I'm Seeing Green

Yes, 'twas oil all the time

Bill Moyers from truthout.org:

Oh, no, they told us, Iraq isn't a war about oil. That's cynical 
and simplistic, they said. It's about terror and al-Qaeda and 
toppling a dictator and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves 
from weapons of mass destruction. But one by one, these concocted 
rationales went up in smoke, fire and ashes. And now the bottom line 
turns out to be ... the bottom line. It is about oil.

Alan Greenspan said so last fall. The former chairman of the 
Federal Reserve, safely out of office, confessed in his memoir, 
"Everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil." He elaborated in 
an interview with The Washington Post's Bob Woodward, "If Saddam 
Hussein had been head of Iraq and there was no oil under those sands, 
our response to him would not have been as strong as it was in the 
first Gulf War."

Remember, also, that soon after the invasion, Donald Rumsfeld's 
deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, told the press that war was our only 
strategic choice. "We had virtually no economic options with Iraq," 
he explained, "because the country floats on a sea of oil."

Shades of Daniel Plainview, the monstrous petroleum tycoon in 
the movie, "There Will Be Blood." Half-mad, he exclaims, "There's a 
whole ocean of oil under our feet!" then adds, "No one can get at it 
except for me!"

No wonder American troops only guarded the Ministries of Oil and 
the Interior in Baghdad, even as looters pillaged museums of their 
priceless antiquities. They were making sure no one could get at the 
oil except ... guess who?

Here's a recent headline in The New York Times: "Deals With Iraq 
Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back." Read on: "Four western companies 
are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that 
will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession 
to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power."

There you have it. After a long exile, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total 
and BP are back in Iraq. And on the wings of no-bid contracts - 
that's right, sweetheart deals like those given Halliburton, KBR and 
Blackwater. The kind of deals you get only if you have friends in 
high places. And these war profiteers have friends in very high places.

Green Roofs for New York

The vast expanse of flat roofs in New York City are an ideal environment for Green Roofs. In case you don't know the term a Green Roof is a roof with hardy vegetation growing in special light-weight soil placed in plastic tubs. Green roofs provide a level of insulation (more in summer than in winter, but that will cut down on air conditioning needs;) mitigate storm-water runoff, and extend the life of the roof. Properly installed, the roof may be self-sustaining after a year or two, with no necessity of irrigation.

 Green roofs typically cost $15-$20 per square foot (which translates to $12-15,000 for a typical brownstone,) so this tax credit should help:

Building owners in New York City who install green rooftops will now receive a significant tax credit under a bill (A.11226) sponsored by Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr. that has passed the state legislature. Under this law, building owners in New York City who install green roofs on at least 50 percent of available rooftop space can apply for a one-year property tax credit of up to $100,000. The credit would be equal to $4.50 per square foot of roof area that is planted with vegetation, or approximately 25 percent of the typical costs associated with the materials, labor, installation and design of the green roof.

The legislation was championed by the Storm Water Infrastructure Matters (S.W.I.M.) Coalition, comprised of more than 50 city, state and national organizations dedicated to ensuring fishable and swimmable waters around New York through natural, sustainable storm water management practices. The S.W.I.M. Coalition, building off of its recent success in the passage of New York City Local Law 5, advocated for the passage of this green roof tax abatement. Advocacy included working with Assembly Member Diaz, Jr. to sponsor the bill and meeting with key elected officials in Albany, N.Y., in May to recommend that it be passed this session.

"This tax abatement will act as an economic stimulus by creating living wage green-collar jobs that are pathways out of poverty," said Rob Crauderueff, director of sustainable policy at Sustainable South Bronx and chair of the S.W.I.M. policy committee.

"Each 10,000 square-foot green roof can capture between 6,000 and 12,000 gallons of water in each storm event," said Paul S. Mankiewicz, Gaia Institute executive director and New York City Soil and Water Conservation District board.

"This is rainfall that will never enter the combined sewer. At the same time, the evaporation of this rainfall will produce the equivalent of between 1,000 and 2,000 tons of air conditioning, enough heat removal to noticeably cool 10 acres of the city," he added. "This is a management practice that increases biodiversity and can literally add enjoyable landscape to all the boroughs of New York."

From GreenerBuildings,Storm Water Solutions. Image from BCIT website.

A local firm that installs green roofs is Alive Structures, whose website has plenty of useful information.

