Category Archives: Bali Protocols

Children’s Environmental Health Risk – That is if they live long enough to confront Mean No Green

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Their is no such thing as profit, from an environmental perspective. When you take into account the human and environmental damage from industrial waste and product transportation the “extra money” simply and magically disappears. Right into our children. Did we think that if DDT was killing Eagle Babies it wasn’t killing ours? 

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http://www.childenvironment.org/

Protecting Children Against

Environmental

 Threats to Health

We need to find definitive answers about the relationship between toxic chemicals and health so we can protect our children, now and in the future.


Philip Landrigan, M.D.
Chairman of Mount Sinai’s Department of Community and Preventive Medicine

Why are children now suffering from diseases that were virtually

unheard of a generation ago?

Today’s children are subject to a whole host of diseases that come from toxic environments. These can include some of the following:

  • Asthma
  • Autism
  • Allergies
  • Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Leukemia
  • Pediatric Brain Cancer
  • Birth Defects
  • Obesity
  • Diabetes

Our Mission

The mission of the Children’s Environmental Health Center is to protect children against environmental threats to health.The CEH Center accomplishes this by guiding, supporting, and building the programs of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine of Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Our Goals

  • To support scientific research on the preventable environmental hazards that cause disease in children
  • To design and carry out cost-effective programs to prevent environmental disease
  • To educate medical students, pediatric residents, fellows, pediatricians, obstetricians, and other practicing physicians to become the next generation of leaders in environmental pediatrics and preventive medicine
  • To communicate widely and credibly to policy makers, elected officials, government agencies, and the public the health risks to children and adults from environmental threats
  • To provide credible scientific information to parents, grandparents, teachers and the general public on how to make better personal choices to protect our children

About the CEH Center

Mount Sinai’s Department of Community and Preventive Medicine is renowned for its work in children’s environmental health, occupational medicine, epidemiologic research, and disease prevention. Department Chair Dr. Philip Landrigan and his team of medical researchers are uniquely qualified to identify environmental hazards and protect the health of our children.

Dr. Landrigan is an international leader in public health and preventive medicine. His research helped catalyze the U.S. government’s phase-out of lead from gasoline and paint beginning in 1976. Dr. Landrigan chaired a National Academy of Sciences Committee on Pesticides and Children’s Health, whose report secured passage of the major federal pesticide law in the United States, the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. This is the first federal environmental law to contain specific protections for infants and children. His work as Senior Advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency was instrumental in helping to establish the EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection.

For more information, please contact us at (212) 241-6145.

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 http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/cceh/

MISSION

The Center for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention is a multi-disciplinary collaborative research organization established to examine how toxic chemicals may influence the development of autism in children. The Center’s goal is to contribute knowledge about autism that will lead to new strategies for the prevention and treatment of this mysterious condition.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that typically affects a person’s ability to communicate, form relationships with others, and respond appropriately to their environment. Autistic children are limited in their social interactions, often locking into repetitive behaviors and rigid patterns of thinking.Parents and health professionals have raised concerns about how environmental factors such as pesticides, a variety of chemicals, or even some ingredients included in vaccines may effect the development of the disorder. We are the first center to examine the roles of a wide range of toxic chemicals, genetic predisposition, and the interplay between these two in altering brain development during early life and leading to abnormal social behavior in childrenTo learn more about the NIEHS/EPA Centers for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research program, please click on the following links: U.S. EPA Children’s Centers website (http://www.epa.gov/cehc) and NIEHS Children’s Center website: (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/translat/children/children.htm).

Center Directors

Isaac Pessah, Ph.D., Director – Center for Children’s Environmental Health
Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Ph.D., Deputy Director – Center for Children’s Environmental Health
David Amaral, Ph.D., Research Director – UC Davis MIND Institute :} http://www.who.int/ceh/en/

Children are our future, numbering over 2.3 billion worldwide (aged 0-19) and representing boundless potential. Child survival and development hinge on basic needs to support life; among these, a safe, healthy and clean environment is fundamental.

Children are exposed to serious health risks from environmental hazards. Over 40% of the global burden of disease attributed to environmental factors falls on children below five years of age, who account for only about 10% of the world’s population. Environmental risk factors often act in concert, and their effects are exacerbated by adverse social and economic conditions, particularly conflict, poverty and malnutrition. There is new knowledge about the special susceptibility of children to environmental risks: action needs to be taken to allow them to grow up and develop in good health, and to contribute to economic and social development.

  • Each year, at least three million children under the age of five die due to environment-related diseases.
  • Acute respiratory infections annually kill an estimated two million children under the age of five. As much as 60 percent of acute respiratory infections worldwide are related to environmental conditions.
  • Diarrhoeal diseases claim the lives of nearly two million children every year. Eighty to 90 percent of these diarrhoea cases are related to environmental conditions, in particular, contaminated water and inadequate sanitation.
  • Nearly one million children under the age of five died of malaria in 1998. Up to 90 percent of malaria cases are attributed to environmental factors

Our work on children’s environmental health is carried out in the following activity areas:

  • National profiles
  • CEH indicators
  • Capacity building
  • Guidelines, good practice and tools
  • Research

In addition, this web site provides access to a large number of publications, statistics, indicators, fact sheets on children’s environmental health, as well as links to other related WHO and non-WHO sites.

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We are creating a whole medical institution to treated our for the TOXICS we give them. What kind of sense does that make?

So What Do The Children Have To Say About The Environmental Rapists?

