tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76291253563516024042011-09-06T09:34:07.102-07:00A place for green ideas and solutionsNavonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.comBlogger291100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-9368598932185850292008-06-30T14:39:00.000-07:002008-06-30T14:51:43.305-07:00

Excerpts from Friday's New York Times article...“The problem is that this is a very young industry, and the majority of us that are involved are young, struggling, hungry companies,” said Lee Wallach of Solel, a solar power company based in California that has filed numerous applications to build on public land and was considering filing more in the next two years. “This is a setback.” Craig Cox,

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-71519875290143577152008-05-10T07:26:00.001-07:002008-05-10T08:56:27.225-07:00

New York Times's piece today on high gas prices bringing more people than ever to mass transit systems connects with something I noticed in an Obama speech from May 3, 2008 (below). This is a speech given in Indianapolis, the home of the Indy 500 and much more than a stones throw from the "latte-sipping elites" of the West coast. And yet, if you skip ahead to around 18:44 into the speech, you

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-677663517196185422008-05-02T11:43:00.000-07:002008-05-10T09:05:19.747-07:00

Is it really possible that Americans are getting out of their gas guzzling SUVs and trucks? The New York Times today reports that 1/5 of all new cars sold in America in April were in the compact and sub-compact categories -- an occurrence that has US auto industry insiders shocked and making rather grand proclamations. Perhaps it won't be true much longer that Americans drive the most and with

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-17156306432343095802008-04-22T14:48:00.000-07:002008-04-23T02:58:00.930-07:00

From US NBC Nightly News program, April 22, 2008.

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-32575399428693186752008-04-21T07:53:00.000-07:002008-04-21T08:46:06.654-07:00

Picture (above) of Mexican food shortage protesters from Treehugger's October 2007 coverage.Excerpts from the Guardian article from today...The UN secretary general issued a gloomy warning yesterday that the deepening global food crisis, in which rapidly rising prices have triggered riots and threatened hunger in dozens of countries, could have grave implications for international security,

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-42398965318367083332008-04-15T08:23:00.001-07:002008-04-15T08:49:32.592-07:00

Picture (above) borrowed from The Telegraph's article on a surge in Brazilian deforestation in 2007. George Monbiot, environmental guru and columnist at The Guardian, offers perhaps the most succinct argument against biofuels (in any form) that I have read. I highly recommend that anyone interested in the subject go and read his 12 February article: HERE.He also has more recently written an

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-44115364453728265992008-04-14T11:00:00.000-07:002011-09-05T18:51:40.506-07:00

UK newspaper The Guardian is reporting (here) that Britain's Chancellor Darling has awoken to the dire consequences of expanding biofuels development...'This is an urgent problem,' said Darling, who was speaking in Washington at a meeting of G7 leaders. 'People across the world will say, "Why didn't you see this coming?" when it is staring us in the face. We have got to take action.'He added: '

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-86007629946811330712008-04-05T15:16:00.000-07:002008-04-05T16:16:47.571-07:00

That's right, the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) has announced plans (here, here, and here) to develop cap and trade policies to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While the EU has had a similar system in place since 2005 (see the EU Emission Trading Scheme), conservative administrations in Canada and the US have shown no interest in establishing meaningful environmental

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-2579935595701029612008-04-05T08:53:00.000-07:002008-04-14T11:43:05.379-07:00

This is not a new topic even for this blog, but this TIME article covering the environmentally devastating effects of the West's lust for biofuels is probably the highest profile nod I've seen to a problem that many have already warned the world about.My hero Lester Brown was talking about this as early as 2003, so I think most of the finger pointing at "scientists" is bull, but commonplace in

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-50835412985693453122008-02-25T04:43:00.000-08:002008-02-25T05:02:19.332-08:00

Photo borrowed from Galapagos WindTreeHugger reports that Ecuador is partnering with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to celebrate the 500th anniversary of its discovery by becoming completely oil-free! Interestingly, the country was recently registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol. This means that countries seeking to offset their CO2 emissions to meet their

