Actress and environmental activist Daryl Hannah doesn’t pull any punches in this impressive article, The Battle Against Big Energy’s Rush to Ruin Our Planet. It’s hard not to feel a profound sense of gratitude to people like her, who make huge personal sacrifices to stand up for their beliefs, even facing arrest to protest actions they perceive as abuses against humanity.
Hannah points out that extreme weather is mobilizing people to act. It’s sad that it’s come to this, but better late than never.
I just got an email from a reader suggesting that I conduct an independent analysis on global warming. I’ve actually received half a dozen suggestions to this effect over the years. This gentleman writes: “I think both you and I could be capable of determining the truth, whatever it is, if allowed free access. Whatever the truth is, it is already there to be seen because of the logistical nature of the whole project.”
I hate to sound self-deprecating, but I do not consider myself capable of independent analysis of things like this. I wouldn’t begin to know a) how and where to get access to the right data, and b) how to make sense of it. I trust science to get this right, and I feel that they have done exactly that; there’s really no reason to think otherwise. The consensus on anthropogenic global warming is overwhelming, and that’s really all I need to hear. This is why I believe the theory. Also, I know some of these people personally which adds to the strength of my conviction.
The credibility that the consensus of the mainstream scientific community is also why I believe in special relativity, quantum mechanics, the big bang, plate tectonics, evolution, genetics, molecular biology, etc. I’m flattered by the reader’s remarks, but don’t have the training to do anything other than to read about these subjects and take what I see at face value.
I’m also incapable of holding a thought in my mind seriously that flies in the teeth of what these people are telling me. Some people believe the Earth is 6000 years old. I simply do not.
I was helping my daughter study for her poli-sci midterm the other evening, and we came across the word “polarization.” I hope you’ll take a moment and watch the videos mentioned below which, in my opinion, are both very well done but really couldn’t do a better job in defining the word.
Having said all this, I suspect the truth is closer to the center. We need to encourage talented people to work hard and succeed, and we need to protect our environment and provide certain social services. Isn’t that true, all the demagoguery aside? Can’t we talk calmly and try to muster our best thinking in an effort to work our way out of what is a very complicated and dangerous situation? If you really think that Ayn Rand / unregulated capitalism is the big answer here, I encourage you to look further. Just ask yourself: What caused the financial collapse of 2008?
Knowing 2GreenEnergy readers as I’ve come to, I have to think that you’ll get something out of both these short videos.
With the Presidential elections just around the corner, a lot of people are still undecided between President Obama and Mitt Romney. But if one were to ask which factor would undoubtedly become the deciding factor, I feel that it is their energy policies that should be considered with utmost concern. It is a known fact that with the rapid decline of fossil fuels and the intrigue behind hydraulic fracking, everyone wants to know what these two individuals’ energy plans are should one of them be elected for the highest position in the United States government. Being a citizen of this great nation, I feel that everyone should be entitled to know what their individual policies are in relation to our nation’s energy crisis. (more…)
The main consideration for an investment in solar power is the peace of mind that comes from an investment in a renewable energy source. By investing in solar power for the home, the individual is ensuring that they will be providing a long term power source that is both clean and sustainable for the lifetime of their home. This means that power hungry comforts like air conditioning and central heating and air cost a fraction of what they would if that power is drawn from a traditional source like coal burning power from an electric utility. It is worthwhile to examine the relationship the consumer has with utility company should they decide to install solar power into their homes. (more…)
Here is something I think is a sure loser: the driverless car. I hope you’ll check out this deadly serious article on the subject. But ask yourself: Is it conceivable that, by the time such technology could possibly be put into place that the biggest improvement in our transportation system will be the replacement of the driver?
If you really want to replace something, how about gasoline? It’s empowering terrorists, while causing climate change, ocean acidification, global hostility, tens of thousands of deaths from lung cancer and literally millions of asthma attacks a year. Aren’t we a lot closer to alternative fuels, and wouldn’t the benefits be far greater?
While you’re replacing stuff, how about the car itself? Do you think that automating the motorways will happen before we realize that we don’t need 4000-pound chunks of steel that are parked 95% of the day, and contain only one passenger 75% of the time they’re operational?
I’m pretty confident on this one. Of course, I thought rap music would last about two weeks.
Though it’s categorically false, we hear constantly that clean energy and a vibrant economy are mutually exclusive. Here’s a short but terrific video that clarifies this nicely.
Here’s a cool article on the extent to which the Internet is changing our lives by helping us increase the value of the things we use on a minute-to-minute basis. It’s funny; we can have Internet-controlled junk drawers and driverless cars, but we can’t find a way to harvest 1/6000th of the sun’s energy to run our planet? One could look at that and conclude that we’re not really trying our hardest.
Clean Energy and Its Potential Effect on the Repo & Recovery Business
When I started out on a career path, I never expected that path to lead here. I’m one of the few folks in town who still makes house calls in the middle of the night. I am a repo man, towing away all kinds of cars (when I can find ’em), from expensive foreign sports cars to energy efficient economy cars. It amazes me how many people don’t factor in the cost to operate a vehicle before they buy or lease one.
After doing this for a while, you learn to look for patterns. I notice people’s parking habits and how far they travel on a daily basis. Whether they stop at Crispy Creme on the way to work or if they text when they drive. I’ve also come to realize how very few hybrid and electric vehicles I tow compared to conventional cars. (more…)
The public relations machine that works so hard to generate doubt about climate change and the extreme weather events it causes must have its hands full at this point. 2012 was a year in which the United States had no winter, a March with most of the country above 80 degrees F, floods in its three largest rivers, a horrific drought all summer, and now Hurricane Sandy, with its loss of life, tens of billions of dollars in damages, and incredible expense and inconvenience to many millions of people. I’m not sure how you get people not to notice something as obvious.
The fossil fuel industry is by far the most profitable in the history of humankind, and thus can afford the very best and loudest of voices to protect its interests. They’ve spent an utter fortune obscuring the facts concerning climate change, and they’ve been fantastically successful in confusing a huge segment of the American public. But at a certain point, they’ll find themselves unable to fend off a rising tide of public opinion that screams to its government, “Do something! Help us! You’re suppose to be our leaders!”
Keep in mind that we as a species are not powerless to deal with environmental issues on a global scale, as evidenced by the effectiveness with which we repaired the hole in the ozone layer when we discovered it in 1985. Granted, that fix (a ban on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)) was far easier than dealing with the current crisis. Having said that, the moment we agree to price in the externalities of the energy we produce and consume, e.g., the costs to human health and the natural environment, you’ll see an instantaneous explosion in the development of clean energy and efficiency solutions, along with stunning levels of conservation.
We could even emulate the Chinese, who, unlike the U.S., have a 21st Century Energy Plan, and are busily making it happen. They have decided that it’s tantamount to national suicide to sit around and act like us Americans, bickering about renewable energy, or, in the case of the presidential debates, pretending it doesn’t exist and ignoring it altogether. The Chinese are hard at work, implementing all kinds of cleantech wonders: ultra-high voltage electricity transmission, electric transportation, smart-grid, and dozens of other cutting-edge solutions that will propel them swiftly and irreversibly into the position of world economic leader.
But I predict that Americans will not tolerate this indefinitely. Many of us can observe things for ourselves, and ignore the garbage we’re being told. The people telling us to “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” are rapidly running just as low on credibility as did the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
We could even emulate the Chinese, who, 
