is an interesting primer in global economic, social and cultural relativity, just so... you know... we can all be geniuses. (Some redundancies, but both videos are worth watching & absorbing).

Adaptive Reuse - Podcast: Kirsten Ritchie on Green Biz Radio

2009-04-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

Adaptive Reuse is the term given to the retrofitting and repurposing of existing buildings to minimize new construction while maximizing energy conservation in the satisfaction of our demand for space.

This podcast, features Kirsten Ritchie, director of sustainable design with Gensler, the international architecture, design and planning firm based in San Francisco. In this interview from mid January, Ritchie talked with Green Biz Radio Associate Editor Leslie Guevarra about adaptive reuse — a practice that gives new life to old buildings.

Here's how it began:

LG: Please talk to us about adaptive reuse. Why are we hearing more and more about this strategy these days?

KR: Well, certainly, I'd love to chat about it with you. But what I'd first would like to do for our listening audience is to have them understand what adaptive reuse is. Or when we use that term, what we believe is.

Adaptive reuse is where you're actually taking an existing building and you're repositioning its function. So for example, you have a situation where you had an old manufacturing plant and you're transforming it to use as a commercial office. We have that example right here in our offices in San Francisco where we are located in the old Hills Brothers Coffee Building and it was originally a coffee plant built in the turn of the century. Now it has wonderful commercial offices in it.

Another example would be for our Ferry Building, which of course, was originally built as a terminal for all the ferries that were plowing the Bay. And now it is a wonderful market hall.

So when talking about adaptive reuse, that's what we mean. We mean taking a building and really repurposing it for use that is popular and needed in today's marketplace.

So why are we hearing so much about adaptive reuse? You see it in the newspapers, of course a lot on the design magazines, a lot in the development area.

And the reason for that is first of all, we have a huge amount of existing building stock and we need to be smarter about using it. Particularly if you look at the older buildings, they have wonderful bones from a design perspective. They have high floor-to-floor ceiling heights that allow us to bring in a lot of natural daylight. It allows for good circulation systems, it allows you to optimize how you set up your lighting systems.

And of course, the buildings themselves are pretty strong, sturdy buildings. They've been around so long and they have a lot of materials in them and you want to take advantage of that.

Also, buildings in particular that were built in the earlier part of the century were designed to optimize their performance in what we call the passive state. That is, being able to take advantage of solar orientation and wind and natural ventilation because we didn't have such reliance that we do now on mechanical systems for our comfort. So they're very smartly designed buildings.

The only thing is that their use or what they were originally designed for is no longer needed. And so what you now want to do is say how can I take this building that's, for example, plunked down in the middle of a city, an old manufacturing plant, and take advantage of it because we need housing or we need offices or we need hotels. And can we use these buildings to provide that function?

And the answer is absolutely yes. And so we're really looking to get so much smarter about repositioning and reusing and adapting the use of these buildings to meet needs that we have in the marketplace right now.

In this conversation, Ritchie explores the impacts of - and the long-term implications for - repurposing the "built environment" and concludes it is of necessity that adaptive reuse becomes the standard for how we approach our need for space - to live, work and play in - in the years and decades ahead.

LG: Now, we're talking about ways to transform the built environment. And it sounds like this is part of the same extended family of strategies that could include industrial infills and retrofits.

KR: What you're looking at from an adaptive reuse perspective is saying, if we really want to do something about our energy consumption and we really want to do something about the carbon issue, we have to get, we have to improve the performance of the existing building stock big time. We have over 300 billion square feet of buildings in the United States that are already built and we have a lot of great green rating systems that are out there kind of more focused on new construction.

To get our energy down, we've got to go after those 300 billion square feet of existing building and by going into an existing building, adapting its reuse, improving its performance, being smarter about how you manage — for example, manage daylight and provide thermal comfort, we can significantly reduce the energy consumption associated with the operating of that building as well.

UPDATE: More on Gensler; awarded Green Space Today's February 2009 Firm of the Month.
See photos of Gensler's award-winning adaptive reuse designs and new project build-outs. And more from Sustainable Design Director Kirsten Ritchie.

Mat Stein's Environmental "Ponzi Scheme" Analogy

2009-04-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Writing at Chelsea Green (originally posted at The Huffington Post), Mat Stein has drafted a Metro Green eye-opening tour de force - titled "We're Running Our World Like a Ponzi Scheme" - in which he reflects on the nature of our consumerism and compares it to a giant Ponzi scheme that will ultimately collapse, leaving future - but not so distant - generations holding little more than the heated sands of a ruined landscape and a barely habitable world.

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that promises, and delivers (at least for a while) exceptionally high and consistent financial returns to investors. These returns are paid to its investors from their own money, and the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned by bona fide income generating investments (such as manufacturing, mining, or rental income). In ways similar to "pyramid schemes" or "chain letters", in order for a Ponzi scheme to work, it must continuously attract an ever increasing pool of investment from unsuspecting customers, in order to provide an ever increasing supply of money to draw upon to maintain payments to its ever increasing pool of investors. The trick is to promise such glorious results that the greed factor overcomes its victim's common sense as they turn a blind eye to the fact that the scheme lacks a solid foundation and can't go on forever. It is absolutely critical to the success of all Ponzi schemes that an aura of respectability and impeccability be maintained for as long as possible, for as soon as suspicions spread concerning the fraudulent nature of the business, new investments dry up and the Ponzi scheme collapses, since it has no source of true earned income with which to maintain payments to investors.

So, is it true that we are running our planet like a Ponzi scheme? And if this is true, does it mean that we must inevitably face collapse, as all Ponzi schemes must eventually end in catastrophe?

The illusion that the "Free Market" is the logical savior of our world has been maintained by the promise of riches and an ever increasing standard of living and lifespan that has been demonstrated by the industrialized world for the past several hundred years. On the surface, who can look at the apparent success of America, and not come to that quick conclusion? However, when you look deeper, you will find that this success is built on a business model based upon exponential growth, and that this growth must be fed by a similar exponential growth in consumption of energy, natural resources, raw materials, and in the continuous expansion to new markets. All of this is well and good when the world has an abundant supply of undeveloped lands and unused resources, but it starts coming apart as that same world approaches its natural limits to growth and consumption.

To summarize Stein's model, the environmental Ponzi Scheme promotes and promises a future dependent on necessary, life-sustaining assets - such as forests, oceans, the atmosphere, fresh waters and other vital resources - that simply will NOT be in place or available when the generation it is being sold to tries to collect. Stein makes a very persuasive case for the consequences of depleting these resources and then asserts:

If the previous list is not enough to convince yourself that we are operating a giant Ponzi scheme, and that we are running out of new sources of energy, untapped markets, and raw materials to keep it running, then the following two figures should open your eyes.

The second figure shows us that back in the mid 1980's, when our world had just over half its current population, we first exceeded the capacity of our planet to continuously supply us with the food and raw materials that we consume, and to process our wastes. What this means, is that we have been consuming our planet's resources faster than they regenerate, and polluting its natural systems faster than they can recover. This "drawing down" of our resources, is essentially spending the money from investors (all of us) in this Ponzi scheme, and when the remaining "money" (the natural resources and ecosystems of our world) can't support the payments anymore, it will most certainly collapse!

Unfortunately, it's going to take more than minor changes in the way we do business to get off this giant Ponzi scheme. It will not be easy, but I do believe it is doable. For a good idea of what it is going to take to make the shift to sustainability and get off this Ponzi scheme, see my prior Huff Post blog, 12 Tips for the Sustainability Shift.

Chris Jordan’s pictures of excess...

2009-04-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

This TED talk was from last year but is an eye-opening look at statistics about consumption and excess.

Chris has a new exhibit called Running The Numbers II - Portraits of global mass culture which you can find photos of on his website.

Just over 11 minutes... and so very worth it.

The essence of this shatteringly provocative talk is to make meaning out of vast, fathomless statistics by rendering them into images; look at them, illustrated graphically, arrestingly and with the style and originality only an artist of Chris Jordan's caliber - only one with his vision, his wit and his profound sense of irony - can create.

T. Boone Pickens - Entrepreneur or Philanthropist?

2009-04-02T08:40:00.001-07:00

As one of those persuaded early on - when he first took to the TV airwaves - that Boone Pickens was worth listening to, I'm still persuaded, though too, I'm still uncertain as to whether his motives are philanthropic or entrepreneurial. So much so, in fact, these days I think the new portmanteau "philanthropreneurial" (or should that be "entreprelanthropist?) best describes what he's up to.

I like his vitality, I like his down-home, good-old-boy mien (however put on or affected it may be... he's obviously very sophisticated), and I think his marketing and political savvy border on genius.

Regardless of what you think of T. Boone Pickens and his Pickens Plan for reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, I can say without reservation this IS the way to move the conversation forward:

Not yet familiar with T. Boone and the Pickens Plan? Here's a link to the website. And here's The Plan.

Comic Relief From Steven Colbert... plus the greening of Bellingham, WA

2009-03-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

(h/t to Barry Katz at "the future is green"... an excellent blog site)

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Prescott Oil Loves the Earth

comedycentral.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

NASA Name Contest

After a good chuckle, read Barry's recent guest post on the greening of Bellingham, Washington by Mayor Daniel Pike. Here's a sample of the Mayor's post:

As a community, we share the challenges and joys common to most communities: tough finances, a rising unemployment rate, businesses struggling, but also a shared sense of place and connection with our neighbors. What makes us a little different from the mainstream, though, is our commitment to a triple bottom line, or TBL, approach to the issues before us. In Bellingham, the conversations are not about jobs versus the environment, rather the community talks about how to grow better. This is a community whose ethos receives notice from authors such as Bill McKibben and Paul Hawken, and that National Public Radio’s “Marketplace,” in its Nov. 15, 2008 broadcast, described Bellingham as “the epicenter of a new economic model for a post-consumerist economy: locally produced goods and services focused on what surrounding communities need and can sustain.”