100,000,000 clueless on Global Warming?

The Nature Conservancy says these Harris Poll results show that over 100 million Americans are not doing anything about Global Warming:

More than 90 percent of Americans are recycling — but fewer than 5 percent have taken recommended green actions such as driving less or reducing their utility use, according to a new Harris Poll on green living released today.

The poll — for which The Nature Conservancy provided input and advice — found that 53 percent of those surveyed have taken steps to green their lives.

But it also found a substantial lack of knowledge about how to go green — and skepticism about whether greening one's life makes a difference to the environment:

• 34 percent of those surveyed said they hadn’t changed their lifestyle because they “did not know what to do.”
• 29 percent of respondents believe that greening their lifestyle won’t make any significant difference on the environment.

“This poll shows that green living is certainly at the forefront of our minds,” says Stephanie Meeks, the Conservancy's acting president and CEO.

“Yet people are getting lost in the maze of information on how to lessen our environmental impact. The bottom line is that even the smallest lifestyle change can have significant impact in the long run.”

Some good news is that he poll also found "noticeable optimism on environmental issues among the American public. Seventy-two percent of the poll’s 2,605 respondents believe their personal actions are significant to the health of the environment."

And although only 42 percent of U.S. adults were initially familiar with the phrase “environmental sustainability,” two-thirds believe that it is possible to live in an environmentally sustainable way.

Competing Visions

It's hard to get a handle on how the two presidential nominees would do on the energy front.

Obama has been connected to the coal industry in Illinois, a state quite dependent on coal revenues, and is very much for alternatives to petroleum, mainly ethanol. He says:

"[ethanol] ultimately helps our national security, because right now we’re sending billions of dollars to some of the most hostile nations on earth.” Also, [oil dependence] makes it more difficult for us to shape a foreign policy that is intelligent and is creating security for the long term.”

Of course Obama is often now "accompanied by Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader from South Dakota. Mr. Daschle now serves on the boards of three ethanol companies and works at a Washington law firm where, according to his online job description, 'he spends a substantial amount of time providing strategic and policy advice to clients in renewable energy.'” (New York Times)

Ethanol gets millions of dollars of government subsidies, something that McCain wants to eliminate, not for the market distortions that it is causing (rise in food prices worldwide, for instance,) but in the name of free trade,  and because he thinks that selecting ethanol, for instance, as the horse to ride is "... playing favorites, [instead] our government should level the playing field for all alcohol fuels that break the monopoly of gasoline, lowering both gasoline prices and carbon emissions."

McCain also would let states determine whether or not to allow offshore drilling, a proposal quite objectionable to Obama.

Huffington Post reports on McCain's support for the electric car:

Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain proposed a $300 million reward for anyone who can design a more efficient electric car battery. He also said that, if elected, he would support a $5,000 tax credit to automakers who sold zero-emissions cars -- per car sold.

Grist's Kate Sheppard reported that McCain took a shot at opponent Senator Barack Obama's support of ethanol in the same breath.

ClimateProgress is skeptical: "First off, every energy and car company on the planet knows they'll get rich by improving batteries. The world is probably spending $1 billion a year in this quest. This $300 million prize is a pointless gimmick, just a cynical move to get some good PR."

Queen's Gambit

The Queen of England is going Green in a big way, as this story from ENS notes. This is the largest wind turbine to be installed, and it no doubt helps to be royalty and have a son who's very much into environmetal concerns. It's nice to see leadership being exerted on this issue. Maybe Mr. Bush will install some turbines on the White House to keep up the Old Guard?

Britain's Queen Elizabeth is investing in the world's largest offshore wind turbine and also in the development of offshore windfarms in Scottish waters, her property company The Crown Estate announced on Wednesday.

On April 17, The Crown Estate signed an agreement to purchase a prototype of the world's largest offshore wind turbine, Clipper's 7.5 megawatt MBE turbine. Known as the Britannia project, the turbine will be built by California energy company Clipper Windpower.

  Offshore wind projects such as the $65 million Britannia project will advance industry technology in line with the forecasted upsurge in European offshore wind development in 2011 and 2012.

One of the wind turbines at the Blyth Harbor offshore wind development (Photo by Ian Britton courtesy FreeFoto.com)

The Clipper MBE prototype turbine will be assembled and tested at Clipper's Centre of Excellence for Offshore Wind in Blyth in northeast England, where an offshore windfarm made up of smaller turbines is already generating power.

