Wind Power « The Conservation Report

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Written by Buck Denton

November 30th, 2008 at 12:21 am

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICKS

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AGRICULTURE: Amazon Rain Forest’s Untapped Fruit Bounty

AIR POLLUTION: 35W sculptures aren’t just for looks: Cemstone became the first company in the nation to use a new form of concrete that removes carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides and sulfur dioxide from the atmosphere.

CLIMATE CHANGE: A baaa-d idea? Aussie sheep made to wear gas masks so scientists can see how their breath can affect climate

CONSERVATION: Colorado tests high tech roadkill prevention system

CORAL REEFS: Florida Town Wants to Grow Coral Reefs with Electricity: As coral reefs around the world continue to disappear, one Florida town has taken the initiative by investing $60,000 to stimulate coral reef growth using electricity. While there is not yet peer-reviewed evidence to suggest that using a low powered electrical current works, scientists are not dismissing the idea. The company that has been hired to make the reefs claims that they have had many prior successes.

DINOSAURS: Site thought to be a watering hole discovered on Arizona-Utah border where dinosaurs ‘were happy’

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Texas Teen Builds His Own Electric Car on $10,000 Budget, Johnson Controls: electric cars will eventually win out, Berlin Announces Plans for World’s Largest Community Electric Car Infrastructure, Oreva Super Electric Car Going for $2000 in India

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Government May Weaken Endangered Species Act For Fish, IUCN Reveals That 1,141 of the 5,487 mammals on Earth Are Threatened with Extinction: The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List reveals world’s mammals in crisis

ENERGY: Can Electricity From Trees Power Gadgets?

ENVIRONMENTALISM: Do environmental messages do more harm than good?

EVOLUTION: Scientists Discover Fish in Act of Evolution in Africa’s Greatest Lake

FUEL SPILL: Hurricane Ike Spilled 12,000 Barrels of Oil: Is Offshore Oil Worth the Risk?

FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR ECONOMY: You Buy, You Break At Sarah’s Smash Shack

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY: Geothermal Sources Could Add Significant Power Generation Capacity

GLOBAL WARMING: Memos tell wildlife officials to ignore global-warming impact: New legal memos by top Bush administration officials say that the Endangered Species Act can’t be used to protect animals and their habitats from climate change by regulating specific sources of greenhouse gas emissions, the cause of global warming.

GREEN: How green is Apple now?

GREEN CONSTRUCTION: 15 Inspiring Glimpses into the Future of Green Housing

HABITAT DEGRADATION, LOSS, & FRAGMENTATION: Chimps 90 Percent Gone in a “Final Stronghold”

HOMOSEXUALITY IS NATURAL: How gay sex can produce offspring

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: 2010 Toyota Prius Adds Muscle at Expense of Fuel Efficiency: Toyota’s yet-to-be-unveiled 2010 Prius will have a bigger engine and a higher top speed, but improvements to CO2 emissions and fuel efficiency will take a backseat, Honda Takes on the Hybrid Motorcycle

HYDROGEN FUEL: Scientists Reach Hydrogen Storage Milestone

INVASIVE SPECIES: Aquatic alien ‘thugs’ set to meet

MARINE MAMMALS: Picture is Worth a Thousand…

NATURE: Planet’s loneliest bug revealed: A bug which lives entirely on its own and survives without oxygen in complete darkness underground has been discovered in South Africa, Deepest-Ever Fish Caught Alive on Camera

OBAMA: Racist Obama Billboard Causes Outrage, Man shot three times in street by racist gunman - for wearing Barack Obama T-shirt

OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION: Lockheed Martin to Develop Ocean Thermal Energy Prototype

OFFSHORE DRILLING: Making America Stupid

PLANET EARTH: Birth of an Ocean: The Evolution of Ethiopia’s Afar Depression: Formation of an ocean is a rare event, one few scientists have ever witnessed. Yet this geophysical nativity is unfolding today in one of the hottest and most inhospitable corners of the globe. Visit the site in safety through this extraordinary photographic essay

