As reported by my colleague Jon LeSage in his terrific publication Green Auto Digest, the most influential car show in the world, The Paris Auto Show, is featuring an enormous range of electric vehicles, spurred on at least in some degree, by the scandal surrounding VW’s diesel emissions. (more…)
Nearly half of all American families spend 17% of their after-tax income on energy costs. The recent data from the US Department of Energy (DOE) raise concerns on how little we are doing to save energy despite available information and technologies.
Since 2008, the DOE has been promoting building and construction guidelines that aim to cut energy usage. (more…)
My first reaction to the concept of autonomous cars was not a good one. You want to replace the driver? We like driving. How about replacing some of the things that we don’t like, e.g., the fuel that’s ruining our planet with its pollution and constant wars? (more…)
We all know the wonderful story of Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg and its ‘opening act,” an incredibly brilliant and touching two-hour speech by Edward Everett, one of U.S. history’s greatest orators. Later, Everett wrote to Lincoln, expressing his admiration of the president’s words, saying “I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.” (more…)
It’s the birthday of F. Scott Fitzgerald who said, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”
This, in turn, reminds us of this gem from Bertrand Russell: The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. (more…)
Most current waste and recycling collection systems follow a static model, where containers are picked up regardless of their content or fill level.
This has an impact on monetary, environmental, and community costs, with some containers overfilling before they are collected, while others sit empty, yet are picked up anyway. (more…)
Deforestation, climate change, overused resources and water shortages are but a few of the environmental issues we face today. What can we do? Creative uses of modern technology could improve our efforts to achieve a sustainable living.
Increasing Food Yields (more…)
In researching my four books I came upon numerous excuses for not dealing with climate change. Some of these were laughable, e.g., the CATO Institute’s position that the effects of climate change are small at this point, thus so should be our current level of concern and action to mitigate it; we’ll need to become more forceful in 50 years or so when the effects really start to ravage the planet. (more…)
I’ve been asked to speak at a conference next month in Connecticut, and I thought readers may be interested in my outline for the talk:
Rising concerns about global warming and conservation of our air and water are causing many people to revisit the idea of converting to solar energy. Ten years ago, converting to solar energy wasn’t an affordable option for many people. However, technological advances, mass production, creative financing, and tax incentives have all contributed to making it an affordable choice for nearly everyone. (more…)