The giant turbine is to be operational by 2010 and all the power it generates will be sold to the national grid. With a 30 year design life, it will generate electricity equivalent of one million barrels of oil.

In addition, the Queen's property company is setting the rules for developers to harness the winds that blow across Scottish waters.

At the All Energy Conference in Aberdeen on Wednesday, The Crown Estate announced the procedure for offshore windfarm development within Scottish territorial waters.

I'm Blowing (Bubbles) in the Wind

Two bicycle-related stories, the one whimsical and possibly of little use (except it would make kids of all ages smile,) and the other useful in a why-didn't-they-think-of-that-sooner kind of way.

From Autoblog this about an attachment to your bike that...wait for it...blows exhaust-like bubbles, thereby showing up the carbon-spewing monsters who share the road with you. It also has the odd notation that it "spews seeds," if you can figure out why, let me know. To those who object, the seeds are optional.

Have a desire to spread more than just good will the next time you're out on your bike? Consider the Bloom attachment for your two-wheeled conveyance of choice. While it may look like an odd exhaust pipe hanging off the back of your engine-less bicycle, it's actually a way to seed the city as you ride. That's right, the Bloom gets filled with some soapy water (see, it's clean!) and some seeds, and as you ride, the incoming rush of air powers a "bubble pinwheel" which dispenses the seed-filled bubbles everywhere you go

[Image from Autoblog]

Also from Design 21's competition, the II place winner, a folding handlebar: This sounds like it could make it to production.

The design of the handlebars allows the effective storage width of a standard bicycle to be dramatically reduced. In addition the handlebars, in their folded position, form a steering lock, when the bike is lent against a wall or post this steering lock eliminate the infuriating turning of the front wheel. The steering lock also provides additional security when parked outside.

[Image from Design 21]

Park at Will (Not)

Congestion Pricing is dead, at least for a while. Maybe we can implement Variable Parking Rates, as this story about San Francisco shows that they are taking the whole t traffic control issue more seriously on the Left Coast.  From sfgate.com, this describes the methodology of changing both rates and times allowed to park depending on traffic and congestion.

...city officials hope to change [the parking conundrum] with the pending start of SFpark, a pilot project intended to dramatically change the way people park in San Francisco's commercial districts by linking technology and customer demand to better manage parking at street meters and in city-owned lots.

The demonstration project will cover 6,425 curbside spaces regulated by parking meters - about 25 percent of the city's total stock - and the 11,677 spaces in lots and garages managed by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. City officials hope to start the test program in September and operate it for at least a year. The agency's governing board is expected to give the go-ahead at its meeting Tuesday.

The federal government will pick up the majority of the tab - $18 million of the $23 million budgeted - as one of a handful of demonstration projects around the country to combat congestion. Officials hope that if they micromanage the parking supply, motorists will be less likely to drive around (and around and around) in search of a legal space. If successful, backers say, SFpark will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help unclog the streets.

Officials also want to see whether they can generate more revenue from the city's parking assets through smarter regulations and pricing policies. The program does nothing to expand the parking supply. San Francisco's long-entrenched policy calls for reducing reliance on the private automobile.

As SFpark is envisioned, parking rates would be adjusted based on time of day, day of week and duration of stay. People would be able to pay not just with coins, but with credit cards, prepaid debit cards and even by cell phone. If a meter is set to expire, a text message could be sent to the driver. More time could be purchased remotely.

Local Shopping

al ShoppingAs one segment of the populace lines up for days to shop at IKEA Brooklyn, others bemoan the loss of local shopping. But some people are doing something about it...this story from worldchanging

[Photo credit Megan Prusynski.]

Hundreds of hipsters, creatives and neighborhood folk lined up one recent spring Saturday afternoon outside K&D Market in San Francisco's Mission district where 16th meets Guerrero. They were there to test an idea: Could a swarm of targeted spending prod one local business into making concrete steps towards going green? Could activists work cooperatively with business to encourage intelligent upgrades, such as the switch to an Energy Star cooler, or the use of a skylight to reduce electricity dependence?

It's an idea called Carrotmob, and it's the brainchild of Brent Schulkin. Schulkin, whose day job involves running high-tech "corporate play" events, wanted to find a way to leverage the might of business to address the climate crisis. His idea was simple: Let a business know which proactive green steps to take, then reward their progressive actions with business--and lots of it.