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That’s right according to several studies there is at least 10% of the USA that could be described as Mean No Greens or environmental grumps. They are usually white middle aged guys. I call them enviro rapists. They are stealing their grandchildrens futures. So what do the kids think?

 http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/

Some climate strategies are sexy, and energy efficiency is certainly not one of them. Despite this, I am thoroughly convinced that a concentrated push for global energy efficiency is the most productive direction for the climate movement. The opportunities are truly massive: energy efficiency measures could halve US projected energy consumption in 2030. Globally, energy efficiency improvements could profitably reduce 2020 energy consumption by 1/4. And because increased energy efficiency is primarily blocked by political, not technical, barriers, activists could achieve huge results if they unified around this goal.

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 For now I just want to sketch out some of the potential of energy efficiency, and suggest policy directions to be explored. Further analysis should explore how the low cost of energy efficiency measures could be used to counter republican calls for nuclear and drill,drill,drilling.

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It’s clear they are not happy:

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 http://www.unep.org/tunza/youth/

It is inspiring when young people from around the world use their knowledge, sense of motivation and energy to bring about action for the environment. Young people bring a fresh outlook to environmental activism. TUNZA is about empowering You to act. This section “Youth Action Around the World” draws upon the experiences of other young environmentalists to find solutions and inspire action. It also publishes the good work of youth in areas related to environmental development.

Read on…be inspired!To share your story with us, click here.
Global
Global – International Youth Summit Go 4 BioDiv Declaration.
This declaration was signed by 50 young adults from 18 countries in the International Wilderness Camp and National Park Bavarian Forest. It was presented at the United Nations Conference of the Parties, Convention on Biological Diversity.
Australia
Australia – Aussie Kids Turning The Tide.
A group of young people in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia who get together to plan environmental activities and how to get others involved.
Africa
Uganda – Environmental Sustainability
Indigenous NGO sensitizes the community on ways to protect the environment
Egypt – Make Use Of Waste!
Young people launch the ‘Culture, Clean and Development Campaign’ to encourage recycling of waste
Kenya – Clean Up the World Report from Mathare Youth Sports Association
Kenyan youth participate in Clean Up the World activities by sensitizing the communities living along the Mathare River on the effects of dumping waste in the river.
Kenya – Youth Helping Youth
Young people seek to save forests.

Nigeria – Fighting Water Pollution
Young people establish a project to reduce water contamination.
Nigeria – Young People Advocate For Sustainable Environments
Youth Action Initiative request for a voice in policy and decision making
Asia & the Pacific
China – Environmental Song
Shiqing Cui, Chairman of the Association of Volunteers for Environmental Protection, wrote a song entitled “The Dangers of Tomorrow”. The text has been translated into both English and Chinese
India – Saving The Environment
Student pledges to save the environment
India – Preventing Pollution: Protecting The Environment
Two students from Vivekanandha Higher Secondary School, Pondicherry, India, take action to save the environment
India – Catalysts for Change
Students setup a clean-up & environmental monitoring campaign.
Vietnam – Water… A Human Right
Vu Thuy Ahn campaigns for water-rights

Europe
Turkey – The Fatma zcan Swallow Project  
Youth develop environmental action plan to save swallows.
Sweden – Protecting Mountain Forests   
European activists join hands against the destruction of Mountain Forests.  
Britain – Pioneering Sustainble Living
A British student develops a Zero-Energy house.
Britain – Sustainable Transport Book Project
Peace Child International is working on a book that will be written and edited entirely by children and young people.

Latin America & the Caribbean
Peru- Demanding Sulphur-Free Fuel
A Youth Campaign pioneered by Comité Ambiental Juvenil
Guyana- Celebrating Guyana’s Rich Biodiversity
North Rupunini Youth Support Wildlife Management Projects
North America
Canada – Enhancing Biodiversity in an Urban Wetland
Students adopt a marsh as a research and conservation areaUSA– Green Teens Clean Up the World
Jessie Mehrhoff, a previous Junior Board Member from Connecticut, and other Green Teens participate in Clean Up the World weekend.USA– Against all Odds: Action for Climate Change
Despite the US Government’s decision not to sign the Kyoto Protocol,students take action for clean energyUSA – Sundance Festival
Kids and grown ups celebrate the glory of the sun and of nature

USA – Lighting Up New York
The first environmental resolution in the history of the New York City Youth Congress

USA – Roots & Shoots
Smitha Ramakrishnaeen has been working for the Project SOAR, University of Arizona extension center as a mentor for kids from an inner city school in Chandler. She is being trained on Project Wet activities and is mentoring kids. Some of the activities she is doing was adapted from what she learned in Mexico City at the forum. I hope things are going good for you folks.


West Asia
Lebanon – Making the Difference
A devastating fire destroys a forest , prompting young people to take organized action to fight deforestation nation-wide.  

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Apparently there are a lot of them too.

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Nuclear Future – Probably Not – Or as W says Nuclr

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Oh yah, they were gona go gangbusters on this ultra new design. Ah would that be untested?

http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/07/revelations-of-nuclear-reactor-design.asp

FACING SOUTH

A New Voice for a Changing South

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 PO Box 531  •  Durham,NC 27702  •  Telephone: (919) 419-8311  •  Fax: (919) 419-8315

July 28, 2008 

Revelations of nuclear reactor

design flaws spur

legal action over

Duke cost estimates

In states across the South, utility companies are pushing ahead with plans to construct a new kind of nuclear reactor. Designed by Westinghouse Electric Co., the AP1000 is to date but an idea on paper, having never been tested with a demonstration model in the real world.
And now it appears there are serious problems with the reactor design, which is delaying the regulatory approval process. Those problems, in turn, have sparked legal actions by public-interest groups calling on utilities commissions in the Carolinas to revoke $230 million in approved pre-construction costs for two new reactors planned by Duke Energy of Charlotte, N.C.