RECYCLING: Real Simple Recycling A to Z: A Comprehensive Primer on Recycling Nearly Everything, Often for a Good Cause, 7 Hurdles to Electronics Recycling

SARAH PALIN: Sarah Palin: Palling Around With Secessionists

SOCIAL ISSUES: Homeless numbers ‘alarming’

SOLAR: Solar Power Replaces Human Toil in New Rickshaws, Solar Wineries Taking Root and Coming into Bloom

TOXIC CHEMICALS: Adding the ‘Nasty Nine’ to the ‘Dirty Dozen’: The United Nations Considers Expanding Toxic Chemical Ban by 75%, Heavy Metal-Eating “Superworms” Unearthed in U.K.

WATER CONSERVATION: Caroma Profile Smart Dual Flush Toilet: 2008 Breakthrough Product

WIND POWER: Taiwan students invent wind-powered bicycle headlights, Navy charters kite-powered cargo ship to deliver equipment, Huge Offshore Wind Farm Wins Approval

WTF?: Cheney: Wildlife Conservation Has Been A ‘High Priority’ Of Bush Administration

Written by Buck Denton

October 22nd, 2008 at 9:40 am

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICKS

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AGRICULTURE: SCIENTIST AT WORK | NORMAN T. UPHOFF: Food Revolution That Starts With Rice

ANIMAL WELFARE: Boy fed zoo reptiles to crocodile: A seven-year-old boy has been filmed going on the rampage at a popular zoo in Australia, killing rare reptiles and feeding live ones to a crocodile

ARCTIC MELTING: Arctic Ice in “Death Spiral,” Is Near Record Low

AUTO INDUSTRY: No “Revolting” the Volt: Chevy Battery Does Not Recharge While Driving

BUSHMEAT: Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa’s Animals, Poor?

CARBON: Heat Hinders Ground’s Ability to Absorb CO2

E-WASTE: 7 Hurdles to Electronics Recycling

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 19 Electric Car Players Pitch San Francisco, 30 electric cars companies ready to take over the road, China Planning Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

ENERGY: Researchers Developing the “Internet for Energy”, New Energy Project Will Be Even Larger than the Pickens Plan: Move over, T. Boone Pickens. You’re about to be overshadowed by Babcock and Brown

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Croc Hunter’s ‘Bum-Breathing’ Turtle Faces Extinction

EVOLUTION: Scientists Discover Fish in Act of Evolution in Africa’s Greatest Lake, From the Onion: Dolphins Evolve Opposable Thumbs ‘Oh, Shit,’ Says Humanity

FUEL CELLS: First Fuel Cell-Powered Plane Presented in Germany

GOOGLE: Google search finds seafaring solution

GREEN CONSTRUCTION: 15 Inspiring Glimpses into the Future of Green Housing, The First LEED Platinum Skyscraper Nearly Completed, Lost middle-class tribe’s ’secret’ eco-village in Wales spotted in aerial photograph taken by plane, Paint it white: Cool roofs save cash and carbon, New experimental homes will heat themselves

HIV/AIDS: Colonial clue to the rise of HIV: The arrival of colonial cities in sub-Saharan Africa at the dawn of the 20th Century may have sparked the spread of HIV

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Honda Takes on the Hybrid Motorcycle, Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHYBRID unveiled

HYDROGEN FUEL: Scientists Reach Hydrogen Storage Milestone

INVASIVE SPECIES: State wildlife commission seeks tougher rules for owning pet snakes, Stop slithering intruders: Asian swamp eels are an invasive foreign species that is dangerously prolific and adaptive, threatening fish and other native creatures

NATURAL GAS-POWERED VEHICLES: Pickens Overlooks Existing Natural Gas Cars in Energy Plan: Reality Check

NEW SPECIES: New Iguana Species Revealed

OFFSHORE WIND POWER: Huge Offshore Wind Farm Wins Approval, Offshore Wind To Supply 15% of Rhode Island Electricity

PHEV: Plug-In Hybrids Aren’t Coming — They’re Here, Houses passes bill with $5k Volt tax-credit, mandatory alternative fuel pumps

