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How to Save a LOT of Money While Saving the Environment (Hint: Use LED lights!)

  I remember responding to a reader comment left in an article about the phasing out of compact fluorescent lights (CFL) due to their mercury content.  The commenter was saying how the government shouldn’t regulate the market and tell him that he can’t use CFL bulbs.  He likes the light from his CFLs and thinks they’re just fine. I don’t entirely disagree, but I think the irony was lost on him because incandescent bulb production was phased out in 2014 by — you guessed it — “the government”.  Maybe he was a youngster, not old and grizzled  like the Doc.  Anyhow, it struck me as… Read More »How to Save a LOT of Money While Saving the Environment (Hint: Use LED lights!)

Two by two, hands of blue!

A Promising Ebola Vaccine

The West African Ebola outbreak is still going on as we sit here in our comfy chairs, sipping fancy coffee (I speak for myself of course).  Good news though, it’s starting to burn itself out.  Well, mostly.  Ebola is still going strong in Guinea, where recent cases of new infection have increased.  But in Sierra Leone new infections are on the decline, and there’s been no new infections in Liberia for several weeks. The rapid decline in Ebola in Liberia is thanks, in no small measure, to the efforts of your taxpayer dollars, and the U.S. military, the world’s largest humanitarian organization.… Read More »A Promising Ebola Vaccine

Oklahoma farmer's son, Dust Bowl era, 1930s

Climate change, drought and the future of America

Climate change will likely lead to drought in the Southwest that make the historic Dust Bowl of the 1930’s look like good times.  A bunch of scientific studies assessing the risk of drought were recently covered in various media outlets, including Forbes, National Geographic, Scientific American and elsewhere. Several of these media reports are based on an excellent paper, published in Science Advances, called “Unprecedented 21st century drought risk in the American Southwest and Central Plains.”  Their findings were not encouraging. In this paper, scientists from NASA, Columbia and Cornell Universities used historical tree ring data and something called the Palmer Drought Severity Index… Read More »Climate change, drought and the future of America

Deniergate! Ohh the irony, Willie Soon!

The New York Times published a very interesting article on Saturday…  Deeper Ties to Corporate Cash for Doubtful Climate Researcher By JUSTIN GILLIS and JOHN SCHWARTZ The NY Times article describes evidence uncovered by Greenpeace and the Climate Investigations Center, that Dr Wei-Hock “Willie” Soon, a prominent climate change denying researcher, failed to disclose that much of his work is funded by corporate interests. Apparently, Willie Soon is almost entirely funded by various coal and oil interests, including the Koch Brothers.  This is richly ironic considering the phony “climategate” scandal, likely orchestrated by the same coal and oil interests, to discredit climate scientists.  On second thought, maybe… Read More »Deniergate! Ohh the irony, Willie Soon!

Divest and have a Happy(er) Valentine’s Day!

Today, just a quick post to say that Global Fossil Fuel Divestment Day has begun.  So why not take a look at your investments and see if you can switch to something less destructive.  Even if you are not an investor, there are still ways you can help. Check out these posts… Why Divest From Fossil Fuels – un-burnable fossil fuels, stranded assets, and corporate welfare Carbon Budgets Explored – how much can we safely burn?  I made some easy to look at graphs to help visualize this. Peak Oil Predictions — Only 50 Years Left?! – thoughts on fracking, Saudi Arabia, and just… Read More »Divest and have a Happy(er) Valentine’s Day!