Santa Barbara is lucky enough to have one of the 13 Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums. Yesterday I checked out several dozen original documents that happened to interest me, including the first page of one of the world’s most beloved pieces of piano music: the A-flat (“Heroic”) polonaise of Chopin, as well as several writings of the world’s great scientists. (more…)
I was milling around Wall-Space, a hip new art gallery in Santa Barbara’s “Funk Zone” yesterday, looking at some really cool photography, when the clerk, an amazingly articulate and self-possessed young lady, asked me about my interests. No sooner had I gotten the words “renewable energy” out of my mouth than she opened a drawer stuffed with the images of Jay Tyrrell, a fellow whose photographic subjects are largely concentrated on – and I’m not making this up – wind turbines. If you check this out, you’ll learn about Jay’s project “Wind Army” a science fiction story that brings wind turbines to life in a sort of “War of the Worlds” plot-line.
Now that’s what I call an imagination.
Weather conditions have been freezing, you’re probably worried about your electrical expenses going over the roof again. You need all the heat you can get and it’s just as easy as turning up the switch, right? However, when the bill arrives, you’re doomed again. Wouldn’t it just be awesome if there are ways to cut down on those bills and still get the warmth you need from the stormy weather?
Now, how you can make your home conducive to stay in besides the cold temperature while keeping the expenses on the low. (more…)
Environmentalism is on the rise and has had a huge effect on the way that we live our lives. Thanks to our growing awareness of the issues that man-made pollution can cause, more and more people have been making changes to their day to day lives in order to successfully reduce harmful emissions; you can make a change for the better by doing something as simple as using your car less often or changing the light bulbs in your house. Changing to a new set of light bulbs has become a popular choice precisely because it’s so easy and there are now enough alternative products to make such a change feasible. (more…)
Here’s an article by an author with keen insight into the issues that will shape the future of humankind on this planet: Michael T. Klare, the Five College Professor of Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. The title of his newest book, The Race for What’s Left: The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources, articulates the basic issue: the oil companies and the governments that they largely control have little interest in backing off from their passion of maximizing their profits, even at the expense of the health and safety of everyone living on Earth. (more…)
Green technology is here to stay. What once sounded like a buzzword has become the way the world’s leading corporations are looking at both financial and environmental sustainability. Thanks to the innovation-driven world of green tech, a lot industries that have been traditionally unfriendly to the environment are starting to clean up. Here are a few of the best examples of such innovations currently seeding a cleaner, more efficient future. (more…)
Environmental management plans are the central tool your business or organisation uses to minimise the impact of your projects on the environment. In construction, an environmental management plan is often required by law.
Even if an environmental management plan, or EMP, is not required, one may still be a useful tool for achieving your “green” goals. Piecing together an EMP is the first step towards achieving compliance with voluntary environmental standards. (more…)
During the last hundred years, the world has transformed into a new climatical era – where temperatures have exceeded global averages for 36 consecutive years.
We live in a world of more than 7 billion people, where carbon dioxide emissions every year reach more than 32 billion tons; more than 300 million megawatt of energy used, and environmental safety is no guarantee. (more…)
Each day we watch the slow grind of the forces that shape our world in terms of environmental justice. We ask ourselves questions that have no answers currently: How much of the Amazon rain forest will we be able to preserve? Will the migration away from fossil fuels occur in time to save the Greenland Ice Sheet? Will Chevron eventually be forced to pay for the devastation it caused in Ecuador? (more…)
