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#27,743: The Chinese really like to buy cars ... the bigger, the better.
#27,744: The amount of methane (a much more dangerous greenhouse gas than CO2) in the atmosphere increased 0.5% in 2007 after a decade of little to no change.
Is it me or is the troubling news coming harder & faster these days?
Conservation is our best option ... here's a graphic from this weekend's NY Times article about the future of oil, which is not looking very bright to say the least:
It can be done, if people decide we must change the way we live our lives. It's really only a matter of time. There is no way there is enough oil to support this:
Today's tensions are only likely to get worse in coming years. Consider a few numbers: The planet's population is expected to grow by 50 percent to nine billion by sometime in the middle of the century. The number of cars and trucks is projected to double in 30 years-- to more than two billion -- as developing nations rapidly modernize. And twice as many passenger jetliners, more than 36,000, will in all likelihood be crisscrossing the skies in 20 years.
Wha wha ... what???
On the day after the New York Times breaks the seal, Yahoo Finance drops a "peak oil" reference right on the homepage:
note: I grabbed this screenshot at some point in the afternoon on April 16th
This seems significant ... but that may be because I am online a lot & possibly give Yahoo Finance more weight than another person would. And what a way to introduce the topic - make them think this is a money maker. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all. In fact, this is a good thing. Peak oil = $ ... now that's a good one!
In case you're interested, here's the article the "peak oil" blurb pointed to. Good luck profiting ;-)
This seems to be a fair representation of my own views on the international oil predicament (also known as peak oil):
This is what peak oil is supposed to look like -- not Oh My God We've Just Run Out Of Oil, but steady pressure on the economy and the way we live from rising energy prices and their consequences. And it doesn't matter much whether we're literally at the peak, or whether production can rise by a few million more barrels a day; unless there are big sources of oil out there, we'll be feeling peakish for the foreseeable future.
Good to see the NY Times finally achieve breakthrough on printing the words "peak oil" - even if it had to come from their blog department & not the editorial people.
Go read Krugman's short blog & the interesting comments that follow underneath. It's a refreshing take.
This article does a decent job of pointing out key barriers that will limit the installation & use of residential wind turbines:
That last bullet really gets to me ... I have always considered wind turbines really sleek & aesthetically pleasing. I don't understand the people who feel that turbines mar the landscape. I think they fit perfectly into the built environment & make all the sense in the world (in windy areas).
I can't understand why the federal government is not underwriting renewable energy projects for residences. We need a comprehensive renewable energy bill that provides incentives (or better yet rebates) for consumers to install renewable energy like wind. In addition to growing renewable energy capacity, this would also have the benefit of creating jobs & demand for renewable energy products & services.
If you are a concerned citizen, you should support renewable energy. Get in touch with your local, state & federal representatives about this.
In February, I wrote about the explosive growth of installed wind capacity in the US here, but I didn't have a good visual to accompany that write-up. I found this wonderful visual over at Lower (Carbon) Footprint:
click on the image to view the whole thing in a new window
Pretty much says it all. Change is definitely happening!
Al Gore recently presented a new slide show (updated since An Inconvenient Truth) at the TED conference.
As a quick sidebar, Barack Obama has come out & said that he would make a new cabinet position in an Obama administration in order to deal with the climate change problem. He wants Gore to assume that role. I think that is a good move for all concerned parties: Obama, Gore, US citizens & world citizens.
Gore continues to lead the way on climate change. These updated slides that he recently presented are really interesting. I would encourage anyone out there to take 30 minutes to watch this video of his presentaiton, but if you are looking for a quick synopsis, I have some bullets listed below that capture bits of Gore's message:
It would be an incredibly positive development for the environmental movement if Obama wins & makes Gore the figurehead for motivating the people & attacking climate change. There is a poignant moment at the end of the video when the host says how much it hurts to think that Gore lost to Bush in 2000 because of poorly designed ballots. As Gore responds, "You have no idea ..."
I think it is interesting to note that Gore seems much more emotional during this presentation. It's as though he has become aware that the facts he presented in the movie are not enough to wake people up. They need some stronger coffee ... they need to be shaken out of the funk somehow, some way. I don't think he knows exactly how ... but perhaps as climate czar he could figure it out. Let's hope!
I hate the fact that cutting edge, energy efficient architecture (like the Bahrain World Trade Center pictured at right) is happening in a place like Bahrain and not in "the West". I have nothing against Bahrain really, just sad that America isn't trailblazing.
It's obvious to me how late we already are in making a structure like this a reality. In 20 years, most buildings will feature some sort of building integrated (or building mounted) renewable energy. We should be leading on this & setting the example for the developing world. Instead, we've left that gig to an oil-rich nation smack dab in the middle of the Persian Gulf. How ironic.
Given that much of the current Democratic Presidential Primary season has been defined by questions & posturing about experience (35 years from HRC or lack thereof in the case of Obama), I thought it would be useful to see how important experience is in the Arctic circle.
I was shocked to see that up in the Arctic they have learned that experience is no longer an important factor in sea ice makeup.
The image above, compliments of NASA, clearly shows that young beats old.
I think we can learn a lot from the ice in the Arctic. I hope voters take this to heart & realize that experience is definitely overrated. Young ice, old ice ... what's the big deal?
Impressed by record high gasoline prices & a bleak economic picture, US consumers have responded by 1) reducing spending on automobiles & 2) allocating the money to more fuel-efficient models. In other words, the free market is at work. We are finally seeing what it takes to get people to change ... & it takes pain.
The auto makers are now recognizing the "seismic shift in consumer preferences" & unfortunately for them, they are not prepared to respond to updated demand. For the most part (& especially for the US automakers), car makers apparently didn't see this coming. Ford & GM are paying dearly for the lack of foresight ... they just don't have anything to sell the newly conservation-minded customer who is looking for the quick fix weight loss program after years of hogging out at the gas pump.
It's good to know that, although late to the party, the consumers are still - on average - rational thinkers who will change when things get tight. The SUV is now DOA. They were fun while they lasted, but not so fun now in a world of $60 fill-ups. Good riddance ...
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