Last week, Friends of the Earth in Columbia, S.C. and the Durham-based N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network filed legal motions seeking the cost revocation. They argue that the design problems threaten Duke’s chances of ever completing two new AP1000 reactors it wants to build at the proposed Lee Nuclear Station on the Broad River in Cherokee County, S.C.. They also say the delays mean Duke can’t provide a reliable cost estimate for the station by year’s end, a commitment the company made to both commissions during hearings on pre-construction costs.

“Duke Energy’s customers should not be stuck holding the bag if the company keeps pouring millions into that risky project,” said Friends of the Earth’s Tom Clements. “The state regulatory agencies must now reverse their earlier decisions to approve Duke’s reactor project and require that the company not come back for reconsideration until the reactor design is finalized.”

In a June 27 letter to Westinghouse, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the company’s recent withdrawal of technical documents due to design problems had delayed the agency’s review of key components and systems. Earlier this year, as part of the application process for building new plants, Duke Energy and other companies filed some 6,500 pages of technical documents from Westinghouse.

The NRC wants to review and certify plant designs separately from the plant applications. Because the agency expects more design modifications as its review continues, it’s likely that all the projects involving the AP1000 will be delayed.

The same type of reactors are being proposed by Progress Energy for its Shearon Harris plant in Wake County, N.C. as well as the company’s planned facility in Levy County, Fla.; SCE&G for the Summer Nuclear Plant in Fairfield County, S.C.; Georgia Power’s Vogtle plant in Burke County, Ga.; FP&L’s Turkey Point nuclear plant in Miami-Dade County; and Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bellefonte Nuclear Generating Station in Jackson County, Ala.

A public hearing about the Bellefonte plant is scheduled for this Wednesday, July 30 at 9 a.m. at the Scottsboro Goosepond Civic Center in Scottsboro, Ala. The AP1000 design problems are expected to be part of the discussion.

Concerns about the reactor design were also raised during the July 17 public meeting in Waynesboro, Ga. about the two new reactors proposed for the Vogtle plant. Though the NRC does not expect to certify the reactor’s final design until 2012, the NRC said they expected to issue a license for Vogtle in 2011, leading nuclear opponents to level charges of “rubber stamping.”

The AP1000 reactors are being built by a consortium, 80 percent of which is owned by Westinghouse Electric (which in turn is owned by Japan’s Toshiba Corp.) and the rest by Louisiana-based The Shaw Group’s nuclear division. In December 2006, the AP1000 Consortium won a contract with China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Co. to build four new nuclear power plants in that country.

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Solar Power Goes Main Stream – I mean Main Street

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Amanda Beals has been trying to get me to post some of Main Streets “Environmental Coverage” for a while now. Here one is but Solar Jackets by Designer People? Whoa 

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http://mainstreet.com/5-solar-solutions

5 Solar Solutions

By Sean Leviashvili (07/28/08)

The Greatest Green Gadgets Ever

Some companies are struggling to go green, but rumor has it Toyota (TM) is going greener.

Japanese business paper the Nikkei reported earlier this month that the company plans to install solar panels on the redesigned Prius in 2009. The solar panels will provide two to five kilowatts of electricity to power utilities like air conditioners and radios.

Sales for the Prius are booming, especially in light of rising gas prices and the growing go-green trend. But if you aren’t ready to give up your gas guzzler, or simply can’t afford a $25,000 car, there are other ways you can get in on the solar craze.

Take a Look!

It’s in the Bag:

Chargers:
With an internal rechargeable battery, the Solio Classic charger acts as a hybrid giving you the option to connect to a home outlet or accept energy from the sun. The Solio can charge multiple gadgets including an iPod (AAPL), cell phone or digital camera. Check out the range of models ($79.95-169.95) at solio.com. Depending on the amount of sunlight, the Solio charger is capable of charging your gadget in under two hours.

Bags:
To charge on the go, invest in a solar backpack or messenger bag. According to Krissie Nagy, a sales and marketing representative from Voltaic Systems, an hour of direct sunlight will yield 1.5 hours of full cell phone use, or 3 hours of iPod play. Voltaic bags come with eleven different adaptors, including the latest Samsung charger, along with a car charger socket that covers adaptors not included.

Different bags have different charging potentials, and the devices you plan on charging should influence your purchasing decision. Charging a laptop, for example, is only possible in bags yielding at least 17 watts of electricity, such as the Voltaic Generator, available at voltaicsystems.com for $599.

Solar Jackets:
The Ermenegildo Zegna designed solar powered jacket charges devices right in your pocket. But this luxury doesn’t come cheap. The price: $995. According to the company’s official website, www.zegna.com, the jacket uses solar cells on the detachable neoprene collar, and powers devices at 5 or 6 volts, so it can charge your cell phone or iPod, but nothing larger.

AT HOME

Solar Water Heating:
Installing a solar water heating system costs between $5,000 and $8,000, says Gary Trainer, professional engineer for Solarplex in San Antonio, Texas. The installation process requires solar panels and a separate water tank, which works with anti-freeze and your home’s original water tank to produce hot water. The system, Trainer says, can cover 60 to 80% of your total water heating needs. And, while the initial purchase is costly, the long-term payoff is substantial. “After about eight years, you’ll really see the value in the system,” Trainer says. “At that point, the system will basically pay for itself.”

Solar Pool Heating:
With solar pool heating, you can extend your swim season by months. Depending on the size of your pool, buying and installing a solar pool-heating system costs anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000. According to the eere.gov, a branch of the Department of Energy’s website that focuses on energy efficiency and renewable energy, the cost of heating your pool with solar power runs from $7 to $12 per square foot.

Solar pool heating can save hundreds of dollars each year, and according to Trainer, this system has the greatest payoff of all solar heating systems. “The most expensive installment is the conventional grid type stuff, where you use solar power to reduce the energy your in-house utilities use,” Trainer admits. “But it’s not difficult to install a [solar] heating system for your pool for three or five thousand dollars, and the payout is great, it’s about two to four years.”

