This Guy Falls Down

FINALLY!!! An e85 pump in Atlanta

I have talked up the E85 on these parts before, but to date I have been able to count the times I've filled up with the alternative fuel on one hand. But no more. A Texaco station in Smyrna is offering an E85 pump starting today. To commemorate the occasion, they actually sold the fuel for 85¢ a gallon.

Go ahead, Mr. Gingrich

Earlier this week, John Kerry and Newt Gingrich squared off in a debate over global warming. While it ended up being more of a friendly conversation than a heated debate, it was very enlightening, especially as it pertained to Newt.

I'll be honest, I was expecting him to come out with the run of the mill, "we're just not sure it's happening, we need to do more research" line which has been typical of the GOP. But Gingrich made it clear that climate change is happening, and it's an issue we need to be concerned with. He even went so far as to say that we need a "green conservatism":

"I want to suggest that we need a new science- and technology-based, entrepreneurial, market-oriented and locally led environmentalism."

I have long been saying, not as vocally as I perhaps should, that if conservatives continue to let climate change evolve as a Democrat issue, we're going to be left with Democrat solutions. It's high time that someone like Gingrich is saying things like this.

Yes, he sounds like a guy who is positioning himself for a run at the presidency, but who cares? If he gets people in the GOP talking about this stuff, I'm all for it. I had started to worry that all Republicans had to offer was Gore-bashing and James Inhofe :)

A Green Super Bowl

Even though the Colts beat the Bears in the big game last night, we're all winners today. In an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a carbon neutral Super Bowl, the NFL's environmntal program (didn't even know they had one) purchased renewable energy certificates from Sterling Planet. The idea behind REC's is that you are literally paying for renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass, etc.) to be generated and supplied to the grid, even if your event is powered using fossil fuels. The NFL also planted hundreds of native trees as carbon offsets.

Read more about the NFL's program and how other sporting events are going green HERE.

A lot of news on the climate change front

• It was reported earlier this week that Bush plans to address global warming in his forthcoming State of the Union address. While White House spokesman Tony Snow won't go into details, he has said it will be addressed, and that it won't involve emission caps: "If you're talking about enforceable carbon caps, in terms of industry-wide and nation-wide, we knocked that down," said Press Secretary Tony Snow. "That's not something we're talking about."

  This is of great interest to me. Most of the G8 and a Democratic Congress are now sitting on go to roll out some mandatory carbon tax. Maybe "cooler heads" can prevail with some kind of market-driven alternative. We can only hope.

• Science and religion get together and nobody gets hurt: a coaltion of scientists and evangelical leaders issued a statement on climate change earlier this week.

  "God will judge us for destroying the Creation. Therefore, we as evangelicals have a responsibility to be even more vigilant than others," [Rev. Richard] Cizik [of the National Association of Evangelicals] told a news conference.

  "Science can be an ally in helping us understand what faith is telling us," he said. "We will not allow the Creation to be degraded, destroyed by human folly."

  Read full story HERE.

• Finally, Dr. Heidi Cullen of the Weather Channel caused a storm of her own when she suggested that meteorologists who deny the existence of human-induced global warming should be kicked out of the AMS. From her blog post dated December 21:

  Meteorologists are among the few people trained in the sciences who are permitted regular access to our living rooms. And in that sense, they owe it to their audience to distinguish between solid, peer-reviewed science and junk political controversy. If a meteorologist can't speak to the fundamental science of climate change, then maybe the AMS shouldn't give them a Seal of Approval. Clearly, the AMS doesn't agree that global warming can be blamed on cyclical weather patterns. It's like allowing a meteorologist to go on-air and say that hurricanes rotate clockwise and tsunamis are caused by the weather. It's not a political statement...it's just an incorrect statement.

(HT: icontact)

Leading Evangelicals, Scientists to Launch Environmental Collaboration

Here's the text from a recent press release, via Grist:

Leaders of the evangelical and scientific communities will announce an unprecedented joint effort to protect the global environment and advance policies that address some of the most pressing threats to our planet, including global warming, habitat destruction, pollution, and species extinctions. Spearheaded by the National Association of Evangelicals and scientists at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, the newly-formed collaboration is 28-members strong and growing.

