Well, sort of. Yesterday’s edition of the Sunday
Source was all about ways to conserve energy,
drive smarter, etc. A decent overview of some
green buildings in the DC area, the Nationals and
a new “green” stadium, and hypermiling, which was
new to me. Check it out:
Washington Post 8.1.06

I just wanted to say that from doing all this
research on global warming, I have learned way
more than I did in my environmental science class
I took my freshman year of college. I’ve kept the
“what you can do” tips in mind and started
applying them to my life–it’s not as bothersome
as it may seem to make a few changes.

When I move into my new apartment in September,
I’m planning on buying compact fluorescent bulbs,
which are cool anyway cause of the spiral. I’ll
keep my shades down during the day. My roommates
and I will make efforts to cut back–especially
since we’re college students and short on money
as it is!

Also, check this link out from yesterday’s
Washington Post Metro section:
Washington Post Metro Section 8.2.06,
called “How to Deal with the Heat.” The sidebar
has a few interesting facts that we didn’t
address, including this: “Cool baths and showers
(with water temperature about 75 degrees) provide
relief from the heat 25 times as fast as cool
air.” So? Lower cooling costs? Sounds good to me.

Check out this piece by Michael Grunwald of The
Washington Post–a reporter who rides his bike to
work

Global warming is having its moment in the sun.
The climate crisis is on “60 Minutes” and in Tom
Brokaw’s new documentary, on the cover of Time
and Newsweek, and in Al Gore’s new movie and
best-selling book. But while polls show that most
Americans now believe that global warming is real
and significantly manmade, they are much less
concerned about the issue than non-Americans, and
much less willing to support dramatic action to
address it.

The problem is, most scientists now believe
dramatic action is necessary to prevent a climate
catastrophe. They warn that unless humans can
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent,
global warming could threaten the habitability of
the earth. That’s the inconvenient part of “An
Inconvenient Truth.” And when Gore’s critics
complain that such drastic reductions would
require an assault on our way of life, they’re
telling the truth, too.
But what if Americans decided that such changes
truly were necessary?
If our get-serious rhetoric on climate change
were to be more than a new form of low-carbon
emissions, we would have to change not only the
way we live and the way we drive, but the way we
think about political issues. And not only the
politics of energy and the environment. If the
scientists are right about an apocalyptic future
of floods, droughts, dead coral reefs, rising sea
levels and advancing deserts, global warming is
an existential threat that should affect our
approach to just about every issue. To take it
seriously, we would have to change the way we
think about transportation, agriculture,
development, water resources, natural disasters,
foreign relations and more.
It is possible to imagine a climate-conscious
politics that would stretch far beyond the modest
carbon reductions we rejected in the Kyoto
Protocol, a politics where a policy’s atmospheric
costs would be evaluated along with its fiscal
costs, a politics of inconvenient truths. In
fact, the path to that politics is already
starting to emerge, with talk inside the Beltway
and action outside it.
President Bush recently decided to overturn
decades of bipartisan U.S. policy by cooperating
with Russia on nuclear energy issues. “We need
alternatives to hydrocarbons,” his assistant
energy secretary explained.
Bush is no climate convert; he’s more concerned
with enlisting Russia’s support against Iran and
promoting America’s nuclear industry. But it’s
notable how his administration made its case.
Nuclear power is problematic in many ways, but it
doesn’t contribute to the greenhouse effect, so
its supporters now make greenhouse arguments.
Similarly, the sugar industry now defends its
controversial price supports from the government
by noting that its cane can be converted into
ethanol. And the Army Corps of Engineers defends
questionable navigation projects that ravage
rivers to ease the way for a few barges by
bragging about how many gas-guzzling trucks each
barge takes off the road. Come 2008, when
presidential candidates start pandering about
corn ethanol in Iowa, they’ll surely say they’re
trying to save the Earth.
Climate change may not always elevate the debate
in Washington, but it is changing the debate,
even on seemingly tangential issues. For if we
take climate change seriously, there aren’t many
tangential issues. We emit greenhouse gases
whenever we use fuel or electricity - when we
drive or fly, heat or cool our homes, grow or
manufacture or transport our products. And
government policies can encourage more or less of
those activities in more or less
greenhouse-friendly ways. more

