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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Californians vote tomorrow on a number of measures and candidates for various state and local offices. I’ve tried to pay some level of attention to all the issues (not only those pertaining to energy) and stand ready to make each of the major choices.

I just noticed that one of the issues concerns mandatory vaccinations. I’ve always been intrigued by this issue, which I summarize as follows:

We all have a certain small probability of a bad reaction to a vaccination for a certain disease, but if society forces everyone to face that risk, the population as a whole will be healthier. However, if a large percentage of other people get the vaccination and you don’t, you personally have a greater probability of health than the population at large. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Those interested in climate change, and how the U.S. has become the only major country whose people seriously entertain a debate on the legitimacy of the subject, will want to read this piece by Bill McKibben; the article provides a great deal of insight into the cause of the controversy. 

On a personal note, at the 2012 graduation at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, McKibben spoke to an adoring audience.  In that group was  Garrett Shields (pictured here), my youngest nephew, one of our most recent Bachelors of Science, who moves on to graduate school in public health at George Washington University. Congratulations, my fine young friend.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

In advance of the 2012 U.S. elections, the Koch brothers and other supporters of the status quo in energy policy are spending $1 billion to throw dirt at those with more progressive ideas. That’s more than John McCain and Barack Obama spent combined in 2008—and that election shattered records.

If you think that’s obscene, as do I, you join 70% of Americans who want a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision Citizens United that granted corporations the power to spend unlimited and undisclosed amounts of money influencing our elections. But such an amendment requires that three-quarters of state legislatures to be on board too.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that many state governors have not taken a stand on this – simply because they haven’t had to.

Here’s where you come in. Let your governor know that you’re a fan of democracy, of government by the people, not by the corporations. Here’s a handy way to make that happen.  I just tried it out for you. It works. And it feels good.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainable Building

The spring season is a time of change and provides the perfect opportunity to reflect on the problems humans are facing around the world and the actions we can take to improve the situation. As we think about what we can do to help those who are suffering from the spring famine in the Sahel region of Africa, it is also a time to reflect on other water related problems around the globe. The global water crisis impacts billons of men, women and children every day and there are actions we can take to help these individuals. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

Frequent commenter Larry Lemmert writes:

Is government intervention the way to change the hearts and minds of the consumers of energy? Look at prohibition of alcohol. See the NYT article that was published today.  This is a case study that should be studied by every interventionist before embarking on a legal framework of prohibition of anything.

Larry, you raise a good point about government and unintended consequences. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

As environmentalist Paul Hawken points out in this video of his presentation to the Bioneers, there are at least 200,000 organizations in our world today whose mission is some combination of environmentalism, sustainability, and social justice. I know I face some level of ridicule when I make points like this, but that really is a heck of a lot of effort being exerted to correcting some of the world’s thorniest problems.

I know that a lot of readers think that the purity of capitalism and market forces is the best way to solve problems, but even they need to admit that 200,000 is a considerable number, and that the horsepower of the countless millions of people behind these groups will continue to have a beneficial effect on our civilization.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

A couple of years ago I bought a rowing machine on which I like to log 4 kilometers in the evening, which takes about half an hour, mostly while watching the game show “Jeopardy” which I really do enjoy. Sunday nights, however, I’m reduced to watching half of CBS’s ever-popular 60 Minutes.

The problem with the show, ironically, is the reason that it’s popular, which I would summarize as this: its creators know what works, and are willing to do that, even (or especially?) at the expense of the truth.

Tonight’s presentation on Elon Musk’s ScienceX would have us believe that space exploration: (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Today’s the birthday of the beat poet Allen Ginsberg. According to the Writer’s Almanac, when he was 17 and in his freshman year at Columbia University, Ginsberg was introduced to Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, whom Ginsberg later said encouraged him to think for himself and to worry less about conforming.

Of course, Western Culture had been flirting with non-conformist thinking since its inception (Socrates comes immediately to mind), yet I think it could be properly said that the beat poets “institutionalized” the concept, in a way, at least here in the US. Does anyone still believe that a good education is one in which millions of unanalyzed facts are stuffed into our heads? (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Every time I speak with the gentleman who runs the teak reforesting business in Columbia, I become more astonished at how safe, sane, and civilized that part of the world appears to have become. Here’s a video on investing in Columbia which does a very good job in assuaging concern the viewer might have that he or his employees will wind up caught in the crossfire between two rival drug lords.

The video makes the point that Columbia values forestry projects very highly, offering 100% relief from income tax for the life of the project.

Again, I love the concept: Pay someone quite nominally to raise trees for you from saplings to maturity, absorbing atmospheric CO2 at the time your investment is growing – literally.  If you’re interested, please let me know, and I’ll put you in touch.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Dale writes:

Craig, you are proceeding from a liberal fallacy that only the uneducated doubt catastrophic climate change. I have BS in meteorology and an MS in environmental engineering, for the last 30 years I have been a practicing environmental professional. I have researched this subject extensively and I am convinced that we have nothing to fear from catastrophic anthropogenic climate change. We have much more to fear from energy shortages brought about by our ridiculous fear of CO2 than we do from any change in climate.

Dale:

Well, cool.  If you can enlighten us with respect to your discoveries, we’ll all sleep better tonight. Apparently, your work has landed you among the 2% – 3% of climate scientists who stand in disagreement to the countervailing theory.  I, with God as my witness, stand most sincerely ready to hear your position and the science behind it. And obviously, I’m hoping you’re right.

 

 

 

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