More new slides, once again from TED
[...]More new slides, once again from TED
[...]The Washington Post has a good article about the tough decisions that face lawmakers and renewable energy system planners regarding wildlife protection, other environmental concerns, and economic feasibility. It highlights a new transmission line, the SunZia line, that would connect New Mexico's renewable energy potential in wind and solar with [...]
All options are on the table to control climate change effects, according to Obama's science adviser, John Holdren, including technologies formerly (or still?) derided by mainstream scientists. Examples include injecting pollutants high into the atmosphere to block sun rays, using mirrors to reflect sun rays, or a huge umbrella to [...]
From Keith:
Story on the St Paul Legal Ledger describing Ed Garvey's comments about Obama's cap & trade plan - he does not support the current position, saying that there needs to be a "workable" solution, that "does not penalize petroleum manufacturers," for whom he currently lobbies.
Democrats may put Obama's carbon regulation bill together with renewable energy measures into one large bill. Could be good, in that it would be all in one, so it wouldn't take as long to pass as two bills. Could also be bad, in that it could align all efforts against' [...]
Thank you Coen Brothers
[...]The November issue of Mother Jones introduced me to 350.org - the important new organization spearheaded by Bill McKibben. "The Most Important Number on Earth" talks about the tipping point of climate.
McKibben has been doing great work to update people who know that climate change is [...]
Depends on who you ask.
The University of Minnesota recently released a study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, suggesting that corn-based ethanol is about the same as gasoline in terms of energy but may in fact be worse for the environment in terms of air quality. [...]
In an apparent policy reversal, Minnesota state agencies told legislators that further climate change action may be unnecessary. Data have shown a drop in emissions from 2005 to 2006, and the assistant commissioner for air quality at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, David Thornton, and the new head of the [...]
In a sobering release, climate researchers from the US, Switzerland & France have announced that we will experience negative climate change impacts despite future emission reductions. Carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere faster than previously thought, making any emission reduction goals all the more urgent.
This study suggests that if [...]
Obama is beginning the process of getting his climate change legislation moving forward and has chosen two liberal Democrats, Sen Barbara Boxer & Rep Henry Waxman, to lead this process. Both legislators hail from California, which is significantly further along in the carbon footprint reduction process than many other states. [...]
And the winner is wind! According to a study done by Mark Z. Jacobsen, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, wind the cleanest of the "clean energy" technologies. Other winners, in order, are concentrated solar (the use of mirrors to heat a fluid), geothermal, tidal, solar photovoltaics [...]
So I've been planning this post for a while, and during that time, the story has changed a bit....
In a somewhat unexpected move, the Minnesota PUC unanimously approved the transmission for the project on January 15. The provisions they placed on the project were:
Using a $26/ton carbon dioxide cost cap. Using' [...]I have just upgraded the code behind this site and set up a basic theme. Many of us hope to see Energista return to its glory days, but we remain overcommitted. Stay tuned and you may find more content in the near future.
[...]So I received an email today: "An open letter to all airline customers." In it, the major US airlines are alleging that $30-$60 of the cost of a barrel of oil is due to speculative costs, a price increase that occurs when speculators purchase oil only to resell it at [...]
In an interesting report, a team of Australian academics created a life-cycle accounting of carbon dioxide emissions from nuclear plants and found them to be higher than previously thought. The main source of the difference is the mining of uranium, which is predicted to become more energy intensive as [...]
Newsweek ran a cover story on the Enviro and Leadership that had some details I wanted to note. It focuses on Hillary, Obama, and McCain (or, if you have followed his blatant abandoning of energy issues by skipping every 2007 vote on energy issues, you might call him McShame).
I [...]
If you are shipping a refrigerator from China to the U.S., the fuel used by the ship is not taxed. The International Herald Tribune has a story looking at international transportation.
The lack of taxes on these fuels has helped keep the cost of such shipping quite low, greatly encouraging [...]
Despite my lack of posts over the past year or so, Ben Kenney invited me to participate in his weekly discussion podcast last week. I enjoyed the show - in which we talked a lot about biofuels and hot topics like Al Gore's $300 million campaign. It is especially [...]
I continue to hear claims (even from people who should know better) that the Prius is somehow less energy efficient over its lifetime than the Hummer. This is total BS and Slate explained why the Prius is more efficient and why so many people claim otherwise.