And more:

Perhaps the most compelling opportunity we have put in practice as a Triple Bottom Line approach is our waterfront redevelopment project. The waterfront project is the largest waterfront redevelopment effort in North America, comprising about 220 acres on Puget Sound, on the site of an old pulp and paper mill. The redevelopment is one of a handful of national Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design--Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) pilot projects. This approach steps beyond construction-specifics to include elements like reduced automobile dependence, housing and jobs proximity, access to active public spaces, and habitat conservation and restoration.
This is our opportunity to thoughtfully and intentionally design a new neighborhood that reflects our deepest values as a community – to make real the vision the community has been articulating and advocating for years

Malmo, Sweden - On the Green Frontier

2009-03-29T22:57:00.000-07:00

Three years ago, in an article titled Green living takes root in Sweden BBC News reported on the efforts of Malmo, Sweden and its green district Western Harbour. A portion of the BBC report from October 2006 follows:

Sustainability is the motto of the Western Harbour (Vaestra Hamnen) project in the southern city of Malmo. There are futuristic buildings sporting massive glass windows and glinting solar panels.But turn a corner and you find a green courtyard with a little pond and some modest timber structures that remind you of Swedish villages."I really like the diversity of houses - and they've made it easy here to live in a sustainable way," says Helena Parker, who was among the first to move into the area in 2001.
A former shipyard and industrial site is being turned into a green residential area based on 100% use of renewable energy.
The planners devoted plenty of space to greenery and water features. And there are no high-density tower blocks, except for the Turning Torso - a graceful 190m (627ft) skyscraper designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Parking space is limited to 0.7 cars per apartment, compared with the usual 1.1 for Malmo, and garages are underground.
Architect and planner Hans Olsson says the project drew inspiration from the plan of medieval Lund, a nearby town. "We wanted a human scale, small streets."
Taller buildings are on the outside, facing the sea and sheltering the inner spaces. Passages to the sea are narrow to keep the wind out.
Bo01 has an open drainage system which traps rainwater on numerous living green roofs, in courtyard ponds and open channels. That allows the water to run off slowly into a saltwater canal or the sea.

The ponds and canal not only look attractive - they provide habitats for wildlife, creating biodiversity.
Jon Andersson, energy coordinator for the project, says there were initial fears in Malmo that "exclusive" flats would be built, just for the rich.
But student flats account for 34% of the homes in Bo01 and there is also a retirement complex, while the seaside walkway is enjoyed by residents and non-residents alike.
A nearby 2MW wind turbine provides much of the electricity for Bo01, the rest coming from solar panels. Solar collectors on 10 of the buildings provide 15% of the heating, but a more important source is a heat pump connected to aquifers 90m (297ft) underground.
Oil-free future
The sustainable measures were backed by 250m kronor (£18.5m; $34m) from the Swedish government and 1.9m euros (£1.3m; $2.4m) from the EU.
Most of Sweden's electricity comes from nuclear and hydropower - but green solutions are part of a plan to wean the nation off oil. Housing accounts for about 40% of Sweden's energy consumption.

The energy-saving star of Bo01 is probably the small, well-insulated LB house, no more expensive to build than a conventional home.
Its energy consumption is 87kWh per sq m annually - compared with about 200kWh per sq m for some other buildings in Bo01.

Fast forward to 2009... and the news out of Malmo, as reported by the enterprising Maria Colena, is encouraging:

Western Harbour, a former shipyard now densely urban, runs on 100-percent renewable energy from sun, wind and hydropower, as well as biofuels generated from organic waste. Its buildings are constructed with sustainable materials and designed to be energy efficient, and its streets are pedestrian and cycle friendly -- 40 percent of commuters and 30 percent of all travelers go by bike [source: PV Upscale - Full report on Malmo at this link/pdf] .

Additionally, the restoration of the area of Sege Park, another eco-friendly transformation, will power the neighborhood with green energy sources including photovoltaics (solar electricity), wind power and biofuels.
Augustenborg, a district that's been going green over the past decade, is known for its green roofing -- botanical roof gardens that reduce runoff and add insulation and vegetation to an urban neighborhood. Augustenborg is also home to the world's first emissions-free electric street trains, as well as more than a dozen recycling houses processing about 70 percent of collected waste [source: Ekostaden.com].

Happy Earth Hour!

2009-03-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Earth Hour, mis companeros verdes!
One hour on March 28, 2009 from 8:30 to 9:30 pm with no electricity or light!

A thought-provoking effort and a moment (or hour) of refection for my kids and me. See you on the flip side. We at Metro Green would love to hear how you passed this momentous slice of time and what came up for you.

Here's a good video promo:

Enjoy. Meditate. Plan for change.
Each day we awake in a brand new world.

Best to you from
Metro Green.

Speedbumps on Green Highway

2009-03-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

'Green' stimulus costs jobs, study says

By Gianluca Baratti

March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Subsidizing renewable energy in the U.S. may destroy two jobs for every one created if Spain’s experience with windmills and solar farms is any guide.

For every new position that depends on energy price supports, at least 2.2 jobs in other industries will disappear, according to a study from King Juan Carlos University in Madrid.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget proposal contains about $20 billion in tax incentives for clean-energy programs. In Spain, where wind turbines provided 11 percent of power demand last year, generators earn rates as much as 11 times more for renewable energy compared with burning fossil fuels.

The premiums paid for solar, biomass, wave and wind power - - which are charged to consumers in their bills -- translated into a $774,000 cost for each Spanish “green job” created since 2000, said Gabriel Calzada, an economics professor at the university and author of the report.

“The loss of jobs could be greater if you account for the amount of lost industry that moves out of the country due to higher energy prices,” he said in an interview.

Spain’s Acerinox SA, the nation’s largest stainless-steel producer, blamed domestic energy costs for deciding to expand in South Africa and the U.S., according to the study.

“Microsoft and Google moved their servers up to the Canadian border because they benefited from cheaper energy there,” said the professor of applied environmental economics.

Getting down and dirty for squeaky-clean dishes

The Associated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. — The quest for squeaky-clean dishes has turned some law- abiding people in Spokane into dishwasher-detergent smugglers. They are bringing Cascade or Electrasol in from out of state because the eco-friendly varieties required under Washington state law don't work as well.

Spokane County became the launch pad last July for the nation's strictest ban on dishwasher detergent made with phosphates, a measure aimed at reducing water pollution. The ban will be expanded statewide in July 2010.

But it's not easy to get sparkling dishes when you go green.

Many people were shocked to find that products like Seventh Generation, Ecover and Trader Joe's left their dishes encrusted with food, smeared with grease and too gross to use without rewashing them by hand. The culprit was hard water, which is mineral-rich and resistant to soap.

As a result, there has been a quiet rush of Spokane-area shoppers heading east on Interstate 90 into Idaho in search of old-school suds.

Real estate agent Patti Marcotte of Spokane stocks up on detergent at a Costco in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and doesn't care who knows it.

"Yes, I am a smuggler," she said. "I'm taking my chances because dirty dishes I cannot live with."

(In truth, the ban applies to the sale of phosphate detergent — not its use or possession — so Marcotte is not in any legal trouble.)

Marcotte said she tried every green brand in her dishwasher and found none would remove grease and pieces of food. Everybody she knows buys dishwasher detergent in Idaho, she said.

Supporters of the ban acknowledge it is not very popular.

Phosphates — the main cleaning agent in many detergents and household cleaners — break down grease and remove stains. However, the chemicals are difficult to remove in wastewater treatment plants and often wind up in rivers and lakes, where they promote the growth of algae. And algae will gobble up oxygen in the water that fish need to survive.

While traditional detergents are up to 9 percent phosphate, those sold in Spokane County can contain no more than 0.5 percent.

Phosphates have been banned in laundry detergent nationally since 1993. Washington was the first state where the Legislature passed a similar ban against dishwasher detergents, in 2006. The ban is being phased in, starting with Spokane County.

Reykjavik: Icelandic Green

2009-03-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

Following yesterday's post on future green cities, here's some additional scholarship on a current one from Maria Colenso posting at How Stuff Works:

Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik is the smallest amazing green city on our list, with only about 115,000 people living in the city and roughly 300,000 people in the entire country of Iceland. But its impact on the world has been impressive.

Gavin Hellier/The Image Bank/Getty Images
Reykjavik, Iceland has colorful rooftops and a green plan for power.

Iceland plans to unplug itself from all dependence on fossil fuels by 2050 to become a hydrogen economy. Already, Reykjavik (and all of Iceland) gets energy for heat, hot water and electricity entirely from hydropower and geothermal resources -- both of which are renewable and free of greenhouse gas emissions. Some vehicles even run on hydrogen, including three city buses.

5 Green Cities of the Future

2009-03-25T22:06:00.000-07:00

Writing for the online journal How Stuff Works, Maria Colenso has done an admirable amount of research and investigative reporting on what she (apparently) considers the 5 preeminent Transition or Green City projects either in the planning stages, currently under development or already up and running (5 Green Cities of the Future). They share the common theme of being waste free, transport efficient, wholly energy independent and minimizing carbon output.

Below, slightly abridged for space is her report.

"How do green cities help in the effort against climate change? Eco-cities all share similar characteristics: They aim to reduce or eliminate fossil-fuel use, adopt sustainable building practices, promote "green space" and clean air quality, implement energy-efficient and widely available public transportation, create walkable city designs and develop well-organized mixed-use neighborhoods that combine living, working and shopping. These qualities add up to sustainable urbanism.

Here we'll look at five green cities of the future -- some that have broken ground for construction, some that are still the ambitious aspirations of city planners -- all competing to be the first carbon-neutral city in the world."

5. San Francisco's Treasure Island, Calif.

Treasure Island's transformation to green is just another shade in its colorful history. The 400-acre (1.5-square-km) man-made island was built in the middle of San Francisco Bay for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. The land was intended to hold an airport after the Expo. Plans for the commercial airport never took off, though, after the Navy acquired the island during World War II. In 1996, the base was decommissioned, and since then, the island has been home to a deteriorating landscape and about 3,000 residents.

Under a new proposal, Treasure Island -- along with its neighbor Yerba Buena Island -- will become one of the most environmentally friendly developments in the United States when ground is broken in 2009.

The Treasure Island project will be a test bed for eco-friendly urban ideas. Some of the proposed green features include LEED-certified buildings, the reduction (or elimination) of storm water runoff, alternative forms of water treatment including artificial wetlands called Living Machines and a transit system that favors clean air vehicles over fossil-fuel chugging cars. A 20-acre (0.08 square-km) city-operated organic farm is planned in walking distance from the city center and will supply the projected 13,500 residents with locally produced foods. Solar and wind-farm power will provide energy; and by 2020, solar panels will cover 70 percent of rooftop space and will provide about 30 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually [source: ENN].

4. Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria, British Columbia, plans to be carbon-neutral by 2012. Its Dockside Green project brings that goal closer to realization. The environmentally sustainable plans for Dockside Green combine residential, commercial, light industrial and green space on 15 acres (roughly 0.06 square kilometers) of harbor-front land.
How will Dockside Green achieve its goal to be the first carbon-neutral community in North America? Through a combination of green solutions for buildings, transportation, energy and waste treatment.

Let's begin with buildings: Those of Dockside Green are being constructed with reclaimed wood from forests that were submerged by reservoirs. Energy-efficient appliances and fixtures (such as motion-sensing light switches), green roofs (rooftop gardens), and carbon footprint monitors (that allow residents to track their heat, energy and water use over time) are outfitted inside homes.

It's unlikely you'll find a car or two parked in driveways, either. Residents of Victoria, and now Dockside Green, take part in a clean-fuel and hybrid car-sharing program (even the cars are Smart). In addition, Dockside Green plans include bike and pedestrian paths, subsidized public transit and a harbor ferry.

