The Toyota FT-CH Electric Car at the Detroit Auto Show. Photo-Credit: Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times
The number of reasons for us to find a more fuel efficient, or completely oil free automobile is growing on a daily basis. With rising gas prices everyone is looking for a way to ease some of the pressure off their wallets. According to a new report by the nonprofit Health Effects Institute, vehicle exhaust is a factor in growing health problems. (For more info on that check out the New York Times article: Report Links Vehicle Exhaust to Health Problems). So lets go ahead and add that to the list of reasons to switch fuel sources; along with climate change, the future of the economy, and according to the government national security.
Im not going to argue any of those points, whether you agree or not is fine. The fact of the matter is auto manufacturers are spending more time, effort, and money on hybrid and electric technology. There is even a new company in the market that is creating a car that runs on air and magnets.
(more…)
Filed Under: Clean Energy, Economy by Aron Brown
No Comments »
I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Years. I know I did. I’m posting this to welcome everyone back and to let you know that my vacation from my blog is over. I am getting back to doing the research for my next blog post so stick around.
While you are waiting for my lazy butt to get some work done here are some articles around the internet that I found interesting:
I hope these articles are as interesting to you as they were to me.
Filed Under: Clean Energy, Environment, Genetic Research, Science by Aron Brown
No Comments »
Over at AlterNet they have just released a new article, We’re Literally Blowing Up Our Clean Energy Future, and the scary thing is they are right.
Click for more protest images
Blasting has begun on West Virginia’s coal river mountain, which is common place in this part of the country, but coal river mountain is special. It’s special because it has the potential to become a wind farm that can provide 700 long term clean energy jobs, provide 85,000 households with electricity and give back $1.7 million in tax dollars. However now, with all the blasting, it has the potential to become a “6,000-acre dirty energy wasteland” to quote the article.
Coal river mountain is home to some of the last few headwater streams that have not yet been polluted due to mining. To make matters worse all the explosions are going off just 100 yards away from the largest coal sludge impoundment in the country. What is that? Well its about eight billion gallons of coal slurry being held back by a natural damn. If this mountain damn were to go, and they have before, hundreds of people would have about 5 minutes to escape with their lives. What kind of politician thinks this is okay?
…hard to fathom why any political leader paying attention would allow a coal company to obliterate intact mountain ranges, sacrifice precious drinking water or risk losing people to a tsunami of coal sludge, when the mountain could be a wind farm instead?
It is time we took action! Help save Coal River Mountain.
More info on Coal Sludge and how people are trying to help.
Filed Under: Clean Energy, Environment, Politics by Aron Brown
No Comments »
Yesterday the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd took the first big steps in the right direction by calling out climate change deniers. According to MooingChoir over at The Daily Kos “The Prime Minister has had enough of the parallel obstructionism in the US and Australia. His critique doesn’t just extend to Australia. He also calls out prominent US Republicans.” You can read the rest of MooinChoir’s article: Smack! Australian Prime Minister calls out US Republican Climate Deniers for more information on the actual details.
Here are some highlights from what the Prime Minister had to say:
The challenge we face, and others around the world face, is to build momentum and overcome domestic political constraints.
The truth is this is hard, because the climate change skeptics, the climate change deniers, the opponents of climate change action are active in every country.
They are a minority. They are powerful. And invariably they are driven by vested interests.
Powerful enough to so far block domestic legislation in Australia, powerful enough to so far slow down the passage of legislation through the US Congress. And ultimately – by limiting the ambition of national climate change commitments – they are powerful enough to threaten a deal on global climate change both in Copenhagen and beyond.
(more…)
Filed Under: Clean Energy, Economy, Environment, Politics by Aron Brown
1 Comment »