Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day 2008 and I feel that more than ever this day is receiving a lot of attention of late. Why is this? Have, we the consumer, become more ecologically tuned to our 'surroundings?' Highly unlikely, as most people rarely notice the shifts in the seasons, can name a local plant species, or tell you the name of a bird singing. BUT they can tell you off hand about a 100 different corporate brands.

This is what I was thinking today when I got up knowing that today is Earth Day. Back a few years ago in a sustainability class in college, the professor, Dr. K., asked us to use a piece of clear overhead projector plastic and divide it into two columns. He then proceeded to ask us to draw the logo of any brand we could think of. I think we had something like 2-3 minutes or so. We then tallied how many different brands/logos we had compiled. A decent list to boot. Example: Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Taco Bell, McDonalds, Ford, Chevy, Dolche, Starbucks, etc etc etc.

He then asked us to draw on the other half, the name and shape of leaf of the local trees (southwest Ohio). I flubbed, which is hard to admit, as I knew roughly 4 times more brand names than tree species. Maybe a red oak? Possibly a sycamore? Oh yea, Honeysuckle...oh wait that is invasive...It really was a wake-up to show how 'out of touch' we are to our surroundings...I say try it, see if you can do better!

So why, Zachawii, this rant? I just ask that don't let yourself get caught up in the 'green' movement just because its there. There is a lot of marketing and corporate hoopla going into today that can detract from the real message: care and respect for Mother Nature. The corporate influence of today is starting to feel like Christmas, which has been so corporatized that many probably do not know the origins of the celebration.

One last sour grape; the ubiquitous phrase of 'Save the Planet?' Save the Planet from what? The world works on one very basic principal, establishing equilibrium. If something is out of equilibrium Mother Nature corrects it. Humanity is but a blink, and the Earth has function fined with out us. We (humanity) may throw the planet out of balance (global warming) but Mother Nature will reestablish equilibrium, whether we are around to see it or not is another question. Its not saving the planet, its more of preserving the planet so that it hospitable for the human race to continue to flourish, which I'm all for. I love living, I love the planet...and I love Earth Day for what it is...a celebration of nature in its glory...not about the promotion of Clorox Green Works! I promise my rant is over ;-)
Cheers!

Hangin High with Oil

Hanging Climate Change out to DRY!
This topic has been swirling around my mind like my socks on Sunday wash day. I first picked up this topic a couple of months back with a report in the NYTimes about a guy who was fighting against neighborhood planning commissions over the right to hang up laundry in ones back yard. Finally, with the help of TreeHugger, I have the article in which to formulate my thoughts!

One of my most vivid childhood memories is that of helping my mom hang up the laundry on the clothes line in the back yard. Five lines were strung between two T poles at either end of the yard and nearly our entire weeks worth of wash could fit on the line at the same time. I can still smell the clothes line smell of the fresh air that dried the clothes. I will admit that I HATED having my jeans dried on the line, but that is but a small inconvenience. The only items that were dried were the personal items (socks and underwear) or when the temperature was to crappy in which to utilize the line.

Electric clothes dryers using between 5-10% of residential electricity each year and the benefits of hanging clothes outside clearly outweigh the negatives. First and foremost, the weather for nearly all of the US is ideal for hanging clothes whether in the summer or in winter. There are locations in which the temperature is below freezing for much of the winter and its nearly impossible to hang clothes outside during this time. But if you hang clothes indoor during the winter, it can act as a humidifier for the dry air in the home. Plus, clothes last longer, sunlight is a natural disinfectant, and the smell is something that no chemical can beat! Best of all...its FREE, minus the small purchase of a piece of rope, or a drying rack for the indoors!

I am flabbergasted to find that many community organizations ban the presence of a clotheslines from a persons private property. It is hard to believe that anyone would be opposed to something that is so environmentally friendly and easy to do. It screams comfy down home American neighborhood, yet, many developments ban such lines and fine homeowners if they are found to have a clothes line. I think, with the current downturn in the economy, that these communities would be more willing to allow clotheslines, they are defiantly more appealing than row after row of For Sale signs that dot the landscape now.

