Captain Planet

Aright people, you earned it, my senior year of high school Halloween costume....yes that's me in the middle with the red diaper...

Regional Credits for LEED 2009

One of the ongoing criticisms with LEED was that it was too standard and not regionalized. For example, you should get more credits for saving water in Phoenix than in NYC. LEED 2009 addresses this:

http://www.usgbcny.org/initiatives/leed-2009-bonus-credits.html

FYI, I wont be able to make the EGB event tonight because I am getting screwed at work yet again.

Obama and Coal

Interesting look from both sides....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7770979.stm

Why would anyone "overlook the geological blessing of coal?" It's American, indigenous, and plentiful at a time when energy independence is at a premium.

We all know how many of us would respond, but is it not a valid argument?

Another Good Place to Find Methane...

That's right, you guessed it...

"The trillions of farm animals around the world generate 18 percent of the emissions that are raising global temperatures, according to United Nations estimates, more even than from cars, buses and airplanes."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/science/earth/04meat.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Amazon

I couldn't really believe this when I saw it. Brazil is cutting deforestation by half 'in response to climate change' (couldn't possibly be in response to short term profit as this would be a significant short term loss). Some of the numbers here are pretty striking...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601130&sid=a9J6Yb8ybZZE&refer=environment

Bike Racks

One think NYC is in serious drought of is bike racks. I usually end up using a sign post, an awning post, or sometimes even a tree. A substantial addition of bike racks on every block would create less of a mess when multiple bikes need to be parked in the same area. On that note, I was interested to see a 'bike check' down at BLVD on the Bowery when I swung by there for a Tuesday night Green Drinks. Of course I noticed it AFTER I had already locked my bike up but oh well.

David Byrne, out of all the weird and cool things he's done, also has an enthusiasm for bike racks:

http://www.davidbyrne.com/art/bike_racks/index.php

Electric Cars

Here's an interesting snippet from Forbes about the return of the Volt and electric car...

http://video.forbes.com/fvn/fueldemand08/er_energy110508

And here's an article about a contract to build a bunch of electric charging stations in Cali...

http://www.forbes.com/technology/sciences/2008/11/20/electric-cars-agassi-tech-science-cx_wt_1120cars.html

I wanted to highlight this not only in response to Tim's post, but also because it highlites a crucial element from my presidential policy, which was making the switch away from combustion engines (even if the electric ones are powered indirectly from coal). The next step is upgrading the power grid and swapping to renewable electric generation.

Slowly but surely, my friends...