Energy and waste treatment will be self-contained within Dockside Green. One hundred percent of waste will be treated on-site, and the treated water will be reused to flush toilets and irrigate gardens. A biomass-gasification plant will turn wood waste into energy for heat and hot water.

This innovative green community is under way currently, with the first of three neighborhoods opening in 2009. Upon completion, the entire community will be home to about 2,500 people.

3. Sherford, England

A bowling green, a dedicated cricket playing field and an organic farm in the town's park -- sounds like a lovely, green place to live, yes? The future residents of Sherford, England, have these amenities to look forward to, along with a plethora of other green characteristics.
Sherford, in south Devon, is the eco-project of Prince Charles. It will be home to 12,000 people and is planned for completion by 2020. Royal advisors consider it Britain's greenest future community.

The proposed community will take advantage of cutting-edge green building designs and materials but will look like a traditional English town. Buildings will be constructed with sustainable materials gathered mostly from within a 50-mile (80-kilometer) radius of the site; water and sewer waste will be recycled.

Homes and workplaces alike will put their rooftops to work. The majority of buildings will have solar power systems, and vegetation will cover the roofs of commercial buildings. About half of Sherford's power will be supplied from renewable sources in the community: In addition to solar power, plans call for wind turbines.

Lastly, a walkable urban layout will put residences, retail stores and industry in close proximity, reducing the need for cars. In fact, cars will be banned from some areas of the town. Did we mention new homeowners receive a free bicycle?

2. Dongtan, China

China is on its way to being the world's worst offender in greenhouse gas emissions by 2009 [source: USA Today]. Yet there's an eco-oasis in the works on Chongming Island, near Shanghai. Chongming Island, roughly three-quarters the size of Manhattan, sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River and is poised to become home to one of the first carbon-neutral cities in the world: Dongtan.

Dongtan will grow in phases, with phase one (for between 10,000 and 25,000 residents) expected to be complete in time for the 2010 Shanghai Expo and the final phase complete by 2030 (for up to 500,000 residents). The city will be comprised of three neighborhoods called Marina, Lake and Pond, and will be designed with opportunities for all socioeconomic groups and many occupations in mind, including farming. Designated agricultural areas will use organic, sustainable farming methods.

It's the energy plan that makes Dongtan ambitiously green. The city will source its energy from a combination of solar and wind power, biofuels and recycled organic matter. There are no plans for landfills in Dongtan -- waste will be composted, processed and reused. Rooftops will be green with vegetation, which provides insulation. Only clean-fuel cars will be allowed on the island, and the abundant public transportation will run on hydrogen fuel cells. In addition, bike and pedestrian paths will snake through the city grid.

The city will only be built on three-quarters of Chongming Island. The remaining area is reserved as a protected ecological zone. To attain carbon-neutrality, Dongtan planners also expect to plant trees to offset emissions.

1. Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

No cars, no waste, no pollution. Doable? Such a city is slated to rise from the oil-rich grounds in Abu Dhabi. Masdar, which means "the source" in Arabic, is a $22-billion undertaking that could be the world's first carbon-neutral city [source: Masdar].

Masdar's sustainable urban development will take advantage of wind, hydrogen and solar-photovoltaic energy sources. Wastewater will be treated and recycled into irrigation systems.

In addition, Masdar's transportation goals are ambitious. Fossil-fuel burning cars are banned from the city in lieu of an electric personal light-rail system -- small, programmable cars that run only when you need to go somewhere, and a pedestrian-friendly city layout.

Masdar is already under construction and will develop over several phases, with completion expected in 2016 [source Inhabitat]. Up to 50,000 people are expected to live in Masdar, and the first residents will likely move in sometime during 2009 [CNET].

The time of the carbon-neutral city is upon us. And if these projects make the jump from paper to reality successfully, they might even earn a spot on our list of existing amazing green cities.

E=MC2 for E value "Electric" (as in car)...

2009-03-23T23:01:00.000-07:00

In the title equation, when E stands for Electric (as in electric cars) the MC stands for Mucho Cash. Squared. Take a look at Aptera, a first-generation ultra space-aged three wheeled all electric car currently in production in California. At a penny per mile and plug-in-and-go recharge convenience, Aptera already has 1100 deposits and customers eagerly awaiting production & delivery of the sleekly aerodynamic $30K automotive innovation.

Check it out:

Aptera is by no means alone.

Meet Shai Agassi of BetterPlace.com speaking at a Web 2.0 summit. Agassi's new business model is based on all-electric cars with easy to charge and easy to swap out batteries running on highways served by an intercontinental, indeed international, network of charging/battery changing stations.

Agassi has raised an unprecedented $300M in seed and development capital and installations of his vision are already underway in Israel and in process in Hawaii.

The Better Place network will provide fully-automated battery exchange stations. These swap stations are designed to extend the driver’s journey beyond the 100 mile range of a fully-charged battery. Because most of today’s driving is within 40 miles of the home, a visit to one of these facilities will be infrequent when compared to the number of times we currently have to pull into a gas station.

These Better Place battery exchange stations are even more efficient and convenient than conventional gas stations. Each is roughly the size of your average living room. Like the charging spots, they are fully automated. A driver pulls in, puts the car in the neutral gear, and sits back. The battery exchange station does all the work. The depleted battery is removed, and a fully-charged replacement is installed. In under three minutes, the car is back on the road. It’s just like an automatic car wash, a quick, effortless, drive-through experience.

The battery exchange stations will be able to accommodate any Better Place-compliant vehicle. All manufactured batteries will be stocked so that any electric vehicle with a swappable battery, regardless of make or model, can pull in and be serviced.

I don't know about you but to me this looks suspiciously like the future.

UPDATE: Apparently Korea's Hyundai is getting into the act.
UPDATE #2: Introducing the Tesla S Electric to launch in 2011 at around $50K.
UPDATE #3: Even China is planning to give the US "Big Three" automakers a run for their money in the electric car market.

Fusion or Illusion?

2009-03-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

Writing last week in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman referred to fusion energy as The Next Really Cool Thing. On a recent visit to the auspiciously named National Ignition Facility, or N.I.F., at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 50 miles east of San Francisco, Friedman reports on touring a facility that could be what Metro Green likes to refer to as the Central Front in war on fossil fuel.

"Cynics often say that viable fusion energy or hydrogen-powered cars are “20 years away and always will be.”

But what if this time is different? What if a laser-powered fusion energy power plant that would have all the reliability of coal, without the carbon dioxide, all the cleanliness of wind and solar, without having to worry about the sun not shining or the wind not blowing, and all the scale of nuclear, without all the waste, was indeed just 10 years away or less? That would be a holy cow game-changer.

Are we there?

That is the tantalizing question I was left with..."

In case the fusion concept is new to you, here's Friedman's description:

I began my tour there with the N.I.F. director, Edward Moses. He was holding up a tiny gold can the size of a Tylenol tablet, and inside it was plastic pellet, the size of a single peppercorn, that would be filled with frozen hydrogen.

The way the N.I.F. works is that all 192 lasers pour their energy into a target chamber, which looks like a giant, spherical, steel bathysphere that you would normally use for deep-sea exploration. At the center of this target chamber is that gold can with its frozen hydrogen pellet. Once one of those pellets is heated and compressed by the lasers, it reaches temperatures over 800 million degrees Fahrenheit, “far greater than exists at the center of our sun,” said Moses.

More importantly, each crushed pellet gives off a burst of energy that can then be harnessed to heat up liquid salt and produce massive amounts of steam to drive a turbine and create electricity for your home — just like coal does today. Only this energy would be carbon-free, globally available, safe and secure and could be integrated seamlessly into our current electric grid.

But if the notion is not so far out, or far off, InventorSpot,
a website billing itself as "Serious Fun For The Inventor In All Of Us," brings realistic news from a European research facility, HiPER (High Power laser Energy Research):

Perhaps a lesser known alternative is nuclear fusion--the same process that fuels the sun and the stars. To hear its potential--a method that offers enough energy for the world's power, a limitless fuel supply, and no greenhouse gas emissions--it sounds like an ideal solution.

But while it's one of the only foreseeable methods to completely eliminate our reliance on natural gas, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 0%, development of a nuclear fusion reactor will take time. Actually, it already has--one of the biggest criticisms of the idea is that, after 40 years of research, there have been no significant breakthroughs. Most dishearteningly, scientists have not yet been able to contain a nuclear fusion reaction long enough to produce more energy than is required to perform the reaction.

If it's hard to know exactly what to make of these reports, it's equally hard not to be enthusiastic. No GHGs, clean, renewable power and all based on the underpinning principle of nuclear power: E=MC2.

Assuming it can be made to work, what's not to like?

White House Vegetable Garden

2009-03-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

And while we're on the Obama bandwagon, we at Metro Green wish to say good on Barack & Michelle for forwarding the idea - both in spirit and in practice - of the value of locally grown produce.
From the March 20, New York Times article "Obama to Eat Local Produce (Really Local)":

Whether there would be a White House garden has been more than a matter of landscaping. It’s taken on political and environmental symbolism as the Obamas have been lobbied for months by advocates who believe that growing more food locally could lead to healthier eating and lessen reliance on huge industrial farms that use more oil for transportation and chemicals for fertilizer.

This kind of environmentally sound leadership, though, in the case of the garden is largely symbolic, is precisely what I was hoping for from Brocco (my 6-year-old son's nickname for BHO). So, as the fruits of the First Garden grow, let me be the first to wish the Obama's bon appetit!

UPDATE: Seems nothing escapes the artistry & wit of the editorial cartoonists (John Cole, Scranton Times-Tribune march 26.2009):

Obama on Leno 3/19

2009-03-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

A conversation worth watching. Not exactly Metro Green, but important:

UPDATE: Re: "Special Olympics" gaffe...I love this guy.

World Changing - Here's the Pitch

2009-03-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

From The Book "World Changing:"

Worldchanging: A Users Guide for the 21st Century is a groundbreaking compendium of the most innovative solutions, ideas and inventions emerging today for building a sustainable, livable, prosperous future.

From consumer consciousness to a new vision for industry; non-toxic homes to refugee shelters; microfinance to effective philanthropy; socially responsible investing to starting a green business; citizen media to human rights; ecological economics to climate change, this is the most comprehensive, cutting-edge overview to date of what's possible in the near future -- if we decide to make it so.

Cities: Living green by living urban
Cities: Introduction
We live on an urban planet. For the first time in history, a majority of us live in cities. How we grow those cities, how we build neighborhoods, how we provide housing, how we choose to get around, how well we incorporate nature into the places we live - these are the challenges that will largely determine our future.
And with millions and millions of people moving every year from the countryside to the city, all of these difficulties seem even more insurmountable. Appearances, however, can be deceiving. For, along with the boom in urbanization, we're seeing a boom in urban innovation. Simply put, we're getting better at building better cities.

