Does It Matter

I have no idea who these climate scientists are that are allegedly misrepresenting data; nor do I know the individuals trying to hang them.

This I do know. It is our duty as human beings to respect the world we live in so that those that follow in our footsteps can have at least the same experiences that we have enjoyed (possibly better).

It is our responsibility as beings of cognition (able to think and discern) to live in a manner conducive to life on earth be it land, sea or air.

We know that over hundreds of millions of years life has evolved. Some plants and animals have died because of climate changes caused by natural disasters time and time again.

We also know that some have transformed themselves and adapted over time; adjusting their lifestyles to the living conditions in which they found themselves; they've adapted.

I don't believe we can continue to live the way we have, full steam ahead, burning fossil fuels and obscuring the view of the sunrise and polluting the water. We can't continually drill further and further off shore; deeper and deeper just to satisfy the worlds thirst for oil.

We cannot keep pumping water from the worlds fresh water aquifer's and think we will always have fresh water. Like oil wells; water wells are being drilled deeper and deeper to access water around the world.

There are a couple things that come into play when I read stuff like this from the extreme right:

#1) These people are scared to death of what they are unfamiliar with.

#2) There are trillions of dollars at stake in the fossil fuel industry. They will do or say anything to keep people from right thinking.

#3) There are those that have read the Bible and misinterpreted the statement in Geneses that we are "stewards of the Earth". They think that the world is here for us.

They do not realize that we created the world and therefor are responsible for its condition and the condition with which we hand it to our posterior. We are not alone here; there are many animals and plants that depend on our ability to create, preserve and enjoy. There are those to come which depend on us to preserve enough of the earth for them to enjoy.

I shall stand aside and let the media, once again, make fools of themselves.
Right thinking is the only thing that will get us out of this mess.
Running scared or doing nothing won't help!
As stewards of the Earth it is our responsibility to do what we can to help make and keep the world a cleaner place for all to enjoy.

Problems with Coal-Based Electricity Generation

The Big Stone II Coal Fired Power Plant Project met it's demise this week in NE South Dakota. On the one hand I 'm not sorry to see it shot down. On the other in the process of building another Power plant they were supposed to clean up the plant already on line.
Ottertail Power Company announced that they would abandoned the project this week.

The following is a blurp on coal from another site.

Courtesy of http://www.grinningplanet.com,
Thanks,
Guys

Beyond the environmental problems with coal mining, burning coal to generate electricity is notoriously dirty. While great improvements have been made over the years in air-pollution-control technologies for coal plants, many old, fume-belching plants remain online. Despite industry proclamations of the wonders of "clean coal" technology—coal-gasification combined cycle (CGCC) power plants are indeed a quantum leap from plants with even state-of-the-art emissions scrubbers—almost none of the coal plants currently under construction or on the drawing boards around the world are this super-clean type.


Even if you give the coal industry and its political allies the benefit of the doubt and assume a wholesale move to clean coal-burning technology, that would still leave the intractable issue of the pollution and environmental damage caused by coal mining. There are no easy solutions for that problem, and increasing the demand for coal will also increase the environmental problems associated with coal mining.

Bicycling Benefits Are Legion

Bicycles have been around for a very long time. In fact, bicycles have been around for so long that it is a very common tradition, especially in the United States of America, that one of the first thing that a young child is taught along with his or hers ABC's and 123s is how to ride a bicycle.

As we get older, most people often lose interest in cycling. The thought of riding a bike becomes mere nostalgia of times when we were younger. However, if you stop to think about it, there are many benefits to riding a bicycle.

Health Benefits

The health benefits of riding a bicycle are tremendous. A daily or weekly regular exercise regime is hard to maintain because the lifestyles that we may have. Most of us have at least one full time job and many have families to take care of and spend time with in addition to secular work. Because we all have these type of mundane tasks, this makes it harder and harder to keep up with a regular exercise schedule.

Now, if you were to travel via bicycle, this can double as exercise. Depending on how fast you go, you may be able to get a great cardio aerobic workout. If you cycle uphill and off-road, you may also be able to squeeze in some fitness training and strengthen your leg muscles.

Riding a bicycle in lieu of an automobile sometimes can afford you the time to get a work out. If you can set aside some time to cycle strictly for exercise, that can prove to be even more beneficial.