I consider myself a modern environmentalist who
lives a life of dichotomy. I am ok with cities
growing and providing for their citizens but I
also think we should preserve green space
wherever we can. I am conscious of my energy
consumption but I still love a good road trip
once in awhile. And, I love modern conveniences.
I have a great microwave, I live less than a mile
from the grocery store, and I just like to have
the stuff I want when I want it. I confess that I
sometimes hit a wall of choice between my desire
to conserve, recyle, and preserve the environment
and my desire for modern conveniences. So, I ask
you: how do you manage the trade-off between
convenience and conservation? Do you believe
these two ideas are mutually exclusive? What
things can we do to fulfill both desires?

I ask this of you because sometimes I feel stuck
in a dilema. You see, besides being a modern
environmentalist, I am also a hard-core hedonist.
I love abundant and delicious food, beautiful
art, amazing smells, ease and flow in life, and
objects of pure desire. I like wearing sexy heels
out and about and frankly, they just aren’t that
comfortable if you’re catching mass transit (and
fancy dresses do not go with tennis shoes..). It
might sound vain to consider what I wear to be
any kind of a consideration, but for me it’s not
about showing off but an expression of my
creative self. Do I really have to sacrifice my
creative expression to be kind to the
environment? I don’t honestly think so. I know
there must be alternatives that I am overlooking
in many areas of life, so I am turning to you to
make suggestions that I (and hopefully others)
can use.

These are a few things I can tell you I do now: I
subscribe to Netflicks that gives me movies
delivered to my mailbox so I don’t have to drive
to the movie shop. When I sell stuff on E-bay, I
get my postal carrier to pick it up from my
doorstep instead of driving to the Post Office. I
consolidate my errand runs so that I get several
things done at one time when I go out shopping. I
carpool with my girlfriends when we go sing
karaoke on Friday nights so we only have one car
driving around. I use the phone and internet as
often as I can instead of a car trip. I grocery
shop just once a week instead of going out every
day. I re-use those indestructible plastic
microwave dishes for feeding my dog and use the
plastic grocery bags I get when I go to HEBs as
my trash bags. I have a low-water use xeriscape
garden. I am always on the look-out for ways to
enjoy modern conveniences yet still apply
conservation to my lifestyle.

This is just as short list so I am inviting you
to add to it. What do you do to overcome the
trade-off between enjoying modern conveniences
and conserving the precious resources we have
here on Earth to share? How do we achieve both a
state of self enjoyment and convenience and also
do our part as conscious world citizens? I look
forward to hearing what you have to say and until
next time, thanks for reading.

http://www.earthjustice.org/assets/docs/earthjustice-2005-victory.pdf

#4 on this list is about addressing climate change as it affects the Inuit people in the Arctic. Climate change for this community is really a Human Rights issue, as their way of life is being decimated as global warming is changing their environment - ice melting, changing weather patterns, etc. They have filed a petition with an International Court to get the US to curb greenhouse gas emmisions, demanding that the US respect their right to life, health, culture.

While those of us closer to the equator feel the effects of global warming via stonger weather patters/storms, the Inuit are the first people experiencing the disatrous effects of climate change on a day-to-day basis.

Building A Sustainable World / Life in Balance
We here at An-Inconvenient-Truth.com have been contacted by The Royal Institute of British Architects about a really cool competition that is open to architects, urban planners, designers, engineers, and anyone else interested in participating in a project to create a sustainable community. We would like to urge anyone interested to participate, as it is one of many ways individuals and organizations can address the issue of global warming and take decisive action to create a peaceful and healthy society on Earth.

For more information and registration details, check out the following link:  http://www.riba-usa.org/Competitions/index.htm

For those that enter, we would love to hear about your experiences. Good luck and have fun!  

