Monday, November 28, 2011

How GOP Should Engage Climate Science

How GOP Should Engage Climate Science

By: Bob Inglis
 
Texas Gov. Rick Perry's recent assertion that the science of climate change has been politicized is almost certainly true. Environmental groups (the kind that always gave me F's on my congressional report cards for voting against bills such as cap-and-trade) decided a while back to run this play on the left side of the political field. But perhaps the strongest proof of Perry's assertion is what we conservatives are doing now.

Aided by energized climate deniers on talk TV and radio, we're driving a powerful wedge that divides God-fearing, red-meat eating Republicans from the arugula-eating bed-wetters we see on the left. Wedges work. And yet we aspire to bring America together?

Perry asserts, and many conservatives believe, that the flow of grants have produced a corresponding flow of studies indicating human causes of climate change. Skepticism is warranted, but it's relieved by an observation: Scientists become famous by disproving the consensus, not by parroting it. You don't get a theory named for yourself by writing papers that say, "Yeah, like he said." You become famous (and, for the pure of heart, you advance science) by breaking through with new understandings.

Grasping at outliers

In the zeal of our disproof, many conservatives have latched on to the outliers to create the appearance of uncertainty where little uncertainty exists. Accordingly, only 15% of the public knows that 97% of climate scientists have concluded that the planet is rapidly warming as a result of human activity.

Perhaps we could be forgiven for this data manipulation if we were attempting to deliver the nation from some greater ill. Many conservatives believe that, even if climate change is caused by human activity, the costs of correction outweigh the benefits. What does that calculation say about our objectivity, our commitment to accountability and our belief in free markets?

But at what cost?

Conservatives say that free enterprise, not government mandates, can deliver innovation. But we've been waiting since 1973 to be freed from foreign oil. Maybe that's because all the costs aren't "in" on petroleum — the national security risk, the costs of protecting the supply lines out of the Middle East, the cost of the pollution from tailpipes and the cost of tax subsidies for petroleum. If those costs were paid at the pump and not out of sight, we'd be aware of our need, and America's entrepreneurs would meet our need with new fuels.

But markets can't respond when some fuels escape accountability. If the coal industry, for instance, were held accountable for all of coal's costs — including health effects — we'd build emission-free nuclear power plants instead of coal-fired plants. Electricity rates would rise because we'd be paying all of coal's cost at the meter, but health insurance premiums would fall. In such an all-costs-in scenario, the profit motive would drive innovation just as it drove innovation with the Internet and the PC — without clumsy government mandates.

Conservatives can restore our objectivity by acknowledging that Americans are already paying all the hidden costs of energy. We can prove our commitment to accountability by properly attaching all costs to all fuels. We can prove our belief in free markets by eliminating all subsidies and letting the free enterprise system sort out winners and losers among competing fuels.

Or, more cynically, we can attempt to disprove science, protect the fossilized and deprive America of a muscular, free enterprise, no-growth-of-government alternative to cap and trade.

Old Plastic Bottles Bring Light

Old Plastic Bottles Bring Light

By: Debra Atlas

Millions of people in the Philippines live in (relative) darkness. The cost of electricity is beyond the means of many, so residents of poorer communities resort to candles or kerosene lamps, which pose serious health and fire hazards.

Using electricity 24 hours per day, something most of us take for granted, raises a household’s expenses by approximately 40 percent. In a country where the average income ranges from minimum wage to less than $1 a day, this added expense isn’t seen as crucial.

However, there’s an incredibly simple solution that’s both greener and safer.

The Solar Bottle Bulb was originally developed by students at MIT and spearheaded by Mac Diaz, the innovative founder of MyShelter Foundation. It uses plastic water bottles and a little bleach to bring light to the darkness.

To create the bulb, developers fit 1.5 liter plastic bottles containing water and bleach snugly into holes in a metal roof. Sunlight refracts through and off the water, creating free solar lighting equivalent to 55 or 60 watts of clean white light. The bleach inside the bottles prevents algae from forming inside them. The bottles don’t heat up, and are designed to produce clear light for approximately five years.

