today is “whateveriwantittobe” monday, and it’s an environmentally friendly monday, although it’s also a bit of a link-dump day, too. we get to go to california this week. i’ll get to see my LOLOLOL bff (wut) Rooms (markymark) and my funky bunch family for the first time in forever. we’ll make sure we see the blue Pacific and some mountains whilst we have the chance. and i’ll hug a redwood for anyone who wants. pictures will ensue, no doubt.
-for all of you texans who religulously follow the whatiseikon blog, i found something recently that may be a benefit of deregulation in the sneering faces of all of the bummers of deregulating the electric utility industry. it’s the site electricitytexas.com, which allows you to compare and purchase the service you want, looking at all publicly available plans. you can even sort and search through criteria like the amount of “green” energy you’d like to purchase, whether it’s wind, natural gas, etc., and even allows rich folks to purchase credits to offset the ungreenness of their own households or even the households of others. now, there is no excuse for any of you to allow coal ash to tarnish your carbon footprints without your expressed approval. yes, clean energy costs more. but isn’t it worth it?
-speaking of coal, i enjoyed the commercials during the election time that spoke glowingly of how technological advances are allowing coal to be burned cleanly these days and that we should all rush to invest in and purchase from these wonderful companies that truly have the world’s wellbeing at heart. also, i didn’t miss the disclaimer at the end of these commercials that it was paid for by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. it takes about a 2 second look over the members of this coalition to see that we might want to add a grain of salt or two hundred to these advertisements. here’s the education part: the industry is absolutely right in touting their improved filters that help keep pollutants like sulfur dioxide and mercury from exiting smokestacks into the air directly. this still begs the question, where do the mercury and sulfur dioxide go if they’re not going into the air? the answer: in detention ponds like these pictured on the Time magazine website. go ahead and read the whole article if you’d like. this isn’t the first time i’ve pointed this out. especially noteworthy is the fact that many of these ponds are notlined in any fashion, allowing water and toxins to eventually sink into the ground, which is where we get a lot of our food, and where our water flows before it’s pumped into our homes. hmmm. out of the kettle and into the frying pan, yes? as Bryan Walsh states so succinctly, “in reality, we can’t really talk about clean coal — it doesn’t exist.” a Sierra Club director later wonders aloud if the industry could have spent some of that advertising cash on improving the disposal of the carcinogenic waste-products that are silently killing our world.
-in a typical split personality manner that we’ve come to expect from the current president and his administration, he recently catered to diametrically opposed special interest groups simultaneously. Bush had announced about 2 years ago that 3 new marine preserveswould be set aside for national protection and enjoyment. and then the government spent the next 25 or so months arguing how much protection these preserves would actually receive, in case any higher bidders came along, right? now, the administration is pushing the limits of the Clean Water Act of 1972 to see if they can again bend over backwards for the man, whoever it may be. this time, it’s a gold mining company that wants to dump waste products in a lake in the mountains of Alaska. awesome.
-in what has apparently been an underwhelming auto show in Detroit, many fuel efficient vehicles are being debuted. one has to wonder, if only 1 car company had been bold enough to have these vehicles ready to go right this minute, or perhaps last summer as gas prices hovered at $4 a gallon, how filthy rich would they be right now? and how tired would they be from laughing at the bowing and begging and sniveling of the other companies. but still, for some crazy reason, i can’t help but feel a bit of deja vu about these fuel efficient, zero emission, electric cars before. maybe in 1891?
-finally, a recent study from the University of Michigan shows a slightly surprising link between the modern city and mental health. in the Velvetine Rabbit, the little boy gets sick and travels to the sea to get better, right? perhaps it’s not just that being in a natural or rural environment is good for you, it’s also that being in a city might be bad for you. the link between behavior patterns for children who have been diagnosed with ADHD is starkly different for the two settings. 2 takes on the story–saucy and sarcastic or more contemplative.
