Populating the 2GreenEnergy CleanTech Conference Calendar
I make go/no-go decisions re: attending conferences the way anyone else does. I’m motivated to go if:
• I’m invited to speak
• It’s close, i.e., a drive as opposed to a plane ride (more…)
Our Approach To Energy on Planet Earth: The Oil Companies Against the Rest of the World—But Is This Really Necessary?
According to the Writer’s Almanac, it’s the 90th birthday of American political humorist Art Buchwald (pictured). They write:
Buchwald began writing political satire when President Eisenhower made a trip to France. His humorous articles caught the attention of Eisenhower’s press secretary, who called the pieces “unadulterated rot.” Buchwald answered back, “I have been known to write adulterated rot, but never unadulterated rot.” After this, he moved back to the United States and began writing political satire full-time. Buchwald said, “If you attack the establishment long enough and hard enough, they will make you a member of it.” (more…)
Anthropogenic Climate Disruption
Frequent commenter Cameron Atwood writes: For those concerned about how messaging is communicated, I’d suggest that people need to replace the ambiguous and lukewarm phrases “climate change” and “global warming” with the far more accurate, evocative and impactful words “anthropogenic climate disruption.”
I know you feel that we need the new moniker “anthropogenic climate disruption,” and I agree with your reasoning. However–and this may sound cowardly–but I refrain from using that phrase until Bill McKibben, James Hansen, et al., are calling it that. In other words, I let the climate scientists name the phenomena they are studying.
I’m reminded of my soccer coaching days, when my son would complain about a ref’s call, and I’d yell to him from the sideline, “Jake. Knock it off. He’s the ref. You play. He refs.”
From Guest Blogger Chris Rowson: Paperless Alternatives in the Workplace
Every business has a huge obligation to reduce the carbon footprint of their operation. Thankfully many businesses are starting to take that seriously and realise the financial benefits of doing so from good brand PR and cost saving benefits. One of the areas in which all businesses can easily improve upon is their usage of paper, most of which is unnecessary. (more…)
Update on “Sustainable Wildlife”
Last spring, many of us petitioned Delta Airlines, as the major air transportation provider between Africa and the US, to refuse to ship the carcasses of lions, elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, etc., as a deterrent to those, tragically born without consciences, who would shoot the few remaining members of these species and take their corpses back home to stuff and mount as trophies.
The good news: we won. Better said: Delta, regardless of the degree to which public pressure was a factor, did the right thing and has set in place new policy to the effect that it will not accept such cargo. (more…)
Should Canadians Vote for Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Today’s National Elections?
Believe it or not, there is a law on the books in Canada that stipulates: No person who does not reside in Canada shall…induce electors to….vote for or refrain from voting for a particular candidate. Violators are subject to a $5000 fine, up to six months in prison, or both.
I don’t wish to flout the law, so I’ll skirt it instead. (more…)
Filling Out Forms, Standing In Line
Here’s a discussion on the use of “intake forms,” i.e., questionnaires that certain investment groups and lenders use as a preliminary step on an entrepreneur’s path toward receiving the funding required to move his business concept forward. Billy Joel fans will recognize the title here as a line from “Allentown,” a tale of economic woe, worsened by the prospect of wasting time in a bureaucratic morass. (more…)
Keiretsu Forums
Last week I functioned as a panelist at one of the so-called “Keiretsu Forums” here in Southern California, in which entrepreneurs pitch their business plans to potential investors. I really enjoy this, as it gives me practice on thinking on my feet and having something reasonably intelligent to say when confronted with a business concept, regardless of its nature and its relative worth.
Carinda Bourgeous (pictured), Keiretsu’s Regional Director, Membership & Operations, invited me, I presume because she had seen me in action before, at the Clean Business Investment Summit, (more…)
Do Fossil Fuels Pose a Risk To Our Civilization?
We all appreciate that coal, oil, and natural gas played a crucial role in creating the advanced society we have today. But astonishingly, some people, Mr. Epstein among them, assert that they pose no risk to the health and safety of the world of the 21st Century. (more…)
From Guest Blogger Christopher Austin: Zero Emissions Vehicles–Environmentally Clean and Fuel Saving
Global warming and the energy crisis has become big news and is one of the biggest motivators for car manufacturers to start producing more environmentally friendly vehicles. The electric car has become the first mass produced alternative to the combustion engine. An electrically powered vehicle produces zero emissions although there may be some produced during the process of making the electricity to power the car. (more…)
