Tom Friedman Needs to Stop Making Sense

From the NY Times.

...The McCain-Clinton gas holiday proposal is a perfect example of what energy expert Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: “Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.”

Good for Barack Obama for resisting this shameful pandering.

But here’s what’s scary: our problem is so much worse than you think. We have no energy strategy. If you are going to use tax policy to shape energy strategy then you want to raise taxes on the things you want to discourage — gasoline consumption and gas-guzzling cars — and you want to lower taxes on the things you want to encourage — new, renewable energy technologies. We are doing just the opposite.

Are you sitting down?

Few Americans know it, but for almost a year now, Congress has been bickering over whether and how to renew the investment tax credit to stimulate investment in solar energy and the production tax credit to encourage investment in wind energy. The bickering has been so poisonous that when Congress passed the 2007 energy bill last December, it failed to extend any stimulus for wind and solar energy production. Oil and gas kept all their credits, but those for wind and solar have been left to expire this December. I am not making this up. At a time when we should be throwing everything into clean power innovation, we are squabbling over pennies.

These credits are critical because they ensure that if oil prices slip back down again — which often happens — investments in wind and solar would still be profitable. That’s how you launch a new energy technology and help it achieve scale, so it can compete without subsidies.

The Democrats wanted the wind and solar credits to be paid for by taking away tax credits from the oil industry. President Bush said he would veto that. Neither side would back down, and Mr. Bush — showing not one iota of leadership — refused to get all the adults together in a room and work out a compromise. Stalemate. Meanwhile, Germany has a 20-year solar incentive program; Japan 12 years. Ours, at best, run two years.

“It’s a disaster,” says Michael Polsky, founder of Invenergy, one of the biggest wind-power developers in America. “Wind is a very capital-intensive industry, and financial institutions are not ready to take ‘Congressional risk.’ They say if you don’t get the [production tax credit] we will not lend you the money to buy more turbines and build projects.”

It is also alarming, says Rhone Resch, the president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, that the U.S. has reached a point “where the priorities of Congress could become so distorted by politics” that it would turn its back on the next great global industry — clean power — “but that’s exactly what is happening.” If the wind and solar credits expire, said Resch, the impact in just 2009 would be more than 100,000 jobs either lost or not created in these industries, and $20 billion worth of investments that won’t be made.

While all the presidential candidates were railing about lost manufacturing jobs in Ohio, no one noticed that America’s premier solar company, First Solar, from Toledo, Ohio, was opening its newest factory in the former East Germany — 540 high-paying engineering jobs — because Germany has created a booming solar market and America has not.

In 1997, said Resch, America was the leader in solar energy technology, with 40 percent of global solar production. “Last year, we were less than 8 percent, and even most of that was manufacturing for overseas markets.”

The McCain-Clinton proposal is a reminder to me that the biggest energy crisis we have in our country today is the energy to be serious — the energy to do big things in a sustained, focused and intelligent way. We are in the midst of a national political brownout.

why flowers have lost their scent

from the Independent

Pollution is dulling the scent of flowers and impeding some of the most basic processes of nature, disrupting insect life and imperilling food supplies, a new study suggests.

The potentially hugely significant research – funded by the blue-chip US National Science Foundation – has found that gases mainly formed from the emissions of car exhausts prevent flowers from attracting bees and other insects in order to pollinate them. And the scientists who have conducted the study fear that insects' ability to repel enemies and attract mates may also be impeded.

The researchers – at the University of Virginia – say that pollution is dramatically cutting the distance travelled by the scent of flowers. Professor Jose Fuentes, who led the study, said: "Scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 metres. But today they may travel only 200 to 300 metres. This makes it increasingly difficult for bees and other insects to locate the flowers."

this sentiment can be applicable to most any foreign and domestic policy

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger predicted Friday that an international deadlock over how to deal with global warming will end once President Bush leaves office, while a leading expert warned of dire consequences if urgent action is not taken.

Schwarzenegger spoke at a conference at Yale University in which 18 states pledged to take action on climate change. He noted a dispute over whether the U.S. should commit to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions before China and India do the same.

"But I think the deadlock is about to be broken," said Schwarzenegger, a Republican like Bush.

Schwarzenegger said all three president candidates would be great for the environment and predicted progress after one is inaugurated.

People Need to Begin Connecting the Dots

From the Philadelphia Inquirer.

By Maria Panaritis

Inquirer Staff Writer
PENNSBURG, Pa. - The view at sundown from the McCausland family home paints an unlikely picture of how high gasoline prices are deflating the modern-day American suburban dream.

On the back deck you can watch the setting sun explode into orange and crimson streaks before oozing into a rolling ridge on the horizon. It's the kind of place a child remembers for a lifetime.

When Brian and Dawn McCausland bought this Colonial on a half acre in Montgomery County in 2004, they made a deal with the devil during a sky-high housing market: They and their four daughters would live here, but Brian would commute 100 miles round-trip to his job as an insurance adjuster in Delaware County.

A gallon of gas at the time was $1.76 - $150 a month for their 2002 Chevy Malibu. It beat paying more for a similar house closer to work.

But now, with gas averaging $3.30 and rising, the McCausland dream is getting soaked at the pump to the tune of $300 a month, or $3,600 a year, double their cost four years ago. They are among many families of modest means who took on big commutes from exurbia for a taste of upward mobility.

