Green Sexy

The Pickens Plan---Why Him, Why Now?

T. Boone Pickens, Jr. has seen the light; namely the blue flame of natural gas and the sun shining off the blades of wind turbines.   It wasn't always this way; you see, Pickens was born into an oil family, and later built his fortune via oil and the takeover of other oil companies.  Pickens spent many years steamrolling his rivals, many of whom were environmentalists.  He spent obscene amounts of money supporting Republican candidates, and even gave the maximum $250,000 to help get good 'ol fellow oil man George W. Bush back into office for another four years.  So, with a track record like that, why has Pickens renounced his Republican ties and embraced the mantra of those environmentalists he used to bury?  One must first examine the tenets of his energy initiative to fully understand his motive.

I first learned of his new energy initiative, which he has aptly named "The Pickens Plan", via a television commercial that he produced.  Pickens states very clearly that he thinks the cost of oil (and not just in terms of dollars) is detrimental to our nation.  He proposes that we utilize the strong winds of the Midwestern States (which he has dubbed the "Saudi Arabia of wind power") by building the world's largest windmill farm to help produce 20% of the nation's power (as opposed to the current 1%).  He does acknowledge that it would take more than 1 trillion dollars in investments to make this a reality, but he states that "it's a one-time cost. And compared to the $700 billion we spend on foreign oil every year, it's a bargain."  With wind power easing our dependence on foreign oil somewhat, Pickens then proposes that we divert the natural gas that currently accounts for 22% of our nation's energy supply and use it to fuel natural gas powered vehicles.  That way, says Pickens, we'll reduce our dependence on foreign oil by one-third.

Boone told the Associated Press, "I'm doing it for America", and not for personal gain.  Hey---just look at the fact that Boone plans to spend $58 million of his estimated $3 billion net worth on an advertising campaign for his plan.  Doesn't that give credence to his claim of altruism?  In addition to his out-of-pocket expenses for his advertising campaign, he will also drop a pretty penny on all the windmills he vows to put up.  In fact, Boone's company, Mesa Power, has just placed an order in May 2008 to purchase 667 windmills from General Electric.  That is a very promising development that shows that Pickens plans to put his money where his mouth is.  However, the flow of money is not just coming out of his deep pockets---he expects a large return from the natural gas angle of his plan.  You see, Pickens' company Clean Energy Fuels, Inc. "owns and operates natural gas fueling stations from British Columbia to the Mexican border."  Thus, if there's more natural gas powered vehicles on the road, then they'll need stations to fuel up at---Pickens-owned stations. 

But hey, I don't necessarily begrudge a man for trying to turn a profit---especially on an idea that may prove to be beneficial to the energy health of our country.  Pickens has been a self-serving man his whole life, but the difference this time is that he is also trying to do something beneficial for more than just his cronies and shareholders.  There are many obstacles in his way, many of whom are oil companies that he used to rub elbows with.  Of course there's also politicians whose support he'll need, and I'm not sure he'll have enough dollars to grease all of their palms.  In any case, his large public profile and his equally large bankroll gives the renewable energy crowd some more hope for a cleaner, greener future.

Tune in next time for an examination of our nation's natural gas reserves and how it may impact The Pickens Plan.

 

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George Bush Did Not Leave His Heart In San Francisco

Brian McConnell and a group of friends thought it would be a fitting tribute to name a San Francisco area sewage treatment plant after outgoing President George W. Bush.  Thus, the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco was formed, and 10, 000 signatures later, the measure to rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant has qualified for the November ballot.  Proponents of the measure cite President Bush's blunders, from the Iraq war to his handling of the economy, and the fact that we'll all be left to "clean up the mess".  Thus, the sewage plant renaming seems like a fitting move to many.

On one hand, passing this measure would really be a blow to President Bush's legacy and would be a tangible demonstration of the disgust of many an American over President Bush's ineptitude. 

On the other hand, this would just confirm a lot of people's opinions of San Franciscans as a bunch of wackie hippy liberals who do more "fighting of the man" than they do actually doing something of true worth.  Also, there are defenders of the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant who say that it, as an entity "is anything but a symbol of inadequacy", and that "Without it, raw sewage and storm water would flow into the bay and the oceans and the streets. That's not our understanding of what the authors of this initiative believe the current president has delivered."

How will San Franciscan voters respond to this measure?  No one knows, but from now on whenever I flush a toilet, I will be reminded of President Bush.  I guess it gives another meaning to the term "W." C.