Though a couple of years old by now (published 2006), still, I'm convinced it's worth looking into. I've ordered my copy. I'll let you know how it looks and what it offers when it arrives. And (as recommended) I bought local.

UPDATE: Worldchanging.com co-founder Alex Steffen discusses energy conservation and our planet's other big challenges. Learn how energy conservation can help us create a sustainable future in this video from TED.

Rush and Coulter Make Three...

2009-03-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

What you don't know is that the environment, in this case, is being used by the Obama administration in an attempt to gain control of the US population. The brownshirts, as I said, under Hitler, were used to intimidate Germans who opposed Hitler. My fear is that Obama will be using the greenshirts, these street agitators, in order to control the police and the people. (Michael Savage - The Savage Nation)

I'm posting this audio stream of right-wing radio talk show host Michael Weiner, aka Michael Savage, not for the reason others have posted it (to show what destructive, raving lunatics the spokespersons for the radical right-wing of the Republican party can be) but rather to show the worst of what responsible citizens are up against in attempting to be part of the green revolution.

The title for this post comes from efgoldman commenting on the March 14th Obsidian Wings thread titled Almost Like The Nazis, Except For, Well, Everything ... In it, my favorite blogger, hilzoy, skewers Michael Savage as only she is able.

"But if Obama did create a private army under Van Jones, despite his having given no indication whatsoever of doing this, and despite Van Jones' job not having any such powers, and if the courts and the Congress somehow acquiesced in this flagrant illegality, that would be pretty awful! And if, in addition, he started a global war of aggression, opened concentration camps, and committed genocide, then he'd "have almost the same exact policies as the Nazi Party did."

Likewise, if Michael Savage were to take over the US, send its urban population to do forced labor on collective farms, confiscate private property, abolish money, and create a massive famine that killed at least one eighth of the population, he'd be a lot like Pol Pot. And if he had wheels, he'd be a trolleycar.

Obama possibly being a Nazi, Michael Savage possibly being Pol Pot, the horrifying specter of human/trolleycar hybrids: it's a scary, scary world we live in!

Or, you know, maybe not."

As I said, I'm posting this here at Metro Green tonight just to give you an idea of the level, content and sheer stupidity of the resistance. It's a wake-up call for those whose efforts and intentions lean toward (or those who have already embraced) the 21st Century notion that sustainability - and all it entails, "inconvenient" though it may be - is quite likely the only route to long-term survivability here on planet earth.

So be warned: there are those out there who will dispute and repudiate you in the vilest terms... and some of them - the ones with the biggest mouths and most rabid fans - are (as you can see from this clip) quite wholly out of their minds.

Or, as Awesom0 commented at ObWi: " Oh the stupid, it BURNS!"

It was only a matter of time...

2009-03-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

They should have called it Google Mars.
(Google Earth is just too local,
and so last millennium.)

On the other hand, if you can zoom in
on the farmers market up there, do let me know.
I hear it's out of this world!

Project Rescue

2009-03-13T23:20:00.000-07:00

In grade-school I recall my 3rd or 4th-grade class learning a song for a student assembly that we had to perform in front of the whole school.

Parents were invited (and always welcome), but few (ever) attended. Unlike today, when kid's programs are scheduled for evenings in deference to parents who want to watch (and photograph and video-tape), in those (olden) days, assemblies were strictly afternoon affairs held during the school day or immediately following. At best we'd have a handful of moms who'd stop by the cafeteria/auditorium to watch and clap for us. Some of them, from the neighborhood, still wore their aprons, as if they'd just torn themselves from their kitchens to rush over and watch us while their evening casseroles baked in the oven.

The song I remember learning for that program was called Let There Be Peace On Earth and what I best remember about it was the second line: "And let it begin with me." I remember as a kid taking the notion of my personal responsibility for bringing about world peace very seriously. To a certain extent, down deep, where the spirit occasionally dips to sample its truest nature, that sense of personal responsibility for causing good effects in the world never left me.

I'm not sure where it came from in me but, as a parent, it's always been my firm intention to impart it to my kids: that they can - and that they DO - make a difference in the world.

I bring up that old song from that long-ago assembly because the other day my 8-year-old daughter was doing her homework on the floor of my office at home as I was working at my desk and she started absent mindedly singing softly to herself (to the familiar tune of "School Days, School Days):"

"Earth Day, Earth Day,
Join the earth's rebirth day,
Recycle, replenish, respect you see,
They're the three Rs of Ecology..."

It turned out, their entire grade at school (3rd) was scheduled to perform a program called Project Rescue: Save the Planet (by Michael and Jill Gallina) and the song she was singing was one of the numbers from the show. We had a conversation about how important that subject was and, seeing that I was interested and excited, she proceeded (at my request) to sing me all the songs from the show. They included titles like "Disposable Society," "Keep Our Waters Clean," "Overload," "Pollution Free," and the finale, "Guardians of the Earth."

Clever little songs and, as it turns out, a very clever little script. The show was last night and the little cafeteria was packed with parents to see the 3rd grade perform. There were four main groups of kids with speaking parts: the self-conscious group of picnicking litterbugs and the delightfully-costumed Air Animals, Sea Animals and Land Animals to call them to account. The rest of the 3rd-graders were the chorus and they belted out the reggae, rap and rock numbers with gusto and enthusiasm.

I'll spare you the scene by scene, but let's just say by the end of the play, the litterbugs had acknowledged their misdeeds and renewed their pledges to be good Guardians of the Earth and to abide by the three Rs of ecology. I loved the play and especially the fact that the school my kids attend is socially conscious enough to seek out and find - and then to make the effort to perform - such a worthwhile little show.

I just hope the message sticks with my daughter the way "Let There Be Peace on Earth" stuck with me.

41pounds.org - Keeping trees on the job.

2009-03-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

If you've done any catalog shopping - as we have - your family and mine are probably experiencing a similar phenomenon: Junk Mail Overload. Not just the occasional (well, weekly) unwanted newsprint circulars & coupon carriers, but the reams and reams of handsomely designed and fastidiously printed (in 4 colors on coated, glossy stock) TOTALLY UNINVITED AND UNWANTED saddle-stitched sales catalogs touting everything from kids clothes, to the latest gizmos and gadgets; from hiking and fitness gear, to fishing equipment and sporting goods; from kitchen cookery and memorabilia to real estate, etc., etc., ad nauseam.

Oh, and did I mention we'd never asked for them?

It got to the point in my house that dragging this useless junk mail in from the box each day became so infuriating my wife and I tried desperately to figure out a) how this happened and more importantly, b) how to make it stop.

Enter 41pounds.org: a website that provides USPS customers of all stripes and persuasions with data about the global impact of this paper-powered tsunami and how first to make it stop and second to begin to reverse the tide. For example, here's 41pounds.org at its philanthropic best. And here are the useful and informative FAQs from the site.

If you're frustrated beyond your ability to deal rationally with this overwhelming waste of trees and natural resources, by all means check out 41pounds.org. We, just today, received our packet in the mail. We'll be filling out the "Keeping trees on the job" cards tonight. There's a small cost for the service ($41 for five years - $8.20 per year) but what a bargain! And their service is guaranteed or your money back. As far as how long it takes for the service to go into full effect:

How long does it take for the junk mail to stop?

You will see a noticeable improvement within two months. After four months, your junk mail should be eliminated by 80 to 95%. Please keep in mind that many catalog companies print their mailing labels months in advance, so it may take a while for these to stop coming.

I'll let you know how we fare. Any other ideas?

Flow

2009-03-10T17:57:00.001-07:00

Heading out to see Irena Salina's highly-touted documentary on water: FLOW. Will report back here shortly.

Meanwhile:

Synopsis: Irena Salina’s cautionary documentary is determined to stir things up. Water, the quintessence of life, sustains every creature on Earth. The time has come when we can no longer take this precious resource for granted. Unless we effect global change, impoverished nations could be wiped from the planet. Roused by a thirst for survival, people around the world are fighting for their birthright. Under the cover of darkness, African plumbers secretly reconnect shantytown water pipes to ensure a community’s survival. A California scientist exposes toxic public water supplies. A “water guru” promotes community-based initiatives to provide water throughout India. The CEO of a billion-dollar water company argues for privatization as the wave of the future. A Canadian author pops the cork on bottled water, unveiling the disturbing realities that drive profits in the global water business. Flow: For Love of Water is an inspired, yet disturbingly provocative, wake-up call. The future of our planet is drying up rapidly. Focusing on pollution, human rights, politics, and corruption, filmmaker Salina constructs an exceptionally articulate profile of the precarious relationship uniting human beings and water. While each community’s challenges are unique, the message is universal--the time to turn the tide is now. --© Sundance Film Festival

UPDATE: Sold out. Damn! It was a one-night-only showing but with a line around the block, the theater manager promised a second screening. I'll queue up earlier and report back then. In the meantime... check out the trailer:

Chilling.

Cap And Trade 101

2009-03-09T00:29:00.000-07:00

Following one of my comments on the previous grey-water thread regarding cap and trade policies and new legislation aimed at regulating carbon emissions, I wanted to post a relatively elementary primer - hence "Cap and Trade 101" - (h/t) to aid your understanding of this potentially complex subject.

What is Cap and Trade?
The goal: To steadily reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide in a cost-effective manner.

The cap: Each large-scale emitter, or company, will have a limit on the amount of greenhouse gas that it can emit. The firm must have an “emissions permit” for every ton of carbon dioxide it releases into the atmosphere. These permits set an enforceable limit, or cap, on the amount of greenhouse gas pollution that the company is allowed to emit. Over time, the limits become stricter, allowing less and less pollution, until the ultimate reduction goal is met. This is similar to the cap and trade program enacted by the Clean Air Act of 1990, which reduced the sulfur emissions that cause acid rain, and it met the goals at a much lower cost than industry or government predicted.

The trade: It will be relatively cheaper or easier for some companies to reduce their emissions below their required limit than others. These more efficient companies, who emit less than their allowance, can sell their extra permits to companies that are not able to make reductions as easily. This creates a system that guarantees a set level of overall reductions, while rewarding the most efficient companies and ensuring that the cap can be met at the lowest possible cost to the economy.

I've encountered no better or more thought provoking discussion of the Cap and Trade proposals than the Obsidian Wings post from March 6, 2009 to which I linked in comments yesterday. It's author, who goes by the pen-name hilzoy, is a Ph.D. tenured professor of bioethics and one of the most facile thinkers and persuasively progressive writers currently illuminating the blogosphere. If you haven't looked into the thread, here's the link once again: Don't Give Away Carbon Permits.

