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  • Bonian Golmohammadi: Why We Need a Global Environmental Organization

    Bonian Golmohammadi: Why We Need a Global Environmental Organization:

    This article seems to do a good job of organizing the current research. It builds a good case for global action.

    The global organization is needed, yes. But that is part of the problem. The dysfunction of individual governments is amplified many, many times when it comes to global organizations such as the UN. I think that a big part of the denier ideology is the fear of the following logic train:
    1) Global warming (yes)
    2) Human caused (debate mainly over how much)
    If yes to 1 & 2, then we have a moral and fiduciary responsibility to:
    3) start taking action, at least prudent action.
    4) Global coordination and cooperation are required.
    5) The UN is the logical place to start…
    Sooo, what if the global and UN involvement is an unacceptable alternative?
    It’s hard for those of us who have thought about the outcomes and the possible ramification of climate change to get our heads around the likely results. The ideas of taking huge sums of money, giving it to an organ of the UN, and having them giving it to climate refugees is ugly in all the ways you look at it.
    To the extent that we all can have non-government solutions, the better all around. It will certainly help get people on board as they try to work themselves past #1 and #2 above.
    So, I’ll come back and check the article and its links to see how well they did.
    Thanks. EH

  • A Year for the Record Books | Planet3.0

    A Year for the Record Books | Planet3.0:

    ‘via Blog this’

    This to us from MacDonald from GreenDistrict…
    It is one of several places to start rounding up the status of sustainability (gain &) loss for 2011 and start to plan for 2012.
    As we start to organize the (un)balanced scorecard for an unsustainable year of horrific sustainability numbers…
    ?What would be a good summary for the year, even if the summary has a lot of bad news in it?
    Non-Decisions might sum it up. Economically, you have the dysfunction of the US and EU. Efforts are on to eliminate the EPA from federal and state governments. Imagine a budget bill to keep the federal government running for the first two months of 2012 that contains efforts to stop energy efficient light bulbs.
    (Light bulbs will have to be 25% more efficient is basically the law. The obvious replacement could be — but doesn’t have to be — compact florescent lights that save about $20 to $35 over the life of each bulb, PLUS a huge savings in electric energy which is currently being produced 50% from ain’t-no-such-thing-as-clean coal. Europe did it a couple years ago. The arguments against the new law use obsolete and unfounded facts.)
    Globally, climate response talks have been pretty pathetic since Copenhagen (Dec 2010) and there’s been a lot of talks on several continents since then. Without the biggest polluters in the world on board — China, USA & India — the whole thing disintegrates. Now with Canada jumping off the bandwagon that means about 50% of the world’s pollution and emissions will go on with little or no impediments. Apparently, the idea now is to proceed with the old Kyoto protocol while a permanent agreement is being reached.
    But, what’s almost as scary as the global-warming/climate-change metrics that came in this year, is the development of yet another massive UN organization. But this one would, by its very nature, have to have a long reach into the countries who are members. Big bucks to help countries that will be most impacted by droughts, floods, etc. This would include island countries that are about to become much smaller as the sea levels rise. I wonder if Key West will qualify. (By century end, the Keys should be 25% to 50%+ under water.)
    At this point, Nuclear (ouch!) and NatGas looking a whole lot better than they probably should. NatGas is sooo much cleaner than (dirty or relatively dirty) coal, and it’s not destabilizing to the world economies (wars, trade balances and shifts of wealth to less-than stable countries).
    For some reason, you would think that the “sustainability” measure would provide self-evident solutions. If fuel is not renewable… then it can’t be used forever… then you should make plans now to replace it… and continue to do so… until that fuel is no longer needed and totally replaced by renewable sources.
    Bloomberg puts it well for the whole of a business (or any organization): “If you don’t have a sustainability plan, you don’t have a business plan.” See http://www.bloomberg.com/sustainability/ 
    Now, if only there were good private sector solutions to some of these problems of sustainability!… Hmmm…

  • Tracking water on the move « The Cost of Energy

    Tracking water on the move « The Cost of Energy:

    ‘via Blog this’

    Check out this blog about water.

    Video about GRACE and tracking water from space. They analyze land-water depletion with increased rise in ocean levels.

    Note the discussion by Famiglietti about the areas of drought: above and below ground water levels… Since the change in water is the primary difference that impacts (land)mass, the GRACE satellites can measure the changes. And it seems with a whole lot of precision.

    There’s more to come from the lecture series on water that’s upcoming.

    Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. One argument is, that the the next wars will be over water? …

    Well… Let’s toss our coins over the edge… and make a big wish! …

    for a more sustainable productive New Year in 2012.

  • How Telecommuting Lets Workers Mobilize for Sustainability

    How Telecommuting Lets Workers Mobilize for Sustainability: “According to Gartner, this drive to mobility will become a $1 trillion market in the next four years. T”

    This is a great article from March ’11, but it mentions many of the key benefits and issues with telecommuting.

    Included in the article is: “According to Gartner, this drive to mobility will become a $1 trillion market in the next four years.”

    The savings from telecommuting are too great, and too immediate, to ignore.

  • Bloomberg News Adds Its Two Cents to Sustainability Debate

    Bloomberg News Adds Its Two Cents to Sustainability Debate: ““If you don’t have a sustainability plan, you don’t have a business plan” is the note on which the media company”

    If that’s the case, and I believe it is, there are very few companies out there who really have a Business Plan.

    The very first order of business is doing an energy/water/carbon audit. I should think that ever few smaller companies/organization have done that.