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: California’s 220 MPH High-Speed Train Will Be Emissions-Free

RECOMMENDED IMAGE(S): Earth From Above comes to NYC, Yup, still a pig, Monk Seal

RECOMMENDED MAP: USA National Gas Temperature Map

REDISCOVERED SPECIES: Rare Plant Thought Extinct Re-discovered in Upstate New York

SCIENCE: Sciencedebate2008: Presidential answers to the top 14 science questions facing America, Japanese Scientists Plan to Build Space Elevator

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: Indiana will get $227 million waste to fuel plant

WATER AVAILABILITY: When Will Los Angeles Run Out of Water? Sooner Than You Think, Cactus Goo Makes Water Safe: The slimy ooze inside prickly pear cactuses that helps the plants store water in the desert can also be used for scouring arsenic, bacteria and cloudiness out of rural drinking water, according to research at the University of South Florida in Tampa

WATER CONSERVATION: Harvesting Rainwater by Not Letting It Go to Waste

WTF?: Cheney: Wildlife Conservation Has Been A ‘High Priority’ Of Bush Administration

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK: Yellowstone seeks to balance nature, cell phones, Judge refuses to let snowmobiles roam Yellowstone

ZOONOTIC DISEASES: Hamsters, Exotic Pets May Put Young Children At Risk, Doctors Say

Written by Buck Denton

October 8th, 2008 at 10:30 am

WIND POWER: A look at Cape Wind and the potential of wind power

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A good look at Cape Wind and the potential of supplying our energy needs by building the offshore wind power infrastructure on the Western Atlantic can be found at the Foreign Policy Association’s Climate Change:

What a great yarn! A smart, successful, committed energy entrepreneur comes along with a solid project to provide enough zero-emission, renewable energy to supply, on a good day, all the stationary power needs of Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, and, if you had plug-in vehicles, a good bit of the surface transportation needs as well. Wind turbines are a proven technology and in Europe, offshore wind farms have been flourishing for years. The project would serve an area that is now subject to considerable air pollution from the ancient power plant that is in place. A devastating oil spill from a barge headed to that power plant occurred only a few years ago. The wind farm will eliminate three quarters of a million tons of GHG a year and provide a much-needed and reliable boost to the New England electrical grid. What’s not to love?!

What are some of the problems people have with offshore wind?

Competing power companies for one, wanting to stick with coal and gas-fired plants. Another stated problem is the “viewshed” issue. Bluewater, very smartly, used computerized graphics to show the folks in Delaware how tiny the “view” issue would be. What I don’t get – and I’ve said it here before – is how you can think of these windfarms as anything other than magnificent. In Europe, as you know, offshore wind is busting out all over. Bluewater’s principal, Peter Mandelstam, is quoted in the article to the effect that “The Europeans see offshore wind turbines as sentinels, protecting them from energy domination by foreign powers.”

Written by Buck Denton

September 17th, 2008 at 8:31 am

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged with Energy Mix of the Future, Offshore Wind Power, Renewable Resources, Wind Power

IMPOSITIONALISM: T. Boone Pickens’s and Aubrey McClendon’s agenda to stay rich at the expense of taxpayers and the American people

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I’ve watched several commercials showing oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens and Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon promoting wind power and natural gas as America’s energy mix of the future. I’ve always been skeptical of Pickens’s and McClendon’s intentions. Undoubtedly, wind power and natural gas should be part of the energy mix of the future, but natural gas shouldn’t be a solution at the expense of cleaner renewable resources, and natural gas shouldn’t be wasted on vehicles when more efficient and cleaner technologies exist. Furthermore, cleaner gasoline engines and the almost similar greenhouse gas emissions between natural gas and diesel vehicles are factors that make an aggressive push towards natural gas seem ridiculous from a policy standpoint (more information regarding these claims can be found here). Additionally, given the recent controversy over California’s Proposition 10, there is a lack of transparency regarding Pickens’s and McClendon’s intentions.