As you'll gather from the Obsidian Wings discussion, Cap and Trade is conceptually simple but the nuances can puzzle. That said, however one looks at it, Cap and Trade will never be more than a short term, stop-gap GHG-pollution mitigation effort. Because it's energy source is nonrenewable and its aim is not sustainability, Cap and Trade is, at most, a temporary band-aid on a critical major hemorrhage.

Grey-Water Recycling

2009-03-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

Who knew grey-water could be funny?

But, seriously. Let's take a look at perpetually drought-stricken California. A 2/27/09 San Francisco Chronicle article, ("Cities face 20% cuts in water use during crisis"), begins:

SAN FRANCISCO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought emergency Friday, urging cities to cut their use of water 20 percent and paving the way for projects such as desalination plants and water recycling projects to bypass standard environmental reviews.

Despite heavy rainstorms this month, state officials say California's water supply remains critically low because of three dry winters in a row, restrictions on water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and a population that has grown by 9 million since the last drought, in 1991.

In making the declaration, Schwarzenegger said the state must prepare for several more years with little rain. Experts predict this year's runoff - the critical spring melt from Sierra Nevada snow - will be 57 percent of normal.

"This drought is having a devastating impact on our people, our communities, our economy and our environment - making today's action absolutely necessary," Schwarzenegger said.

The governor's proclamation stopped short of invoking mandatory statewide rationing, but officials said that option - which would be a first in California history - is available if other tactics fail.

"No Californian can use water as though we have an unlimited amount, period," said Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.

Water supply, water use, water conservation, desalination, grey-water recycling... all are topics we will visit and revisit here at Metro Green but, for now, let's just agree - with vast geographic regions (North-central Africa, Sudan, etc.) and population centers across the globe fighting to find, develop and make available a reliable supply of clean potable water, the final thought above (in italics) should probably, by now and for the future, be amended to read, "

"No PERSON can use water as though we have an unlimited amount, period."

Period, amen.

Yoshimoto Cube - A Metaphor

2009-03-07T21:36:00.000-08:00

Think of the subject of this post (technically "the transformation of two stellated rhombic dodecahedrons from a cube") as a metaphor for the possibilities of an extraordinarily graceful, seamless and harmonious coexistence of man with his environment.

It's the magically enchanting Yoshimoto Cube. Watch:

(And if it's gift-giving season and you don't know what to get me, visit the MOMA Store.)

A Transition to Cleaner Energy

2009-03-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

Last week (2.24.09), The Center for American Progress (CAP) hosted a discussion with Robert Hefner III, Founder and CEO of GHK Exploration and author of The GET: Grand Energy Transition. CAP President and CEO John Podesta introduced Hefner as one of “the most powerful voices on the issue of energy transformation and energy security.”

Hefner is an engaging optimist willing to make assertions like 'cars are good; Americans love their cars and that's alright too, today's cars just run on the wrong kind of fuel; technologically speaking, not such a complicated fix. Correct that and you've got something.' Paraphrasing, of course, but not far from one of Hefner's central messages.

An ardent propent of natural gas as an abundant, carbon-free and clean-burning fuel, Hefner's book:

"highlights the long story of natural gas as a superior fuel, but currently of limited use in the United States, and argues that this energy source is a larger resource than liquid oil in the world."

When asked about the potential use of natural gas in other countries,

"Hefner underscored that Singapore runs its energy grid with natural gas, whereas several African nations still lag behind cleaner energy alternatives. “I believe in the abundance of natural gas,” Hefner said. “Everywhere we find coal or oil, natural gas is also found, and there are countries with large resources of natural gas like the United States, Indonesia or Australia.” In his book, he argues that U.S natural gas reserves are probably as large as—or larger than—the country’s remaining minable coal."

The CAP website summarizes Hefner's presentation (and proposed legislation, the Energy and Industrial Recovery Plan), as follows:

"First, he called for the elimination of taxes on labor and capital that would be replaced with a green consumption-based tax levied initially upon the use of oil and coal. Secondly, the Energy and Industrial Recovery Plan, a new piece of legislation proposed by Hefner, seeks to retrofit and transform half the U.S. automobile fleet to natural gas by 2020. He explained that an essential piece of infrastructure for this plan would be a 2.2 million-mile natural gas pipeline grid that would link the majority of U.S. metropolitan gas stations, as well as 63 million homes where nearly 130 million cars can be filled with home-fueling appliances.

He concluded by saying that the $1.5 trillion-dollar Energy and Industrial Recovery Plan, if passed, would also accomplish a number of economic, strategic, and climate goals, such as saving tens of thousands of jobs in the automobile industry; reduce oil imports by more than 5 million barrels per day; save trillions of dollars in payments to foreign oil partners that can instead be invested in the United States; lower carbon dioxide emissions by hundreds of millions of tons annually; and restore U.S. leadership in global energy—to name a few."

Like Architect Ed Mazria, Robert Hefner is a realist, a futurist and a person of resolute conviction that solutions are not only possible but are also right in front of us. Find the time to watch the CAP event. It's about an hour... well spent.

Los Angeles’ Eco-Village

2009-03-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

"To live a very simple life is important now." -- Julio Santizo, LA Eco-Village

Several weeks ago, StreetFilms.org posted the above Nick Whitaker ~4 minute film about Los Angeles' Eco-Village along with the following text:

"Last Summer contributor Nicholas Whitaker had the opportunity to visit the Eco-Village in LA, to see what it's like to practice more sustainable ways of living, while having a lesser negative impact on the environment. The people who work and live at the LA Eco-Village show how even in an urban setting, there are ways to live closer to the earth and in better harmony with the people and environment around you.

"An ecovillage is a human scale neighborhood where people know their neighbors and care about them. People can live close to where they work and play and have access to other essential services without use of automobiles. Together, neighbors try to minimize waste and pollution of all kinds. Residents and friends work together to create a healthy community socially, physically and economically.
Urban ecovillages work with surrounding neighborhoods and the city at large to bring a whole systems perspective to urban planning and community development activities. The L.A. Eco-Village Demonstration is part of an international network of sustainable neighborhood groups which seek to model healthier ways of living based on environmental sustainability and social and economic justice."

The film is worth watching for its eye-opening peek into the possibility of sustainable community living near the very heart of downtown Los Angeles, California, by all accounts a major-league world metropolitan area, and a population center with one of the largest carbon footprints on the globe.

The LA Eco-Village is part of the Global Ecovillage Network, (GEN), whose compelling web presence provides a wealth of historic background information and a primer on ecovillage living a well as a host of Ecovillage Network links to educational opportunities, a resource library, directory listings to help locate ecovillages around the globe, and much more.

It's worth exploring.

While it may be naive to assume (or even to hope) the giant urban/industrial population centers of the world will somehow, out of tiny, thriving cocooned heart-beats of new consciousness, morph suddenly into fully-sustainable, zero carbon, eco-friendly green cities, it is neither naive nor is it unthinkable that this is the way the full-blown Green Revolution will begin: through a shift in consciousness, a commitment to act and the will (and good nature!) to see it through.

As the parable tells us, out of the tiny mustard-seed is born the monumental vine.

Composting: Food (scraps) for Thought

2009-03-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

My attention was recently directed to this article on composting from the February 18th New York Times. Though the techniques here are more oriented to an urban setting than ours were, the article triggered fond memories of my college days at Stanford University where I lived in what was, at the time, the college's only entirely cooperatively-run on-campus student housing facility.

The old converted four-story row house had once been a proud Stanford fraternity. Now it was home to about 35-40 (depending on how many radical, self-styled revolutionist non-students were crashing on our basement couches at any given time) earnest young students trying on what remained from the 60s of the counter-culture's radical mantle .

While the other students lived in well-managed college dorms with eating clubs and janitorial service, aside from campus security, under whose jurisdiction (and watchful eye) we fell, we functioned entirely independent of the university. Each week, small groups from our hardy little commune would take turns buying food for the house at the San Francisco Farmers Market (vegetables and soy products mostly and tons of eggplants because they were cheap), cooking the meals, cleaning the place, organizing the bills, holding meetings to discuss house business and scheduling our intramural soccer team (we were really good)... and, oh, yes: we composted all food scraps and organic trash.

I was brand new to co-op life and to me our religiously-tended (raked, turned and faithfully managed) little compost heap looked almost exactly like what I recognized to be a pungent-smelling pile of rotting food. But my ardent and often clenched young counter-culture housemates assured me the compost would become the best fertilizer for growing our OWN vegetable gardens - saving us from having to actually buy food.

The fact that we didn't technically have our own garden - or even the space for one - never came up and so our compost pile kept growing and growing until I graduated. If the actual compost we produced was ever put to use during our residency, the event escaped me. I suppose if I went back today I'd find that either our little agri-science project had given way to other collegiate experimentations or the University would be bursting with the finest vegetable gardens on planet earth (a distinct possibility... after all, they did call Stanford "The Farm") and would owe all of us, from way back when, a huge debt of gratitude for our visionary approach to organic garbage disposal.

But lest I get too far off track, composting does yield splendid rich, loamy fertilizer and there are distinct environmental advantages to it that, while not as significant as recycling, do in fact keep food waste out of landfills mitigating to some extent methane production as detailed by The Times article:

Composting does not have as big an environmental effect as recycling, Environmental Protection Agency figures show: recycling one ton of mixed paper is four times as effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions as producing the same amount of compost.

But keeping food discards out of landfills does more than twice the good of keeping mixed paper out, E.P.A. officials said, because decomposing food that is buried and cut off from air releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas, at higher rates than paper. (The ventilation in composting prevents methane creation.)

For those truly interested in effective composting, find good information here, at vegweb.com - Introduction to Composting, and at the Wastes - Resource Conservation page of the EPA website.

Not quite ready to commit to composting (or hate plants and have no room for a garden anyway)? The website Earth911.com has a great resource article, "8 Ways to Green Your Trash", that includes tips on trash auditing, recycling, reusing, smarter shopping and yes, even on composting.

Arizona Turning 'Drill, Baby Drill!' Into 'Blow, Baby Blow!'

2009-02-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

Despite favorite son John McCain's repeated "Drill, Baby Drill!" mantra in last year's election, dyed-in-the-wool Republican-voting Arizona may be in danger of losing it's conservative Red State bona fides if this keeps up.

First, we discovered the state very seriously inquiring into the possibilities of solar power, looking to the sun (of all places!) to be a significant energy source not just for Arizona but for the entire southwestern region of the country.

