Photo via the New Republic It's a widely held notion that politicians have long been in the pocket of Big Oil. And there's good reason for that perception: oil companies' huge campaign donations, vast lobbying power, and close ties to politicians have ensured that their taxes remain low , that hidden subsidies are around to provide extra funding, and that they receive preferential treatment in US energy policy. But there could be a new, ... View original post here: The Next Big Oil: Big Smart Grid?
So there really isn't anything that deep to this image. It's just a (more or less) life-sized blue whale eye. And on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society site you can educate yourself/be mesmerized/ waste some time for a while staring at it while the entire life-sized animal scrolls across your browser window. Believe me, it's way cooler than you might think:... Read more from the original source: Ever See a Blue Whale Life-Sized on Your Computer? Now You Can
published November 30, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: Youtube Let's Hope it Won't Stay Just a Commercial German car maker Volkswagen has produced a series of ads based on "fun theory", the simple idea that if something is fun or if there's something in it for you, you are more likely to do it than if you're just "supposed to". It's pretty simply psychology, yet if ...
Read more...published November 27, 2010 and has No Comments
Image: Ari Moore via flickr Apparently New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg shares at least some of the concerns about natural gas drilling—known as hydraulic fracturing , or fracking—that communities and environmentalists have about its safety. He... Read the full story on TreeHugger See the original post here: Mayor Bloomberg Warns Against Fracking in Delaware River Basin
Read more...published November 24, 2010 and has No Comments
The Infrastructurist points us to Matt Yglesias, who posts a chart comparing the energy use of different transport modes in BTUs per passenger mile. He notes: Today there seem to be almost 30 flights daily between Seattle and Portland. Clearly a lot of people are making the trip. If you built a high-speed rail connection, a lot of people ...
Read more...published November 24, 2010 and has No Comments
Image: handmade-in-germany Made with Class, Not in Mass Made in Germany. The label initially required for protectionist ends has become recognized worldwide as a hallmark of quality. Now, an initiative started by German manufacturers plans to extend the concept to high quality products that are made by hand. Think Burmester Audio Systems, custom fit carpentry, handmade shoes, fine fountain ...
Read more...published November 11, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: stephane333 / Creative Commons Until recently the International Energy Agency never really publicly acknowledged peak oil , and still rarely uses the term itself even though over the past year the topic has been acknowledged to be (gasp) very real and likely very soon. But in this year's See the original post: IEA Chart Says Conventional Oil Production Peaked ...
Read more...published November 11, 2010 and has No Comments
Photos: Brian Merchant You probably haven't heard much about Volkswagen's forays into the electric car realm -- frankly, until recently , there hasn't been much to talk about. But that's finally changing, as the world's second largest carmaker just unveiled its Golf Blue E-motion electric car. Slated for a 2014 release, the e-motion will essentially be an electrified version ...
Read more...published November 8, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Collapsus When I interviewed my friend Tim Toben , he argued that one of the most important things we can do is to "tell the story about the transformation from a world powered by fossil fuels to a world powered by renewable energy -- in poetry, music, art, dance. Make it real for people who can't imagine ...
Read more...published November 8, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: Flickr , CC Studying Bird Flight Patterns Can Lead to Better Conservation Efforts It's pretty obvious that a lot of human activities affect birds directly (millions of birds are killed by cars, cats, buildings, pesticides, etc), but just the presence of human structures on the ground can apparently affect bird flight patterns and populations. Indeed, birds might seem ...
Read more...published November 5, 2010 and has No Comments
Image: Flickr via Steven Damron For all their environmental woes, most coal mines in the U.S. at least capture the methane released when the coal is mined. It can then be used for fuel, which in terms of greenhouse gas emissions is tons (ha) better than simply releasing it freely into the atmosphere. However, 12 mines do not capture ...
Read more...published November 3, 2010 and has No Comments
photo via associated press Everyone is trying to read the tea leaves to figure out what's going to happen to climate and energy legislation now that Rep. John Boehner is the Speaker-in-waiting. A post from last year might shed some light on this question. During an appearance on ABC News, told George Stephenopoulos the following: "The idea that carbon ...
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The office building, going for LEED Platinum, is built on top of a brick factory from another era. It rises to the challenge. Go here to read the rest: The Centre For Green Cities At Evergreen Brickworks Demonstrates How To ...
"The stakes are very high and scientists are not the best people to deal with the social, ethical or political issues that geoengineering raises." View original here: Geoengineering is a Technical Fix for a Political Problem