Certainly, their argument for natural gas needs closer scrutiny. First, these men want to replace one fossil fuel with another. No doubt, these two men see the end of oil approaching. As a result, they want to tap and squander another nonrenewable resource, which Americans will have to depend on at the cost of developing cleaner and renewable energy sources for Americans. Second, while natural gas is cheaper than crude oil, the price will certainly increase as these two men help build the infrastructure and dependency on natural gas. Currently, Pickens and McClendon are aggressively pushing their agenda in California under Proposition 10 at the expense of California taxpayers.

With any rights agreement there are winners and losers. The winners under Proposition 10 are natural gas or Pickens and McClendon. However, almost all other clean energy technologies and supporters of cleaner energy will be losers. California taxpayers will be losers too.

Pickens’s and McClendon’s plans aren’t very democratic. It’s a fresh imposition on Americans to rely on a nonrenewable fuel source at the expense of Americans. Anthony Rubenstein provides some further insight into Proposition 10 at the Los Angeles Times:

Well, Californians can clarify exactly whose dime it will be: Ours. Along with being the country’s biggest wind power developer, Pickens owns Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a natural gas fueling station company that is the sole backerof the stealthy Proposition 10 on California’s November ballot. This measure would authorize the sale of $5 billion in general fund bonds to provide alternative energy rebates and incentives — but by the time the principal and the interest is paid off, it would squander at least $9.8 billion in taxpayer money on Pickens’ self-serving natural gas agenda.

The initiative deceptively reads like it’s supporting all alternative-fuel vehicles and renewable energy sources. But a closer read finds a laundry list of cash grabs — from $200 million for a liquefied natural gas terminal to $2.5 billion for rebates of up to $50,000 for each natural gas vehicle.

Much of the measure’s billions could benefit Pickens’ company to the exclusion of almost all other clean-vehicle fuels and technology. Engines that run on compressed natural gas have a place in pollution reduction, especially for heavy trucks and public buses. But natural gas is a nonrenewable fossil fuel that we import from foreign sources, and it is no better (and in some cases worse) when it comes to emissions and fuel efficiency compared with the best hybrid cars or the new ultra-clean diesel engines. Most insidiously, Proposition 10’s lavish rebates for natural gas-powered cars and trucks could crowd out superior technologies from taking root in California, the largest transportation market in the United States.

Anthony Rubenstein further illustrates T. Boone Pickens’s plans to stay rich at the California Progress Report, CA:

Prop 10 is being funded by Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens and Oklahoma natural gas tycoon Aubrey McClendon who have been spending millions on TV ads pushing their national so-called “Pickens Plan” for U.S. Energy Independence. The reason these out-of-state guys operating in California’s initiative process is, in my opinion, because they can use their wealth to a fund a ballot initiative campaign in order to avoid going through the California Legislature where this measures would never have stood a chance.

For example, in contrast to presently on-going California alternative fuel subsidy programs, Prop 10 requires no accountability in terms of measuring tailpipe emissions reductions, petroleum usage reductions, and doesn’t even require that taxpayer subsidized natural gas powered trucks and cars even stay in California. Meanwhile Prop 10’s commercials tout support for hybrid vehicles, while the only hybrid on the road that actually qualifies for funding from Prop 10 is the Toyota Prius, which arguably doesn’t need any subsidy because it’s on back-order.

All of prop 10’s dubious programming will be funded by making the State borrow $5 billion which when paid pack with interest will cost California taxpayers around $10 billion paid over 30 years at a cost of $330-plus million per year. This at a time when our state is in the midst of a budget crisis caused by a $15 billion deficit.

What about greenhouse gas emissions? From Earth2Tech:

Yes, there is a national security and supply issue that is answered by natural gas vehicles, but the WSJ quotes a California Energy Commission study: When natural gas replaces gasoline, greenhouse gases are reduced by just 20 to 30 percent. When natural gas is used instead of diesel in trucks, greenhouse gases are reduced just 10 to 20 percent. If diesel is almost comparable, then it makes more sense to fund that as a stop gap as that infrastructure is already in place. The article also points out that the natural gas vehicle benefits over gasoline have dropped over the past two decades as newer internal combustion engines have become cleaner and more efficient.