Today we learn The Grand Canyon State has floated more than just the kite of possibility into the winds of change; it's actually endorsed and permitted construction of a giant wind farm (called Dry Lake Wind Farm) near the mid-eastern part of the state - in Arizona's White Mountain Region - in the grassy, windswept valleys just outside the town of Snowflake.
According to an article (see link above) in this morning's Arizona Daily Star (2/28/09), the giant cylinders for the 425-foot-tall wind turbine towers began arriving by train at the Port of Tucson last week. From there they will be trucked north and east (most likely swinging around Phoenix to avoid the impossibly steep climb out of the Salt River Canyon), through Show Lo, AZ, up State Route 77 to Snowflake. It's a long journey for the heavy construction elements (when assembled, the blades alone on each tower will weigh 7 tons!)
A metaphor perhaps for the long political and economic journey the state has had to make - and the heavy initial cost it may have to bear - to embrace these important emerging new energy technologies. But according to an online publication called Renewable Energy Development, the Arizona Corporation Commission and the state legislature have been relatively out front in their support for renewable energy in the state:

"Both the Arizona Corporation Commission and the state legislature have encouraged the development of renewable energy sources, including wind projects, in Arizona. Arizona utilities are required by the ACC to produce or procure 15 percent of their total electricity sales from renewable sources by 2025 - including wind, solar, biomass, biogas and landfill gas. By the year 2020, experts predict that, if the utilities comply, an estimated 92 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, will be prevented from entering the atmosphere."

As one who's lived here many decades I say Bravo!

What took you so long?

In reality...

2009-02-26T13:40:00.001-08:00

there's no such thing as "Clean Coal"
(as only the Coen brothers can say it):

And of course, the classic, "Smudge:"

If The Reality Coalition is of interest to you,
get more information here or join here.

Since I'm not, nor do I pretend to be, an expert on coal technology, it seems only proper that I offer this link to "What is Clean Coal?" a Wise Geek article explaining the concept of "clean coal technology" such as it is or may be. Do pay a visit if the subject interests you.

As for me, I suspect there are numerous ways to make coal plants cleaner and more efficient, but I'd much prefer to see the effort and investment applied to renewable energy rather than trying to retrofit an industry based on non-renewable fossil fuels. It just makes more sense in the long run.

Obviously.

UPDATE: Behind the scenes on the video shoot and what to look forward to from the Coen Brothers and the "Clean Coal Clean!" campaign:

NASA's OCO - Opportunity Cost

2009-02-25T10:55:00.000-08:00

NASA's highly touted Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO).

So much promise.

"NASA's new Orbiting Carbon Observatory will measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over any spot on Earth's surface and establish a record of how carbon dioxide concentrations change over time. Observations from the mission will improve our understanding of the carbon cycle—the movement of carbon among its "reservoirs" in the Earth system--and help us understand the influence of the carbon cycle on climate."

Such a loss.

The Los Angeles Times - 2.25.09: A NASA satellite designed to measure greenhouse gas emissions and pinpoint global warming dangers crashed Tuesday after a protective covering failed to separate from the craft shortly after launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The loss of the $278-million satellite came as a severe blow to NASA's climate monitoring efforts, as well as the builder of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va.

NRDC dot Org.

2009-02-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

Natural Resources Defence Council

This site is a treasure trove of well-reasoned, professionally written articles, arguments and ideas about sustainability, environmentally responsible living, green urban development, water resources managment, architecture - the topics list goes on and on - as does the roster of top-flight thinkers and career environmental activists who write and post here.

NRDC online description - posted at the website of the US Fish and Wildlife Service:

"An environmental activist organization endeavoring to use law, science, and the support of more than 1 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things."

Tonight I was particularly taken by a blog post by Kaid Benfield, Washington DC's Smart Growth Program Director, on the subject of beauty viz a viz sustainable communities, architecture and historic preservation projects:

I was in a committee meeting about a month ago where a couple of us were pushing for greater recognition of historic preservation in our movement's advocacy for smart, green neighborhoods.

But we were unsuccessful. In fact, we were quickly silenced by the viewpoint that the application of a literalist definition of historic - "if it's old, it's historic" - by NIMBYs is actually preventing sustainable development, and the problem is only going to get worse as more mediocre buildings from the 1950s and 1960s pass the 50-year mark generally considered to define eligibility for landmark consideration.

Benfield affirms in this post beauty's "power to motivate" and he contends that architectural beauty "is not merely in the eye of the beholder" but rather is inherent in "the ability" certain buildings have "to be loved and valued by the everyman." In this context, Benfield links to green architect Steve Mouzon's Original Green website and the charming page dedicated to "Lovable Buildings."

NRDC.org is one of those rare resource, opinion and information sites you stumble on, start exploring, bookmark, return to (time and again), and eventually find yourself able to trace certain essential elements of your own progressive philosophy and consciousness directly back to that one foundational source.

Pay a visit. Let me know what you find.

UPDATE: Predicatably, NRDC is providing important, comprehensive information on LEED Certification for new construction and renovation projects. LEED (acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification was developed and is administered by the US Green Building Council and it is fast becoming the industry standard by which all building projects wishing to be verifiably and legitimately labled "Green" are evaluated.

Or (better yet), run these numbers...

2009-02-23T18:01:00.000-08:00

We've been on the subject of calculators programmed to help quantify - or, in the case of our house, feel REALLY bad and guilty about - the size and relative scope of our carbon footprints on beleaguered mother earth.

Thanks (and a hat tip) to Rio Loco for directing me to this alternative: The US EPA calculator.

This one has much to recommend it.

First, unlike the previous one, in addition to the adverse impacts, this calculator also weighs and measures activities - like recycling - that have net positive effects and applies that data as offsets to (reduce) the total. More importantly, it includes a lifestyle and product-use section proposing minor changes to ordinary behavior, then illustrating, in hard numbers, the impact of those small changes in helping to reduce net global carbon emissions.

Best of all, there are a dozen or so questionnaire fields inviting visitors to read, think about and consider not just what they can do but what they actually will do to modify their most energy-intensive behaviors. A change in driving habits? Commit to better fuel efficiency? Revise the thermostat settings? Install higher-efficiency CFL and LED light bulbs? Etc. - Then it calculates the total net reductions for each change the respondent agrees to make. (Yes! An online calculator that actually asks for a commitment to improve.)

A pretty nifty, if not-so-subliminal, marketing tool. And a classic sales strategy: Offer the upgrade, then ask for the sale.

Oh, and by the way, in case you're wondering: despite our perpetual, slavish recycling efforts, the new calculator didn't exactly tell us we'd gone from Bigfoot to Bambi. But it did drop us down by over 20,000 lbs. of carbon emissions. And, even better, it may have helped us identify more easily and accurately the areas in which we can - and really must - improve.

Call Me Bigfoot

2009-02-22T16:42:00.000-08:00

Good news: The Emissions Calculator from yesterday's post appears to work just fine. (How fine? Picture a REALLY precise mirror magnifying every conceivable flaw in every pore of your face). Still, as promised yesterday, here are my results.

But first, how's it work...?

Provided you have easy access to your annual kWh of electricity usage, therms of natural gas, gallons of propane and fuel oil (my info was available online at each of the utility's "My Accounts" links); and provided you can estimate your annual air-travel and driving miles each year along with your average gas mileage, you should have no trouble getting a total. You simply move the graph-line sliders on the calculator to the amounts most accurately reflecting your annual usage and the numbers are calculated and totaled for you, automatically.

At the end, your total production (in pounds) of CO2 appears above a results line that ranks you from 1 (the worst, most profligate, wasteful user of non-renewable fossil fuels and abuser of our natural resources...e.g. "me") to 10...e.g. "Bambi."

The news for us was disappointing, surprising and frank: in terms of carbon footprint size, we're apparently closely related to Bigfoot. To look at the carbon footprint size of my little family, you'd think we devour three brontosauruses, a T-Rex and a herd of mastodons worth of fossil fuel and exhale tons and tons of noxious gas vapors all by ourselves every week.

The total carbon-emissions output our home/family was responsible for producing last year was over 100,000 lbs! That's more than 50 tons of greenhouse gasses per year just from us (two big people), our kids (two little people) and Lucy the Labradoodle (frankly, I blame the dog). And that number didn't even take into consideration or include my wife's extensive international air travel for business (use the emissions calculator to check out the heavy load of greenhouse gasses those jumbo jets churn out per passenger, per mile. You'll be shocked.)

That's not all. If you think the calculator overstates YOUR carbon emission production, consider this: nowhere does it ask about - or factor into the total mix - the energy cost in food and other grocery-store-item transport - from producer, to distributor, to the local Safeway - nor was it apparent how it figured in (if indeed it did) the air, rail & truck delivery energy demand for shipping items purchased online or from catalogs... or, in the back-and-forth return-transport energy when those online purchases fail to please.

In all seriousness: It's time for us - my family and me - to make a very detailed and deliberate accounting of our home life habits. Like addicts, living in the fantasy that fossil fuels will burn on forever without consequence - and under the illusion that we can continue to use them indefinitely - we must now take a fearless inventory of those habits that deplete resources, trash the environment, heat up the globe and diminish the likelihood of ever achieving the end goal of long-term sustainability.

It's a big but surely worthwhile challenge. And it's an educational opportunity for us all. Especially, it's a great chance to get the kids involved in the meaningful, lifelong process of living responsibly and pursuing sustainability. On purpose. It's time for us to make some progressive decisions and some abiding new commitments.

Obviously.

Who knows, it could make a difference.

And you?

Handy- Dandy CO2 Emissions Calculator

2009-02-21T21:25:00.000-08:00

I know my boot size: 12. I know my hat size (7 1/4). I know my neck size, sleeve length, sport coat size, pant size (inseam and waist - don't ask). I know the square footage of my house, liter displacement and horsepower of my truck engine (ok, ex-truck) and I even know my ring size.

But I'll be darned if I know the size of my carbon footprint. And, until today, I hadn't much of a clue how to figure it out. Which has been sort of a problem because I've been routinely chided by friends familiar with this little blog to figure out - even rough back-of-an-envelope approximations of - just how green (or how hypocritically - the measurements would tell!) I was actually living.

At one point - just for heuristic, motivational purposes - I got out an envelope and turned it over... but sadly, instead of conclusions, I kept drawing blanks as to where and even how to start. Then (inspiration struck and) I thought, it must be the medium. I used to be a poet of sorts - and a songwriter - and I'd always found bar napkins to be the ultimate in inspirational stationary.

But the napkins didn't really work either. Someone may as well have suggested I do a "back-of-the-envelope" calculation of the parabolic plastic force of a 14-foot tall wave breaking at 19.7 MPH under partly-cloudy skies while Neptune rises in Aquarius... on the moon.

I guess you could say, carbon-footprint-size-wise, I was pretty much clueless. Until now. Tonight I stumbled on Greenopolis, an active little blog with nearly 3000 members, some interesting posts and comments, and best of all for my purposes, under the "myopolis" link, this handy-dandy, all you need to get your number, CO2 Footprint Calculator.

It couldn't be easier. I'm going to check mine immediately. After I publish this post.

