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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Seven Tips to Save Money While Saving the EnvironmentGoing green takes imagination and ingenuity, but it doesn’t always require a lot of extra money. Contrary to popular belief, many green technologies are affordable to consumers with budgets of any size. If protecting natural resources for future generations is important to you, try some of these simple tips to reduce your carbon footprint.

Diaper in Cloth

Parents who use cloth diapers can save money and the environment at the same time. Americans throw away over 16 billion diapers each year, but cloth diapers have come a long way. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Oil Companies  MisbehavingIn terms of decency, it hasn’t been a good day for the oil companies. First it was the ExxonMobil CEO’s mocking renewable energy, and now it’s more news on Chevron’s refusal to clean up its mess in Ecuador.

For those not following the story: Chevron deliberately dumped 18 million gallons of toxic waste into the Ecuadorian Amazon, resulting in the large-scale disease and death of the indigenous people.  They’ve been ordered to pay $9.8 billion in damages, a judgement that was upheld at an appellate court, but they’re not handing over a dime.  Please see the incredible video linked above.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Sour Grapes from ExxonMobil’s CEO“Any fool can despise what he can’t have” is the moral of the most famous of the Aesop’s fables (“The Fox and the Grapes“).

Sadly, Big Oil is incapable of participating in the rapid migration to renewable energy; oil and gas exploration is an extremely specific core competency, one that is extremely expensive to develop—and one whose capabilities don’t carry over into solar, wind, and the rest. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

A Lesson from Linus Pauling I was just telling my daughter’s best friend (pictured here facing my camera, perhaps seven years ago) about Linus Pauling, how remarkable he was, and what we can all learn from his incredible life. One important lesson is that we shouldn’t rule out the validity and importance of an idea, simply on the basis that it didn’t come from an expert in the field. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

The Energy End-Game: Huge Money Flowing Into RenewablesA reader notes (and I paraphrase): The oil companies are the strongest force on the planet, and they are the problem with respect to a path toward a sustainable approach to energy.  I don’t think we can expect oil companies to simply walk into the renewable sunset.

No, we most certainly cannot expect that;  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Apple Pie, Environmentalism, and MotherhoodI often kid my mother on her political views. She’s a Republican, though she’s a kind and sensitive person who believes that what we’re doing to our environment is “deplorable” (one of her favorite words).  I wrote just now:

Mom: Looks like George Pataki (ex-Governor of New York) is a candidate for U.S. president, albeit a long shot. What do you think of this guy? A Republican environmentalist! I thought unicorns were more numerous.  Love, Craig

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Sadly, the Subject of Fracking Is Tougher Than Most People Realize With his characteristically lucid writing style, frequent commenter BreathOnTheWind asks me to clarify my position on fracking.  It’s largely the result of conversations I’ve had with energy analyst Glenn Doty and other senior scientists.  I’m convinced that:

• Despite widespread belief to the contrary, there is no evidence that fracking causes any measurable level of harm to our health or our environment in terms of overuse of water, injection of toxic chemicals into the regions 15K feet deep, pollution of aquifers/drinking water, earthquakes, etc. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels

Hard To Get Excited About Bio-EnergyHere’s a tome (700 pages!) on bio-energy for anyone looking for a comprehensive study on the subject; an enormous amount of time must have gone into this.  Personally, I don’t see the reason to get excited about any of this.  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Books on Renewable Energy Sometimes Made Part of College SyllabiA reader notes:  I want to share with you my recent appointment at (a leading management and technology university) as an Adjunct Professor. I will be charged with teaching and mentoring students in their doctoral and graduate management programs, and I plan to implement concentrations on clean energy. In that regard, I believe your publications will provide solid reading fundamentals.  I’ll keep you posted. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Why Venture Capital Isn't Embracing CleanTechIn 2011, I did a talk on clean energy and transportation at the incredibly palatial Biltmore in downtown Los Angeles (pictured), at the conclusion of which a gentleman introduced himself and told me about a zero-emissions vehicle he was building.  We stayed in touch, and just now he wrote to me regarding my post “Heard It At the Low Carbon Investors Conference” as follows: (more…)

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