energy soapbox

Someone once told me — perhaps in a far more eloquent way — that we should pursue that which makes us happy; that if something fails to make us happy, and should be abandoned.  As I think about this statement, I wonder whether or not this idea is directly applicable to the idea of sustainability.  [...]

Thomas Friedman in the New York Times today set off a stink bomb when he claimed that Toyota has been backing American automakers in resisting higher fuel economy standards. The Union of Concerned Scientists responded with a campaign almost immediately - below is the text of my submission for that campaign. The first [...]

Living in Seattle at the moment is both weird and a bit scary. Scary because the Washington State Department of Transportation is currently ramping up to a major shutdown of a portion of Interstate 5 just south of downtown Seattle for major repair work between the 10th and 29th of this month. This [...]

“Money talks.”
“Put your money where your mouth is.”

Clean energy (and the larger fight against global warming) has seen a rather major uptick in popular consciousness lately. Even conservative Evangelical leaders are getting behind this problem as a moral issue.

Aside from the obvious things we can do (change light bulbs, install an energy-efficient thermostat and [...]

It’s been a long time since I’ve written; been a tough month or so in Sean-land and unoccupied time has been something of a rarity. That all being said, my thoughts on energy independence haven’t changed.
It might seem blindingly obvious, but a bike ride is one of the best ways to experience a small town. [...]

Recently, I had the opportunity to take a vacation in the form of a road trip from Olympia, WA to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in Wyoming. While traveling, I had several chances to think about sustainability and how action on trips can help to reduce the impact of your travels.
When traveling, of [...]

The Kyoto Accord in California? Not impossible.
Are businesses in California taking the short view in decrying GHG cap legislation? California has long been a leader in the environmental movement, for better or worse. California’s environmental successes have found their way to the national stage time and again.
So here’s the question: if by 2020, we have [...]

I very recently became part of a program called TerraPass, which provides a way to counterbalance the amount of carbon dioxide emissions generated by cars and planes by funding various renewable energy and forestry projects. I purchased a TerraPass Hybrid membership, which offsets the 6,000 pounds of carbon dioxide my Prius is expected to [...]

I just got back from a weekend trip to San Luis Obispo to see my good friend Joe get hitched. While I was there, a group of friends and I stopped by a local supermarket to find cheap CFLs (compact fluourescent lightbulbs) - 4×100W equivalent bulbs (actual draw ~23W) for $0.99. I purchased 2 packs [...]

With the shutdown of Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay oil fields, the nation, particularly the West Coast, could be faced with sharply increasing oil prices:
The average U.S. retail price of a gallon of unleaded, regular gasoline was $3.036 on today — near its all-time high of $3.057, reached Sept. 5 after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.
“I [...]