Financial Benefits

There are also financial benefits to riding bicycles. In this day and age, gas prices are on the rise and they continue to be priced higher and higher seemingly every single week. Some times the price of gas can be so financially taxing to people who are on a budget, that they have no other choice but to seek a cheaper alternative. Well, one great alternative is cycling.

Regular, manual bicycles require absolutely no gas at all. All that is required is a little bit of leg muscle and elbow grease. If you live near your workplace or school, why not travel the gas-free way and cycle to your destination?

Ways To Live Green; Simply!

Where can you start? At home as always.

* Change your light globes, re-cyle everything you bring into your home - compost, recycle services, free-cycle networks, charity stores. Reduce the amount of waste you produce and take responsibility for it's disposal.
* Look to your consumption patterns and habits - you can cut your energy consumption by turning off lights and appliances that you are not using right now, by walking to your friends house, by riding your bike to school, by doing more than one thing when you take the car out, by car sharing or pooling, by using public transport even once a week.
* You can create a healthier you by changing your eating habits - eat at home more often, grow some of your own food, even herbs on a window ledge have health and climate change benefits. Cut down your consumption of meat - up to 25% of your carbon emissions are coming from meat consumption. That is an enormous amount - try one vegetarian dish every week and see if you discover a new family favourite. I bet by the end of the year you can halve your meat consumption and not even miss it.
* Share what you are learning with people you know. If you found something that is great for your family or for you personally, share it with someone you love. You would do that if you found a great deal on shoes somewhere right? It's only natural to share good ideas, great recipes, fun activities and so this part of the process will be even easier.
* There are so many more things you can do. REDUCE, Re-Use and Re-cyle are the words you can use to remind yourself of your new commitment to life on earth. REDUCE is the most important component. We all just want to be happy and healthy, we can do that without consuming all the 'stuff' we currently consume - take a look at your life, your family, your community and see what consumption patterns you can reduce while at the same time increasing your levels of happiness and health.

What a challenge, what a reward. Climate change could be just the opportunity we need to re-envision our whole lives and the way we live them. Now I'm feeling grateful to climate change, go figure.

Green Living Tips

Do you care about the environment and your health, but want to be stylish with your home décor at the same time? Luckily, there are plenty of green living options that can be implemented in your home in order to create a great look while remaining eco-friendly.

Making Sustainable Choices

Making sustainable choices are an important component of green living. Making sustainable choices means purchasing products that don’t cause a negative impact on the environment and that will not make it more difficult for future generations to continue to sustain themselves. Making sustainable choices during the design process is referred to as 'green design' or 'sustainable design'. Some great sustainable choices to consider when decorating include:

• Natural stone counter tops
• Cabinets and other products made from woods such as bamboo, eucalyptus, or recycled wood
• Carpet made from natural fibers, such as wool and cotton, or made from recycled materials
• Green-friendly paint and home wallpaper, which is being offered by a growing number of manufacturers
• Antiques – after all, they are being recycled!

You don’t have to create a bland and boring home décor in order to enjoy green living. In fact, there are numerous options out there that will allow you to make your home look great while still protecting the planet.

Appliances for Green Living

When it comes to green living, a great place to start is in your kitchen. Remodeling can add a great deal of value to your home, can make it more functional and attractive, and can help you make your home more eco-friendly.

When buying for your kitchen, look for modern appliances to help bring your home up-to-date. By purchasing those appliances with the Energy Star rating, you can potentially cut the amount of energy you use to power those appliances in half. Adding faucet aerators to your kitchen and bathroom faucets will also help reduce the amount of water you use while still providing you with a high pressure stream of water.

Obtaining Green Products

Fortunately, green living is rapidly growing in popularity. In response, many manufacturers are offering lines of eco friendly products that can be used for decorating purposes. In addition, a growing number of online and offline stores that are dedicated solely to green living are becoming a more common occurrence.

Although it may take a little more time and effort to find and purchase eco products for your home, the effort will be worth it. Not only will you be doing your part to help conserve and protect the environment, green living is better for your health and can save you money in the long run.