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-57037400373089572152008-02-24T08:33:00.000-08:002008-02-24T17:55:22.478-08:00

Another promising article about the wind power movement in Texas, this time from the New York Times's great Energy Challenge series. As Lester Brown notes in Plan B 3.0, Texas is in the process of installing 23,000 MW new generating capacity from wind alone -- generating capacity equivalent to 23 coal-fired power plants. Also, interesting from the NYTimes is this nifty bar graph showing current

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-50871613999480020502008-02-20T17:58:00.000-08:002008-04-05T10:09:54.488-07:00

For those of you looking for the real costs of unsustainable consumption, look no further than your local grocery store where the demand for new fuel sources has increased the price of wheat-based products almost 3-fold in only one week! Don't understand how the two are linked? The folks at ABC.com do a pretty good job of putting things in plain enough terms..."Just a few weeks ago, 50-pound bags

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-68798677453413868982008-02-19T06:55:00.000-08:002008-02-21T06:10:13.248-08:00

Pictured: St. Mary Lake in Glacier National ParkI remember being excited by the symbolism of 2004's election of Democrat Brian Schweitzer as Montana's first Democratic Governor since 1988, but haven't thought about him since. Recently I have been listening to Time.com's podcast series where they interview a big name from the Environment scene each week.The podcast for January 17th was an

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-48771506720382378432008-02-19T06:52:00.000-08:002008-02-21T06:47:43.772-08:00

As concern over global warming became more and more prominent in the U.S. over the past several years — in the media, in opinion polls, in business and in state governments — the one place where the issue seemed all but invisible was the one place that could really do something about it: Congress.But that began to change in 2007, and nowhere more so than in the Senate's key committee on the

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-81983878402677061312008-02-18T14:36:00.001-08:002008-02-21T06:06:20.262-08:00

From this article by Earth Policy Institute founder Lester Brown, it sounds like there won't be a future in coal-fired energy in the US. This is great news and well worth reading in its entirety.

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-26797313947401103452008-02-18T03:46:00.001-08:002008-02-18T04:10:43.839-08:00

Found this nice video and info site through greenormal. Basically Annie Leonard takes you through the processes behind modern consumerism pointing out how the system has propagated itself to its current status as an important part of life and how the system is unsustainable. The site also offers tips on how consumers can go from being a part of the problem to a part of the solution. Very nice,

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-56179282575703912262008-02-14T06:07:00.000-08:002008-02-18T04:17:34.090-08:00

Picture borrowed from Nature MomsI recognize that reading about Climate Change can seem overwhelming and make you feel helpless, but that's really not the case. If every person who knew about Climate Change worked to reduce their CO2 emissions and energy waste, we would be well on our way to turning things around.So for those of you who have expendable incomes and a home you can modify, I offer

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-44037199742955001242008-02-12T13:40:00.000-08:002008-02-15T02:54:44.439-08:00

Even if you don't believe half the science in Presentation 5, the half you do believe should be enough to make you use energy-efficient lightbulbs, turn off your heat during the day, and use public transport (or ride a bike) whenever possible. For more friendly tips on cutting your environmental impact, visit California Senator Barbara Boxer's homepage.LINKSPresentation 5 (.pdf)The fifth in a

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-66387265654180116942008-02-12T06:11:00.001-08:002008-04-04T04:28:58.331-07:00

I started reading the METAEFFICIENT blog over the last few days and although it suffers from a lack of editing, it has a lot of great and usually practical information for people interested in efficient design and bringing some of it into their home.The two things that most interested me were a post on low-flow shower heads (here), and low-flow toilets.While I think the low-flow showerhead post

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-23350710407991990192008-02-11T07:18:00.000-08:002008-02-21T06:40:39.491-08:00

Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center -- TexasI found quite a few interesting articles on the NPR.com about Texans moving towards renewable energy projects in a massive way.While the Preface to Lester Brown's Plan B 3.0 mentions a massive wind power expansion of 23,000 MW capacity (equal to the output of 23,000 coal plants), what he doesn't mention explicitly is that the driving force behind the Texan