"My yearly increases in my salary and bonuses are only going to cover the increase in the cost of gas," said McCausland, 40, who graduated from La Salle University in 1989 with a double major in finance and management - and the expectation that, by now, he'd be more financially secure.

"I'm really not making any more than I had been," said McCausland. "I'm not getting ahead."

The McCauslands say they are doing OK. Like many families facing inflation and the economic uncertainty of the day, they are working more hours, cutting expenses, and shopping at discount stores.

But the commuting bill is proving a stubborn foe...

McCain? Really?

Matthew Yglesias:
...
Meanwhile, McCain, despite some admirable qualities, shares Bush's lunatic conception of America's role in the world, declined to endorse any climate change measures that might actually solve the problem, and has pledged fealty to Bush's irresponsible tax policy in a way that makes it impossible for him to do much of anything innovative on the domestic front. There's a big, clear choice facing the country between the party of war, tax cuts, and the destruction of the planet and the other party
...

Giving Credit Where it is Due

Can a leopard change its' spots?

Wal-Mart Chief Offers a Social Manifesto
By MICHAEL BARBARO
Published: January 24, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Wal-Mart pledged Wednesday to cut the energy used by many of its products 25 percent, to force the chain’s suppliers to meet stricter ethical standards and to apply its legendary cost-cutting skills to help other companies deliver health care for their employees.
In a lofty address that at times resembled a campaign speech, the chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores, H. Lee Scott Jr., said that “we live in a time when people are losing confidence in the ability of government to solve problems.” But Wal-Mart, he said, “does not wait for someone else to solve problems.”

He then laid out sweeping plans for the company on several health and environmental issues, and he hinted that even more ambitious goals might be on the horizon. Mr. Scott said, for instance, that Wal-Mart is talking to leaders of the automobile industry about selling electric or hybrid cars — and might even install windmills in its parking lots so customers could recharge their cars with renewable electricity.

With the new commitments, Wal-Mart is trying to cement its reputation as a leader in areas where it was once known as a laggard. The initiatives are the most visible sign to date that Wal-Mart, which spent much of the past decade defending itself against criticism of its business practices, has gone on the offensive.

Since 2005, it has committed itself to a dizzying number of reforms, and even some of the chain’s critics concede that it has begun to make good on the promises. For instance, Mr. Scott said Wednesday that Wal-Mart had sold 145 million compact fluorescent light bulbs, which he said had saved enough electricity to forestall the need for three coal-fired power plants in the United States.
Several experts applauded the new goals, saying they would have an impact beyond Wal-Mart, given the chain’s influence over companies that supply Wal-Mart and other retailers. “When Wal-Mart asks, suppliers jump,” said Noah Horowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “There are positive ripple effects throughout the supply chain.”
...

The Big Business of Climate Change is Barely Begnining

A new type of super-efficient household light bulb is being developed which could spell the end of regular bulbs.

Experts have found a way to make Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) brighter and use less power than energy efficient light bulbs currently on the market.

The technology, used in gadgets such as mobile phones and computers, had previously not been powerful enough to be used for lighting.

But Glasgow University scientists said they had resolved the problem.

The project, being developed along with the Institute of Photonics at the University of Strathclyde, involves making microscopic holes in the surface of LEDs to increase the level of light they give off.

This is a process known as nano-imprint lithography.

Dr Faiz Rahman, who is leading the project, said: "As yet, LEDs have not been introduced as the standard lighting in homes because the process of making the holes is very time consuming and expensive.

"However, we believe we have found a way of imprinting the holes into billions of LEDs at a far greater speed, but at a much lower cost."

He added: "This means the days of the humble light-bulb could soon be over."

Moishe likes green

First Global Carbon Index Unveiled

By: ClimateBiz.com

LONDON, Dec. 10, 2007 -- Barclays Capital has launched the first index to track the performance of carbon credits issued though major greenhouse gas emissions trading schemes.

The Barclays Capital Global Carbon Index is meant to be a comprehensive benchmark for the carbon emissions market and is governed by the Barclays Capital Environmental Markets Index Committee.

Initially it will track carbon credits associated with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU Allowances) and the Kyoto Clean Development Mechanism (Certified Emission Reductions), and add new schemes as they develop.

"The BGCI offers investors direct and transparent access to the global carbon arena, which has the potential to become one of the world's largest and most important commodities markets," said Harshika Patel, head of environmental markets product and business development for Barclays.

Barclays Capital is the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC.

As Heard on NPR This Morning: Moische, I Have Your Apocalyse Preparation Needs Right Here

BILL LENTFER: That's the beauty of this particular thing, converting a car right now: You can do it today. And you have been able to do it for the past 20 years.

That's Bill Lentfer, an employee of Electro Automotive. Since 1979, the company has sold kits that can turn any car -- from a Rolls Royce to a VW Rabbit -- into an electric vehicle.

In the past few years, orders have gone from a few dozen to a few hundred a year, says co-owner Sheri Prange ... Kits average about $7,000, but Prange says the motors last forever and are up to 90 percent less polluting. Beats buying a new car.

As Heard on NPR This Morning

... the [Florida Gulf Stream] — which flows at 8 billion gallons per minute — could yield as much energy as several nuclear plants, providing one-third of Florida's power.