Solar Panels In Carbondale CO. Photo by
SolarDave.
Solar is all about the green, and I’m not referring to that warm fuzzy earth day feeling either. I’m talking about the universal green – money. If solar didn’t make financial sense, no-one would invest into it. We’ve all read about rising energy costs, government solar subsidies, and cheaper solar technology. We’re all in agreement that solar power is clean, efficient, and the right thing to do. But, we’ve also heard that solar isn’t cheap. At least – not as affordable as our electric bill. But, that’s no longer the case. With bigger and bigger electric bills, we’re now having to consider alternatives.
On average, electric bills have increased over 7% each year during the last 20 years. Solar Panels have also come a long way during those twenty years as people search for alternative energy sources.
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Janusz Lewandowsk, the Polish budget commissioner and chief architect of the EU’s forthcoming €130 multi-annual budget, is receiving strong criticism after expressing his doubts about global warming and the future emission policies of the EU.
In an interview with a Polish newspaper Lewandowsk said that:
“We already have overambitious agreements on CO2 emission reduction. There is a notion that the thesis that coal energy is the main cause of global warming is highly questionable. Moreover, more and more often there is a question mark put over the whole [issue of] global warming as such.”
He also expressed doubts about EU’s future climate goal saying the CO2 reduction targets “are too ambitious for the Polish economy” and that “a quick jump away from coal” would for Poland “be a disaster”. And this was no misquote from the Polish newspaper. A spokesman for Lewandowski even confirmed the accuracy of the statements later to the EU observer: Read the rest of this story »
Volkswagen is threatening Earth by refusing to back critical laws we need to save our planet, Greenpeace says in new massive campaign against the automaker.
Greenpeace’s new corporate bad guy target is Europe’s biggest car company Volkswagen (VW) who is “spending millions” trying to stop stricter climate laws in Europe, the environmental organization claims. In a (cute) two-part spoof video (watch below) of Volkswagen’s ‘The Force’ superbowl ad Greenpeace is trying to put pressure on the automaker to support strong fuel efficiency standards, stop opposing CO2 emission cuts and to actually start producing cars with the latest green technology.
“Our home—Earth—is in trouble. VW opposes key environmental laws we need if we’re going to stop our planet going the way of Alderaan (bye bye). But all is not lost. We feel the good in Volkswagen. All of us in the Rebellion are calling on Volkswagen to turn away from the Dark Side and give our planet a chance.”
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Coal Power Plant south-west of Düsseldorf and Neuss in Germany. Photo by
Bruno D Rodrigues.
Marc Lee who is the senior economist for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and chair of the Progressive Economics Forum writes in one of his latest articles that we should see fossil fuel expansion as a crime against humanity. Lee writes:
“But I think we need to up the ante for those pursuing business as usual, the relentless expansion of oil and gas infrastructure that is causing these problems and guaranteeing that they will be worse in the future. Actions that lead to mass deaths and displacements, either directly due to a weather event or indirectly from impacts on land and livelihoods, beg for some accountability. I’m no international law-talking guy, but I believe that these things can only be called crimes against humanity.
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Barack Obama apologizes for his climate failure in
Copenhagen ads by Greenpeace and Tcktcktck.
In an essay titled “Climate of Denial“, published by the Rolling Stone magazine, the former Vice-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore criticizes President Barack Obama for failing to do enough to tackle climate change.
Gore does acknowledge the “incredible challenges” that is confronting President Obama and recognizes the climate-friendly efforts Obama has achieved, such as the historic improvements in fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles and for instructing EPA to “move forward on the regulation of global-warming pollution under the Clean Air Act”. But despite this Gore says Obama has “failed” to present “bold action on climate change” and that Obama has only “slightly” moved the country forward on the climate issue. Gore writes:
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Meet Casey Neistat, a male bicyclist in New York, who got fined $50 for not riding in the bike lane by a police officer. Casey tried to convince the officer that many times it was more safe to ride on the road instead of the bike lane but the officer didn’t care. So Casey decided to make a point about the NYPD ticketing bicyclists and show what could happen if you only ride in the bike lane. Despite the numerous objects blocking the bike lane Casey keeps on riding in the bike lane only. And as a result he ends up crashing into various piles of construction equipments, boxes, cars and even a police car. You can watch the video below. The video starts with his conversation with the police officer. The actual crashing starts about a minute in.
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An interesting wee film to watch online (a Norwegian TV documentary) “The lightbulb conspiracy” details a process that few people outside of manufacturing industry’s are even aware exists. So-called “planned obsolescence” or to put it in less PC terms, manufacturers designing stuff deliberately to fail after a certain period of time. In the case of the electronics industry this can involve literally putting a counter in, say a printer, and telling the printer to stop working after a certain period of time.
Ever had a digital camera suddenly stop working after several thousand shots for no obvious reason? Again planned obsolescence.
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