Ansel Adams: An Artist & Conservationist

We all know Ansel Adams as a gifted photographer who is best known for his stunning black and white photographs of Yosemite National Park.  What you may not know is that Ansel Adams was also an ardent environmentalist and conservationist whose involvement in the Sierra Club furthered the success of that organization and of its environmental initiatives nationwide.   In 1919 at the age of 17, Ansel started off as custodian of the Sierra Club's headquarters in Yosemite National Park.  In 1928 he became Sierra Club's official trip photographer.  In 1930 Ansel became the assistant manager of Sierra Club's annual outing.  His artistic career was furthered when "his first photographs and writings were published in the Sierra Club Bulletin.  In 1934, Adams was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sierra Club, a role he maintained for 37 years."  A volume of Ansel's photographs of the King's River region was instrumental in influencing the Interior Secretary and President Franklin Roosevelt to create Kings Canyon Park in 1940.  "In 1968 Adams was awarded the Conservation Service Award, the Interior Department's highest civilian honor" and "In 1980 Adams received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for 'his efforts to preserve this country's wild and scenic areas, both on film and on earth.' "  So thanks to Ansel Adams, we can appreciate the beauty of nature in the pictures he took and in the parks he was instrumental in helping to create.      

Here's a beautiful excerpt from a letter Ansel wrote to a friend, as revealed on Ansel Adams American Experience on PBS: 

"A strange thing happened to me today. I saw a big thundercloud move down over Half Dome, and it was so big and clear and brilliant that it made me see many things that were drifting around inside of me; things that relate to those who are loved and those who are real friends. For the first time I know what love is; what friends are; and what art should be. Love is a seeking for a way of life; the way that cannot be followed alone; the resonance of all spiritual and physical things...Friendship is another form of love -- more passive perhaps, but full of the transmitting and acceptances of things like thunderclouds and grass and the clean granite of reality. Art is both love and friendship and understanding: the desire to give. It is not charity, which is the giving of things. It is more than kindness, which is the giving of self. It is both the taking and giving of beauty, the turning out to the light of the inner folds of the awareness of the spirit. It is a recreation on another plane of the realities of the world; the tragic and wonderful realities of earth and men, and of all the interrelations of these."

Nicaraguan Earthship Featured on Green Real Estate Tour

Coldwell Banker Nicaragua Real Estate is offering a three-day Green Real Estate Tours sometime this year, with their Casa Llanta Earthship as one of its cornerstone examples of eco-friendly housing.  In addition to the Earthship there will be four other investment opportunities highlighted for you to drool over. 

Just to whet your appetite, check out this nifty video about the construction of the Casa Llanta Earthship:

WALL-E: Disney Goes Green?

Okay.  I admit it.  I loved the Pixar movie WALL-E.  Yes, I'm aware that it's a Disney movie---the same evil company that, along with a handful of other corporations, largely controls the media we are exposed to in this country and around the world.  I usually try to eschew Disney movies like the plague, but that has become a task too difficult to achieve in the last few years because of the somewhat recent appearance of a handful of nieces. 

Anyway, WALL-E is a fantastic cautionary tale of how a careless and consumer-driven society can destroy the Earth, effectively burying it under tons of garbage and e-waste.  The opening scene of the movie is worth the price of admission alone.  The movie opens up with a far shot of the Earth from space, and then as it zooms in closer you see what you think are skyscrapers, but in reality, they are towers of garbage created by armies of Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class robots, or WALL-E, for short.  A Wal-Mart-esque company named BnL (for "Buy N Large") had effectively hijacked the world's consciousness, pushing its agenda of buying for the sake of buying.  BnL even had worked its way into the oval office (which is not a far cry from the influence that Wal-Mart has on Washington's "finest").  With such unchecked influence, humans became mass-consumers, and consequently, mass-wasters.  Eventually, Earth was evacuated by the BnL corporation because it had become a giant garbage dump.  The only thing left behind were the WALL-E robots and cockroaches. 

Another slam at American excess in this movie is the fact that, after 700+ years on the BnL spaceship they had originally evacuated on, humans have become morbidly obese, lazy, leisure-addicted slobs, who ride around in electronic recliners, while an army of servant robots wait on them.  These humans are plugged-in and tuned out, overstimulated and overfed---alive, but not really living their lives.  Sound like anyone you know?

