In response to my post Replacing Every Watt of Earth’s Power Consumption with Renewable Energy, frequent commenter Roger Priddle writes:
It seems to me that conserving energy is going to be like wearing seatbelts – at first, obvious as prices rise and alternatives become more accessible and “easy,” then mandated. The first adopters will be those who like the “cool” factor – my lights stay on when a winter storm takes down the wires in my neighborhood. (more…)
A few weeks ago I remarked in astonishment that, its very laudable efforts to reduce suffering in the third world, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation places little or no emphasis on contraception and the other elements of family planning. In my post “Improving Conditions for the Poorest of the Poor,” I noted that the Foundation is in a class by itself when it comes to preventing and curing childhood disease, but it doesn’t seem to understand the only way to reduce the amount of misery in the world is to manufacture less of it in the first place. (more…)
We’ve all had the experience of learning a new word or becoming familiar with a new model of car, and then starting to hear the word or see the car everywhere. I’m having the same experience with the concept of environmentalism. In the last few weeks, I’ve run into people in many different venues—grocery stores, libraries, schools, hiking trails, and restaurants—who do or say something, without any prompt from me, that indicates that they feel the need to be stewards of the environment. (more…)
Keep America Beautiful is an organization dedicated to promoting waste reduction, recycling, litter prevention and public space beautification. Founded in 1953, the nonprofit works with community-based affiliate groups, corporate sponsors and local governments to carry out programs that focus on public education, trash collection, recycling and community improvement. (more…)
In correspondence to a close personal friend who happens to be a supporter of Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, I wrote:
Btw, I know you don’t watch Fox News outside of Bill O’Reilly, and that’s a good thing. Just for grins, I watched a few minutes of Greta van Susteren late last night. Here’s her interview with the Reverend Franklin Graham, the point of which is that Obama is a Muslim, and that this explains why he’s doing nothing about ISIS, and, by extension, how his secretly held religious tenets put all Americans at risk. An excerpt: (more…)
A reader sent me this regarding my apology for having referred to habitual viewers of Fox News as “idiots”: Congratulations on your apology. It was well written and sincere. However, I can’t see how you can say Bill O’Reilly (from Fox News) is neither “fairness nor truth” when he always has two guests representing an issue: one of liberal persuasion and the other conservative. Also RealClearPolitics.com has editorials and articles from both sides. Please tell me where you get your news, and I’ll check it out.
You’re right in that, on the surface, both of these sources feature both sides, though RealClearPolitics, focused as it is on conservative intellectuals, is clearly right of center. (more…)
If we do anything well here, it’s providing a platform on which to discuss the “big ideas” in energy and the environment. Sure, I feel confident that I’ve identified a few solid ideas on a fairly narrow set of clean energy investment opportunities like the Brazilian hydrokinetics deal I mentioned here, but most of our content attempts to stimulate discussion on the world of energy and the environment “at 50,000 feet,” as they say.
To that end, let me offer this: a piece from Bloomberg that makes certain statements about where the world is going on what is arguably its most import topic of conversation, i.e., coming together and dealing with the global output of greenhouse gas emissions and the resultant disruption in our climate. Those of you who may have believed that the subject was hopeless may take some comfort there.
I just received an email that began: I have a hunch that carbon can be removed from the atmosphere by biology. But the devil is in the details and it is really hard work to figure out what a given piece of land is doing as far as carbon (inflow and outflow).
I respond:
I hope your hunch turns out to be correct, but I think the devil will ask you to nail down the broad strokes before he starts worrying about the details.
I can help you with a few basics, though. (more…)
I regret referring to Fox News viewers as “idiots” in the post linked above. Obviously, I’m not a fan of the franchise and what is often called its “politics of hate and exclusion,” and I unapologetically do think its followers would do well to look elsewhere and seek out sources of information that are more based on fairness and truth. But what I wrote here was reckless, irresponsible, and insensitive. (more…)
From someone who found me online just now:
We propose our “Vapor Drive” Generator with these features: Patented Novel design of 25-50KW Generator- FEATURES: No Fossil fuel, No Emissions, Quiet -Operating expense $20/Month, Size of a 20Cu Ft Refrigerator designed for 20Yr life. Seek investment of $3-4 Million. Following mutual NDAs please request Executive Summary which further describes our Invention and request.
I respond:
Please send me some non-confidential info on it. (more…)