Most of this disinformation [...]
The March/April 2008 issue of Foreign Policy discusses high wheat prices in its FP Quiz. I found the following interesting:
Although the price of gold rose 35 percent and the price of oil skyrocketed 57 percent in 2007, the price of wheat grew a staggering 80 percent during the same period. [...]
The AP had an interesting article that I read in the Star Tribune on Sunday (but subsequently couldn't find online - found it elsewhere:Â Neighbors Clash Over Trees, Solar Power)Â In California, a man put up solar panels in 2001 and then sued his neighbors because their trees blocked [...]
Biofuels have been tarred this week following some research in Science suggesting GHGs may be increased under some scenarios involving expanding use of biofuels.
In fact, our own local "weakest link" columnist got a column on MSNBC in which she continues her 100% always wrong streak.
Not that I'm coming [...]
Marketplace did a thought-provoking story on "geo-engineering," ways to prevent the Earth from warming too much even if we can't reduce greenhouse gas emissions in time. The ideas sound like they're from science fiction novels, such as a huge space umbrella to filter the sun's rays. However, they are [...]
NPR did a great story on fact checking the recent State of the Union address. Check out the section on climate change. The basic analysis is that though Bush says he is committed to addressing climate change internationally, he really just wants to create a new [...]
As more and more vehicles and appliances become energy efficient, Americans save money -- then spend that money on more and bigger vehicles and appliances, a new study finds.
[...]The group of utilities backing the Big Stone II power plant, slated to be built near Milbank, S.D., filed new documents with Minnesota utility regulators Tuesday. The filing includes, for the first time, cost estimates for electricity prices that assume some type of carbon tax, cap-and-trade program or other regulation [...]
Start: 6:00 pm, Tuesday, 10/16/2007
End: 8:00 pm, Tuesday, 10/16/2007
Come listen to the guys who wrote "The Death of Environmentalism" discuss their view on the future of environmental advocacy, have appetizers from the Loring Pasta Bar, and drink good beer!
LocationVarsity Theater, 1308 4th St SE, Minneapolis
SponsorHosted by [...]
The City of St. Paul has a Sustainable Initiative and the Council Matters video program recently covered what St. Paul is doing to become more efficient.
They interview Dave Nelson, the city of St. Paul's real estate manager, about a new building that will use 45% less energy [...]
A federal judge has ordered the Bush Administration to produce two reports on climate change mandated by Congress: one, a research plan guiding federal research, and the second, a national assessment on the effects of climate change on the nation's economy, environment, and public health. The first is supposed [...]
A recent NY Times op-ed pointed out that "eating local" doesn't necessarily yield the smallest carbon footprint. The piece was based on a recent study comparing the carbon footprint of lambs raised in New Zealand to those in Great Britain. The conclusion of the peer-reviewed study [...]
The long awaited ruling from the Minnesota courts concerning the route permitting for transmission lines running from the Twin Cities to the Big Stone II project is out. From the ruling:
Based upon the foregoing Conclusions, the Administrative Law Judges make the following:RECOMMENDATION IT IS HEREBY RESPECTFULLY [...]
Minnesota is already ahead of much of the nation with its current B2 mandate and if Pawlenty and Minnesota state legislators are of like minds, that mandate would gradually increase to B20 by 2015. See http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=1763
[...]Just saw today that the local Sierra Club chapter (the Northstar Chapter) has rolled out their new global warming website.
[...]Kelly just emailed us to alert us to a new coal plant proposed in South Dakota for Minnesota consumers.
The proposed project is called the NextGen Energy Facility. You can see Basin Electric Power Cooperative's service area map at this link.
All of the public scoping meetings for the project's Environmental [...]
Start: 10:00 am, Saturday, 08/18/2007
End: 5:00 pm, Saturday, 08/18/2007
Come learn about woody agriculture and its possibilities!
LocationBadgersett Farm, 18606 Deer Rd, Canton, MN 55922 (Note: This is the mailing address - e.g. Canton is the nearest town with a post office. Badgersett is NOT in downtown Canton. [...]
New Zealand company, Genesis Energy wanted to educate the public about how difficult it is to manage the electricity demands of a growing population without destroying the environmental health of the community, so they created Electrocity, a web-based Sim City style game that puts you in charge of a [...]