The MyShelter Foundation is currently distributing thousands of these lights to homeowners across the Philippines, where oftentimes homes are built so close together that little to no light can get through the windows.

The Isang Litrong Liwanag Project (“A Liter of Light”) is a sustainable lighting project whose aim is to bring light to low income communities. The organization envisions lighting one million homes by 2012. So far, they’ve distributed 10,000 solar bulbs.

The installation of these bulbs is brightening more than the homes they light. They’re helping create a better quality of life for entire communities.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Year End Savings on AIR Breeze!

With AIR Breeze, Civilization                Is Wherever          You Make It!


Enjoy the comforts of home, even when home seems a million miles away from the rest of the world. Whether you’re seeing the world in a sailboat or RV, getting away from it all in a remote cabin, or working on an offshore platform, AIR Breeze turns the power of the wind into energy you can use.

AIR Breeze is the most powerful AIR turbine made, creating more energy from less wind and with less noise to show for it.

What Makes AIR Breeze Better?

Lower Start-Up Speeds — AIR Breeze has a wide airfoil that starts up at lower wind speeds and provides greater durability and improved overall performance. The airfoil also has a boundary layer disruptor for quieter operation.

Maximized Energy Production — The Electronic Stall Control feature reduces shutdowns in high winds, while Power Tracking maximizes energy production at all wind speeds. AIR Breeze also has more robust Field Effect Transistors (FET).

Easy Blade Assembly — AIR Breeze blades lock easily into the hub with a single fastener for each blade, and its innovative blade hub increases strength and safety without adding weight or materials. The nosecone snaps tightly in place for secure operation.

Contact Us Now to Receive a Special 20% Discount on AIR Breeze!

We are passing along these great savings as we extend this one-time only end of the year offer to you. Coupled with the 30% tax incentive currently being offered through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, wind is now the most affordable and environmentally responsible option for individuals looking for a sustainable form of energy production.

Purchase offer valid until December 30, 2011.
Send product inquiries to: altwinds@gmail.com

Friday, November 18, 2011

Update! Solar and Wind Powered Mobile Device Charger

Green Gadget: Solar and Wind Powered Mobile Device Charger

The K3 Wind and Solar Charger from Kinesis Industries of Scottsdale, Ariz. is a rechargeable Lithium-ion 3.7-volt cell that can collect and store power created by wind, solar or AC power sources. The device is priced just under $100, but certain adapters cost extra, including the one for iPhone and certain iPods, which costs $14.99.

According to Kinesis, one hour in the sun or wind will create enough power to give your mobile phone about 30 minutes of talk time or your MP3 player more than 300 minutes of run time. When fully charged, a K3 can charge a mobile phone about five times and an MP3 device more than 10 times, according to the company.
K3 is weatherproof, and it comes with multiple adapters so that you can charge a number of different types of electronics gadges. You can store the tips you’re not using in a compartment within the device. Read the full article at ZDNet.

Power Your iPhone With iFan Wind Energy!

If your iPhone runs out of battery quite often when you are nowhere near a power source then you may find the iFan helpful. The little fan-like device is attached to the iPhone to power it with wind energy. The fan looks like a conventional PC fan, with the difference that it does not need electric power to rotate, that’s taken care of by the wind! This obviously works best if there is wind around at the time.

It took about six hours to charge the iPhone fully which means that the iPhone can be used indefinitely for as long as there is wind around. Think of the possibilities. Maybe you are in the mountains, or at the beach. Situations with no power plug in sight. The iFan can supply you with enough energy to power the work with the iPhone all day long.

Air Breeze In The Arctic



Air Breeze In The Arctic
By: Chris Bray

Gliding from behind an iceberg with her beautifully tanned, junk-rigged sail, you’d be forgiven for thinking the “Teleport” was a simple boat, with simple needs. You’d be wrong, however, and as the stainless steel stern arch slid into view - bristling with antennas, radar domes, solar panels and topped with a quietly purring Air Breeze wind turbine – you’d definitely know something serious was going on. But what?