Solar heating systems all require solar panels (amount will vary based on the system), and a prior consultation to decide if solar power is right for you.

“There are certain conditions where it is just impractical,” Trainer says. “Trees are usually the number one reason, along with space limitation, and limited access to the sun.”

For more information on how to incorporate solar energy into your life, log on to The Department of Energy’s official website.



 

Solar Power – Then there are the people working to get us off oil and coal

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Too many people and too little time. But they are trying.

http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/Newspage.asp

July 28, 2008

Pueblo, CO, USA: Colorado State University-Pueblo to Install 1 Megawatt PV System

Colorado State University-Pueblo soon will be the home of a solar electric system in excess of one megawatt, one of the largest such systems for an education facility in the United States. Under this innovative arrangement with Black Hills Energy (formerly Aquila) and BP Solar, the system is estimated to contribute more than 10 percent of the University’s electricity needs. Installation of the ground-based solar array will begin in July with full operation scheduled for late this fall.

The University will purchase the electricity generated by the solar array from BP Solar, who will install and operate the system. Black Hills Energy will purchase the solar on-site renewable energy credits generated from the system from BP Solar. The system will be constructed on the east side of campus between the physical plant complex and the softball fields on a strip of land that could not easily serve any other purpose.

“We view this as an extension of the commitment the University and the CSU System have made to renewable and sustainable energy,” said CSU-Pueblo President Joseph Garcia. “Because this solar array will be visible from new facilities being constructed to support our new athletic programs and the planned development on our eastern campus border, it will serve as a strong statement about the University’s commitment to supporting sustainable energy resources.”

“We are proud to be able to bring large-scale solar energy to Pueblo,” said Mary Shields, vice president of global sales and marketing for BP Solar. “The CSU-Pueblo campus is the perfect place to demonstrate the clean, efficient power that solar can provide to communities throughout Colorado and other parts of the U.S.”

Garcia added that the new system supports Governor Ritter’s New Energy Economy to make Colorado a hub for solar energy and supports Black Hills Energy’s effort to bring more solar energy to Colorado. As part of its Solar Rebate Program, Black Hills Energy will provide a $200,000 upfront rebate incentive for the installation of the solar system. The program helps Black Hills Energy meet Colorado’s Renewable Energy Standard, which requires that five percent of Black Hills Energy’s electricity sales be generated from renewable sources.

“Black Hills Energy is excited to be a part of this project and about the solar energy contribution this system will provide CSU-Pueblo,” said Gary Stone, Black Hills Energy vice president for Colorado electric operations. “Combined with the Black Hills Energy Solar Rebate Program, biomass and wind resources already in use, the CSU-Pueblo solar system builds on Black Hills Energy’s commitment to renewable energy for the communities we serve in Colorado.” With new facilities being brought on-line during the next six months, including a new $11.2 million student recreation center, CSU-Pueblo estimates the completed project will generate savings in utility costs and help absorb the cost of increased demand. Garcia said the project is a winning venture for all three partners.

“In short, this project will help control the University’s utility costs as prices and usage increase, promote the use of sustainable resources, help satisfy Black Hills Energy’s state mandates, and allow BP Solar to bring a major solar project to Southern Colorado,” Garcia said.

Smart Growth Advocates (SGA), a local non-profit, connected the partners last year. “Assembling the combined talents of a team of this caliber ensured results which exceeded expectations. Our goal was to highlight the effectiveness of public-private partnerships to deliver concrete sustainable solutions, and we are elated with the result,” said Vickie Massam, SGA President.


Further details about: BP Solar
:}July 24, 2008Tempe, AZ, USA: First Solar to Build 10 MW Solar PV Power Plant for Sempra Generation

First Solar will build a 10 megawatt photovoltaic power plant for Sempra Generation near Boulder City, Nevada. First Solar will design, engineer and construct the turnkey PV power plant and will provide monitoring and maintenance services for the plant over its lifetime. Sempra Generation will be the developer for the project, and will own and operate the PV power plant once completed.

Construction began in July, and the 10 MW PV power plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. The solar modules to be deployed in this ground-mount project will be produced at First Solar’s manufacturing facility in Perrysburg, Ohio.

“Sempra Generation has a proven track record for successful energy resource development and we are pleased to work with them to bring additional renewable electric generation to the region,” said Mike Ahearn, chief executive officer of First Solar.

The 10 MW PV power plant will be adjacent to Sempra Generation’s existing El Dorado combined cycle natural gas plant. By co-locating this new PV power plant with existing infrastructure and the associated interconnection and transmission facilities, Sempra Generation will maximize their land and transmission. As a result, the impact to the immediate environment is minimal and the project completion timeline will be shorter. The PV power plant will serve customers in California and the Western United States.

“This new solar project is another step in Sempra Generation’s long-range plan to emerge as a leading renewable-energy developer,” said Michael W. Allman, president and chief executive officer of Sempra Generation. “The combination of Sempra Generation’s experience in developing power-generation projects in the region with First Solar’s expertise in advanced, thin-film photovoltaic solutions is a natural fit. ”

First Solar explains that it is a cost leader in the solar PV industry, driven by an advanced thin film semiconductor manufacturing process. At the end of 2007, over 300 MW of First Solar PV modules had been installed worldwide and First Solar expects to ship 420 to 460 MW of PV modules in 2008. Together with its project partners, First Solar modules have been deployed in several of the largest ground and rooftop PV power plants in the world.


Further details about: First Solar
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Green Cars – Can we get rid of the internal combustion engine fast enough?

