Despite the digital revolution, global consumption of paper continues to increase. Even with the rise of email and texting rather than standard mail, getting news and information online rather than in print form and reading files in a digital format, the tide of paper use hasn’t been turned yet.
This is an issue that causes broad concern about the environment as vast tracts of forest are being harvested (more…)
I’ve been helping a friend fine-tune his marketing message for an energy efficiency product he’s selling, and, after giving him a few specific suggestions, I write:
Strategically, this piece is a bit dry. Is there anything you could say that would grasp the reader’s attention without sounding cheesy? (more…)
The UK has a unique auction process in which the utilities and large electricity customers bid for power, called “contracts for difference.” The concept is not unlike a futures contract, in which sellers who do not (or cannot) take risk with the volatility of energy prices receive a fixed price over a certain period of time, regardless of the actual “spot” price. (more…)
Earlier today I wrote a post called “Prediction: Our Culture Will Eventually Reconnect with Science.” Just now, however, I came across this new bill working its way through the U.S. Congress that would prohibit scientists with subject matter expertise from speaking to our Environmental Protection Agency. Sponsors of bills like this really do have science in their crosshairs.
Fortunately, the bill has its opponents, like Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) who retorted, “I get it, you don’t like science. And you don’t like science that interferes with the interests of your corporate clients. But we need science to protect public health and the environment.”
Living through these times has its surreal aspects, as the picture above suggests.
Quick conversation with a colleague in New York:
Colleague: We will move from oil to natural gas and then to solar…it will take some time! Remember…we used to burn wood and coal…
Craig: True, these transitions have never happened overnight. However, (more…)
I noted about a month ago that the attack on Net Neutrality, largely sponsored by telecomm giant Comcast, was on its last legs, and that the decisive factor in the battle was the torrent of outrage of tens of millions of people who demanded fairness and justice. Well, time to celebrate: the good guys just won this round. Thanks to all who helped. Tell your friends and never forget: your voice matters.
And U.S. President Obama vetoed the Keystone XL Pipeline? I’m sure (U.S. Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell isn’t too happy now, but I sure am.
I laugh out loud when I see stuff like this: Al Roker’s bold assertion on Larry King’s show to the effect that he thinks climate change is real. From what I read about him, I’m sure Roker is a wonderful human being, but does it matter what he believes about climate change? I suppose that’s better than his claiming that the whole subject is a hoax and part of an anti-capitalist plot on the part of our scientific community, but either way, as he has no real training in the subject, I don’t find it too compelling.
I really don’t want to denigrate the weather broadcasting profession, but we have to keep all this in perspective. My father was a wonderful man before he left us a few years ago: (more…)
With all the effort the world’s top marketing minds are putting behind social media and getting something to go viral, one would think there would be something of a recipe associated with success. Yet there doesn’t seem to be one, which is fortunate, or we would all be bombarded with formulaic, derivative garbage.
As I’ve mentioned, there are plenty of ways to get this social media wrong, most of which boil down to covertly exploiting the power on the Internet for some bogus commercial purpose. I wrote about a couple of classic examples here. Again, when they go wrong, they go WAY wrong, and in such cases the only cure is letting the disease run its course.
I don’t know how well this piece for TNT will do, but I think it’s fantastic.
Of course, the ones that make us all smile, or perhaps even weep with joy, are those that provide a truly uplifting message. If you haven’t done so already, check this out, and ask yourself what you surmise the world would be like if everyone on Earth watched this every morning upon arising out of bed.
A woman from the Los Angeles area contacted me the other day about the all-new “wind car.” I had hoped to see something interesting, but no, it was as I feared: a chassis on wheels with a battery and the fan on top that supposedly charges the batteries. She directed me to the fellow who’s raising investment capital to build and sell the idea, and he told me, “It’s not good that electric vehicles have a limited range. You can drive this to New York.” (more…)
A friend sent me this piece on CO2 concentrations in the Earth’s atmosphere, and writes: FYI just in case you have not seen this.
Yes, that’s interesting. As I may have mentioned, I know a few of these people personally, e.g., Professor Ramanathan (he goes by “Ram”) at the Scripps Institute (pictured below) here in Southern California. (more…)