While cycling around Tasmania in 2008, my girlfriend Jess Taunton and I heard of this little yacht going cheap in a carpark on the other side of the world in Halifax, Canada. By the time we got there in the summer of 2010, she was in a sorry state – rot had spread throughout the cockpit and side deck, a delaminated section of keel bulged with water, and the roof itself leaked when it rained.

“You’re going to sail that, where?” Our plan to sail her home to Australia, over the top of Canada through the Arctic’s infamous Northwest Passage, was ambitious to say the least. More people have been into space than have sailed through there. But together we worked like zombies for three months, ripping out the rotten wood, re-fiberglassing the deck, and fixing the keel, the wiring, the ropes, the insulation and even the prehistoric single-cylinder engine. Not only did she float, but she survived several white-knuckle sea-trials before we had to fly home and keep saving.

In May 2011 we returned for the final preps – wiring her up with enough technology to make a yacht twice her length blush: A radar; an AIS Watchmate system; a GPS chartplotter; radios; an electrically-controlled diesel furnace; two laptops running ‘xGate’ that could connect to the internet and download weather GRIB files and update our website via two Iridium satellite phones; a Solara tracker linked to a live Google Earth map online; and no less than seven cameras! How were we going to keep all those things charged? The answer, as it turned out, was blowing in the wind!

I grew up sailing around the world with my family for five years, and back then, wind turbines were noisy, inefficient and downright dangerous: During one gale, I remember the entire spinning hub – blades and all – actually broke free and ninja-starred off into the night. My dad never bought another one. Researching for this trip however, I knew technology must have improved, and it didn’t take long to hear about the awesome AIR Breeze wind turbine from Southwest Windpower. I had to get one!

I needed to build an arch to mount my radar and antennas anyway, so it was easy to make one of the uprights a little higher and clamp the Air Breeze on, neatly running the wires internally back to a switch beside my batteries. Flicking this ‘ON’, a grin spread over my face as - even in the light breeze - the blades began to spin. Turning it ‘OFF’ they stopped – a feature I became very thankful for in the months ahead when working near the turbine, or stopping alongside a wharf. Amazingly, if the wind becomes too strong - or if it detects that your batteries are already full – it simply turns off automatically!

We set off mid-June, sailing up the spectacular coast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and then endured twelve days across the Labrador Sea to Greenland. About half way across we were caught in a nightmare storm during which several things onboard failed (including the engine and alternator), but our wind turbine – out in the worst of it - just kept on merrily humming power into our batteries, sometimes as much as 15 amps! It was brilliant - what with all the icebergs along the Greenland coast, the lack of charted depths through much of Northwest Passage, the unpredictable winds, and the hungry wildlife (like the polar bear that chewed my camera) – we had more than enough to worry about on this unforgettable adventure, so it was great not having to stress over battery levels too – it was so simple, it just worked, and kept working.

We finished this season in Cambridge Bay, Victoria Island – lifting Teleport clear of winter’s crushing sea-ice into a cradle we built, ready to return June 2012 to continue the adventure!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

GM-Backed Bright Idea Plug-In Hybrid Van To Be Built By AM General

Bright Idea Plug-In Hybrid Van


By: John Voelcker
Green Car Reports

How times change.......

Startup Bright Automotive announced last week that, once the company completes its funding, its advanced plug-in hybrid Idea delivery van would be assembled under contract by AM General.

That’s the outfit that built the Humvee and Hummer, and spawned the now-defunct HUMMER brand, including the HUMMER H1 and HUMMER H2–which AM General also assembled.

Bright wants to put its Idea van into production by 2014, for sale to commercial and government fleets, and its projected sales volumes make contract manufacturing feasible.

GM invested in Bright more than a year ago through its GM Ventures unit, and the company also has several other private investors.

But Bright still awaits a verdict from the Department of Energy on its application for low-interest loans under the DoE’s advanced technology vehicle manufacturing program–which previously granted loans to Ford, Nissan, and Tesla, and then Fisker.

The Bright Idea delivery van is built to be exceptionally lightweight, and an electric motor powers the rear wheels–providing a very low load floor inside the van body.