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Forget high gasoline prices. That maybe a short term issue but the fact is global warming is the more important issue that we should not lose sight of:

 http://www.greencar.com/

2010 Prius Production

Moves to US

By Todd Kaho

Like all automakers, Toyota is acutely aware of evolving consumer demands and is responding with some pivotal changes in its manufacturing structure and product mix. It’s beginning this in a big way by adjusting the production mix at three of its U.S. plants to improve production efficiency. In short, big trucks like the new Tundra aren’t selling so Toyota is aiming at the need to build more of its fuel-efficient cars that are in high demand. And the place to start? The Prius, of course.

The most interesting news to come out of this shift is that the next-generation Prius hybrid will be assembled at Toyota’s new Blue Springs, Mississippi plant in late 2010. That move makes it the second Toyota hybrid to be built in the U.S., with the current Camry Hybrid already assembled in Kentucky. The Highlander mid-size SUV was originally slated for production at the Mississippi plant but will now be built at Toyota’s Princeton, Indiana manufacturing facility in place of the full-size Tundra pickup. All current Prius models are currently built at Toyota’s Motomachi Plant in Toyota City, Japan. The move toward building popular hybrids in the markets where they’re already selling well or are expected to do so is already in play at Toyota, which announced recently that it would build the Camry Hybrid in Melbourne, Australia for that market.

When it emerges from the Mississippi assembly plant, the 2010 Prius will be the fourth generation of Toyota’s iconic gasoline-electric hybrid in North America. Speculation and rumors about the new car are running rampant as the current Prius – introduced as a completely revised model in 2004 – nears the end of its life cycle. Spy shots are circulating of what “might” be the next-generation Prius and sketches imagining what the next iteration will look like are also at play. Some are speculating that the 1/X Concept shown here, which debuted at the most recent Tokyo Motor Show, may provide clues regarding the look of the next Prius. The reality is that nobody really knows the true scoop. No doubt, when the new Prius debuts at the 2009 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit this coming January the world will definitely be watching.  

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http://www.greenercars.org/highlights_mkttrends.htm

The Greenest of 2008

This year, the natural gas-powered Honda Civic GX claims the title as the greenest vehicle for the fifth year running. Toyota’s hybrid-electric Prius, which places second, is the year’s top-scoring gasoline vehicle, while Honda’s Civic Hybrid ranks a close third. Rounding out the top five are the recently released Smart Fortwo Convertible and Coupe and Toyota Yaris. In total, the Greenest Vehicles list contains one natural gas, four hybrid-electric, and seven conventional gasoline vehicles, a mix of technologies that demonstrates some of the avenues automakers have taken in developing greener vehicles. Whether using hybrid gasoline-electric designs, compressed natural gas, or simply clean and efficient conventional gasoline designs, automakers have visibly demonstrated their ability to engineer with the environment in mind.

This year sees a number of changes to the nameplates on the Greenest Vehicles list. After being shut out of the top twelve in 2007, a domestic automaker makes an appearance on our top-twelve list. The 2008 Tier 2 Bin 3 / PZEV-certified Ford Focus comfortably takes the 9th spot in the annual ranking. Other new entries to the 2008 “Greenest” list include the Smart Fortwo Convertible/Coupe and the Mini Cooper/Clubman, both small cars that achieve excellent fuel economy.  However, Hyundai’s PZEV-certified Elantra narrowly misses a spot on our list, landing in 13th place as a result of the above-mentioned new entries. Following suit are the Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Chevrolet Cobalt, and Pontiac G5, all of which score very well according to our ranking but face more competition this year from several clean vehicles that have entered the market. This is, of course, good news to consumers, who have greater options when it comes to buying the greenest vehicle that meets their needs and fits their budget.

Other good news is the fact that the vast majority of the year’s greenest vehicles are widely available coast-to-coast. Not too long ago, the list was dominated by vehicles for sale only in California, while today more than 80 percent of the Greenest Vehicles can be purchased in any state.

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http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center-top100/

Concept Green Cars

Toyota first demonstrated a futuristic hybrid concept vehicle at the Tokyo Auto Show in 1995. The car, which consisted of an electric motor connected to a regular gasoline engine, was called the Toyota Prius. Hybrid skeptics ?both at the show and afterward?are now silent, as cumulative global sales continue to surpass all expectations. Which of today’s wild and wacky hi-tech enviro car concepts will become tomorrow’s practical fuel-efficient vehicles? Let’s take a look at some contenders.

Volvo 3CC

The Volvo 3CC concept car, a rocket-shaped three-seater, can accommodate the full range of power systems, from traditional gasoline and alternative fuels such as ethanol, to hybrid and all electric. Three thousand lithium-ion batteries, just like those used in laptop computers, give it the equivalent of 105 horsepower. The 3CC has the aerodynamics of a two-seat sports car, but can slip a third passenger, or perhaps two children, in a single seat in the back.

 Daihatsu UFE III

Daihatsu, the Japanese car company known for compacts, is on the third generation of the UFE (which stand for Ultra Fuel Economy). This mini-hybrid vehicle can transport three people?one upfront, and two in the back. The hybrid system comprises a 660-cubic centimeter direct-injection gasoline engine, two motors, and a nickel-metal hydride battery. Its estimated fuel economy is 169 miles per gallon.

Nissan Pivo

Nissan has developed a bubble-shaped, three-seater electric car called the Pivo?short for pivot. It runs exclusively on electricity. The cabin sits atop a wheeled platform that can swivel 360 degrees, doing away with the need to reverse when emerging from narrow spaces.

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But these are concept cars which means that they are years away from production. I do not think we are going to make it.

For more:

www.epa.gov/greenvehicle

www.editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=434502

www.thegreencarco.com/

http://puregreencars.com/

www.ecoworld.com/energy/EcoWorld_Energy_Green_Vehicles1.cfm

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Green Cars Before It’s Too Late – Did Ford know that he was killing us?

