Environment

A great summary article on 10 issues in the realm of energy policy. Lots of hype and bluster and this list hits a bunch of nails on the head.

You've probably seen the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch list to know what fishies are good or bad to buy.

NYC now has a program where you can officially be a recycling champion (some might say 'nag') for your apartment building, which they've apparently based on 'market research' (focus groups for trash?) plus the results of the waste chara

 

I've been to some remote places: the southwestern tip of Costa Rica, the Andes of Peru. Seeing a dark sky, filled with stars and other celestial bodies is awe-inspiring, to say the least. David Owen has written a good article in the New Yorker about the problem of light pollution - the how outdoor artificial light is making it harder to find a dark place to see the beauty of the night sky. The article also mentions some interesting issues with the prevalence of bright outdoor lighting for 'security' purposes:

"Marcus Felson, a professor at the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, has concluded that lighting is effective in preventing crime mainly if it enables people to notice criminal activity as it’s taking place, and if it doesn’t help criminals to see what they’re doing. Bright, unshielded floodlights—one of the most common types of outdoor security lighting in the country—often fail on both counts, as do all-night lights installed on isolated structures or on parts of buildings that can’t be observed by passersby (such as back doors). A burglar who is forced to use a flashlight, or whose movement triggers a security light controlled by an infrared motion sensor, is much more likely to be spotted than one whose presence is masked by the blinding glare of a poorly placed [flood light]."

Kudos the the International Dark-Sky Association for trying to keep our night skies visible and helping us to use less energy in the process. Another interesting proposal comes from the group Civil Twilight, who won a Metropolis Magazine Next Generation Award for their design concept: streetlights that respond to ambient moonlight, dimming and brightening each month as the moon cycles through its phases.

What does it actually mean for a country to comply with the Kyoto emissions targets? Will it really have a bad effect on the economy of a country that tries to implement it? An interesting perspective on how it might affect Canada.

invisible5.org is an interesting sounding (I haven't done it, but would definitely if I do the SF-LA stretch again) audio tour - like a narrated museum tour, except this is outside, made to be listened to in your car. It highlights the environmental problems of the I-5 corridor. The website is interesting with some good pictures.

The Energy Information Administration released its far forward looking report on energy sources and consumption in the country. Alternative and biomass sources play a smaller part in our country's future then the current amount of news about them might lead one to believe, leaving our fossil fuel friend coal to do most of the heavy lifting. The report doesn't talk directly about any possible reduction in energy consumption, although I guess it might be implied in reduced rates of energy demand increase.

Learn a little bit about energy consumption, and take a pledge to do your part and reduce your energy consumption at the Six Degrees of Energy Efficiency web site.

Maybe I missed something over the past six years, but hasn't the administration done all it can to disprove or otherwise ignore global warming? Or is "climate change" not the same thing? Well, at least the Department of Energy seems to have come around.

DOE Releases Climate Change Technology Program Strategic Plan

I want an Energy Orb to tell me when I should be conserving energy. What a great little device, simple and informative.