What Everyone Should Know About Renewable Energy

It has long been observed and proven that nature has already provided man with enough resources for energy—sunlight, geothermal heat, tides, and wind. Because these energy are abundant, in fact, so abundant that they could be replenished perpetually, they have come to be known as renewable energy.

Though extended discussions about renewable energy and its sources can become winded and more complex, every average person interested enough should at least know the basics in order to grasp the concept of how incredibly beneficial these energy sources are.

Man has long harnessed the power of wind and had applied it for practical purposes, albeit in smaller scale such as the power produced in windmills. Current technologies had long converted these simple renewable energy mechanisms to develop wind farms that generate energy supply without the associated risk of pollution
. A lot of wind farms have been established in the United States and abroad to generate electricity. This provides proof on the increasing attraction of using wind power as source of renewable energy while decreasing environment risks and hazards. One critical consideration in establishing wind farms would the presence of constant strong winds, which is why many wind farms are located in elevated areas and even offshore locations are considered viable settings for this kind of renewable energy facility.

Renewable energy from water comes in many different forms. The most common would be the hydroelectric energy that is generated by waterfalls while some areas of the world also generate micro hydro systems that produce smaller amounts of electricity. Renewable energy is also tapped from currents deep under the ocean. This is termed as tidal stream power and several technologies have been developed to harness these viable source. Other sources of renewable energy generated from oceans would be tidal changes, temperature difference, tidal motions, and of course, waves.

Another viable renewable energy source is sunlight, which earth certainly has in abundance. There are numerous technologies developed to tap the solar energy and convert it into electricity, heating systems, and even cooling systems. Though most of these technologies are still in the initial stages, there is no denying the potential benefits promised by this renewable energy source. One of the leading concerns is cost of the materials used, though several affordable yet more efficient designs are still expected to be introduced into the market.

A lot of geothermal power plants had been built and have long been operational in several parts of the world. This is because this source of renewable source of energy generates power at low operating cost. Though some experts may contend that geothermal energy would not last as long as the others and is technically not renewable, it is still expected to provide large amount of power for a long time, even for a hundred years or so. However, it is still classified as a renewable energy source by the International Energy Agency and, like all other sources mentioned above, geothermal energy is reliable and environmentally friendly.

Though none of the renewable energy sources are considered to compete with fossil fuels just yet, it still provide some form of alternative for environmentally conscious individuals and communities in doing their share of lessening environmental degradation and destruction, something we can all ultimately derive benefits from.

Local or Global or Locally Global!

I've spouted off about what the clever people and the people with money should do to save us from ourselves and our oil habit; now what can I do? Yup, me! What can I do in the mid-west to help alleviate the problems of global warming and consuming our depleting, nonrenewable natural resources?

There are many things I can do that cost nothing or actually save me money. Gardening can save me money in numerous ways.
1) I don't have to buy a certain amount of my food.
2) I don't have to travel to town after the food that grows right outside my door.
3) Because I am not consuming food grown by someone else I am saving fuel because the store does not have to truck in as much food.
4) I can sell or give away the excess food I don't need to others or barter for things they have I need. This cuts down on manufacturing costs.
5) If I barter for a ride to town I can save fuel that way plus cut down on my share of carbon emissions.
6) Growing green plants cleans the air naturally.

This may seem trivial to many and the old argument is that, "Oh, what can you actually save by doing any of those things."

This statement misses the point. Point being; if many of us do this we can save LOTS of nonrenewable natural resources and cut out a great deal of carbon emissions therefore downsizing our carbon footprint.

The UK has come up with an organization called the "Carbon Trust". This Trust will analyze the various stages that a product goes through from the beginning all the way through to the consumer and give the product a carbon footprint measured in grams. Thereby allowing one to know how large a carbon footprint one is leaving on the globe. If a person buys all the products they consume from eco-conscious companies that participate in this plan; one can feasibly keep track of ones own carbon footprint measured in grams.

St Paul Minnesota heats much of its downtown area with a clean burning incinerator, burning wood waste that otherwise would be thrown out. This runs the boiler system that runs under the streets to the individual buildings heating them during the long winter months up north. It has taken many years and a lot of effort but this process leaves an extra 6 million dollars a year in the city that would otherwise be paid out in fuel costs.

There are many other projects out there that are helping in other ways also. If we stick together we as a nation can lick this love affair we have with foreign oil.