It's also been widely reported that the details of the collaboration will be announced at a press conference this Wednesday.

See this article for more details.

The revolution will be solarized

From an unlikely source comes the most intriguing interview I've come across in some time. Much like the Ovshinsky quote I threw at you earlier, something about generating your own power holds the same appeal as the 2nd Amendment. Am I the only one who sees this connection?

I plan to order Bradford's book in time to read on the plane to Aussie next week.

Check the interview out and let me know what you think.

Chevy Volt

Most of us drive less than 40 miles in a day. Now, imagine being able to drive those 40 miles without using any gasoline at all. What if you could drive over 600 miles on a single tank of gas? Or better yet, what if your car didn't run on gas at all, but used a combination of biodiesel (or E85) and electricity? Best of all, what if it actually looked pretty cool, too? That's exactly the kind of car the folks at Chevy unfurled recently at the Detroit Auto Show, and this vision could become a reality in the next few years. (via Tai Anderson)

The Chevy Volt was the hit of the auto show, and had more than a few heads spinning. Of course the new Camaro looks pretty cool too...

If you like this idea and would like to see Chevy make it a reality, cast your vote here and let your voice be heard.

E85 Primer

If only I had this when I had my recent run-in with the police in Lake City, Florida...

From Grist.com comes this excellent primer on E85 fuel:

If you're like the rest of us, you've probably heard of E85 -- yet don't have the slightest idea what it is. Or if you do have an idea, it's, well, slight. But never fear, friends and neighbors: we've got the skinny on the corn-a-rific fuel that's increasingly on the tips of tongues and in the depths of gas tanks.

(Read the entire story HERE.)

Al Gore on Oprah: Follow-up

Did anyone else see this? I would be interested to hear what you thought about it...

As for me, the program was primarily a preview/review of An Inconvenient Truth, so my opinion of the show was very similar to that of the film. Overall, it was very compelling. I think Oprah served (as only she can) as a great "everyman" role in the process. Gore would show his slideshow, and Oprah would stop him and ask the questions that most people were probably thinking. She kept asking him if he felt like Noah, which was a nice touch. It brought the conversation from Gore's cold, intellectual style to a more down-to-earth level. When I first saw the film, I appreciated the facts presented, but I found myself wishing it was someone else presenting them. Too bad Oprah wasn't in the film...

Let it be known that I appreciate what Gore's done through this film. He has almost single-handedly brought the global warming conversation into the mainstream, which is where it needs to be if a useful solution is to be found. As I said in a previous post, Gore is one of the most polarizing figures in the country, so your opinion of the film will more or less line up with your opinion of Gore. I would consider myself to be "Gore neutral", so I think I was able to distill the facts more or less objectively. Others might not be so fortunate. Gore is a politician - as such, his personality and his opinions are intertwined. The film is about Gore almost as much as anything else. For many who need to be a part of the conversation, they will never get past this.

I have one other comment about the film, and I'm going to have to frame this carefully. In my understanding, there isn't much debate on whether or not global warming is happening. There are, however, several different projections as to the severity of the problem, and what sort of time frame we're up against. In every case, Gore goes for the most severe and the most alarming. I know this is done in the interest of motivation, but I think he could have taken a moderate approach and his presentation would have been just as effective. And the detractor Oprah had on the show would have had less of an argument.

So I enjoyed the show, and hope that many people who weren't talking about global warming two days ago are talking about it today. Again, I'd love to know your thoughts if you got the chance to see it.

Today on Oprah: Global Warming 101

Al Gore continues to make the rounds tomorrow, with an appearance on Oprah presumably timed with the recent DVD release of An Inconvenient Truth.

I'm not sure if I did a review of the film when it came out, but it really is compelling. I only took two issues with it: 1) Gore has a tendency to paint the worst scenario when he describes the problem. 2) Gore is one of the most polarizing figures in American politics. The movie is about Gore as much as it is about global warming. This is sure to turn off many who might potentially buy into the message of the film. And this is not a political issue, it is a moral one.

If anything, I'm glad to see that climate change is becoming more of a mainstream topic. Props to Oprah for sharing it with her audience.