Archive for Global Warming
Friday Reading and Open Thread
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve seen so many things to share with you, gentle readers. They’re after the jump. More importantly, I want to know what you’ve seen that you’d like to share with the world. It’s your thread.
Wednesday Potpourri
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There’s exciting doings all over the place, and this Councilman/Counselor can’t find time to properly blog about it all. Who wants to pay me to do this stuff full time?
The irascible ThunderPig reports that Dan Eichenbaum (R-Tetley), founder of the area’s 9/12 group, won another straw poll of Republicans, this time in Cherokee County. Dr. Dan hopes to face Heath Shuler this November.
Speaking of Heath Shuler, he closed the deal on the North Shore Road. That means Swain County will receive $52 million in compensation for a road never completed. Somehow Charles Taylor, who was an Appropriations Committee member for years, couldn’t ever get it done. Kudos, Congressman Shuler.
In other Congressional race news, Virginia Foxx, the woman who always has one eye on the kookier wing of the GOP, has drawn a challenger in NC-05. “Billy Kennedy, a Watauga County talk radio host and community leader, will formally announce his candidacy on February 8 for the U.S. House of Representatives, 5th District of North Carolina. The “Billy Kennedy Caravan” will stretch from Boone to Raleigh that day, with stops in Wilkesboro and Winston-Salem.”
Ellie Johnston attended the Copenhagen climate conference and has a thorough narrative of her experience there. Excerpt:
Stimulus Money Creates Lasting Savings in Asheville
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If you didn’t catch David Nash’s presentation at the Council meeting, then you missed hearing about the profound transformation happening in Asheville’s public housing. Check out these numbers:
Stimulus money awarded to Housing Authority of the City of Asheville (HACA) -
$5.9 million
Anticipated Energy Performance Contract Extension in 2010 -
$3.6 million
Eleven new employees on Modernization Crew
Number of windows to be replaced in public housing developments -
3,000 in Pisgah View
2,200 in Hillcrest
1,250 in Deaverview
To be done under contract extension -
313 new dual flush toilets
970 lower flow toilet retrofits
3,600+ lower flow aerators and shower heads
970,000 square feet of living space weatherized
Guaranteed Annual Energy Savings -
680,000 kWh of electricity
180,000 therms of natural gas
41 million gallons of water
$757,000 per year of guaranteed energy cost savings
[This is what's guaranteed, so you can count on it being a lowball estimate]
Annual Carbon Dioxide Reduction -
490 metric tons re: electricity reduction
900 metric tons re: natural gas reduction
“I Don’t Believe In Global Warming…” C’mon, Everybody Sing…
Posted by: | CommentsDip a little Copenhagen?
Wednesday Reading
Posted by: | CommentsI’m nursing a cold this morning, and I thought I’d share some of the good reads I’ve found while sipping hot beverage and blowing my nose.
While the singularly uninspiring Harry Reid announces that the President’s energy bill won’t be taken up in the Senate until spring, others are making it clear that putting off a new energy agenda will slow our economic recovery and maintain the status quo.
Thomas Friedman makes another excellent pitch for greening our economy and calls out the opponents of Obama’s energy bill.
A new study of the impact of a new energy agenda for our nation “offers a state-by-state look at the economic implications posed by comprehensive federal climate policy.” Hint: More jobs, lower energy costs.
Lots more after the jump in ReadMoreland —> Read More→
Friday Open Thread and 350 Reminder
Posted by: | CommentsYou will do with it as you wish, but first a note to duly open this thread…
Tomorrow from 2-4pm, come down to City Hall for 350. 350 is a global event to let our decision makers know that we want them to lead the way to reducing CO2 in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million.
Saturday Morning Reading (with bonus exhortation)
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Is everyone here familiar with the significance of the number 350? It’s the most important number for the world. “350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide–measured in “Parts Per Million” in our atmosphere. 350 ppm–it’s the number humanity needs to get back below as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change.”
Next Saturday people around the world will rally to raise consciousness around this life saving number. Our local rally will take place from 2-4pm in front of City Hall.
Duke Energy and FLS are both increasing the number of solar energy users in NC. Check it out.
Asheville’s climate superstar, Drew Jones, was interviewed at The Daily Norm.
This is, hands-down, the most amazing microscope photography I’ve ever seen. Ready all of your computers for new wallpaper. The image accompanying this post is “Doxorubin in methanol and dimethylbenzenesulfonic acid (80x)”
After the jump you’ll find your bonus exhortation…
Chamber Update: Apple Quits
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A recent post noted some high profile defections from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over its staunch opposition to regulating Carbon emissions. Yesterday, Apple announced it would resign from the Chamber effective immediately. This is the first major consumer brand to quit and the first Silicon Valley company to quit. Let’s hope not the last. Many companies are greening their operations and incorporating this greenshine into their brand image. Apple is expanding their brand image by characteristically innovating the way we define ‘environmental impact‘ for companies. It just doesn’t make sense for companies who are embracing the future to belong to an organization so beholden to the past.
[Disclosure: I own two Apple products, paid for by myself, and have recently exited a small position in their stock which again consisted entirely of my own money. I am not a celebrity and I'm not being paid for this post, so take that FTC!]
Warm Oceans – Data Visualization
Posted by: | CommentsClick here to watch NOAA’s data visualization of our warming oceans -
The world’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest for any August on record, and the warmest on record averaged for any June-August summer season, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. World-wide records began in 1880. Shown here is a visualization of the August global temperature anomalies–or in other words, how the average temperature in August differs from the average climate of 1961-1990. Notice that in some areas, such as the central United States, temperatures were much cooler than average. But overall, land and ocean temperatures were several degrees above normal.
Hat tip to Ashvegas.
Largest Energy Provider Quits US Chamber of Commerce
Posted by: | CommentsThe U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the largest lobbying force in the nation, promoting a right-wing agenda as the “voice of business.” The Chamber claims that a cap-and-trade program to limit global warming pollution would “strangle the economy” and has even called for a “Scopes monkey trial” on the science of global warming.
Today, Exelon CEO John Rowe announced that his company — the largest electric utility company in the United States — would not renew its membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because of its opposition to global warming action. In his keynote address to theannual conference of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the nation’s largest association of energy efficiency experts, Rowe said that the Chamber’s multi-million-dollar campaign against clean energy legislation is incompatible with Exelon’s commitment to climate change leadership.