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060706-warming-fires.html

As wildfires rage in the Western United States, experts point out that an earlier spring arrival is to blame. As a result of warmer weather, snowpack in higher elevations has been melting sooner, allowing for a longer dry season as the summer progresses. From Arizona north to Idaho, and Colorado west to California, the Western United States is being scorched and feeling the direct impact of climate change.

Simply thinning out the forests (forest management) does not alleviate the situation. This problem is anticipated to continue for years to come because temperatures are rising and brush (fuel) is drying out all across the West. Rivers run low and so the Earth cannot  extinguish these fires and regulate herself. This is direct proof that Global Warming is real. It’s time to take action.

Feel free to add any others you may have come
across. I think the genius behind many of
these technologies and projects is most are
open-source, or at least should be, meaning
anyone can add to it their own research.
Transparency is vital because keeping these
technologies a secret allows control and
manipulation of the masses.

SEAS Power (http://seaspower.com) - “SEAS has a
database of hundreds of systems. Alas, we
have yet to find one that is a) built and
operational b) available for independent
verification and reproducibility and c) therefore
worth bringing forward in the world. We
remain hopeful such a device/system may yet be
extant somewhere on earth.” — Steven
Greer (Sept. 28, 2005)

http://pureenergysystems.com/
Description: Featuring, promoting and fostering
energy technologies that are on the
cutting-edge, clean, super-efficient,
non-depleting, reliable and affordable; which
have
not yet been introduced to the mainstream,
facilitating their emergence as legitimate
modalities.

A New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy
- Erich J. Knight
points to the areas of new energy research that
he deems to be the most fruitful,
including nanotechnology, thermionics and fusion.
(ZPEnergy; Sept. 21, 2005)

World Energy Engineering Congress
(http://energycongress.com/) - Annual convention
of the
Association of Energy Engineers. “The
Association’s more than 8,000 members include
energy engineering and management professionals
from throughout the U.S., as well as 71
nations abroad. AEE is dedicated to providing
industry information, conference and
seminar programs, reference books, marketplace
surveys, and professional certifications
including Certified Energy Manager, Certified
Lighting Efficiency Professional, Certified
Energy Procurement Professional, Certified Power
Quality Professional and others.”
World Renewable Energy Congress / Network
(WREC/WREN) (http://www.wrenuk.co.uk/) - “A
major institution for renewable energy promotion.”

World Energy Congress
“Widely recognised as the premier global
all-energy event on the calendar, and has been
running since 1924.”
20th World Energy Congress - Rome 2007
(http://www.rome2007.it/)World Renewable Energy
Congress 2005
 - Connect
Scotland’s business network provides technology
start-up companies with financial and
networking opportunities through its events.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/060624/139/65ctd.html

It’s always the youth that lead the way. Hopefully these young men can turn their invention into a practical energy device for their country (India) and the world at-large. If only I were a venture capitalist…

http://Top100Energy.com

I think it would be cool if anyone would want to post their favorite or most promising new technologies from this website. This is 21st century stuff here! Anything to get us off the fossil fuel grid!

For me personally, I am inspired by the work of Nikola Tesla. I think electromagnetics has the potential as a HUGE new energy source.  Like Tom Bearden’s work: Bearden’s MEG - Electromagnetic generator without moving parts which includes a permanent magnet and a magnetic core. (http://cheniere.org)

 or for fuel efficiency: 330 MPG Aptera Hybrid (http://pesn.com/2006/01/21/9600227_Accelerated_Composits_330MPG_car/) - The Aptera prototype, which is halfway to completion, will go for up to 330 miles on a gallon of gas thanks to an aerodynamic design and the lightweight composites that make up the chassis. (http://www.acceleratedcomposites.com

 Also, the implications of moving away from fossil fuels will create a geo-political vortex. On the other hand, it will empower 3rd world countries because they will bypass the industrial revolution that western civilization went through. Imagine skipping the telegraph and telephone and going straight to today’s cell phones/modern computers. I think this is an important discussion to have as far as how new technologies will change the world. Any thoughts?