clinton in copenhagen

sec of state clinton speaking at copenhagen yesterday. the effort may have swayed the drifting interests of several countries back toward a place of common ground.

where energy and water meet...shocking!

49% of our nation's water supply is used by electrical power plants. this gross reality is largely overlooked. despite the consumption being half of all we use, i believe there are three basic, fundamental reasons for the lack of exposure to this issue:

1) lack of awareness: the public has no idea as to how power is generated, nor are we typically granted access to power plants--therefore, the out-of-sight-out-of-mind rule applies.

2) divergent from common logic: we know water and electricity is a fatal mix.

3) politics: there are deeply entrenched interests from both the water utility/water rights and the energy utility industries. long-standing subsidy of both industries helps to keep consumer cost down on the commodities, continuing to propagate the lack of attention to the energy-water nexus. 

the usgs produces a report every five years on our national water consumption. the 2005 report was just released and the summary can be reviewed here.

this growing concern of water consumption in electrical production will only increase even further with population growth and increased energy demands. the time to bridge the gap between these two siloed industries is now. the solution is a multi-pronged approach, including, first and foremost, enforced regulation to create energy industry conservation standards. standards for efficiency are a necessary evil in creating a tipping point which does not currently exist through market drivers.

building a collaborative relationship between both industries to identify the overlap in goals and move forward together is another key approach. again, this may not come via voluntary motives and may need to come as directive from a public utilities commission--which would unfortunately be at the state level, hindering widespread adoption. there are several other strategies to employ for curbing this growing issue. some of which are highlighted in the department of energy (doe), national energy technology lab, los alamos national lab, and sandia national lab report to congress.

60% in favor of cap and trade, per cnn poll

controversial cap and trade received a favorable 6 out of 10 in a poll sampling conducted by cnn.

fore!

in such a humane gesture, our friend gee-dub
decided to
quit playing golf because of the iraq occupation.

in such a saintly vow, i am not sure why we don't exonerate him for such a chaste act of nobility.

i-ran

so the u.s. sent 3 naval warships into the persian gulf last weekend. geez, and for some reason, the iranians counteracted by sending out 5 speedboats (yes, speedboats) to head off the naval cruisers and tell them to get out of their neighborhood.





what i don't quite understand is how we have the audacity to say that this counteraction was a "provocative act" and aggressive on behalf of the iranians.





are you to tell me that if 3 armed naval vessels from a major army that comes barreling in off the coast of los angeles or the gulf of mexico or new york bay--we wouldn't send out exploratory boats to head them off and tell them to go away? and to pair apples with apples, this major army has also invaded and occupied a neighboring country for the past 5 years. logically, would we not act in the same way?





i believe that this "us and them" philosophy is archaic. to achieve our goals of world stability and peaceful living, we need to create more international dialog and step out of the ideology that in order to attain peace we must wage war.





nyt article and reuters.

inane counteraction

what is the opposite of progressive environmental legislation?


this bush-led epa bill that prevents states from accomplishing emissions standards that should be championed by the epa in the first place.

it is a sad, sad day.

oh, gee dumb-ah-ya... you just don't quite get it, do you?

"there is no more time for longwinded talks about unenforceable long-term goals,” said david doniger, climate policy director for the natural resources defense council, an advocacy group in washington. “we need to get a serious commitment to cut emissions now and in the g-8.”

b'more smog'more

i've been meaning to blog this one for awhile. not only is this deplorable, as baltimore has received a big ol' "f" from the lung association and councilwoman pugh biked a whopping one day to work back in '04, but the publicity photo that they chose to use for the publication regarding air quality has some random woman sitting in the background eating a box lunch and billowing out a monster puff of smoke just as they snapped the photo.

couldn't they have cropped the woman out of the photo at least?

sorry, charlie.

"even if deadlines for troop withdrawals are dropped as expected, democratic leaders are claiming victory in the high-profile fight with bush."

sorry dems, puff up your chests as you may, but you lost.

bye-bye, wolfie

thanks for separating the classes and cultures further. the world bank's neo-classical imperialistic approach needs a dramatic overhaul. let's hope that wolfie is succeeded by a numbers economist with a heart and a brain and some nerve---perhaps we should ask the wizard?

worker safety

Since George W. Bush became president, OSHA has issued the fewest significant standards in its history, public health experts say. It has imposed only one major safety rule. The only significant health standard it issued was ordered by a federal court.--New York Times, full article.

inane leader of the free* world

i place my faith in congress to scrutinize and snub this horrific plan.

*some restrictions apply

trans-law

coming full circle with this trans-fat ban post, new york has now approved the legislation. this is a milestone in protecting public health, in my opinion. transfats and their hydrogenated parents can eff off.

the skies may be clearing

the war machine and its pilot may be crumbling, and everyday life moves onward.

descimation

if this study by jhsph is accurate, and we are recommitting, the estimated death toll for an additional 4 years would surpass 1.4 million. our politicians do not want to agree with this study's findings, but the academic world of statisticians feels that the numbers are seemingly valid.

graph source: the lancet, brittish medical journal

look fellas!

he writes!

monkey boy writes!