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 Since the oil/gasoline price spike I have avoided driving. I know that not everyone can do that but I refuse to give 1.50$ to oil speculators and .50$ to gasoline refiners through rigged gasoline prices. Still the question of whether Henry Ford knew he was killing us by using the sky as an open sewer is intriguing

 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_n6_v5/ai_16437572

Ford’s environmentalism is more practical. Vehicle Recyclability Coordinator Susan Day is touring the country, touting the company’s use of recycled products in its far-flung manufacturing operations. “The first Henry Ford used to break down shipping crates and use the wood as floorboards for the Model T,” she said. “And he also tried to build car bodies out of soybeans.” The latter operation was aborted after cows began showing an interest in eating the finished product, but Ford is now recycling more than it ever did.

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Early on he was a pacifist:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAford.htm

On the outbreak of the First World War in Europe, Ford soon made it clear he opposed the war and supported the decision of the Woman’s Peace Party to organize a peace conference in Holland. After the conference Ford was contacted by America’s three leading anti-war campaigners, Jane Addams, Oswald Garrison Villard, and Paul Kellogg. They suggested that Ford should sponsor an international conference in Stockholm to discuss ways that the conflict could be brought to an end.Ford came up with the idea of sending a boat of pacifists to Europe to see if they could negotiate an agreement that would end the war. He chartered the ship Oskar II, and it sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey on 4th December, 1915. The Ford Peace Ship reached Stockholm in January, 1916, and a conference was organized with representatives from Denmark, Holland, Norway, Sweden and the United States. However, unable to persuade representatives from the warring nations to take part, the conference was unable to negotiate an Armistice.

 :}Apparently he was a big fan of biofuels and assumed his cars would run on ethanol. In fact he favored waste plants and cellulose rich plants for the creation of that ethanol:

http://www.hempcar.org/ford.shtml

Fuel of the Future

When Henry Ford told a New York Times reporter that ethyl alcohol was “the fuel of the future” in 1925, he was expressing an opinion that was widely shared in the automotive industry. “The fuel of the future is going to come from fruit like that sumach out by the road, or from apples, weeds, sawdust — almost anything,” he said. “There is fuel in every bit of vegetable matter that can be fermented. There’s enough alcohol in one year’s yield of an acre of potatoes to drive the machinery necessary to cultivate the fields for a hundred years.”

Ford recognized the utility of the hemp plant. He constructed a car of resin stiffened hemp fiber, and even ran the car on ethanol made from hemp. Ford knew that hemp could produce vast economic resources if widely cultivated.

Ford’s optimistic appraisal of cellulose and crop based ethyl alcohol fuel can be read in several ways. First, it can be seen as an oblique jab at a competitor. General Motors had come to considerable grief that summer of 1925 over another octane boosting fuel called tetra-ethyl lead, and government officials had been quietly in touch with Ford engineers about alternatives to leaded gasoline additives. Secondly, by 1925 the American farms that Ford loved were facing an economic crisis that would later intensify with the depression. Although the causes of the crisis were complex, one possible solution was seen in creating new markets for farm products. With Ford’s financial and political backing, the idea of opening up industrial markets for farmers would be translated into a broad movement for scientific research in agriculture that would be labelled “Farm Chemurgy”.

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He is faring better than I thought he would. Wonder if the Oil and Gas Companies had anything to do with the Great Depression? Oh.

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Then there is this:

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15233556/

Renewable energy has an icon:

Henry Ford

Conference hears about

history and ‘bioenergy’ future

 061012_henry_ford_hmed_7a_hmedium.jpg

  ST. LOUIS – A century ago, Henry Ford’s Model T was the first flexible-fuel vehicle, running on gas, ethanol or both, and the automaker foretold the future when he said fuel could be gotten from fruit, weeds, sawdust, or anything else that could be fermented.

The story, as told by Archer Daniels Midland’s CEO Patricia Woertz, resonated with her audience at a national renewable energy conference here Wednesday.

Woertz, formerly head of refining at Chevron, now heads the Decatur, Ill.,-based agricultural company that is also the biggest ethanol producer in the U.S.

Count her among the converted.

“We believe we are just at the start of this new era of bioenergy,” she said, acknowledging ADM began building toward that start 30 years ago. “We believe the market can and should grow larger.”

Woertz was among dozens of speakers representing business, financing, government and research at the conference co-hosted by the U.S. departments of energy and agriculture.

President Bush addressed the conference Thursday, saying that, while he liked seeing the recent drop in oil prices, “it’s not going to dim my enthusiasm for making sure we diversify away from oil.”

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Then there is this:

 http://www.umd.umich.edu/eic/fordestate.htm

 ford1.jpg

ford11.jpg

The Castle Made of Fossils:

Henry Ford Estate Fairlane

The building material used to build Henry Ford’s final estate in 1914 is Limestone from Kelley’s Island in Ohio.  Glaciers carved out this island exposing many fossils which can be seen in the walls of the the estate.  For more information on Kelley’s Island and its rich natural history please visit the Kelley’s Island Natural History webpage.   The Natural Area is located on the grounds of the Henry Ford Estate.  Henry Ford helped to create and shape this landscape in the early 1900’s.  To learn more about the Estate, please visit the Henry Ford Estate official website.    

This waterfall on the Rouge River was used by Henry Ford to generate electricity for his home.  The Estate’s Powerhouse still generates electricity today.   In 1914, Thomas Edison laid the cornerstone for the Powerhouse.  Can you find the Cornerstone that he laid?

 

Scavenger Hunt Question:
Can you find the cornerstone on the powerhouse near the waterfall behind the Estate? It was laid on October, 1914.

