African elephants will likely become extinct by 2020 if the current widespread poaching continues. Long-time ranger and conservationist Rory Young says that given the current rate of slaughter, he’s “absolutely convinced” that African elephants could indeed be annihilated in the next six years. (more…)
I had a very interesting meeting yesterday in Washington D.C. at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill with Randy Flood, a fellow who’s been an important part of the law-making process at the federal level since the early 1970s. The content of the talk centered largely around a subject of terrific importance: renewable energy job creation. In particular, Randy has put his finger on the concept, and I believe he’s correct, that selling renewable energy as a valid industry is equivalent to saying that there are a ton of well-paying jobs associated with it.
And how difficult a concept is that to accept? Or, put another way, which of these two propositions do you find more credible? (more…)
The migration of the farmers out of the Oklahoma dust bowl in the 1930s was a story of gut-wrenching passion and sorrow, but the mainstream press in the U.S. was completely uninterested in covering it—until a very specific instant in time: the publication of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath in 1939. Within just a few weeks of that moment in time, the number of column-inches devoted to the issue had exploded. A single event—in this case a book—had broken the dam.
This seems to be a pervasive characteristic of humankind. (more…)
I’m constantly asked about the validity of crowd funding as a potential source of capital for the clean energy projects we support here at 2GreenEnergy. There are many good case studies of success here, which is why I recommend that people check out sites like CrowdFunder.com.
Though CrowdFunder.com is totally legitimate, I’m not sure I can say that about all the investment opportunities that go out looking for money in this manner. (more…)
Many different industries around the world are now going green in an attempt to help the planet, curb corporate expenditure and decrease excess waste. Regardless of if you own or work for a large or small business, many companies are choosing to become more environmentally friendly, including fitness centers. Here are a handful of key ways that sports centers, gymnasiums and exercise rooms are starting to promote a greener environment as well as also becoming more financially responsible. (more…)
Considering that America has some of the biggest natural gas reserves in the world, and gasoline has become extremely expensive in the past few years, it makes a lot of sense to start using it as vehicle fuel on a larger scale. But, while the benefits of using natural gas as an alternative to gasoline are multi-fold, as it reduces carbon dioxide emissions substantially, it costs much less than gasoline, and it can help end U.S. dependence on foreign oil, the number of vehicles that run on natural gas is pretty low, especially when compared to other countries that have vast reserves of this energy source, such as Iran, Argentina and Brazil. (more…)
Yesterday was the birthday of Carl Jung (pictured here). Jung is considered “the father of analytic psychology,” and is best known for his work in which he noticed that there are numerous commonalities in the mythology and folklore of many different civilizations, from which we inferred that all humankind shares what he called a “collective unconsciousness.”
I’m sure this ran afoul with most of the prevailing viewpoints of academicians in the early 20th Century, starting with the hotshot philosophers of the day, the logical positivists, whose basic operating premise can be summarized as “If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist.”
From there, we can imagine that Jung’s troubles got worse, where the medical community was just starting to slice and dice the brain, looking for the structural elements that defined who a person fundamentally “is.” Even today the paradigm by which we study the mind is rooted in chemistry and neurology, based on our belief that if we can understand and control what’s happening at the molecular level with the human brain, we will have answered all the important questions that can be asked about mental activity, and about our behavior (as well as misbehavior).
Having said all this, we need to pay heed to some of the anti-materialistic approaches that scientists are starting to take, e.g., holistic medicine, i.e., the concept that effective medical treatment cannot pretend that we are simply a complicated set of chemical reactions, and that these happen in isolation.
Personally, I’m betting that Jung’s fundamental concept, i.e., the interconnectedness of all humankind–and actually, of all life forms, will ultimately be vindicated.
Obviously, this has important consequences when we begin to think about the outcome for human civilization. Will our willingness to resort to violence to settle our differences escalate to the point of nuclear annihilation? Will our rapacious approach to fossil fuels result in runaway climate change and other forms of environmental ruin? Will our greed and selfishness result in starvation for the masses, but untold wealth and comfort for a few?
To a great extent, the answers to these questions are a function of the degree we come to see the interconnection between ourselves and our fellows.
Happy Birthday, Carl Jung. I think you’re onto something here.
Energy is the medium to growth and human development. It has, today become a basic human need that is required to improve individual quality of life and support economic and social growth. On the other hand, renewable energy also has a powerful impact upon the environment, be it limited, unlimited or world-wide. Energy is the prime human need and we can get unbounded energy from briquette press project which is described here. (more…)
A reader notes:
Over the last 10 years or so the number of coal industry jobs has fallen approximately due to automation, not solar or other advancements in clean energy. Yes, the few jobs left may be threatened by solar, but its time is over, and again, most of it has already disappeared.
Thanks for this. This is the way I look at it too.
The politicians who promise to expand the coal industry are simply revealing that they will do or say anything for a vote, regardless of how devastating its overall effects may be. Personally, I have more respect for literal prostitutes, engaged, as they are, in the world’s oldest profession.
Randy Flood of the Green Jobs Alliance responded to my earlier piece on The Renewable Energy Industry Is All About Jobs; he wrote: Outstanding analysis! Great article! Right on target!
Thanks for the kind words, Randy. At least on a worldwide basis, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the jobs market in the energy space will soon cease to be defined by fossil fuels. Resources are dwindling, they’re getting more expensive to access, and they’re destroying our environment, as well as our health. (more…)