I'll get back to you with the results... if you'll share yours. It's ok. Really. We're here to learn, not to judge.

UPDATE: And just in case you're even farther behind than I am and don't know what, exactly, a carbon footprint is...there's no more excuses.

UPDATE #2: Gasp!

University of Arizona Solar Mirrors Demo'd at "Death Ray" Intensity

2009-02-20T14:01:00.000-08:00

Solar power and Arizona - back in the news.

You've got to admire a university professor who'll take a visiting Congresswoman to the rooftop of a college gym and, before her eyes, vaporize a quarter-inch hole in a piece of steel using nothing more than good old-fashioned Arizona sunshine and his newfangled 10-foot parabolic mirror.

That's precisely the little "parlor trick" regents professor of astronomy and optical sciences, Roger Angel (above, right), performed for visiting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. and University President Robert Shelton atop U of A's storied Bear Down Gym.

As reported* by Tom Beal (Arizona Daily Star - published 02.19.2009), "at Wednesday's demonstration, it took less than 10 seconds for the focused light to bore through the steel."

"Angel knows a thing or two about mirrors, being the director and driving force behind Steward Observatory Mirror Lab and its revolutionary mirror-casting process.

Those mirrors, made of expensive borosilicate glass, are spun and polished to the perfection needed to peer deep into space. They cost upward of $10 million and are not the prototype for this project.

Angel and his Mirror Lab colleagues are now going for cheap ordinary window glass, heated and shaped into a curve and coated. "The price has to be 10,000 times less than the telescope mirrors," Angel said.

His research partner, Yong-Hang Zhang of Arizona State University, will supply the relatively expensive part. Zhang is inventing the solar engine that will transform Angel's focused light into electricity — a photovoltaic cell more closely related to those used in space satellites than those collecting sunlight on your roof.

At the moment, Angel said, he can buy a pretty good solar cell and Zhang can buy a pretty good mirror, but both know they can do better. "If we both succeed," said Angel, "you get dynamite."

Now, according to Zhang, they're looking for an inexpensive, fluid-cooled, high-efficiency solar cell.

"Ordinary photovoltaic cells are expensive because their entire mass collects and makes electricity, said Zhang. The best of them are 20 percent efficient. Zhang said 40 percent efficiency is "doable" now and he hopes to improve on that.

The idea is to separate the collection part of the process from the electricity-generating part. With big, cheap mirrors and small, efficient solar cells, they hope to make photovoltaic generation cheap enough to rival burning coal or natural gas."

I don't know about you but to me that sounds suspiciously like 100% clean, renewable energy production. And (GULP!) sustainability. What will they think of next?

*Link access may require free registration.

Going Nuclear... Or Gone Fission?

2009-02-18T15:11:00.000-08:00

Rethinking your opposition to nuclear power? Washington Monthly Editor Mariah Blake suggests you "Rethink again."

Having cheered the courage of scrappy Karen Silkwood, a 1970s-era nuclear power plant worker (immortalized by Meryl Streep's portrayal of her in the 1983 film Silkwood) who fought for her rights after being sickened by repeated radiation exposure, I came to my political senses in an age whose vernacular included Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. I had generally taken for granted that nuclear power and the plants that generated it would never be safe. I'd assumed they would perpetually loom as toxic environmental hazards just waiting to sicken and kill us all and that they would ultimately be deemed lethal, unpredictable and monumentally expensive exercises in futility.

Their terrible, long-term threat to the environment spooked me. I suspected their awesome (if largely fictitious) destructive power (remember The China Syndrome?) and I was challenged and deeply troubled by doubts they could ever - as touted - be safe, clean, fully-contained, cheap and reliable alternatives to traditional electric power plants.

Too, their other-worldly sci-fi mien gave me the willies. Frankly, I was intimidated and chilled to the bone by the prospect of a meltdown or a core mishap mis-happening anywhere near me or near the food I ate or the water I drank.

I didn't trust the technology and I had no confidence in those who regulated and ran it. In short, I thought nuclear power, in current form, was headed for the scrap heap of human technological history; destined merely to asterisk the story of man's quest for power.

Decades later, as Washington Monthly Editor Mariah Blake illustrates in her well-researched and ably-written feature Bad Reactors, the real threat lies not in the awesome, nucleus-smashing atom-bomb technology that so frightened me, the real threat, the paralyzing issue, turns out to be the money. More specifically, the cost and reliability of construction.

Regarding a Finnish reactor currently under construction - and over budget - at Olkiluoto, Blake writes:

To date, more than 2,200 "quality deficiencies" have been detected, according to the Finnish nuclear authority, STUK. Largely as a result, the project, which was supposed to be completed in 2009, is three years behind schedule and is expected to cost $6.2 billion, 50 percent more than the original estimate. And the numbers could keep climbing. "There are still some very challenging phases ahead," says Petteri Tiippana, STUK’s assistant director for projects and operational safety. "Things will have to go extremely well if those responsible for building the project are to hit the new targets."

These complications have already erased the cost savings nuclear power was supposed to deliver compared to other energy sources, such as natural gas. What’s more, the reactor won’t be completed before 2012, when the Kyoto treaty expires. To meet its targets, between now and then Finland will have to buy hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of credits through the European Union’s emissions trading scheme.

Elfi, a consortium of Finnish heavy industries, has calculated that the project delays will create $4 billion in indirect costs for electricity users.

Further along, Blake provides this status report on the current health of the nuclear power industry and specifically the reactor-building business:

In October 2007, Moody’s Investor Services piled on with a report projecting that new reactors would cost $5,000 to $6,000 per kilowatt to build, or up to $12 billion per unit. This figure, which was based on actual bids for new reactors in the United States, caused considerable sticker shock. The trade magazine Nuclear Engineering International ran an article questioning whether utilities would shelve their plans for new reactors amid revelations about "prohibitively high" costs.

In January 2008, Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. scrapped plans to build a new reactor because it found the "economics of building the next generation of nuclear power plants" were "not in our customers’ best interests." But as staggering as their estimates were at the time, those who did the calculations for Keystone and Moody’s have concluded, based on newer data, that they were not high enough. "The numbers have simply gone flying past our highest 2007 estimates," says Jim Hempstead, a senior vice president at Moody’s, which now predicts new nuclear power plants will cost $7,500 per kilowatt to build.

That’s more than double the capital costs for solar power and three and a half times the cost for wind.

At just over 6,000 words, the article is a bit long, but Mariah Blake's "Bad Reactors" is a fast, informative read as well as an excellent resource for anyone interested in an update on where things stand in the nuclear energy production industry and particularly in the prospects and outlook for future new reactor construction.

Architect Ed Mazria and The 2030 Challenge

2009-02-17T09:40:00.000-08:00

Architecture 2030's Founder and Executive Director Ed Mazria is urging Congress to fund private building sector efficiency projects and to offer increased tax incentives for private residential investment in renewable energy-generating systems.

With the private building sector making up 93 percent of total buildings in the United States, many green building advocates believe funding efficiency projects within that sector in the stimulus could have a substantial effect on the economy and job growth. Architecture 2030, a nonprofit research organization, recently released its 2030 Challenge Stimulus Plan, proposing - among other significant initiatives - a mortgage buy-down program that could help homeowners lower their mortgage rates if they renovate and improve the energy efficiency of their homes. Here, Mazria discusses the proposal and explains how the building sector can improve the accountability of efficiency improvements. And how the Obama administration and the US Congress can help.

A significantly more detailed Mazria video presentation can be found at the link below (sorry, no 'embed' coding available).

Video: Ed Mazria - The 2030 Challenge.

Among other staggering statistics, Mazria asserts that just over "76% of all the electric energy produced in this country goes to operate buildings." His proposal includes the 2010 Imperative which would effectively establish a goal of 50% reduction (based on the regional average) in the use of energy produced from fossil fuels and green house gas emitting sources in all new building designs by the year 2010.

Click the hyperlink.
Watch the video.
It's well worth your time.

Ed Mazria is one very forward-thinking leader.

UPDATE: Here is a link for those interested in reading the actual text of the 2030 Challenge.

And here is the text of the 2010 Imperative.

Can One Household (Or One Business) Save the Planet? No, but...

2009-02-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

Today's Washington Post Magazine has a compelling feature article "Can One Household Save The Planet?" (Free access - membership registration may be required) The subtitle responds: "No, but the planet can't be saved without it." The charming, utterly engaging article begins with the exasperated writer, Liza Mundy, wondering how best to start:

"I'm in the corner of our family room, by the TV, looking to take a first baby step toward making my houshold greener. Everything I've read on reducing your carbon footprint says it's best to start with something easy, and what could be easier than unplugging electronics?

(But) what about the cordless phone, which I am just now noticing, and which must be drawing a bit of power to make that red light stay on? If we unplug the phone, it won't work, so I better leave that one connected. Ditto for the oven and microwave, both of which have digital clocks -- a minute apart, I notice, meaning they are sucking power from the grid in order to give me conflicting information. Since they are both encased in cabinets, I'd have to get a saw to unplug them, and, worse, I'd need to reset the clocks every morning.

Moving upstairs, I see my husband's laptop. If we're going to include that one in our unplugging project, who has to crawl under the table to do it, he or I? Think I'll leave that one to his conscience, and ditto for his BlackBerry charger. But here in the spare bedroom I confront my own laptop, which I hate to turn off, much less unplug, because after three years of heavy use it has become so agonizingly slow that turning it on and off involves enduring any number of virus scans and wretched cannot-connect messages, as well as mysterious warnings about some sort of hidden window. Plus, it's plugged into a power strip with a printer, modem and wireless router, and if I turn the whole strip off, we'll lose the wireless signal, as well as the use of several lamps also plugged into the strip."

If Ms. Mundy's initial slapstick approach to creating just one green household seems a tad reminiscent of the old classic TV show "I Love Lucy," she quickly gets very serious and right to the point:

"...standby power (alone) "accounts for more than 100 billion kilowatt hours of annual U.S. electricity consumption, and $11 billion in annual energy costs," according to Katharine Kaplan, EPA team leader for Energy Star product development."

Mundy's analysis is penetrating and thorough. It illustrates the possibilities and the potential cumulative effects of taking personal responsibility for creating what we know we can all create: one green(er) household.

From suburban America, we move to the busy streets of Atlanta, GA and to the entrepreneurs behind Green Express (link - Atlanta Business Journal feature story) who have invested themselves and their hard-earned capital in creating a profitable green business in the unlikeliest of sectors - the delivery business. Think "all hybrid all the time:"

Sustainability, on a global scale, may be the biggest metaphorical "vessel" in the most profound, tempestuous sea mankind will ever attempt to turn 180 degrees. These two very different pieces - one focused on the greening of a single household in an ordinary American neighborhood, the other on how one business is seizing the opportunity to reduce - to a minimum - their carbon footprint and their adverse impact on the global climate/energy crisis, are both testaments to the possibilities of purposeful living. Both point us in the right direction. They're about moving, if only a single deliberate step at a time, toward the ultimate goal of a sustainable global community.

