A friend asked me to respond to this piece about the Occupy Movement and its activity re: home foreclosures.

Yes, there was gross corporate malfeasance in home mortgage lending that led to the crash of 2008 and the ongoing meltdown, and yes, it was orchestrated by the people at the very top of the food chain, who knew from the start that they would come away  with billions of dollars at the expense of the commoners.  The wealthiest, smartest, and most ruthless preyed on those least able to defend themselves — again — then walked away scott-free, and now lay in wait to pull off the next  crime of the century.

But don’t the people who invested in homes they couldn’t afford have responsibility here too?  Growing up unable to do basic math or to think for oneself isn’t exactly a virtue.  And what exactly happened to caveat emptor?

Forgive me; I was born with the curse of seeing both sides to a story.   (more…)

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We all want to know why the developed countries don’t do something about global climate change, given that it’s we who have the power to control the destiny of civilization, as the preponderance of energy consumption falls disproportionately to the wealthiest few.

So why is it so improbable that these top-tier GDP/capita countries will stand up and do something? It would mean social planning and an aggressive role of government, in a time during which these are all dirty words.

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Good news for those of us hoping to find life elsewhere in the universe: today’s announcement of the discovery of Kepler 22b. It’s 600 light-years from here – too far to walk – but it has remarkably similar characteristics to our Earth.

I remember making the hour-long drive due north from Trinity College in 1975 (in Hartford, where I was an undergraduate at the time) to Amherst to listen to guest lecturer Timothy Leary. When he took the stage, Dr. Leary immediately gave us the mnemonic “SMIILE” by which we could remember the three elements of his talk, if we cared to, for the rest of our days: SM = Space Migration, II = intelligence increase, and LE = life elongation. I’m not sure I’ve seen a great deal of intelligence increase since the 70s; in fact, I could more easily argue the opposite. But the other elements of Leary’s talk seem to be walking into full bloom.

I hope you’ll be able to join us for our December webinar, in which noted environmentalist and energy expert Bruce Severance will be my guest in a discussion we call: How to Increase the Energy Efficiency of Existing Structures – and WHY.

Sorry if that title sounds a bit mysterious. Let me explain: From his vast experience as a design engineer, Bruce will offer us tips on eco-friendly construction and retrofit. But from his life-long advocacy for the environment, he proposes to tell us exactly why what we’re doing here and now has such a dramatic effect on the quality of the planet we’ll inhabit in a few years.

We hope you can join us on Tuesday, December 13 at 10 AM PST, for this fast-paced discussion, during which we’ll field your questions live.

The sign-up form is here: http://2greenenergy.com/free-webinar/.

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As a part of our ongoing quest to produce “infographics” that lay out the basics of energy, I invite you to check out the chart here, presenting the notion that all the energy we harness and use here on Earth came to us indirectly from the Big Bang. Whether we’re talking about nuclear, fossil fuels, or the many different forms of renewables, those forms of energy have been made available to us via one of four different pathways through time and space since that event 13.7 billion years ago.

Big Bang Infographic

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One of the big challenges in doing business in the 21st Century is that so many people seem to have forgotten the adage, of Asian origin I suppose, that “what goes around comes around.” Where the standards of professionalism 20 years ago required people to return phone calls and follow through on their commitments, that model has clearly gone out the window. We see examples constantly, where people behave so incredibly poorly — even where doing the right thing would have been completely painless and clearly to their own benefit.

But exactly why has this changed?  Has there suddenly come an upside in being regarded as a flake or a liar? Sorry, I’m lost here.

As I told a friend in New York the other day, in description of a mutual acquaintance who has simply disappeared, falling completely out of touch, when all either of us represented to him was the possibility of raising investment capital for his company, “He appears to have been born with an appalling lack of both basic manners and common sense.” Again, I don’t see the upside to anyone in having people saying things like that.

In contrast, I like the approach of a friend, a financial consultant with Wells Fargo Advisors in Santa Barbara. In his email signature is the phrase:

“There is one very powerful business rule. It is concentrated in the word courtesy.” – Henry Wells, 1864

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AltEnergyStocks.com wizard Tom Konrad comments on my piece on the gating factor for consumer adoption of electric vehicles:

I think the largest barrier is sticker shock.

Range anxiety does not stop anyone from buying the Volt, and Leafs are selling better. Where’s the range anxiety?

The problem with the Betamax analogy (i.e., that consumers are concerned about investing in what could be the automotive equivalent of the Betamax, a video technology that didn’t catch on) is that the problem with Betamax was you could not get videos to watch on it. With an EV, (more…)

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Green car blogger Jon LeSage and I had identical experiences early last week. We both came across each other’s names, recognized them from our travels in the industry, and said, “I want to talk to that guy.” This all culminated in a three-hour lunch yesterday in Santa Monica, CA.

Jon is the Automotive Editor, Green Initiatives at Automotive Digest Weekly Green, which goes out to about 60,000 readers/viewers. I had come across his stuff largely in connection with the role I play at EV World, consulting to various types of players in electric transportation. Jon has a fantastic command of the language and real personality and voice as a writer.

More importantly, he’s on the right side of the issues here. In fact, if I had any complaint about the lunch experience, it was that we agree on practically everything; I like a bit of controversy with my crab and arugula salad.   (more…)

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A wonderful gentleman, Peter Kusterer, blogger extraordinaire from North Carolina called me the other day, and we chatted for some time. At the conclusion, he graciously asked me to send him any concluding thoughts I might have before he published his report on our talk. I thought I’d put them online:

Peter:

I so enjoyed our talk the other day. At the close, you asked me to summarize my thinking on our prospects for clean energy and how this affects the trajectory for our civilization. In a nutshell: (more…)

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Africa faces the greater challenge of energy access, energy availability and energy affordability than all the rest of the world. Assessment undertaken in 2008, Africa was the lowest per capita energy consumer averaging 0.66 tons of oil equivalents (TOE) compared to the global average of 1.8 TOE. The greater challenge to energy development especially renewable energy is weak or lack of policy and effective renewable energy development institutions, low technology acquisition, low investment and inadequate financing. Government policy and unfavorable political good will rank higher as factors.

Successful development of renewable energy requires strong political will, government regulatory and fiscal muscle, incentives for private sector, innovative financing, considering the opportunity in clean development mechanism and technical capacity building. Policy makers in African governments have not given adequate attention to the potential of meeting renewable energy challenges of Africa. The continent is endowed with vast renewable energy resources, the continent has 1,750 TWh potential for hydropower and 14,000 MW potential geothermal, and potential for solar throughout the year. Wind power potential is also abundant.

(more…)

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