Japan's Energy Initiative

Japan has serious plans to send a solar-panel-equipped satellite into space that could wirelessly beam a gigawatt-strong stream of power down to earth and power nearly 300,000 homes.

More here.

This is the sort of stuff we need to be doing as a country. We need to embrace science and try to use it solve our problems. Fuck promoting corporate ventures, we need state sponsored initiatives to pursue aggressive solutions. We can win back our super power status this way (appealing to republicans) and we can actually help the world (liberal selling point). Mad props to the Japanese and Mitsubishi.

Maybe we could start using Nasa to solve real problems?

Forbes Names Greenest Company of 2009

I'm not kidding.

What is your footprint?

I promise not all my post will have to do with climate change but I found something I just had to share.

Have you ever wondered what your carbon footprint is?

The link is to a quiz that generally determines how many planets it would take to sustain your lifestyle if we ALL lived the same way. I was surprised to find out it would take over three earths to sustain mine. As good as I thought I was doing, I obviously have a lot of work to do.

This quiz is easy to take, no registering, and interesting to watch.

Electric Cars

This post is kind of shitty because I just rushed to throw this junk together. It still has all the relevant info though. I thought this was common knowledge, but I'm starting to wonder if it really is. There is a company called Tesla Motors based out of California who has been making and selling electric cars. I'm not talking about your EV-1 or anything. These are real cars. Super hot real cars. This is the model that is on the roads now, the Tesla Roadster:

• 244 miles per charge
• 0-60mph in less than 4 seconds
• $110k

They have a new model coming out called the Model S. It's base price is $50k and it is a normal everyday coup, but again this one is electric too. Here is a video of the unveiling of this model:

The country seems to think the Chevy Volt is going to be the answer, but that is a hybrid (still pollutes and wastes oil). It will only go 40 miles without needing gas. We still don't know how far it will actually go, we just need to take GM's word for it. By the way GM already had an electric car that the owners loved called the EV-1 that they killed. This was like 10 years ago. Now tell me why they needed to add a gas tank 10 years after they've already demonstrated that gas was unnecessary and that the technology had a market? 

I wonder how different the country would look if the government didn't give a failing giant billions of dollars and handed it over to these people. What if your stimulus package actually went into investments into the future? Why hasn't this car been all over the news? They've been selling the Roadster for over 3 years now. Matt Damon, Will.i.am, and Jay Leno have them among other people. You'd think that if something this amazing existed we would all know about it. 

Cash for clunkers? How about cash for cars that would save our environment and do EXTREME damage to our dependance on oil? This require NO gas. 

If not now, when?

The US acts as though this issue is something that can be postponed indefinitely. I vividly remember writing my letter to the first president Bush urging him to sign on to the Koyoto Treaty when he was hesitating to even go to negotiations. He went and I was heartened.

I voted for Bill Clinton because he had Al Gore as his vice. Bill got elected and I was hopeful. I don't know what happened to Al while he was in office but during the 90's vehicles kept getting larger and worse gas mileage. Gone was ANY talk of conservation. It was as though the 70's never happened. I know cars aren't the only carbon emitter but I think what happened with them is indicative of the run away energy usage that is going to be the death of us all, if our lack of health insurance doesn't get us first.

I finally got to the point where I realized that most people want to pretend the issue does not exist and politicians are only too happy to oblige. It finally is becoming more of a mainstream topic but is getting drown out by bank bailouts, a crashing ecomony and the heathcare fraud (just sign everyone up for Medicad already). I don't know what the US is waiting for:

BERLIN, Aug 17 (IPS) - The disappointing results of negotiations in Bonn last week are indication that industrialized countries are unwilling to make substantial contributions to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

"If we continue at this rate we're not going to make it," Yvo de Boer, head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48107


All I can say is I am glad I don't have children.

Edit: I don't know why the site is not showing up as a link but can be pasted in your browser.
Still learning......

Second Edit: Thank you Joseph. Link now operational!!