This exemplary 'one house, one business at a time' method brings to mind the classic American National Bestseller, "Bird by Bird," by Anne Lamott. At its soft, sensible heart it is a self-awareness-cum-aspiring-writer's self-help handbook that begins:

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. He was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"

Indeed.
House by house.
Business by business.
Town by town.

That's the way we'll just have to take it... buddy.

Sphinx Enterprises Ltd: A Wealth of Green Resources & Information

2009-02-13T18:48:00.000-08:00

I like Sphinx Enterprises approach to corporate branding and to identity politics. I admire their efforts to identify, explore and promote prudent, manageable solutions to pressing environmental problems. And there's much to admire in Sphinx's logical approach to spreading the good word about fostering vibrant, sustainable places to work. I especially respond to their integrity; it can take courage to call a spade a spade and the folks at Sphinx seem to do it more unabashedly than most. Look at their use of the term "green washing" (an obvious play on "whitewashing") aimed at putting pretenders on notice right from their homepage:

We understand that you don’t have to sell green to be green; however, selling green products without greening your daily operations or making unsubstantiated claims regarding product attributes could lead to allegations of “green washing” and missing out on valuable cost savings.

Their website provides a wealth of information and vital green-themed links. I particularly admire their Resource Center which, in addition to providing a simple, easy to follow "Top 10" list of steps to "greening" small businesses, also includes an incisive, economic list of useful, informative links and even the elementary and entertaining "Story of Stuff" along with a half-dozen or so downloadable (pdf) articles ranging from policy/tech ("CEO Think Green") to uber-wonk ("Sustainability and ROI").

Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Sphinx Enterprises, Ltd. is a post-modern consulting firm providing, in their words

"business sustainability solutions and research for corporations, organizations and local living economies. We are business sustainability professionals and expert practitioners committed to meeting the needs of our clients and community by providing innovative, sustainable solutions that maximize business performance and profits while being environmentally and socially responsible."

Not convinced? You'd be hard-pressed to find a more spot on summary of the philosophical imperative underpinning the sustainability movement than their Local Living Economies/Mission Statement. All in all, on a 1 to 10 worth-your-while readability scale, for small businesses looking for legitimate ways to "go green," Eco Town gives the Sphinx Enterprises web presence a solid 9 as a place to start.

Arizona's New "Bumper Crop?"

2009-02-12T08:30:00.000-08:00

Fast on the heels of Tuesday's post featuring Bill Gross and his solar energy innovations comes this morning's headlines in the local paper, The Arizona Daily Star: "AZ: The Solar Source." A quick scan of the lede supports the premise that energy-concentrating solar reflectors may have huge potential for clean energy production and distribution:

"Imagine large-scale solar-power plants being built across the Sonoran Desert, along with power lines up to 300 feet high, to export the sun's power to the rest of the West. That's the ambition of an idea the Western Governors Association and the federal government are studying — to make Arizona a solar-energy "colony" for 11 other states, two Canadian provinces and Baja California.
The governors are also looking at the other states and how much of the West's land could be set aside to build huge plants and other facilities producing sun and wind power and other renewable energy forms — and to build power lines to carry it across the West.
Solar advocates like to say Arizona and the Southwest have enough sunshine to power all the nation, so the idea carries promise for them."

It gets better:

"A square mile of desert covered with solar panels can furnish about 100 megawatts of power, says the Western Governors Association, whose $1 million study is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy."

But, predictably, out here in the deepest, perpetually boiling-red section of TV weather-map America, all is not sunshine and cactus blossoms. Some hesitant green-leaning groups and ardent environmentalists are expressing concern over the impact 300-foot tall transmission-line tower construction and placement will have on vast swaths of Arizona's pristine Sonoran Desert and on its most sensitive and vulnerable critters, habitats and ecosystems.

It remains to be seen if these conflicting interests will find paths to progress or roadblocks and impasse. But, unlike The Lone Ranger and Tonto...the relationship between the producers of clean, renewable solar energy and the wary environmentalists who try to keep them in check not only IS supposed to be going somewhere... it really must.

Eat the Suburbs - More on Peak Oil

2009-02-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

A compelling and oddly upbeat Australian short film about Peak Oil and a Transition Community's approach to post-peak sustainability through gardening:

(Notice Richard Heinberg is - again - a featured expert).

Money quote from the concept of creating what Heinberg refers to as a "post-peak culture:"

"Our society is likely to go through some very dramatic changes and you could say, "Well, is one person gardening going to make a difference?" Of course not. But if you have millions of people gardening, that makes a tremendous difference."

Bill Gross: Ideas for Harnassing Energy

2009-02-10T18:03:00.000-08:00

Here's "boy genius" Bill Gross, founder and CEO of Idealab. This is a somewhat older video (from his notable 2003 TED presentation) but it's an idea whose time may very well be at hand.

His creation of a solar energy collector/concentrator competes with - and may challenge the dominance of - the Photovoltaic micro-solar panel. The video is roughly 21 minutes... but well worth it if for nothing more than his "ingenuberance" (a portmanteau for ingenuity + exuberance).

Perfecting the device he demos here (or one like it) may solve many of the energy concentration/storage space/efficiency issues still plaguing battery-dependent photovoltaics for sustainability. It may also reduce or eliminate the need for a back up diesel system to satisfy peak load demand.

UPDATE: eSolar appears to be putting Bill Gross' innovations to work.

And look who noticed.

More interesting ideas from Bill Gross. This essay, from January 30, 2009, discusses proportional-use pricing for electricity.

Peak Oil & The Transition Movement

2009-02-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

A word about peak oil:

"Fifty years ago, the world was consuming 4 billion barrels of oil per year and the average discovery was around 30 billion. Today we consume 30 billion barrels per year and the discovery rate is approaching 4 billion barrels of crude per year.” Asia Times, May 4, 2005"

Peak Oil perspectives from Richard Heinberg, author of "Peak Everything":

Transitioning from a global culture dependent on oil-based energy to one relying on sustainable, renewable energy sources and resources is the raison d'etre of The Transition Movement.

Key to their effort is the concept of the Transition Town; essentially a community committed to moving toward sustainability with each year and with each new local policy, ordinance and law (the Transition Town Wiki, linked above provides an excellent boilerplate and overview of what this movement is about and how its elements are interconnected):

The Viral Spread of Transition Initiatives

At the forefront of this new approach is a growing band of communities who are adopting the Transition Model as they devise an entirely new way of thinking, living and working together to make our local communities more resilient and more abundant.

Since the “unleashing”of Transition Town Totnes, England (the first in the UK) in the summer of 2006, the Transition concept has spread rapidly around the world. To date, there are about 80 officially designated Transition Towns (or cities, districts, villages, or islands) in the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S.; Transition Boulder County became the first Transition Initiative in North America in May 2008. There are some 700 additional communities who are in various stages of becoming Transition Initiatives or considering whether they’re ready for this journey, and more join their ranks nearly every day.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks...

2009-02-08T12:58:00.000-08:00

I got a particular kick out of today's (2/8/09) Doonesbury in the Sunday comics. (Click the image for enlarged viewing). The following post explains:

I've been sidelined this past week by a major car accident involving my truck (a 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 quad-cab) and an 82-year old tourist from Iowa driving a rented VW Jetta. On the way to fetch my 6-year old son from his after-school chess club, the mid-sized VW sedan blew through a stop sign without looking, slowing or yielding and t-boned my truck.

The impact knocked off my front right wheel (hence, no steering or brakes) and landed me across the road in a culvert after smacking head-on into a large Palo Verde tree.

I wound up in the Emergency Room for most of the night but was released following X-rays and a CAT scan that showed negative for spine or neck fractures. But my truck was a total loss.

So I'm at home, healing, and resting my aching back and neck. And I'm reflecting.

I've always driven a truck - largely for the utilitarian value - but lately, as I've become more and more interested in and committed to living a sustainable life, I've been feeling more and more guilty about my choice of vehicles. And now that I'm forced to make a decision about a new one, far sooner than I'd hoped or expected, suddenly everywhere I look I see ads for cars and trucks; ads to which I'd never paid much - if any - attention prior to the accident.

Now I'm taking particular note of the fuel efficiency and the practical economy of smaller cars built by Kia, Hundai and Suzuki. Not only do they cost less to buy than a shiny new Dodge Ram truck, they get far better gas mileage. Also, too of course are the hybrids... Toyota's Camry and Prius, the Honda Insight and Civic, and bigger, the Saturn Vue, GMC Yukon hybrid, the Chrysler Aspen and the Ford Escape.

Not to put too fine a point on the already obvious, but along with the Volkswagen, the accident itself hit me like a ton of bricks with the realization of the degree to which I've been part of the problem. Since I can't be totally carbon-neutral (e.g. ride a bicycle everywhere), I do intend my next automotive choice to reflect an enhanced consciousness of the consequences of what I drive, and where, and how fast I drive it.

Key Obama Appointments - Environmental Team in Place

2009-02-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

American President Barrack Obama's new environmental team has taken shape and the team - which includes Nobel Prize-winning Physicist Steven Chu as Energy Secretary, Carol M. Browner (left, above), E.P.A. administrator under President Bill Clinton, as the top White House official on climate and energy policy, and Lisa Jackson as Director of the EPA - holds significant promise as a powerful ally to the green movement. According to a New York Times article following the December '08 announcements:

Collectively, they will have the task of carrying out Mr. Obama’s stated intent to curb global warming emissions drastically while fashioning a more efficient national energy system. And they will be able to work with strong allies in Congress who are interested in developing climate-change legislation, despite fierce economic headwinds that will amplify objections from manufacturers and energy producers.

Said Ms. Jackson of her appointment: " As Administrator, I will ensure EPA’s efforts to address the environmental crises of today are rooted in three fundamental values: science-based policies and programs, adherence to the rule of law, and overwhelming transparency. By keeping faith with these values and unleashing innovative, forward-thinking approaches – we can further protect neighborhoods and communities throughout the country."

Unlike his predecessor, it appears President Obama is committed to facing the daunting challenges and threats posed by global climate change as well as to approaching the reduction of green house gas and CO2 emissions with a reality and science-based strategy informed by the potential for catastrophe of in- or in-adequate action.

This appears to be a welcome and promising moment for those around the globe who are committed to sustainable living - be it in one of the many Eco Towns and villages currently taking shape, in local communities and neighborhoods or in individual single-family residences.

They, and we, will be watching carefully in the weeks and months ahead as the new American President lays out his plans, delineates his environmental priorities and marshals his troops to the battle that looms, fierce and dark, on the near horizon.