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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Here’s an article based upon a recently conducted survey performed by Gallup on behalf of insurance giant Swiss Re that suggests that the world’s population cares a great deal about climate change — that, in fact, global warming is humankind’s number one worry today — even ranking above jobs and the economy.

Living in the U.S. and encountering climate change deniers in our Congress as I do, this came as a considerable surprise to me.  It also inspired a thought: the will of the people all over the world is being badly frustrated by government. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

As an author, I’m always happy to receive good reviews of my books.  Having said that, I’m not too sure what to make of this review of “Is Renewable Really Doable?” (2012), as it’s in Spanish.  I’m reminded of the time I told a dozen different parties (poor people to whom my daughter and I were delivering groceries for Thanksgiving) “I have two bags of groceries and a turkey for you,” which I expressed to the Hispanic families as, “Tengo dos bolsas de comita y un polvo,” only to be told by the last group that I was saying “I have two bags of food and some dust.” Of course, this did explain the somewhat quizzical look on all those people’s faces.

Perhaps someone with a greater facility with the language can tell me if this is generally positive — or if the reviewer thought my book was una pavo (a turkey).

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Yesterday saw the publication of a paper in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society to the effect that climate change caused by human use of fossil fuels played a role in about a half dozen extreme weather events last year.  The paper was written by a team of experts who had examined 12 wild weather episodes in 2012, from droughts in the United States and Africa to heavy rainfall in Europe, Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand.  The peer-reviewed study, called “Explaining Extreme Events of 2012 from a Climate Perspective,” was based on and included 18 research teams from around the world.

What now?  Easy.  The 100-or-so climate change deniers in the U.S. House of Representatives, whose campaign funding comes predominantly from the oil companies, will call the members of these 18 research teams “frauds” and “liars,” and our de facto energy policy, based on fossil fuels, will continue along unabated.

“So it goes,” as Kurt Vonnegut used to say.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

As the success of Tesla becomes more and more obvious, the largest car makers in the world are starting to feel threatened by this small start-up company. Tesla has reported a profit in two consecutive quarters this year, which is quite surprising, considering that the electric car maker had been struggling to hit production targets and its sales figures hadn’t been too good in the last couple of years. But, Tesla’s shares are now at a record high, sales are much stronger than they used to be, and revenues and market share have been significantly increased lately, which means the major car companies have enough reasons to be worried. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Have you ever reached the end of a long day, thought back to breakfast, and said to yourself,  “Man. That seems like last week?” Today’s up and back jaunt to Portland (Oregon, US) with new 2GreenEnergy client Xzeres (microwind) was a great example of that phenomenon.  Great people with a terrific business — more on this soon.

At a certain point, I’ll get too old for 18-hour business days.  But for right now, it feels pretty good.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Here’s a good article on the Keystone XL pipeline – undoubtedly an ecological disaster of unprecedented scale– the equivalent of adding 51 coal-fired power plants, or adding 37 million more cars onto our roads.  The only reason for approving the project is that it’s inevitable.  But isn’t that the rationale for selling heroin to teenagers?  If I don’t do it, someone else will?

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Taking steps to make your construction site more green can have more benefits than expected.

Aside from the obvious environmental benefits that accompany going green you can see a substantial reduction in cost through increased efficiency and recycling or reusing common construction materials.

Here are 5 ways that your construction site can go more green: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

It is great that you are doing your part to save the environment, but you can do more by convincing others to contribute to the cause?

There are many people who are still not making a conscious effort to adopt a green lifestyle, probably because they think that it is costly and troublesome to do so. Some people are even skeptical about the effectiveness of environmental efforts.

Here are a number of things that individuals, groups, organizations and businesses can do to convince even doubters to go green. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Though summer might be rounding out its last few weeks of insufferable heat, it’s still a perfect time to examine how energy consumption stacks up in the hottest months of the year. Check out this infographic to see how the dog days of summer compare to the energy consumption in every season. It should come as no surprise that cooling costs cause a spike in the average energy bill, leaving consumers to pay dearly for the sweet relief of a little air conditioning. But, extreme heat isn’t the only thing threatening the pocketbooks of Americans. Read on to find out what the data revealed! (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Plato (pictured here with Athena, goddess of wisdom,  looking over him) is supposed to have said:  The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. This, of course, is why it makes our skin crawl when we see people so remarkably uninvolved in the world around them.

There was never an “easy” time in human history, where civilization was on a kind of auto-pilot and the public welfare made progress on its own; the success of humankind as a wise, kind, and ultimately thriving species has always been in doubt.  But the stakes are so much higher now than in any time in history, with the possibility of nuclear weapons in the hands of rogue states, the steady march of climate change and ocean acidification, the curtailment of civil liberties, and the dozens of other threats to our survival – all of which have greatly upped the ante.

I hope you’ll join me in urging people – especially young people — to get involved.  Our civilization faces huge challenges, and they won’t take care of themselves.

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