Sidenote: Here in Michigan, McClendon is a controversial figure, because he purchased some 412-acres of nearly undeveloped Lake Michigan property, and he wants to develop his property, containing the ecologically unique Saugatuck dunes, into an upscale residential neighborhood.

Written by Buck Denton

September 10th, 2008 at 9:36 am

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged with Anthony Rubenstein, Aubrey McClendon, California, Natural Gas, Proposition 10, T. Boone Pickens, Wind Power

ROOFTOP MICROTURBINES: Microturbines have potential to supplement energy needs in some areas

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Home or residential wind turbines may supplement up to 30% of a home’s electricity. However, the Daily Mail claims that home wind turbines “barely produce enough electricity to power a hairdryer in many houses,” “actually do more harm than good,” are “noisy and unsightly,” and are nothing more than an eco-fashion statement. The Daily Mail’s report on rooftop microturbines is overly negative, and TreeHugger counters the claims here.

Additionally, the Daily Mail claims “turbines in towns suffer from a lack of wind - as tall buildings block the air supply.” However, I have lived in Britain, and there are residential and rural towns that seem to have a steady supply of wind, especially areas on the Norfolk coast.

The Daily Mail does advocate more traditional methods to save energy such as better insulation, “turning the thermostat down,” and “using low-energy light bulbs.” However, these traditional methods to reduce energy consumption can be supplemented by renewable energy projects such as home wind power and solar roofing. It is important to reduce consumption, because most energy is not wasted living comfortably, but most energy is unnecessarily wasted on “inefficient appliances, lights, motors and vehicles.” Certainly, technology continues to provide cheaper products that produce bigger energy savings, and the same is true for these microturbines. I believe coupled with traditional methods to save energy and solar roofing, microturbines can be a smart choice in some areas. From MLive.com, MI:

According to Southwest Windpower, the Arizona-based company that manufactures the turbine, Skystream is capable of generating more than 40 percent of a home’s electricity, in some instances shaving more than $500 off energy bills every year.

. . .

Purchasing a wind turbine doesn’t automatically make you energy independent, but it’s a start, said Miriam Robbins, marketing manager for Southwest Windpower.

Nationwide, 2,000 Skystream wind turbines have been sold, Robbins said, adding that she credits the turbine’s simple design for the steady sales.

“Compared to some other small wind turbines, it’s designed to be ‘plug and play,’ ” Robbins said. “It’s not very complex.”

. . .

Unlike commercial wind turbines, which often rise more than 300 feet in the air, residential turbines are sometimes not more than a few feet high and capable of generating electricity at wind speeds starting at 3 mph.

One such model is being developed by E-Net LLC, a technology development company operating out of the Grand Valley State University energy center in Muskegon.

The model, which likely will be put into production in early 2009, could cost under $2,000 and be capable of generating up to 20 percent of a home’s electricity.

“In an urban environment, more times than not you’re better off with a solar panel,” said Mr. Stimmel, of the wind industry association.

A recent British study of wind on home roofs found that turbines generate less power than installers projected because of lower-than-expected wind speeds. Ian Woofenden, a senior editor at Home Power magazine who teaches wind workshops, estimates that electricity from rooftop turbines may cost $1.50 a kilowatt hour or more. (That is enough electricity to run a hair dryer for an hour, roughly.)

Rooftop wind advocates argue that output will turn out to be healthy in windy areas, and they also think that prices for small turbines will come down as the market grows, altering the economics.

. . .

AeroVironment officials say that rooftop turbines at windy sites in states with costly electricity could pay for themselves in four to eight years, but acknowledge that in places with low power prices, the turbines may never recoup their costs.

In May and June, the 20 Logan turbines combined produced just 1,430 kilowatt hours — less than the average home would use over that time. Airport authorities said, however, that the Boston winds pick up in the fall and winter. Mr. Leno thinks his turbine has generated about 725 kilowatt hours in six months of operation.

“You can say, ‘That’s not a lot,’ or ‘Every bit helps,’ ” Mr. Leno said.