High Oil
I really should just stop writing about high oil prices, since everyone else seems to be writing about it now as well. So, unless oil tops $110 (US) or is something interesting that I feel I should pass along, oil is officially dead in this blog. I am tired of the media feeding the speculation, which has driven prices higher. In a way, I am for higher prices for fuel, as I am ashamed at how wasteful our society has become on the cheap fuel that we have become addicted to. But when the fundamentals of supply and demand no longer dictate the price of a particular item, I just don't buy it. This weeks EIA report shows that US stocks of oil rose for the eighth straight week and gasoline inventories are at least 8% higher than the running 5 year average. This doesn't have as big of an impact on gas prices as one would hope as oil is running $40 (US) higher than a year ago and the drastic increase in the price of oil is just now really starting to be pushed onto the consumer. Diesel fuel is at an all time high and gas prices will soon follow suit. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of months. We, can for the sake of our pocketbooks, hope that the Fed doesn't decide to lower interest rates any more and investors pull profits and oil prices recede some. But don't hold your breath on that, it is oil by the way, and no matter how high it goes, we're all still sucking it down like a fine bottle of whine!
Cheers

Dominica's "Resource Curse"

I recently posted about my disappointment of the government of Dominica to accepting to build an oil refinery for Venezuela. It is hard to get steady news streams from Dominica but there are a few people who are keeping information abreast of what is happening on the island. Check out Dominican View, Living Dominica or Dominica Oil to get some snapshots of what has been happening, but unfortunately there is no good single outlet of information. But that’s what makes if fun!

Recently I stumbled upon an article in Newsweek that talks about the "resource curse" associated with oil and other valuable commodities like diamonds or gold. This is a discussion that I have had several times with my friend Bob, who is working in the industry over in Azerbaijan and has seen the effects of this first hand. It is hard, for an outsider, to understand the bizarre and often backward thinking of countries with VAST amounts of reserves of commodities (mostly oil). For some reason, these countries seem to routinely have poorly run governments that are incapable of investing in the long-term good of the country, instead a select few line their pockets with plush funds. Nigeria is probably the best example of this, but the list seems to never end.

Unfortunately, monetary policy of countries is governed by the principal that to be 'developed' one must strive to meet certain 'standards' that are based on monetary derived figures like GDP, per capita income, etc. If you do not meet these standards (coincidently defined by western cultures and ideals) you are considered 'poor,' 'underdeveloped' or '3rd World.' This leads countries to develop shady and unsustainable economic policies (loans from bigger 'prosperous' countries) to bring their countries into the 'developed.' The most common result is the upward mobility of a select few and general population that is worse off than when they were '3rd world' and the country in complete shambles.

So how does this all link to Dominica and the proposed refinery? Dominica does not have a supply of oil, gas, diamonds, or gold in which it can tap into for funds for which to "develop" the country. But Dominica does have a HUGE resource of something that is scarce in today’s hustle and bustle...Great people and Great natural beauty. Unfortunately Dominica has been labeled a "developing" country and the government is trying desperately to provide for its people, which deserve major kudos. BUT, just like the governments of other resource rich countries, Dominica is squandering its resources, in this case its natural beauty, to provide a quick fix and inject money into the economy. The reason why people come to Dominica is because of its friendly people, towering peaks and its lush, never-ending forests. The sustainable eco-tourism business on Dominica can work, but like many other countries before it, Dominica seems to be leaning towards policies that seem good in the short run, but will cost it dearly in the end. Therefore Dominica too, is cursed by having such a wonderful and plentiful resources that will most likely (but hopefully not) be squandered away because of a few bad choices at the hands of political figureheads...i.e. Skerrit and Chavez.

Guzzlin the Beef!

I will admit it, up front and honest...I like steaks. Now vegetarians will scream and moan and I hear you, but nothing is better than a nice medium rare slice of beef. But like almost every other commodity on this earth, consumption and demand for beef is starting to climb. In their weekly round up the New York Times looked at the high consumption of meat within the U.S. (Seriously, what commodity do we not consume the most of in this world? Rice?) and the impacts that industrial meat production has on the land, air, and the cows themselves.