I guess what I liked most about this movie is that it is an excellent commentary on our modern capitalistic consumer-driven society, and really makes us take a hard look at ourselves.  Trust me, I did not give away too much, so go see this movie!

Hot Eco-Friendly Cheerleaders!

So, now that I've got your attention...

The Philadelphia Eagles are releasing an eco-friendly 2008-2009 calendar featuring their 38 cheerleaders wearing swimsuits made from organic or recycled materials (such as plastic bottles) and other alternative textile sources such as bamboo.  This kind of exposure (pardon the pun) for sexy and ecologically-responsible swim wear could create a spike in sales for such items, which can't be a bad thing.  Oh yeah, the calendar is also printed on post-consumer recycled paper.

So guys, when your significant other voices objections to your Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader calendar that you hung up in your garage, just say that you're doing it for the environment. 

Now that's Green-Sexy!

Despite Global Warming, A Glacier Is GROWING?

In a USA Today article, Lonnie Thompson, a glacier expert at Ohio State University said that "Climate change is causing roughly 90% of the world's mountain glaciers to shrink."  Thanks to global warming, glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, the Rocky Mountains, the ice fields of Patagonia in Argentina and Chile, and ice masses elsewhere in the world are shrinking at an alarming rate.  In fact, "Warmer temperatures have cut the number of glaciers at Montana's Glacier National Park from 150 to 26 since 1850, and some scientists project there will be none left within 25 to 30 years."  Guess they'll have to rename that park, eh?   According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Earth's frozen ground in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased by about 7% since 1900.  For those who like to poo-poo all the talk about global warming as...poo poo, well, they fail to consider that the more ice that melts, the more the sea levels will rise, which will have detrimental effects on coastlines and waterways worldwide (ie.- Waterworld with Kevin Costner).

So, what's this about a glacier that is growing despite the rise in global temperatures?  Mount Shasta, a peak 14,000 feet above sea level that is 270 miles north of San Francisco, has seven glaciers that "are the only historical glaciers in the continental U.S. known to be growing."  How can this be?  It seems that these glaciers are actually benefiting from global warming in that it now receives more moisture from a warming Pacific Ocean, which falls in the form of snow, thus adding to the size of the glaciers.  In fact, Mount Shasta's glaciers have been growing since the early 20th Century.  This is not an isolated phenomenon.  According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, glaciers in southern Norway and Sweden, the New Zealand Alps and northern Pakistan have also (until recently) benefited from this change in global temperatures.  Unfortunately, Mount Shasta's glaciers' growth won't forever be able to stay ahead of the rising temperatures.  It is estimated that all of Mount Shasta's glaciers will be gone by 2100 because its current rate of snowfall can't keep up with the estimated 11.2% increase in global temperatures by the end of the century.

It is sad to think that one day all of the beautiful glaciers we enjoy today will be gone, and even more sad to think that that day is not far off.  Naturalist John Muir once said of Mount Shasta: "When I first caught sight of it over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley, I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since."   

5 Good Reasons Not To Shop At Wal-Mart

I did it---I stepped into a Wal-Mart for the first time in over four years!  Why did I break my solemn vow to avoid the blue beast?  Well, I was visiting my parents in Pennsylvania and my dad was freaking out because he had to use his government-issued Digital TV Converter Box Coupon by the end of July, so we promptly hopped in the car and drove to Best Buy.  Unfortunately, Best Buy was sold out of the converters, but my parents proclaimed that Wal-Mart would have it.

I could feel my throat tightening up as we pulled into the Wal-Mart lot.  My mind raced, desperately trying to come up with some excuse for why I couldn't enter the den of the Enemy.  In the end, like a dutiful son, I walked through the gates of hell with my parents.  Amazingly, I didn't burst into flames or fall to the ground in convulsions---no, I just pursed my lips in resignation and set my gaze hard against the lure of low, low prices. 

So, why am I so dead-set against Wal-Mart?  I'll give you 5 good reasons not to shop there:

1. Wal-Mart Supercenters increase traffic within your community.  According to the Institute of Traffic Engineers, "a 200,000 sq. ft. discount center on average results in 76,232 car trips per week (with the high end of the range being 92,806)."*  That in turn, would lead to further costs for the community (ie.- infrastructure repair and upkeep and environmental degredation)**.