Environmental Interpretive Center   University of Michigan-Dearborn
4901 Evergreen Road  Dearborn, MI 48128 (313)593-5338  

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So even though he spread the combustion engine throughout the world which ultimately could do us in he was an EARLY Environmentalist. He generated his own Hydro Power. I am so kind>
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State Journal Register Supports Big Oil –

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Last week the State Journal Register solicited a “Guest OP-ED” piece from the mouth piece for the Illinois Petroleum Council that in simple form says we must overcome our current energy crisis by,  Conservation and
fuel economy  (which he instantly discounts), Stronger energy-trading alliances with neighbors, Expand domestic resources, and  Diversify supply.  By diversify he means Nukes. You can read the rest of the slop at:

http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x833727955/David-Sykuta-We-have-to-get-over-it-and-explore-energy-options

I know for a fact that many people have written to respond against most of his ideas because many environmentalists including Will Reynolds and Diane Lopez always do. I posting my letter here because I sent one and they did not publish it:

Editor

State Journal Register

One Copley Plaza

Springfield, IL 62701

Emailed – 07/015/08

Dear Editor:

 

Dave Sykuta recent guest editorial “Get Over It” (the title of an Eagles song)  was nothing but one long environmental taunt. It had nothing to do with the irrationality we call the Oil Market.

 

Supply is not the overwhelming issue that he makes it out to be. The Iranians have 7 or 8 super tankers full of oil (depending on which report you listen to) parked in their main port because nobody is buying them. Why? Because the price is artificially elevated. Speculators beginning as far back as September of last year have bought up the cheap oil. We are now at a precipitous economic moment. An oil Mexican Standoff. The speculators can’t sell or the price will drop dramatically and hardly anyone is buying because they know the price is too high. Best guesstamates are that at least 40-50$$ of the current price of oil is due to speculators.

 

But the Drillers want to take advantage of this artificial shortage to get more Leases, because in their warped minds the leases that they hold are the leases the other guy don’t. The proof of this is the current 85 million acres that they lease that they won’t explore.

 

Really though nobody cares about the price of oil, what they car about is the prices of gasoline products. That price is being rigged as well. Refineries are at 85% of their capacity because if they ran the refineries at capacity they would lose money. In a perverse market flaw, the more they make the cheaper gas becomes and they lose money. Again the gasoline refiners are using the rigged higher oil prices to run up their profits by keeping refineries at the bare minimum it takes to run this country.

 

All the loud shouting at each other about the price we pay at the pump has obscured the realities on the ground. Oil production has been stuck on 85 million barrels a day now for sometime. Even though everybody has pledged to raise it. That may be the real limit on production and the world may have to learn live with it, discounting the fact that China is hording diesel in preparation for the Olympics.

 

Anyway, “if the drill here drill now” crowd had their way, what would they drill with? Brazil just bought or leased the 160 available rigs in the world to try to extract oil from their new alleged oil field off their southern coast.

 

When an oilman that I trust (there ain’t many – please see There Will Be Blood) T. Boone Pickens pledges to build a 1000 megawatt wind farm in Texas and then pays his own money for an TV advertisement to say why. (hint: we are running out of oil) Then I go with the wind farm guy every time.

 

I believe the Eagles said they would tour again when hell freezes over. Did I miss something?

  

Doug Nicodemus

948 e. adams st.

riverton, IL  62561

629-7031

dougnic55@yahoo.com

 

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AND YET THEY RUN STORIES LIKE THIS IN THEIR Business Section in the newspaper and don’t even acknowledge that they did on their web site:

http://www.pe.com/business/local/stories/PE_Biz_S_oilprofits22.3ad2ac6.html

Big Oil steers record profits to investors

MONEY: Critics say too much is going into stock

buybacks and not enough into exploration.

By JOHN PORRETTO
The Associated Press HOUSTON – As giant oil companies like Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips get set to report what will probably be another round of eye-popping quarterly profits, just where is all that money going?The companies insist they’re trying to find new oil that might help bring down gas prices, but the money they spend on exploration is nothing compared with what they spend on stock buybacks and dividends.It’s good news for shareholders, including mutual funds and retirement plans for millions of Americans, but no help to drivers already making drastic cutbacks to offset the high cost of fuel. The five biggest international oil companies plowed about 55 percent of the cash they made from their businesses into stock buybacks and dividends last year, up from 30 percent in 2000 and just 1 percent in 1993, according to Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

The percentage they spend to find new deposits of fossil fuels has remained flat for years, in the mid-single digits.

The issue has become more sensitive as lawmakers and Americans frustrated by high gas prices have balked at gaudy reports of oil industry profits. ConocoPhillips is scheduled to kick off the latest round of Big Oil earnings reports Wednesday.

Oil prices are set on the open market, not by the oil industry. But that hasn’t stopped public protests, a series of congressional grillings for top oil executives, and a failed attempt by lawmakers to slap Big Oil with a windfall profits tax.

In the first three months of this year, Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company, shelled out $8.8 billion on stock buybacks alone, compared with $5.5 billion on exploration and other capital projects.

ConocoPhillips has already told investors that its stock buybacks for April to June of this year will come to about $2.5 billion — nine times what it spent on exploration.

Stock buybacks are common throughout corporate America, not just for Big Oil. They shrink the amount of stock on the open market, essentially increasing its value and giving individual shareholders a bigger stake in the company.

But some critics say Big Oil focuses too much on boosting stock prices, in an industry that sometimes ties executive pay to stock price.

And in focusing on buybacks and dividends over exploring for new oil, some critics say, oil companies jeopardize its already dwindling share of world supply.

“If you’re not spending your money finding and developing new oil, then there’s no new oil,” said Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy expert at Rice University who’s studied spending patterns of the major oil companies.

Investor-owned companies like Exxon Mobil and Chevron hold less than 10 percent of global oil and gas reserves, way down from past decades. And finding new oil has become harder and more expensive.

