The winter of 2011-12 will go down as the winter that never was in eastern Iowa. This week, the first full week of March, saw temperatures reach in the mid-60s in Cedar Rapids. I know there are people out there who do not believe in climate change or global warming or anything that anyone with an education that did not come from a mail order bible college, but the reality is staring us in the face because I had my Chacos on in March. Comfortably.
At least Rush Limbaugh has proven that he can be such an ass that people will finally start to do something about his behavior. As of Thursday, 49 sponsors had dropped out of paying the offensive gas bag. However, nothing can make me laugh quite like seeing this:
Not too worry Rush, it can always get worse. You could be Rick Santorum.
On to the links…
Rush Claims Solar and Wind Industry do not Exist–I thought Rush was off the Oxycontin, but apparently someone is slipping him some or he is an idiot–your choice–because he is claiming the wind and solar industries are non-existent. Yep, those turbines and panels just make themselves. Everything just magically appears on roofs or erects towers. It is amazing hippie magic.
Neurotoxins in Shark Fins–Not only is the practice barbaric and the product resulting from the barbarism is described as being tasteless gelatin, now there is evidence that you can get a nice dose of BMAA (Beta-methylamino-L-alanine). BMAA is a neurotoxin that a growing body of evidence ties to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and A.L.S. Yep, you can eat shark fin soup all you want but it’s putting you once step closer to a degenerative neurological disorder. Someone in Hong Kong captured shark fins covering the sidewalk like nude dancer leaflets in Las Vegas.
Rooftop Revolution–The real story in solar electrical generation is not Solyndra or the coming trade fight with the Chinese over dumping. It’s actually the relentless drive downward in the cost of generating a kilowatt of electricity to a point where grid parity with traditional generation is realized. At that point mass adoption is merely a formality, dependant upon how fast installers can scale.
Postcard from a Solar Rooftop–Solar Mosaic is trying to bring the wonderful idea of crowd funding to solar installations. At the People’s Grocery in Oakland some 70 people invested almost $40K to deploy a solar rooftop. The big trick will be getting the SEC to agree to this finance model because it has a problem with anyone not qualified as an institutional–i.e. deep pocketed–investor participating. Wonder why?
Renewable Standards have No Statistical Impact on Rates–That’s right, having a standard that says a state must generate a certain percentage of electrcity from renewables has no statistical impact on electricity rates. Pretty simple.
U.K.’s First Solar Town–Wadebridge, a town in Cornwall, is the first in the U.K. to run a significant percentage of its energy from renewables. I wonder if this is the kind of thing we need in the U.S.–a town to show that renewables can provide the bulk of a city’s load.
How to Slash Oil Dependence–While the generation of electricity seems to be getting greener all the time the truth remains that our transportation infrastructure is like a crack addict for oil. The solution to energy resilience–independence is a hokey goal for primary season–is to dramatically reduce our use of oil as a transportation fuel. Geez, I sound like Jimmy Carter.
Giving up Carbon for Lent–It looks like not all Catholics are of the Rick Santorum variety. I do not know how one gives up carbon for Lent, but more power to the people for trying.
Pigweed is Coming–Even Roundup is no longer effective against pigweed (Palmer amaranth). If you have ever had the misfortune of this stuff growing in your yard or garden count your lucky stars. The only effective way to get rid of the plant is to pull it out and even that is not a guarantee. With weed resistant superpowers the stuff is sure to become the bane of cotton and soybean farmers.
It’s not Junk Food if I Made It–Michael Pollan has a rule about a junk food: “Eat all the junk food you want as long as you make it.” It makes since because making this stuff is hard. Conveinence makes us fat as much as the food makes us fat. No one would eat the equivalent of a bag of potato chips if made from scratch because almost no one would make potato chips.
My Green Misadventure 