GreenGeezer

"Neighborhood Effect" Resulting from High Oil Prices

The cost of oil is putting a crimp in globalization, according to the New York Times.  As the cost of fuel rises, products shipped around the world become less profitable and it makes more sense to produce them nearby to consumers.  Locavores will already be ahead of the game, as food is one of the products that will start to be produced locally. 

Production chains that no longer make sense include that of Tesla's electric-powered cars, whose 1,000-pound battery packs were made in Thailand, shipped to Britain for installation, with the partially-assembled cars shipped to the U.S.  Now they'll be entirely made in California.

"Globe-spanning supply chains — Brazilian iron ore turned into Chinese steel used to make washing machines shipped to Long Beach, Calif., and then trucked to appliance stores in Chicago — make less sense today than they did a few years ago....The cost of shipping a 40-foot container from Shanghai to the United States has risen to $8,000, compared with $3,000 early in the decade, according to a recent study of transportation costs. Big container ships, the pack mules of the 21st-century economy, have shaved their top speed by nearly 20 percent to save on fuel costs, substantially slowing shipping times." --The New York Times

Other signs of the "neighborhood effect":

• Ikea opened a factory in the U.S. and more furniture is being made in America
  
• Electronics companies who moved to China from Mexico are moving back
• Chinese steel exports to the U.S. are falling while U.S. production rises
• Avocadoes in Chicago in January and bananas all year round will make less and less sense

Architecture 2030: Green Design Imperative

Architecture 2030 is a non-profit, non-partisan and independent organization established in response to the global-warming crisis by architect Edward Mazria.  Because "buildings are the major source of demand for energy and materials that produce by-product greenhouse gases",  Mazria is calling on everyone in the field of design and architecture pledge to change to sustainable design. Architecture 2030's  research page is sobering:

"Think you're making a difference?  Think again: There are 151 new conventional coal fired power plants in various stages of development in the US today.  Home Depot is funding the planting of 300,000 trees in cities across the US to help absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions...  The CO2 emissions from only one medium-sized (500 MW) coal-fired power plant, in just 10 days of operation, will negate this entire effort."

 

Architecture 2030: Green Design Imperative

Architecture 2030 is a non-profit, non-partisan and independent organization established in response to the global-warming crisis by architect Edward Mazria.  Because "buildings are the major source of demand for energy and materials that produce by-product greenhouse gases",  Mazria is calling on everyone in the field of design and architecture pledge to change to sustainable design. Architecture 2030's  research page is sobering:

"Think you're making a difference?  Think again: There are 151 new conventional coal fired power plants in various stages of development in the US today.  Home Depot is funding the planting of 300,000 trees in cities across the US to help absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions...  The CO2 emissions from only one medium-sized (500 MW) coal-fired power plant, in just 10 days of operation, will negate this entire effort."

 

Going Green: Just a Fashion?

Sunday's Chicago Tribune featured a story titled Green is the New Black lamenting the co-opting of green living.   

'"Here's one popular vision for saving the planet: Roll out from under the sumptuous hemp-fiber sheets on your bed in the morning and pull on a pair of $245 organic cotton Levi's and an Armani biodegradable knit shirt.

Stroll from the bedroom in your eco-McMansion, with its photovoltaic solar panels, into the kitchen remodeled with reclaimed lumber. Enter the three-car garage lighted by energy-sipping fluorescent bulbs and slip behind the wheel of your $104,000 Lexus hybrid.

Drive to the airport, where you settle in for an 8,000-mile flight -- careful to buy carbon offsets beforehand -- and spend a week driving golf balls made from compacted fish food at an eco-resort in the Maldives."

We agree that consuming less is the answer, and merely consuming "green" stuff will not get us out of this mess.  For example, according to the Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook televisions account for 4% of energy use in the United States (just let that sink in for a moment......FOUR PER CENT) and your old set uses a lot less energy than a plasma-screen energy hog. 

On the other hand, if someone is already having to buy something, it can be a great time to switch consumers over to green products.   

"After you buy the compact fluorescent bulbs," said Michael Brune, the executive director of the Rainforest Action Network, "you can move on to greater goals like banding together politically to shut down coal-fired power plants."   John Passacantando, the executive director of Greenpeace USA, argued that green consumerism has been a way for Wal-Mart shoppers to get over the old stereotypes of environmentalists as "tree-hugging hippies" and contribute in their own way.

This is crucial, he said, given the widespread nature of the global warming challenge. "You need Wal-Mart and Joe Six-Pack and mayors and taxi drivers," he said. "You need participation on a wide front."

So go ahead and get your friends and relatives to shop for those CFLs...it can be just the start of changing an entire lifestyle.

Going Green: Just a Fashion?

Sunday's Chicago Tribune featured a story titled Green is the New Black lamenting the co-opting of green living.   

'"Here's one popular vision for saving the planet: Roll out from under the sumptuous hemp-fiber sheets on your bed in the morning and pull on a pair of $245 organic cotton Levi's and an Armani biodegradable knit shirt.

Stroll from the bedroom in your eco-McMansion, with its photovoltaic solar panels, into the kitchen remodeled with reclaimed lumber. Enter the three-car garage lighted by energy-sipping fluorescent bulbs and slip behind the wheel of your $104,000 Lexus hybrid.