British studies have recently suggested that making and transporting turbines for cities may lead to more carbon dioxide emissions than the turbines save.

Image Found Here

On the Net: AeroVironment, Inc. Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Energy Technology, Charging Systems

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Photo source for attribution here, here and here. The authors or licensors of these images do not endorse my work or me and their images are protected under an attribution license.

Written by Buck Denton

September 7th, 2008 at 9:55 am

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged with Energy Mix of the Future, Home Wind Power, Microturbines, Renewable Resources, Rooftop Microturbines, Wind Power

WIND POWER: Wind farms cause thousands of bats to die from trauma: study

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This is a setback for wind power, and it’s certainly a problem that needs a solution, since bats are a keystone species; therefore, bats are necessary for a healthy landscape. However, I still believe that wind power, on land and offshore, is very much needed and necessary for a cleaner environment. From Gizmodo

On the list of ways to go, having your lungs explode is definitely on the gnarlier side. Too bad for bats in treehugging locales, though, because that’s what’s happening to them, due to a pretty serious error with their awesome echolcation systems crossing with the seemingly benign forces of Bernoulli’s principle put into motion by the turbines’ huge spinning blades. Ouch all around.

What happens is the bats’ internal echolocation, which tracks movement, attracts them to the blades of wind turbines, which presents another fairly obvious problem. But a University of Calgary researcher, puzzled by bats dying off in large numbers around wind farms in southern Alberta has found that those that don’t get cut down by the blades (surprisingly only 50%) are actually dying from exploded lungs, or barotrauma; the low pressure areas around the spinning rotors, as explained by our friend Bernoulli, cause the bats’ tiny air sacs to burst. Even those that do get knocked out of the sky by the blades have their lungs popped beforehand—of the 188 dead bats in the study, 90% had barotrauma as the cause of death.

Written by Buck Denton

August 26th, 2008 at 11:13 am

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged with Barotrauma, Bats, Renewable Resources, Wind Power

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS PICKS

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ACID RAIN: Acid rain molecule tells all

AGRICULTURE: Urban farming blooms in London

AIR POLLUTION: China’s olympic pollution efforts paid off, expert says, Dutch paving stones clean air pollution: A Dutch University will see if chemically tricked-out paving stones can clean the air

ANIMAL MIGRATIONS: Vanishing animal migrations need saving, experts say

ARCTIC MELTING: Vanishing Arctic ice may hurt Japan’s wildlife, tourism

ENERGY: Green Conservative Newt Gingrich claims tire inflation lines big oil’s pockets, Power from your tailpipe? It’s possible

FOOD: The ruby roman: Japan’s colossal new grape

FUEL EFFICIENCY STANDARDS: Sweden requires fuel-efficient driving lessons

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY: Geothermal power tapping its potential: A New York seminary and 3 million households are discovering that it is a viable alternative as oil prices keep rising steeply

GLACIAL MELTING: Glaciers before and after

GLOBAL WARMING: Kangaroo farming could reduce global warming

HOUSING MARKET: Pets abandoned by owners after foreclosure: Animals are the newest mortgage victims as owners leave pets behind, House sold for $1 in sign of US property crisis: In a sign of how desperate the property crisis has become in parts of the US, a foreclosed house in Detroit has sold for just one dollar – around 50 pence, Swimming pools at foreclosed houses become mosquitoes’ home

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: The 11 least fuel efficient hybrids

INVASIVE SPECIES: Invasive snail multiplying in Lake Michigan, Venomous lionfish prowls fragile Caribbean waters

JELLYFISH: Mysterious jellyfish swarms seen in Europe, U.S.