No one questions that Big Oil is rolling in cash. The cash the biggest oil companies bring in from running their businesses, or operating cash flow, is four times what it was in the early 1990s.

“It becomes a management decision,” said Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst at Standard & Poor’s. “It’s not like they’re going to the board and saying, ‘Well, I can do one or the other or the other.’ The balance sheets are flush with cash.”
 

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Oil Hits 128$$ Per Barrel – We are all going to die!

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Oh never mind. As I said, all along, the oil run up was 3 parts speculation and 1 part nerves. As the August Senate hearings approach on speculation the speculators, like the cock roaches that they are, will scurry and the nerves will harden. Guess what? Oil will fall to 70$$ a barrel and gas prices will come down. How will the American public respond to the fact that they just stuffed 350 billion $$ in speculators pockets? Like sheep – BAAAAAAAAA?

This will happen again however so now that we have a house we can live in, in energy confort what shall we do with what is sitting in the driveway? Like the speculators – SELL

http://www.cartalk.com/

http://www.sj-r.com

Friday, July 18, 2008

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It’s time to dump SUV

.

TOM AND RAY MAGLIOZZI 

.

DEAR TOM AND RAY: This will prob­ably seem like a really stupid question, but I need professional advice. I own a 1-year-old Jeep in perfect condition, which I purchased for my job. I was laid off from said job, and now I own a gas-guzzling, really nice-looking Jeep Grand Cherokee that is too big and too expensive for me to drive, espe­cially since I no longer have a job. My question is, Should I trade it in for a smaller, more fuel-efficient car? I have no payments, and being unemployed limits what I could purchase. With gas prices continuing to climb, I don’t real­ly know what I should do, since I own the vehicle outright. Care to advise an idiot? — Micci

RAY: I guess this is what you might call “idiot-to-idiot” communication.

TOM: Or, more accurately, “idiot-AND-idiot-to-idiot communication.” So consider yourself warned, Micci.

RAY: Actually, you’re hardly alone. SUVs and pickups were, for many people, a fashion trend during the past 10 years. And like many fashion trends, they were, at heart, exceeding­ly impractical.

TOM: Tell me about it. Try wearing a miniskirt like I did during the entire winter of’68!

RAY: People who didn’t need pick­ups and SUVs bought them anyway, because they were seen as cool, despite the fact that they handled like crud, tended to flip over more than other ve­hicles, ripped countless inseams during ingress and egress, and drank gas like it was a dark-chocolate-caramel-mocha freddo from Feet’s Coffee.

TOM: So now, here we are, with a lot of people stuck with SUVs that get 15 mpg while gas is $4 a gallon. What to do?

RAY: I’d say dump it, Micci. You’re going to take a bath on it, no question. Anytime you sell a car that’s a year old, you take a huge hit from initial de­preciation. Add to that the fact that you’re selling a vehicle that not many people want nowadays, for the same reasons you don’t want it. But there’s always a price at which someone will take it.

TOM: If you don’t want to sell it yourself, you can even try CarMax, if there’s one in your area. They buy late-model cars at the wholesale price.

RAY: And since you own it outright, you can take the cash you get, buy a cheaper 2-, 3- or 4-year-old fuel-effi­cient car, and then put aside a few grand to get you through this period of unemployment.

TOM: If you had an income and weren’t in desperate straits, you could hang on to it a little longer, to see if gas prices level off and come down a bit — which they might. That might make your Jeep a little more valuable on the used-car market. But if you can’t afford the gas to go out looking for a job, you need to do something now. Plus, I don’t see gas prices com­ing down a lot.

RAY: Me, either. Combine the insta­bility and war in the Middle East with increased demand from growing economies in China and India, and the decreasing supply of oil in the Earth, and the long-term trend for oil prices is up, rather than down.

Got a question about cars? Write to Click and Clack in care of this newspa­per, or e-mail them by visiting the Car Talk Web site at www.cartalk.com.

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Energy Independence Day – Stop burning things up.

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Community Energy Systems’ mission is to educate the public regarding energy conservation, energy efficiency, and the prudent and fair operation of utility companies. We believe that mission requires both intellectual and practical applications.

Energy Independence
Every July 4rth it is long over due that the people of Illinois declare their Energy Independence from the utility companies that prey on them and from the green house gases they emit.Everyday the Earth is bombarded by in excess of 27 gigawatts of power by the sun. This is after the Earth captures enough to grow all of the food to feed everyone on the planet. This is after the earth captures enough to warm the oceans. Yet the 27 gigawatts that we allow to be reflected away everyday is 7 gigawatts more than we humans consume in a single day. Instead the utility companies burn coal more desperately everyday.Everyday the Earth is orbited by the moon, which generates untold gigawatts of tidal power. These sources are so powerful that the first attempts to harness them in the Hudson River crumpled the turbines steel fins like so many sheets of tissue paper. This tidal power causes a drop in water levels in some extreme cases as much as 26 feet everyday. This generates more than enough power for a state like Illinois for an entire day. Instead the utility companies burn uranium more desperately everyday.

Everyday the Earth itself generates enough energy to power the state of Illinois. The Earth generates enough rain to power Illinois using smart hydroelectric systems. The Earth generates enough wind power to feed Illinois’ thirst for electricity everyday. Indeed when harvested properly the Earth generates enough geothermal energy to power Illinois everyday. And yet everyday the utility companies burn natural gas more desperately. So desperately that they are proposing huge Liquid Natural Gas ports up and down our coasts which will put peoples lives in jeopardy.

It is time for Illinois to stand up for its Energy Independence Day. Dig and Burn is no longer an earth acceptable way to generate energy. Burning the planet up is not the answer for Illinois’ future.