China To Invest $200 Billion In Renewable Energy Within 15 Years
Can you imagine if the U.S. posted that type of initiative? Hey! You in the back that still believes the U.S. is the smartest country in the world, sit down. China’s economy isn’t the only thing roaring to life. Their renewable energy initiatives are quickly eclipsing anything close to what the U.S. is considering and American companies are eager to partner up and get a piece of the action. Sadly, if the U.S. does eventually wake up, most suppliers will probably be tied up in China! From the article,
“Beijing wants a tenth of its energy to come from environmentally friendly sources by 2010 – a desire driven by soaring air pollution and chronic environmental degradation that is swelling medical bills and provoking discontent.
Projects will need turbines, blades and other power components, which is why General Electric Co, Vestas Wind Systems and Gamesa, as well as homegrown firms China Solar Energy Holdings Ltd. and Suntech, are expanding capacity in the country. “Renewable energy will likely become China’s next boom sector with oil at historical high prices,” said Norman Ho, a fund manager at Value Partners, which has invested in Chinese wind energy components supplier Nanjing Gearbox.”
Wind developers in all areas from manufacturing to design have got to be especially pleased; the compound annual growth rate of China’s wind power capacity will be 39% in 2004-10 and 20% in 2010-20! Hit the jump for more!
GLOBAL WARMING: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Coming up this Sunday evening set aside some time to check out the Discovery Channel’s feature on global warming:
Discovery Channel visits global warming tipping points across the planet, talks to the world’s leading experts, and examines the latest evidence about global warming in GLOBAL WARMING: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW. Produced by Discovery Channel, the BBC and NBC News Productions, and hosted by award-winning journalist Tom Brokaw, the two-hour special presents the facts and leaves it up to viewers to determine their own opinion about global warming. GLOBAL WARMING: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW premieres Sunday, July 16, at 9 p.m. ET.
How Starbucks Could Have Saved The World?
Starbucks talks the talk but can they walk the walk? “Beginning to use post-consumer recycled-content hot-beverage cups is an important milestone for Starbucks in addressing the environmental impact associated with our paper-buying practices,” said Jim Donald, Starbucks chief executive officer.
Yesterday I listened to a four-minute radio story about the new Starbucks coffee cup. Apparently as the company became successful in the 1990’s, more and more customers developed a wasteful habit known as double cupping. Customers started using a second paper cup to keep the hot liquid in the first paper cup from burning their hands. It sounds like a simple solution to the problem of carrying around a scalding hot beverage. The practice however instantly doubled the amount of waste created by drinking Starbucks coffee not to mention the additional trees and energy necessary to make all those second cups. The company began looking for an environmentally sensitive solution back in 1996. It came up with a sleeve made from 60% post consumer recycled paper. However, the hunt for the prefect coffee cup continued.
America’s Big Fat Oil Problem?
Why is America trying to treat its oil dependence problem like it is trying to solve its weight problem?
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Americans are getting fat. This is not breaking news. I myself could spare to shed a few pounds. As I began the endeavor to lose weight and get in better physical shape, I began to see the corollaries between how the American public attempts to shed pounds and the way that we are trying to solve our dependency on oil.
First off, lets look our “oil addiction”. We are addicted to oil and its derivatives: gasoline, diesel, kerosene, etc., as much as we are addicted to corn and all its derivatives: corn chips, cereals, and the vast amounts of high fructose corn syrup hidden in our foods. Both are very abundant in the US. Gasoline may be expensive, but it is highly available. We have built our society around the excess availability of both food and oil products. Many areas, we know, cannot be accessed without a vehicle now, and one can find very few towns who have not been afflicted by the homogenizing effect of fast food restaurants and national food brands.
Many great minds have written recently on the energy crisis and the obesity epidemic that faces our nation, lets just stipulate that.
Amish Busted Over Raw Milk
A recent article on the illegality of selling raw milk caught my eye.
“Arlie Stutzman was busted in a rare sting when an undercover agent bought raw milk from the Amish dairy farmer in an unlabeled container.”
On the surface it would seem that the government agency responsible for this sting has way too much time on its hands. Further investigation into unpasteurized milk reveals that it can carry harmful bacteria. It is also true however that the pasteurization of milk does has negative effects that are seldom discussed in the press.
The pasteurization of milk:
- Can be used as an excuse to sell low quality milk
- Can be used to cover up unhealthy milk production practices
- Destroys beneficial bacteria
- Reduces the nutritional value of milk
- Reduces the vitamin content of milk
- Destroys valuable enzymes
- Provides an excuse for harmful animal husbandry practices
- Diminishes the taste of the milk
- Provides a false sense of security in this fallible practice
Solar Powered Tent – A bright idea
While catching a few minutes of t.v. tonight I saw a commercial for the Woods Solar Powered EZ-Tent. This tent sets up quickly, and has intregrated L.E.D. lighting system that is charged by a solar panel on the top of the tent. The led lighting on the interior also has a removable L.E.D. flashlight for those late night trips to the outhouse. “…will take approx 4-6 hours of direct light to yield 2-4 hours tent light; 8-10 hours of indirect light to yield 2-4 hours tent light” and you can also use the solar panel to charge additional batteries.
