Starting at roughly 3:20 in this video you can see reactor #4 leaning to the right:
Green Branding: Authenticity Matters
10 MayGreen marketing expert Jacquelyn Ottman remarks on a recent NYTimes piece reporting
… that green brands launched in recent years by mainstream marketers such as Clorox (Green Works) and S.C. Johnson (Nature’s Source), had experienced sharp sales declines during 2009 and that introductions of green brands were off during that period, too. And then I perked up. The article went on to report that, in stark contrast —even during the recession—brands like Seventh Generation and Method experienced double-digit growth and market share gains, too.
She goes on to observe: “It’s easy for consumers to tell that Green Works and Nature’s Source are made by the same companies that produce the ‘brown’ products consumers are trying to shift away from.” Perhaps the green community actually cares about deep company values and genuine commitment to sustainability.
Encyclopedia of Earth
10 May“The Encyclopedia is a free, expert-reviewed collection of articles written by scholars, professionals, educators, and experts who collaborate and review each other’s work. The articles are written in non-technical language and are useful to students, educators, scholars, professionals, as well as to the general public.”
Check it out. For, example, here’s the article on US Nuclear Policy Issues; the next big earthquake in Northern California: overgrazing: and Energy Transitions, Past and Future.
No More Nukes for Japan
10 MayNaoto Kan, Japan’s Prime Minister, announced that Japan will build no more nuclear power plants. Japan will “start from scratch” on a new energy policy and will “do more to promote renewable energy.”
Meanwhile, The New York Times informs us that America’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission is too cozy with the nuclear power industry. Surprise surprise. Who knows, maybe one day they’ll tell us that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
“Omnivorous Energy” – A Strategy for Local Resilience
9 MayJohn Robb at Global Guerrillas has a provocative pair of posts. First, on energy omnivores vs. specialists:
- The generalist (aka The Omnivore). Able to consume a wide variety of energy although at an efficiency penalty.
- The specialist. Able to access and consume a very narrow type of energy in a highly efficient way.
We’re in an era of change, so the specialist is vulnerable, as the specialist’s favored resources may disappear. But the omnivore can take whatever’s available and so has an advantage. Thus “we need to adopt more of an omnivore strategy in regards to nearly everything we do.” So, broaden your skill set, diversify investments, really diversify: “An omnivorous investment strategy puts resources into communities and technologies that will be there even when most financial assets are imploding.”
A second post talks more directly about energy:
One of the methods I recommend to reduce that vulnerability is to use microgrids. Microgrids are essentially a local controlled electricity network that makes it possible for communities to create dynamic local markets for electricity production and consumption that can zoom innovation and investment. When we first began to talk about microgrids, the technologies involved were merely plans on paper. Now, a mere three years later, we see offerings from many major technology companies (with the potential of open source projects that can open up this tech for everyone).
Moving along:
A truly resilient strategy for the local production of energy (both heat and power) should be able to consume nearly any type of fuel. In essence, our energy consumption strategy needs to be omnivorous — it can eat anything. Currently, the vast majority of the energy we consume is produced through purchasing and running dedicated systems — i.e. furnaces that burn natural gas, oil, or wood. Also, these systems must be able to produce a range of outputs, from heat to electrical power as needed.
14 inches, what does it mean?
7 MayThe Northwest coast may see a 14-inch rise in sea level by 2050. Emma Mustich reports in Salon:
Salon spoke to professor Peter Ward, author of “The Flooded Earth: Our Future in a World Without Ice Caps” (whom we’ve interviewed before), who explained that while a 14-inch sea level rise is frightening enough on its own, it’s the specter of a resulting “storm surge” — and the failure of many local authorities to plan effectively for the future — that actually worries him the most.
Better start Transition planning NOW.
Don’t Subsidize the Blood Sucking Oil Industry
7 MayThe New York Times is running an editorial urging “a grown-up conversation on energy,” while observing that “what we are getting instead is a mindless rerun of the drill-baby-drill operatics of the 2008 campaign, when gas was also at $4 a gallon.”
Right. But they, and you, we, know very well why this isn’t likely to happen. Case in point:
Even John Boehner, the Republican leader, conceded in a recent ABC News interview that oil companies “ought to be paying their fair share.” When horrified aides reminded him that ending the subsidies would amount to a tax increase — anathema among Republicans — he backed off.
The obvious response to the Boehners of the world is simple: Throw the bums out! Let me repeat that: Throw the bums out! One by one, state by state, throw them out.
Meanwhile, sign this petition urging to Congress to stop subsidizing the oil industry.
Truth and Traditions 