The average American consumes half a pound of meat daily, which is twice the world average. We enjoy a cheap and plentiful source of protein that we all tend to take for granted. We ignore the mass amounts of energy inputs it takes to produce this product. This has fueled and industrialization of the process and it is these huge industrial operations that are proliferating around the world that serve the sole purpose of fattening the animals as fast as possible. This requires huge inputs of energy: grain production (most grain production in the US goes to livestock feed), antibiotics, processing, shipping, etc, and create environmental nightmares (think 100,000 cows crapping everywhere everyday) such as the fact that possibly 1/5 of all greenhouse gas emissions comes from livestock production (including more than just cows, but still). Unfortunately these confinements that help speed up the production of meat (and lets us enjoy our $0.99 hamburgers from Wendy's) make the cows very sick.

Cows are ruminant's and their stomachs are made to digest grasses, not grains. They can eat some grains no problem, but a diet based primarily on corn makes the digestive system of cows very sick, meaning they need lots of antibiotics. This can lead to drug resistant forms of certain bacteria that can be transferred to humans. The close confined pens in which the cows are pent up in also can lead to rapid spread of other terrible diseases that can also affect the food chain...think Mad Cow Disease.

It makes me laugh when I hear or read the phrase "Corn fed Beef!" making it sound like its the best thing since sliced bread, when really it is telling that your meat came from an unhealthy animal. Clearly we can all cut back on our crazy obsession for all things meat. It, like many other sustainable steps we can all take, does not mean you can NEVER have a steak, hamburger or ribs. But every night? Its just something to think about and if you are like me, we could all use a little less meat and a couple extra helpings of veggies and fruits. But man does that steak taste good...pass the A.1 please

Finally a little bit of good citizenry that I just had to put in. Usually if you loose a high end tech toy you can pretty much kiss that tech investment good bye. There have been to many instances where people just snag the lost Ipod or camera and it becomes their new little toy. Finders Keepers is the mantra. Luckily for some there are still people around like Brian Ascher. Brian's fiance found a camera in the backseat of a taxi cab in NYC and he proceeded to do detective work to try and reunite the camera with its former owner. Looking through all the photos for clues he was eventually able to piece together the story of who the person was and eventually get the camera back to its rightful owner. If only more people were like Mr. Ascher! Cheers!

Biofueled Blackberrys

Today was a busy day in the office so not a lot of interesting reading occurred. First though I have something that I really need to get out. Why of all places do guys (not sure about the ladies) feel that it is OK to conduct business and personal calls while on the toilet? It is at least a weekly occurrence when I will walk into the men's room and either 1.) hear the tapping of someone typing on their blackberry, or 2.) someone conducting a business call from their stall. I guess in today's business driven society that even going to the bathroom is time wasted when you could be working.

So with that off my chest I turn to the billionaire mogul Richard Branson and his attempts at helping to reduce global warming. In February, Virgin Atlantic will run tests flights on one of its jumbo jets using a blend of 20% bio-fuel and %80 standard aviation fuel to fly from London to Amsterdam. It is an interesting concept, as many have said that finding a suitable and sustainable alternative fuel source for aviation was one of the greatest hurdles in the energy equation. Branson, who has all the money anyone would need and then some, has been accused of being hypocritical because his business help to contribute to global warming. Virgin (in my opinion) is one of the leading companies in actually attempting to try and use new technology to offset their footprint. So to me, Branson is getting his house in order and if you have the means, and your house is in order (unlike Gore, who runs a huge electric bill),then more power to you. Either way it will be interesting to see where the bio-fuel is composed of and if/when they will up the percentage of bio-fuel-to-conventional fuel mixture. Its a start and a I feel a push in the right direction. Interesting point to note (this is at the end of the last link), if Branson is correct in his assumption of the profits he will make in the next 10 years ($3 Billion US) then he will committed more money on an annual basis to renewable and alternative energy sources than the United States government! The $150 million (US) pledged by President Bush to research alternative energy sources is purely laughable.