Posts

Looking at Table 2.12 from the recently released Transportation Energy Data Book, it would appear that van pooling with an average of 6.1 passengers per van offers the most energy efficient mode of transportation.  With 1,322 Btu per passenger mile, it even beats motorcycles at 1,855 Btu per passenger mile.  Cars with an average load factor of 1.57 persons per vehicle use 3,512 Btu per passenger mile, while transit buses are surprisingly high at 4,235 Btu per passenger mile because of their relatively low average load factor of 8.8 persons per vehicle. For people in suburbs wanting to save money on gasoline, it appears that van pooling is the most economical and efficient way to save energy and help the environment, but it does also require a life style change.

Paper or plastic?  People are creatures of habit, and sometimes it takes more than their environmental consciousness to force change.  In Colorado Springs during the drought of a few years ago, watering restrictions were imposed.  It forced a dramatic decrease in water usage, but surprisingly when the water restrictions were lifted, the water usage didn’t go back up much.  People’s habits were largely changed. So what would happen if grocery and other stores were mandated to charge a 10 cent “environmental fee” for every plastic or paper bag used? We would see a dramatic reduction in plastic bags and more usage of canvas bags.  If after a year government decides to eliminate the fee, people by then will have adjusted to their canvas bags. In Michigan it is very hard to find a discarded aluminum can or bottle on the side of the road or around a picnic ground or beach.  That’s because stores are required to charge a refundable deposit on selected cans and bottles.  The practice of returning bottles and cans has become a habit for Michiganders and they don’t litter…even for those bottles that are not a part of the mandated charges.  Hitting one’s pocket book forces a change in habits...a change that is now embodied in their life styles.

It is interesting to note that the more industrialized countries are at the bottom of the Greendex for sustainability of lifestyles.  James Kunstler in his book The Long Emergency portrays a rather pessimistic and brutal scenario for the sustainability of life styles in America suburbia following “peak oil”.  While some might view his prognostications as alarmist, it would be foolish to not take heed of his warnings. A concerted campaign by everyone to improve our Greendex may soften the impact, but ultimately it will be simple economics that forces a change of life styles.  Are the early signs of peak oil now being felt with $4.00 a gallon gasoline? Are we entering the early stages of the Long Emergency? As Kunstler said: “Life in the Long Emergency will be about staying where you are”.

Obama's website includes a comprehensive energy plan: Plan to Make America a Global Energy Leader, and an environment plan - A Plan to Promote a Healthy Environment.  Clinton's website includes a comprensive Plan to address the Energy and Climate Crisis.  McCain's website contains 10 sentences under Stewards of Our Nation's Rich Natural Heritage, but lacks the specific details of the Obama and Clinton plans.  Outside of a few statements in speeches it is difficult to know where McCain stands on the environmental and energy issues of the day.  He has a zero rating by the League of Conservation Voters because he has missed every single Senate vote on green issues. Obama's and Clinton's ratings are 86 pct and 90 pct, respectively; they found time in their busy schedules to vote. I am awaiting more specifics on McCain's environment and energy proposals.

The fee that the BLM charges to graze cattle on public lands in the western states is $1.35 per animal per month.  Is that a reasonable fee considering the damage and pollution that cattle do to springs, river beds and lakes in otherwise pristine areas?

How do we assign value and rights to our fresh water resources?  As we deplete the Ogallala aquifer and rivers in eastern Colorado to grow corn for ethanol, is it the most efficient use of a finite resource (see Newsweek article)?  Should we implement a market based approach to selling water rights and thereby establish a real value and more efficiency of use for this precious and declining resource?

Has anyone noticed the price of corn oil lately?  Corn oil and crude oil prices now closely track each other. Corn is king in America, and in other parts of the world, rain forests are cleared to make room for more plantations of soy bean and palm oil to use as biofuels.  The poor are affected the most as they cannot afford the cost increases.  Is this the right solution for global warming…making clean burning ethanol and biodiesel at the expense of food sources?

As I read articles about the "plastic soup of waste" stretching across the northern Pacific Ocean, it seems to get larger at each reporting, the latest being “twice the size of the continental USA”.  Yet there continues to be very little mention about it in the mainstream media.  Should America and the rest of the world be concerned? Solutions?

The United States has more coal reserves than any other country…enough to last us 250 years at current rates of consumption.  Over half of our electricity is derived from coal.  Yet the government has recently cancelled the FutureGen project that would have developed the world’s first coal-fueled near-zero emissions commercial scale plant to be built in IIllinois. Does this mean a shift in energy strategies away from coal to renewable energy sources?  Will our massive coal reserves now be exported to other countries to burn in their power plants?