Sucked In...

PBS rules! Last night, I found myself watching this show about Hudson, NY. There was a grass-roots movement to block the development of a huge cement plant, and they even won their way into the Mayor's office and town council. Very interesting, and I hope that people here can live with the same interest in and dedication to their community.

The Air Up There

How clean is that mountain air? I know that Mount Washington has done it, and the AMC expanded the same type of program to the White Mtns. Now, CNN is reporting that the ATC is taking on a similar initiative. Lets try and do something about air quality in pristine regions in the East. Lets try and remember that the White Mtns are called that because of their snow, not because of smog and haze (unlike the often-true misnomer that tags along with the Great Smoky Mtns).

Why Do We Worry?

This article is interesting. Turns out, although most of our daily activities (driving to work, influenza) are more dangerous than the exotic risks that we face (avian flu), the actions which we can control in some regard we are less fearful of, probably because we can influence the outcome, and we trust ourselves. Maybe it also has to do with the fact the media outlets, the same media outlets that wrote the article, blow a lot of these far-fetched risks out of proportion. Funny how they weren't able to point the finger back at themselves.

Talk About Inconvenience...

The truth about global warming is not convenient. What may not be convenient about it now is that our actions over the past 30+ years have put us in the current predicament, and we do not want to face consequences that we have set up for ourselves. The truth about the current global warming situation may be inconvenient, but only because the truth is inconvenient to swallow. After the truth is digested, we must then scramble to try and reverse the damage. Our retributions paid to the environment will be inconvenient.

What people may not know is that the minor inconveniences that we may suffer on the home front now may save us from some severe inconveniences in the future. It may be inconvenient now to pay a little more in their energy bill for wind energy, or to install photovoltaic cells on their roof. Those inconveniences do not compare to what may come in the future, when summers are hotter as a result of global warming, and you have to use more electricity to cool your house, at the unpredictable utility costs of the future. It may be inconvenient to trade in the SUV for a hybrid car to drive to your job in the city. Compare that to the possibility of unhealthy air quality in the same cities in the future. What may seem like a big inconvenience today will look like a big blunder in hindsight.

What else may be inconvenient for me is to sell my snowboard equipment, if snowfall is lost in the Northeast. It will be even harder to tell my children about the great snow-related activities that you could once do. It would be even harder to tell them why we cannot enjoy the snow any longer. However, I would be able to tell them that it was not for my lack of trying.

What simple changes that seem inconvenient today will compound in the future, making it even more difficult to answer to our actions (or inactions).

Who DID Kill the Electric Car?

.. and how many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

The future of the automobile is not coming; the future was already here. Although much of the blame of the demise of the EV1 Program can be placed on General Motors for creating then cremating the EV1, the creation and destruction of the Electric Car Program would not have been possible without the help of the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The Zero Emission Vehicle mandate allowed CARB to force the hand of automakers to create a clean car, if the car companies wanted to continue selling cars in California. When the auto manufacturers cried to CARB that they were not able to meet the goals of the program, CARB caved in, and effectively eliminated all forward progress that the electric car movement had accomplished.

“The Car Doctor” normally says that car dealers do not make much money on the sale of the car. Where they do make their money is in the repair shop. The internal combustion engine, despite how far it has gotten us, is terribly flawed. Parts are bound to break on a piece of machinery that has tiny explosions going on inside of it. Why make a car that you would have to maintain less, if that seriously cut into your main line of profits?

Many factors had to align correctly for the Electric Car Program to succeed, but many other factors aligned to squash the program, and any trace that it even existed. It is really sad that some quality of life boards that are supposed to look out for the public’s rights, backed down form their stance when pleaded with by automakers (albeit using exaggerated negative documentation and muffling public support).

Backlogs and Backpedaling

I have updated many unfinished blogs. Namely, our October trip to Niagara Falls.

In other news, I highly recommend that you watch 'Who Killed the Electric Car?' Its a great documentary about the genesis and genocide of what should be the next transportation milestone. On the heels of this, 'An Inconvenient Truth' is due out on DVD this Tuesday.

We will be buying our Toyota Prius as soon as we are financially able.

FallingWater

I can't believe that we actually went here. The design is incredible, as are the feelings that the site and building instill.

Lisa and I (and Tracie) are here at 7 Springs this weekend for her Mary Kay Fall Retreat. We made it here in really good time, like 3 hours. We had some time to kill, so we saw the Quecreek Mine Rescue site, some wind turbines (for my Sustainable Communities project), and we finally stopped at Fallingwater.

I want to go back in every season.

Pictures

Keep Chopping Away

Scavenger Hunt

For the second year, Lisa and I went down to Tracie's for the Halloween weekend. This year's activities include a Baltimore-area scavenger hunt. Our team, "Vectrex", was made up of myself, Lisa, Tracie, and Art. The scavenger hunt included tasks, clues, pictures, and driving. Kind of like the Amazing Race. We got a lot of points for doing our homework the night before.

Although somewhat draining, the scavenger hunt was fun. Pictures here.