2. Wal-Mart has closed hundreds of stores nationwide, leaving "some 28 million square feet of empty space today in communities across the country."  With shareholders to please, Wal-Mart is in a constant rush to replace perfectly functional, but older stores with Supercenters, leaving behind abandoned buildings and empty parking lots.*  In fact, this very practice occurred in a nearby town of Brockport, NY, where they closed down a regular Wal-Mart and put up a Supercenter less than a mile away!  Thanks for the dead plaza, guys!

3. Wal-Mart is the Orient of the far West.  "70% of the commodities sold in Wal-Mart are made in China." In addition, "Wal-Mart was responsible for about 1/10th of the U.S. trade deficit with China in 2005."  Also, "If Wal-Mart were an individual economy, it would rank as China's eighth-biggest trading partner, ahead of Russia, Australia and Canada."**   In essence, Walmart has been able to lowball other retailers' prices by obtaining the lion's share of its products from China; a country that, like Mexico, lacks unions and thus has workers that earn low wages.  How many more jobs must our country lose to such unpatriotic business practices?

4. Wal-Mart is bad for National Security.  Wal-Mart has used its formidable political influence as the nation's number one retailer to affect politician's votes on national port security.  Walmart is number one among retailers in 20-foot port containers imported at more than half a million a year (that's 1 container every 45 seconds!).  One of the keys to keeping prices low is to keep the flow of merchandise from China and other foreign manufacturers from being slowed down by those pesky security checks.  Via its retail lobby group, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), Walmart has lobbied members of Congress to oppose 100% scanning of port containers (currently only 5-6% of all port containers coming into U.S. ports get scanned!).  Wal-Mart has also lavished cash on members of Congress: "As of 2006, Wal-Mart had given $191,500 to current House Homeland Security Committee members since 2000..."  "In the 109th Congress, eighteen of the committee's nineteen Republican members took in $173,000—90 percent of the total—and four of the committee's fourteen Democrats collected $18,500."  "In the past eight years, Wal-Mart's Washington Political Action Committee put more than $360,000 into current members of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee...twenty-three of the committee's 24 Republicans took Wal-Mart's money—82 percent of the total—compared to only eight of the committee's 17 Democrats."  "Wal-Mart also has spent $63,000 on current members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in the past eight years...Ninety-six percent of Wal-Mart's spending went to the committee's Republican members."  Republicans tough on terrorism?  With our ports being one of the most glaring deficiencies in our nation's defense, their actions against port security have made the prospect of "weapons of mass destruction" being smuggled into our ports via un-inspected port containers a frightening reality.**   

5. Wal-Mart is bad for the environment.  Wal-Mart recently executed a public-relations coup by bagging former Sierra Club president Adam Werbach as an environmental consultant.  This move improves their image as a burgeoning "green" company, but despite recent strides in a more ecologically-friendly direction (ie.- smaller packaging, compact fluorescent bulbs, etc.), Wal-Mart's overall negative environmental impact still dwarfs their efforts.  First, let's consider the overall size of a Supercenter---
200,000 square feet on average---all of that was former green space.  In addition, what about the size of the parking lot?  As said in a previous post:  "A hectare of trees (2.471 Acres or 107,637 square feet) can absorb 6 or more tons of carbon per year, according to the International Carbon Bank & Exchange."  Where's the carbon offset for all of the acres of those lost trees that were cleared?  With 2,300 Supercenters in the U.S., each occupying 20-30 acres of land (the size of a football field), the cumulative environmental impact is stunning.  Also consider the "thousands of standard Wal-Marts, Neighborhood Markets, Sam's Clubs, distribution centers and warehouses. It is the largest commercial entity in the United States, both physically and economically, and its stores require massive amounts of land, energy and labor to function."  In a 2005 report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, it was estimated "that Wal-Mart stores and parking lots covered roughly 75,000 acres (or 117 square miles) in the U.S., equal to the land size of Tampa, Florida" and that their "'Parking lots contribute directly to what is referred to as "non-point source water pollution,' the leading cause of water pollution in the United States."*

I could go on and on about why you shouldn't shop a Wal-Mart, from issues with workers' wages and rights, to health care issues, to its cost to taxpayers, to its corporate practices, to other environmental issues, etc., etc., etc.  It's going to take some sacrifice and some self-discipline, but it's doable.  My wife and I have not purchased anything from Wal-Mart in over four years, despite living in a somewhat isolated area where Wal-Mart is one of few shopping options. 

Do you have a good non-Wal-Mart streak going yourself?  Do you want to start one?  Share your story!       

*Information derived from Walmartwatch.com.
**Information derived from Wakeupwalmart.com.