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-25280893587009166622008-02-11T04:51:00.000-08:002008-02-15T02:58:31.292-08:00

"Port Nanven, Cornwall" by Benjamin Novant I have to admit that I watch and enjoy Channel 4's Relocation, Relocation programme with Location, Location, Location presenters Kirstie Allsop and Phil Spencer helping wealthy couples (usually from London) make the part-time move back into the countryside while also holding onto a "crash-pad" in their urban job centre. It's escapism at its best seeming

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-45222184938775460662008-02-10T09:23:00.000-08:002008-02-21T06:07:17.778-08:00

Preface from Lester Brown's Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing To Save Civilization.When Elizabeth Kolbert was interviewing energy analyst Amory Lovins for a profile piece in the New Yorker, she asked him about thinking outside the box. Lovins responded, “There is no box.” There is no box. That is the spirit embodied in Plan B. Perhaps the most revealing difference between Plan B 2.0 and Plan B 3.0 is the

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-80035160570372677762008-02-07T16:28:00.000-08:002008-02-15T02:53:02.478-08:00

So that no one has an excuse not to get involved, I've looked up some information about Saturday's Democratic Precinct Caucus...For one, if you have no idea what a "Precinct Caucus" is (I didn't), you should start out at the Washington State Democrat Party's FAQ.For two, you can look up where you should go to vote here.And if you're really excited about change and being a part of it, you can

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-52480379112512089812008-02-06T11:35:00.000-08:002008-02-06T11:58:02.610-08:00

I think it's worth reading Slate's article about what AT&T is preparing to do (snippets below)....last week AT&T announced that it is seriously considering plans to examine all the traffic it carries for potential violations of U.S. intellectual property laws.Once AT&T gets in the business of picking and choosing what content travels over its network, while the law is not entirely clear, it runs

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-26425626947869521332008-02-05T18:30:00.000-08:002008-02-05T18:46:09.971-08:00

I had to add this good news to the sheet, even if it does smack of an awkward way to deal with race issues in the South.More awkward still is the presence of a mentally handicapped Republican analyst talking with a BBC reporter about how Ronald Reagan is the GOP's John F. Kennedy. I wonder how long it will be before we start talking about the "giant genius" of G.W. Bush? Probably it will happen

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-59147202835795945522008-02-05T17:48:00.000-08:002008-02-06T02:04:37.634-08:00

So it's Wednesday at 1:40am in the morning and I'm listening to BBC reporters bantering back and forth about the Republican race with old Reagan crony Peggy Noonan who is sitting in a fur coat in front of a surprisingly modest view of the Manhattan skyline, and I've realized this is the Super Bowl for the rest of us.There's a suggestion of a hint that McCain will not be able to push Mitt Romney (

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-28197868728594109902008-02-03T11:28:00.000-08:002008-02-03T11:42:15.048-08:00

This is a pretty cool tool. It creates nodal maps for all of the presidential candidates wherein each candidate has a picture, the size of which represents his/her amount of contributions from the oil industry. These pictures are then connected to circles representing oil interest groups or companies by a line, the thickness of which represents the size of the contribution from that specific

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-25269036663674281412008-02-02T16:45:00.000-08:002008-02-02T17:51:20.728-08:00

So Sheena and I just finished watching Michael Moore's SiCKO, which I know is not new and everyone's seen it, but I think we have a unique opinion as we are currently living in one of the countries Moore mentions with socialized healthcare. In the past I've been skeptical about Michael Moore's selective reporting of facts, and I think there's definitely some polishing going on here, but I will

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629125356351602404.post-59735405556301948672008-02-01T02:27:00.000-08:002008-02-01T03:02:31.065-08:00

This is just a post to figure out how Blogger works.The picture to the right was taken with my mom's point-and-shoot Canon at Rosslyn Chapel just outside Edinburgh during her Christmas visit. I took some pictures of the chapel in September with my dSLR (my pics are here), but as you can see, I didn't get any good ones of the interior. The point-and-shoot in fully manual mode did a much better

Navonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08677437230344418771noreply@blogger.com0