MADAGASCAR: Black-and-white ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata) listed as critically endangered

MARINE MAMMALS: Humpback whales on road to recovery

NATURE: In shark vs. polar bear smackdown, shark wins: A polar bear jawbone recently found in the stomach of a Greenland shark

NUCLEAR WASTE: McCain camp lies about Nevada nuclear waste dump

OFFSHORE DRILLING: Comment by Wesley P. Warren, Director of Programs / NRDC, McCain appears on oil rig to strengthen call for offshore drilling: A July oil-rig appearance had been scuttled after Hurricane Dolly and a major oil spill both struck the Gulf of Mexico region, Worth the risk? Debate on offshore drilling heats up, Texas A&M economist weighs pros and cons of offshore drilling, Wellington chamber weighs pros, cons of offshore drilling

SCIENCE: Deep-diving seals are cheap labor for Antarctic surveys, ‘Sugar coating’ used to waterproof paper

ZOOLOGICAL CONSERVATION: Largest insectarium in the U.S. recently opened in New Orleans, Lonesome George a Father?

WIND POWER: Off shore wind farm locations found via satellite

Written by Buck Denton

August 21st, 2008 at 12:47 pm

OFFSHORE DRILLING: John McCain’s all of the above energy policy is out of touch

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John McCain is a snake-oil salesman. His energy policy might sound great to the average American, but is John McCain’s all of the above philosophy, that promotes both alternatives and offshore drilling together, the best policy to meet present-day energy demands? Certainly, it is not the best policy.

I do not trust McCain’s energy policy, because he has a poor record on both environmental and energy issues, which are interrelated. Furthermore, his straight talk approach implies business as usual or the status quo, and his straight talk approach on energy is a farce to falsely comfort Americans from the reality that we live in a finite world with finite resources.

Given McCain’s poor voting record on environmental issues, and his close ties to the oil industry (see how big oil rushed money to McCain after he “reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling” at the Washington Post), does McCain really have a new energy policy that is both imaginative and applicable in today’s world? I don’t think he does, because we have heard the same rhetoric from the Presidency of George W. Bush. We haven’t seen any significant policy or infrastructure to meet both energy and climate change demands come from the Presidency of George W. Bush. What we have seen from the Presidency of George W. Bush on energy and climate change is foot dragging. In fact, states have taken the lead in building the renewable energy infrastructure, and the federal government has not. I don’t trust McCain’s energy policy, because I hear and have heard the President make the same pitch. However, I do have some questions for John McCain:

What does the McCain energy policy actually do? What are the numbers?
Who are the projected winners and who are the projected losers (and please don’t say the American people are winners)?
What is the role of renewable energy in the McCain all of the above philosophy towards energy policy? Again, what are the numbers?
What is the role of nuclear power in the McCain energy policy? Numbers?

I think McCain is the one who is out of touch with America. Just like the gas tax holiday, McCain is wrong again, because given the world demand for oil, offshore drilling is a drop in the bucket, and isn’t worth the risk. Furthermore, I think his recent attacks on Obama for recommending that properly inflated tires save energy shows he is further out of touch. From TIME:

But who’s really out of touch? The Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 bbl. per day by 2030. We use about 20 million bbl. per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone did, we could immediately reduce demand several percentage points. In other words: Obama is right.

More data is here to refute McCain’s claim that Obama is out of touch with America for recommending that properly inflated tires save energy:

Earlier this year, we cosponsored the Alliance to Save Energy’s Drive Smarter Challenge. As part of this campaign we advocated maintaining proper tire pressure as one simple step consumers could take to increase fuel economy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. It’s more important than you may think. For instance, did you know…

• The Department of Energy estimates that 1.2 billion gallons of fuel were wasted in 2005 as a result of driving on under-inflated tires.

• Fuel efficiency is reduced by 1% for every 3 PSI that tires are under-inflated.

• Proper tire inflation can save the equivalent of about 1 tank of gas per year.

• Proper tire inflation also reduces CO2 emissions.

• Experts estimate that 25% of automobiles are running on tires with lower than recommended pressure, because people don’t know how to check their tires or don’t realize that tires naturally lose air over time.

Below are the voting records of both John McCain and Barack Obama from the League of Conservation Voters. McCain has a voting score of 0%, so between both candidates, who do you trust on environmental and energy issues?

Obama responds to McCain’s out of touch attacks: “It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant.” Furthermore, Obama actually mentions updating the electricity grid, which is perhaps the most important factor in promoting energy efficiency (and this video illustrates why I am voting for Obama):