-news flash: humans are not as smart as we think we are. we get our grubby little fingers in the cookie pot and ruin the whole lot. proof positive here.
green team! green team. shhhhh. greeeeeeeeeen teeeeeeeeeeam.
green team themed SLY… 353 days of thunder remain
Posted by joezissss on January 12, 2009
today is “whateveriwantittobe” monday, and it’s an environmentally friendly monday, although it’s also a bit of a link-dump day, too. we get to go to california this week. i’ll get to see my LOLOLOL bff (wut) Rooms (markymark) and my funky bunch family for the first time in forever. we’ll make sure we see the blue Pacific and some mountains whilst we have the chance. and i’ll hug a redwood for anyone who wants. pictures will ensue, no doubt.
-for all of you texans who religulously follow the whatiseikon blog, i found something recently that may be a benefit of deregulation in the sneering faces of all of the bummers of deregulating the electric utility industry. it’s the site electricitytexas.com, which allows you to compare and purchase the service you want, looking at all publicly available plans. you can even sort and search through criteria like the amount of “green” energy you’d like to purchase, whether it’s wind, natural gas, etc., and even allows rich folks to purchase credits to offset the ungreenness of their own households or even the households of others. now, there is no excuse for any of you to allow coal ash to tarnish your carbon footprints without your expressed approval. yes, clean energy costs more. but isn’t it worth it?
-speaking of coal, i enjoyed the commercials during the election time that spoke glowingly of how technological advances are allowing coal to be burned cleanly these days and that we should all rush to invest in and purchase from these wonderful companies that truly have the world’s wellbeing at heart. also, i didn’t miss the disclaimer at the end of these commercials that it was paid for by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. it takes about a 2 second look over the members of this coalition to see that we might want to add a grain of salt or two hundred to these advertisements. here’s the education part: the industry is absolutely right in touting their improved filters that help keep pollutants like sulfur dioxide and mercury from exiting smokestacks into the air directly. this still begs the question, where do the mercury and sulfur dioxide go if they’re not going into the air? the answer: in detention ponds like these pictured on the Time magazine website. go ahead and read the whole article if you’d like. this isn’t the first time i’ve pointed this out. especially noteworthy is the fact that many of these ponds are notlined in any fashion, allowing water and toxins to eventually sink into the ground, which is where we get a lot of our food, and where our water flows before it’s pumped into our homes. hmmm. out of the kettle and into the frying pan, yes? as Bryan Walsh states so succinctly, “in reality, we can’t really talk about clean coal — it doesn’t exist.” a Sierra Club director later wonders aloud if the industry could have spent some of that advertising cash on improving the disposal of the carcinogenic waste-products that are silently killing our world.
-in a typical split personality manner that we’ve come to expect from the current president and his administration, he recently catered to diametrically opposed special interest groups simultaneously. Bush had announced about 2 years ago that 3 new marine preserveswould be set aside for national protection and enjoyment. and then the government spent the next 25 or so months arguing how much protection these preserves would actually receive, in case any higher bidders came along, right? now, the administration is pushing the limits of the Clean Water Act of 1972 to see if they can again bend over backwards for the man, whoever it may be. this time, it’s a gold mining company that wants to dump waste products in a lake in the mountains of Alaska. awesome.
-in what has apparently been an underwhelming auto show in Detroit, many fuel efficient vehicles are being debuted. one has to wonder, if only 1 car company had been bold enough to have these vehicles ready to go right this minute, or perhaps last summer as gas prices hovered at $4 a gallon, how filthy rich would they be right now? and how tired would they be from laughing at the bowing and begging and sniveling of the other companies. but still, for some crazy reason, i can’t help but feel a bit of deja vu about these fuel efficient, zero emission, electric cars before. maybe in 1891?
-finally, a recent study from the University of Michigan shows a slightly surprising link between the modern city and mental health. in the Velvetine Rabbit, the little boy gets sick and travels to the sea to get better, right? perhaps it’s not just that being in a natural or rural environment is good for you, it’s also that being in a city might be bad for you. the link between behavior patterns for children who have been diagnosed with ADHD is starkly different for the two settings. 2 takes on the story–saucy and sarcastic or more contemplative.
-news flash: humans are not as smart as we think we are. we get our grubby little fingers in the cookie pot and ruin the whole lot. proof positive here.
green team! green team. shhhhh. greeeeeeeeeen teeeeeeeeeeam.
Posted in culture and society, news and social commentary, the environment | Tagged: auto show, clean coal, Detroit, electric car, green | Leave a Comment »