It offers up to 40 miles of electric range from a 13-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, after which a front-mounted four-cylinder engine drives the front wheels through a conventional transmission–an arrangement known as a “through-the-road hybrid.”

Running on the engine, the Bright Idea is projected to return 36 miles per gallon, and provide a total range of about 400 miles.

But over a blended daily route of 80 miles, the last 40 miles would use roughly 1.1 gallons of gasoline, making the effective overall gas mileage an impressive 70 mpg. A 60-mile route would boost that number above 100 mpg.

That’s far higher fuel economy than any light-duty delivery vans today. The 2012 Ford Transit Connect small delivery van, which uses a 2.5-liter gasoline engine, is rated by the EPA Mat 22 mpg city, 25 mpg highway.

And running costs are the main interest of fleet managers, who make far more rational purchase decisions based on overall total cost of ownership than do retail car buyers.

Those fleet buyers will pay more up front if there’s a payoff in lower running costs down the road. That’s the promise of the Bright van, whose cost to recharge overnight for those first 40 miles of electric range is just a small fraction of the cost-per-mile of running on gasoline.

Granted, Bright Automotive has many miles to go before its Idea van will roll into distributors for commercial sale.

But we rather like the idea that the plant in Mishawaka, Indiana, that formerly saw HUMMER H1s rolling off the lines may one day build plug-in hybrids with fuel efficiency perhaps 10 times as good as those HUMMERs.

There’s karma in there somewhere.

Veterans Support Clean Energy

Posted by Richard Matthews
THE GREEN MARKET
Nov. 11, 2011

A 2010 Lake Research Group poll found that 73 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans support the passage of clean energy and climate legislation. The same poll found that 79 percent of these veterans believe that ending our dependence on foreign oil is an important step for our national security, 67 percent of veterans indicated they support the argument that such legislation will help their own economic prospects.

Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan also support a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill that invests in clean, renewable energy sources in America and that limits carbon pollution. These veterans believe that such a bill would help create jobs that will help vets’ economic prospects after leaving the service, reduce the amount of oil purchased from hostile nations, and cut funding for terrorists from oil producing nations. Veterans do not believe that the answer is just more drilling.

These results are particularly interesting given that respondents were 45 percent Republicans, 25 percent Independents, and 20 percent Democrats. See the poll results by clicking here.

VoteVets.org ran television and online ads, nationally, and in Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and North Dakota supporting energy reform policies as a matter of security. The ads are co-sponsored with Operation Free. The ad can be viewed at BillionDollarsADay.com

The ad features Iraq War and US Army Veteran Christopher Miller, who earned a Purple Heart as the result of an explosion from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). Miller then highlights the destructive potential of a newer and more powerful explosive device, the Explosively Formed Projectile (EFP), which was brought to Iraq from Iran and then used against our troops. Photos and news clips show the deadly capability of the weapon.

The ad concludes by telling our leaders, “It’s time stand up for America’s Security.”

VoteVets president and Iraq War veteran Jon Soltz says:

"This poll confirms what we always knew was true - veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan know, first-hand, the destructive effect our dependence on oil has on our national security, and on the battlefield. They are well aware of arguments made in favor and against bi partisan clean energy and climate change legislation, and firmly fall into the group of Americans supportive of passing that comprehensive legislation. Veterans of the wars we're fighting want legislation passed now."

If you agree with Jon Soltz and the vast majority of Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans, click here http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5604/signUp.jsp?key=1948, "sign your name next to theirs and stand strong with the men and women who have put their lives on the line for our security."

Friday, November 11, 2011

Happy Veteran's Day! 11-11-11


Celebrate this Veteran's Day by taking a few moments in remembrance of those brave individuals who have given their very lives to protect our precious freedoms that make this country so great! Also, consider thanking those who are actively serving in our armed forces, putting it on the line everyday! THANK YOU ALL FOR MY FREEDOM!!! :)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Your Carbon Footprint

What are you doing to reduce your carbon footprint?
Share your efforts with us!