Supreme Court To Decide If Bush Should Pay Attention To Emissions Control
Let’s see: a conservative court, a conservative congress, a conservative administration—something tells me this isn’t going to change anything. Up for discussion is whether or not the Bush Administration must regulate CO2 to combat global warming. A dozen states, several cities, and environmental groups have convinced the Supreme Court to take up the case–after a divided lower court ruled against them. The administration continues to push forward on the claim that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant under the Federal Clean Air Law–and even if it was, the EPA would have discretion over whether to regulate it or not. (Riiiggghhhttt…I’m sure the EPA in not influenced in any way by this administration) From the article,
“In their appeal, the states argued that the case ‘’goes to the heart of the EPA’s statutory responsibilities to deal with the most pressing environmental problem of our time’’ — the threat of global warming.
The Best Is Yet To Come! Siberian Thaw To Release Kick-Ass Amount of CO2!
This is something Dr. Evil would have planned: “Give me one MILLION dollars, or else I will unleash the worst pollution on Earth–the crap frozen in Siberia.” There’s a reason I’m not involved in writing scripts for Hollywood–but nevertheless, this is pretty disturbing. From the article, “Ancient roots and bones locked in long-frozen soil in Siberia are starting to thaw, and have the potential to unleash billions of tons of carbon and accelerate global warming, scientists said on Thursday.” Supposedly, this vast carbon resevoir (one of the few oil companies are loathe to pursue) is loaded with 75 times more carbon than all that is released into the atmosphere each year through the burning of fossil furls. Covering nearly 400,000 square miles, Siberia has about 500 billion tons of carbon to hand out. “You have anthropogenic (human-generated) carbon that’s making things a little bit warmer, and that causes the permafrost to warm up and carbon is then released from the permafrost,” he said. “It goes into the atmosphere and makes things warmer yet again, so then more permafrost thaws.” So, for those of you that believe nature is causing global warming–hey there may be some actual truth to that. However, whereas thawing permafrost may be the bullet, you can bet sure as hell that we’re the ones pulling the trigger.
Trade In Your Cell Phone or PDA, Receive A TerraPass Gift Certificate!
Cell phones are cool and all–but most people simply shove them in a drawer–or worse–chuck ‘em when they’re finished. In fact, almost 130 million surplus cellphones are created each year in America–weighing in at clost to 65,000 tons! Well, TerraPass has some up with a unique way of solving this problem by partnering up with RIPMobile. From the press release, “RIPMobile recycles used cell phones and PDAs. They also happen to be leaders in their industry for environmental best practices. Unlike many recyclers, RIPMobile will accept any used cell phone, regardless of economic value. They’ll even pay your postage. RIPMobile handles all materials according to EPA standards and in compliance with the stringent requirements of the Basel Action Network.” The great thing about this new partnership is that TerraPass will pay you in gift certificates for your old phones. So, if you’ve been delaying off-setting your SUV with some carbon credits, now’s your chance to kill two birds with one stone! Almost every phone will net you some type of value–from a lowly old Motorola for $2 to a new RAZR for $75. (My expired Samsung came in at $32–not too shabby!). Check it out at TerraPass and–while your’re there–get that car taken care of!
California: The Vampire Slayer (Act of 2006)
Anyone else here dig the TV Series, “Buffy, The Vampire Slayer“? Giles and the gang always foiled evil plots to destroy the world while Joss Whedon integrated humorous banter and creative twists to the storyline. Awesome show..but I digress. Anyways, apparently California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine is a fan of the show, since his aptly titled “The Vampire Slayer Act of 2006″ has recently been approved by the California Assembly. From the release, “AB1970 would force companies to put labels on devices that tell consumers how much energy is being used while the device is in standby mode. AB1970 supporters claim that the average household will pay an additional $200 per year due to electronics on standby.” In the other corner of the arena are the Vampire Sires, the Consumer Electronics Association, Electronic Industry Alliance, etc. They’re all claiming that such a move will simply confuse consumers; just like the early complaints issued by the Tobacco Industry when health warning stickers were placed on cigarettes. C’mon–anything to save a few bucks is worth it and I would love to know what’s eating from my outlet well after I’ve turned off the lights. If Assemblyman Levine has any trouble at least Buffy and the gang are a stones throw away in Sunnydale. Nice job, CA!
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