I don’t think there is enough scientific data available from any source to justify the costs of governmental action to deal with the problem of global warming. The scientists who are working on providing that data might deserve a Nobel Peace Prize but Al Gore sure doesn’t.
The idea that Gore’s movie qualifies him for a share of the same award given to real scientists is asinine no matter what Ed says.
Hat-Tip: CATO
We had them nearly eradicated worldwide a few decades ago thanks to widespread use of pesticides…but they’re back.
Here’s a story about how bedbugs in Salt Lake City closed down a fire station.
Story and photo courtesy BOING BOING
The people who make Scotts fertilizer are close to making it through all the red tape and government regulation so they can release genetically modified grass that resists weeds, crab grass, and doesn’t need as much water or mowing. Very cool. This would have been available quite a while ago if it weren’t for the mamby-pamby crybaby “environmentalists” who have an irrational fear of anything “GM” (genetically modified) related.
Read this very cool Wired article about the grass and the guy who is going to make it happen. I was surprised by how much turf there is planted in North America and what the positive and negative effects are. Hopefully this technology will go a long way toward making everyone happier…cleaner water…cleaner air…less time spent mowing, fertilizing and weeding.
One of my favorite movies is Forrest Gump. The story and acting and stuff are all great but the real reason I love the movie is the scene about 3/4 into the movie when Forrest finishes running back and forth across the country. He looks dead tired from all the running when he stops on Highway 163 in Southern Utah which runs between the little town of Bluff, Utah and Monument Valley, Arizona. It is the most beautiful place on earth (Here’s a great picture). I’m often embarrassed when I watch this scene with anyone else because I always have to wipe tears off of my face. I only lived in the area for 9 months or so on my mission but that part of the world is very dear to me in a way that is kind of hard to describe. I don’t know of another place where the air is so clear and where everything is so quiet and peaceful. (more…)
Today there was a piece in the Washington Post about how slugging could be a vanishing mode of transportation because Virginia allows drivers of hybrid type vehicles to get on the very low congestion High Occupancy Vehicle lanes without multiple passengers. This really bugged me when I used to slug to work every day. As more and more people buy these hybrid vehicles because of the better gas mileage they get the HOV lanes will become more and more meaningless. The whole point of the lanes was to reduce traffic congestion. Law makers need to keep that in mind when they decide whether or not to continue to allow the hybrid vehicles to drive in the HOV lanes.
The real thing that bites me about this whole issue is that Hybrid cars don’t even provide a low pollution benefit from their electric propulsion when they are traveling at high speeds. When they get going over 50 MPH they pollute just as bad as any other compact car. I think they should be banned from HOV outright. If the idea is to benefit from the reduced pollution levels of vehicles that use electric power…and these cars only use the electric power at slower speeds…than Hybrids should always be stuck in the slower lanes so we can all benefit from the cleaner air!
Here is an excellent parable by Glenn Reynolds.
Here’s a picture of waste vegetable oil being filtered for use as fuel for a vehicle.
Here is an email I received from Dan:
Subject: Bio-fuels
I have been skeptical of any claims about bio-fueling being worth anything.
I have been meaning to write you something about them since I saw stuff
about bio-fuels on your blog. Finally I have a decent source to say that I
think I have heard before. Here it is, from
http://www.perc.org/publications/
percreports/june2003/phantasm.html
“[Ethanol use is not]likely to contribute to energy independence. A critical
study of ethanol’s energy and environmental effects published in the
Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology (Pimentel 2002) concluded
that conversion of corn and other food/feed crops into ethanol by
fermentation is a net energy user.”
Now ethanol obviously isn’t bio-diesel, but I would bet that bio-diesel is a
net energy user as well. This means that it makes more energy to get the
ethanol than you get from ethanol in the end. Anyway, when I find my
bio-diesel stuff, I will send it to you.
I have also been a skeptic of Ethanol. I’ve read some studies like those Dan mentioned which indicate that ethanol is a very un-economical alternative fuel source. Its popularity rests on the power of the corn industry lobby in congress. Ethanol is corporate welfare forced on Americans by their government at a loss. It ticks me off. Click here for a little more information on the history of ethanol and here for more information on what Congress (the Republicans) has recently done to futher screw up energy policy.
I would also bet that it won’t be very hard to come up with data which would indicate that vegetable oil isn’t a very economical fuel source alternative to diesel (remember I’m talking bout Greasel, not BioDiesel which is different). I just think it is cool that there are people who have figured out a way to burn it in their vehicles. I especially like the idea of how these people go about getting their fuel. You should check out the site I linked to in the earlier post and read about what these people do. Clearly it would be much easier and much more cost effective (when you consider the time they spend collecting fuel) to go out and buy a tank of diesel. These people are so damn tight that they are willing to go begging at fast food stores for waste oil. It’s awesome!
I doubt I’d be able to put up a great argument that this could be more economical than oil from the ground…especially on the small scale it is being done. It would be interesting though to see what would happen to the Ag industry if this gained more popularity. I doubt it will be easy to find a study on where the cost of vegetable oil would stabilize if this became a more popular fuel source. When you consider the number of farmers and land owners who are being paid not to produce anything on their land, you have to wonder if the price of vegetable oil could be brought below that of diesel if the incentive of demand were implemented along with the elimination of farm subsidies.
That is a study I would be interested in.
Ok. My sister Debi Was right. (see her comment on this post) We need to focus on bio fuels. Check out this amazing article in the New York Times. I love the opening line: “I wouldn’t do this to a $30,000 car unless I was confident that it would work.” That is what the subject of the article, the owner of a fast food franchise, said before he poored gallons of used vegetable oil into his Ford Excursion’s gas tank.
Read this whole article. You should also check out this website. Amazing.
I can’t wait until this technology is included standard on models sold by auto manufacturers. Who knows…this probably could eliminate the need for ag subsidies…that would be cool…even though I would have to admit to being wrong. (I hate that!)
My lovely and intelligent sister (whom I miss) posted a comment here yesterday. Let me get on the record as saying that I agree completely with what she says (except maybe the idea that development of biomass fuels will help get rid of farm subsidies but that is for another post). It is important to follow all of the principles of conservation when possible. We have to do this so the awesome forests, deserts and other environs we get to see now are still around and in decent shape for Corryn and her kids.
I hate polluters. Whether it is a massive corporation pumping crap into the air or that damn guy in front of me on the way to work who tosses his cigarette butts out the window.
Scarier though are the leftist “greens” who want us all to go back to living as they did 200 years ago or we’ll “run out of resources and turn the earth into a barren rock.” The whole idea that we are going to run out of resourses unless the government forces us to live a certain way drives me crazy. It is a crock. (see Julian Simon or more recently Bjorn Lomborg) Conservation is important but crippling our economic structure to appease those crying about the latest Environmental Scare Of The Month® is foolishness.
Scientists from Harvard University recently completed a study showing that temperatures during the middle ages were a lot warmer than now. Read this article in the Daily Telegraph!!! Then point it out to the next tree hugging crybaby environmentalist you meet!!!