Showering Here May Kill You

Aaah, that fresh smell from  a new shower curtain....

....may be very bad for your health. So says this report:

New report shows as many as 100 chemicals released from PVC shower curtains

As many as 100 toxic chemicals associated with adverse health effects are released into the air from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) shower curtains. These chemicals make up that "new shower curtain smell" unique to PVC vinyl shower curtains and shower curtain liners, according to "Volatile Vinyl: The New Shower Curtain's Chemical Smell." The new study is released today by the US-based Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ) and in Canada by Environmental Defence and the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA).

Though ubiquitous in homes around the world, PVC shower curtains contain many harmful chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), phthalates and organotins. Toxic chemical off-gassing from PVC shower curtains may contribute to respiratory irritation, damage to the central nervous system, liver and kidney, nausea, headaches and loss of coordination.

"The new shower curtain smell may be toxic to your health," said Michael Schade, report co-author and CHEJ PVC Campaign Coordinator. "Vinyl shower curtains are contaminating the air we breathe and we need the Canadian government to take serious action on the use of PVC in consumer products," said Dr. Rick Smith, Executive Director of Environmental Defence. "Combined exposure to the multiple chemicals released from vinyl shower curtains is cause for concern," said Aaron Freeman, Policy Director, Environmental Defence, "especially for children as they are more sensitive to toxic chemicals."

[image from prankster.com]

Well, there is a simple solution...non-plastic shower curtains are freely available and have the added advantage of being washable, so there's no need to throw them out when they reach that inevitably grungy state after a while. Win-win.

The Devil and Bobby Jindal

As an Indian (East) myself, I realize my experience with Indians in this country seems to have been limited. While I would not say most of my friends and acquaintances are quite as rabidly leftist as I am, they are uniformly liberal and probably Democrats, even the ones higher up the corporate ladder, which seems to breed Republicanism.

So it is with a sense of wonder and dismay that I note the ascent of one of my peeps, Bobby Jindal, to a potential running mate for the presumptive (lovely word) Republican nominee, John McCain. And you thought Cheney was as bad as it gets.

The 36-year old Jindal's views and attitude might not get him elected dog-catcher in my previous home-state, California, or maybe here, in New York. However, Louisianans take a broader and, I might say, less critical view of their politicians and have seen fit to elect him their governor.

Born a Hindu, he converted to Catholicism in high school. Nothing wrong with that, you may say. A person's faith should not be held against him. But in the context of the attacks against Obama's preacher (who no doubt will figure prominently in the fall campaign,) I say it's fair to examine Jindal's views.

And what a conservative Christian he's turned out to be. Anti-abortion for any reason. Wants (un)Intelligent Design taught in schools. Fawned over by the NRA. In other words, he's completely the opposite of my limited circle of Indians, immigrant or otherwise.

But this story is the pièce de résistance; he's actually witnessed a demon exorcism (though apparently it's technically not an exorcism according to ecclesiastical law because a priest was not present.) Full description in an article in the New Oxford Review from 1994. [also see Daily Kingfish]

Regarding  Susan (with whom he may have been involved,) an unfortunate cancer victim who's been acting "strangely" and has "sulfuric smells" in her dorm room,  and whose friends and family are holding a prayer meeting-cum-intervention for her [emphasis added:]

Maybe she [Susan] sensed our weariness; whether by plan or coincidence, Susan chose the perfect opportunity to attempt an escape. She suddenly leapt up and ran for the door, despite the many hands holding her down. This burst of action served to revive the tired group of students and they soon had her restrained once again, this time half kneeling and half standing.

It appeared as if we were observing a tremendous battle between the Susan we knew and loved and some strange evil force. But the momentum had shifted and we now sensed that victory was at hand. felt some type of physical force distracting me...as if something was pushing down on my chest, making it very hard for me to breathe...

While Alice and Louise held Susan, her sister continued holding the Bible to her face. Almost taunting the evil spirit that had almost beaten us minutes before, the students dared Susan to read biblical passages. She choked on certain passages and could not finish the sentence "Jesus is Lord." Over and over, she repeated "Jesus is L..L..LL," often ending in profanities.

I began to think that the demon would only attack me if I tried to pray or fight back; thus, I resigned myself to leaving it alone...

Cheney is sometimes considered a devil. Our next Vice President might only have battled with one.

What do you think Jon Stewart would make of this?