Drive to the airport, where you settle in for an 8,000-mile flight -- careful to buy carbon offsets beforehand -- and spend a week driving golf balls made from compacted fish food at an eco-resort in the Maldives."

We agree that consuming less is the answer, and merely consuming "green" stuff will not get us out of this mess.  For example, according to the Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook televisions account for 4% of energy use in the United States (just let that sink in for a moment......FOUR PER CENT) and your old set uses a lot less energy than a plasma-screen energy hog. 

On the other hand, if someone is already having to buy something, it can be a great time to switch consumers over to green products.   

"After you buy the compact fluorescent bulbs," said Michael Brune, the executive director of the Rainforest Action Network, "you can move on to greater goals like banding together politically to shut down coal-fired power plants."   John Passacantando, the executive director of Greenpeace USA, argued that green consumerism has been a way for Wal-Mart shoppers to get over the old stereotypes of environmentalists as "tree-hugging hippies" and contribute in their own way.

This is crucial, he said, given the widespread nature of the global warming challenge. "You need Wal-Mart and Joe Six-Pack and mayors and taxi drivers," he said. "You need participation on a wide front."

So go ahead and get your friends and relatives to shop for those CFLs...it can be just the start of changing an entire lifestyle.

Richard Branson's Council of Elders: The Ultimate "GreenGeezers"

The Council of Elders announced its formation on July 18th.  The group was organized by Richard Branson, the famous British multibillionaire who pledged $3B dollars to help solve global warming at last year's meeting of the Clinton Climate Initiative. The group includes President Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu, Graca Machel, Kofi Annan, Li Zhaoxing, Mary Robinson and Muhammad Yunus.  The Council of Elders will dedicate itself to fostering peace and resolving global crises.

   

Richard Branson's Council of Elders: The Ultimate "GreenGeezers"

The Council of Elders announced its formation on July 18th.  The group was organized by Richard Branson, the famous British multibillionaire who pledged $3B dollars to help solve global warming at last year's meeting of the Clinton Climate Initiative. The group includes President Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu, Graca Machel, Kofi Annan, Li Zhaoxing, Mary Robinson and Muhammad Yunus.  The Council of Elders will dedicate itself to fostering peace and resolving global crises.

   

Carbon Offsets: "Incredible Nonsense"

Spiegel Online covers the wave of green business in Germany, and also comments on the market in carbon offsets:

"Critics say that this method is a temporary solution at best. Although she welcomes such initiatives, Regine Günther of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is highly skeptical of the reforestation programs offered by some agencies. "There's an incredible amount of nonsense out there," she says. It also remains to be seen whether these contributions will be sufficient to offset environmental damage being done elsewhere. For example, someone who purchases gold jewelry online from Christ Jewelers through Climatefriends pays a "climate contribution" equal to 4.5 percent of the sale. This is a modest toll, though, considering that, according to the Wuppertal Institute, more than half a ton of earth has to be moved to mine a single gram of gold -- not to mention the tremendous volume of water consumed in the process.

Carbon Offsets: "Incredible Nonsense"

Spiegel Online covers the wave of green business in Germany, and also comments on the market in carbon offsets:

"Critics say that this method is a temporary solution at best. Although she welcomes such initiatives, Regine Günther of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is highly skeptical of the reforestation programs offered by some agencies. "There's an incredible amount of nonsense out there," she says. It also remains to be seen whether these contributions will be sufficient to offset environmental damage being done elsewhere. For example, someone who purchases gold jewelry online from Christ Jewelers through Climatefriends pays a "climate contribution" equal to 4.5 percent of the sale. This is a modest toll, though, considering that, according to the Wuppertal Institute, more than half a ton of earth has to be moved to mine a single gram of gold -- not to mention the tremendous volume of water consumed in the process.

State of Denial

Thirty-nine years after the publication of Paul Ehrlich's  book The Population Bomb,  which predicted imminent disaster caused by population growth, the subject of population control is almost never brought up these days.  Though Ehrlich's conclusions were widely derided because of his faulty time horizon, can anyone still claim that there are not simply too many damn people on the earth?    Even in the middle of the present greenification of business, commerce, fashion, and architecture, the p-word is almost never mentioned. Why is this?  It seems so obvious, and yet in all the discussion of water shortages, carbon emissions, and the fact that untold millions of Chinese will soon buy their first car....the subject just isn't brought up, even by ardent environmentalists.   Some kind of mass state of denial? 

"China's car debate stands out because its population is the planet's largest. Across the country, rising incomes and falling auto prices have led to an explosion in car sales, up 54% in the first three months of 2006, compared with the year-earlier period. China's auto market is now the world's second biggest, and the motor-vehicle industry employs 1.7 million workers.

The shift is happening so quickly that McDonald's Corp. said last week that it expects at least half of its new outlets in China to be drive-throughs.

And the car craze here has just begun. China now has about 25 vehicles -- and fewer than seven cars -- for every thousand people, roughly the same level as the U.S. had in 1915. If auto sales continue apace, there will be more than 130 million vehicles on China's roads by 2020 -- up from about 33 million today. That could help double China's demand for crude oil and lead to a sharp increase in greenhouse-gas emissions, according to estimates by the government and environmental groups."   Wall Street Journal Online

Take a look at The Breathing Earth,  a website that graphically shows the earth's birth, death, and carbon emission rates,  and the fact that, in the ten minutes or so that  it took me to compose this post, over 5,000 people have been born.