Lloyd Wright’s Recent Comments

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  Internet

  The internet was not developed by the US national labs.  The credit belongs to Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Calliu who were working at CERN in Switzerland at the time.  On What Californians know that Shellenberger & Nordhaus don't posted 2 years, 1 month ago 13 Responses

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  Great article

  Agree 100%.  When was the last time the government labs invented a technology that was truly transformational?

  Instead of spending billions on largely wasted R&D efforts in search of some magic bullet technology, the government should simply use its purchasing power on real actions today.  One simple step would be the government purchase of green electricity (e.g. non-hydro renewables or energy efficiency upgrades) for all its activities.  I believe the national government is the single largest purchaser of electricity in the country and its influence would be substantial.  

  Likewise, the national government could replace its vehicle fleets (e.g. postal vehicles) with zero-emitting options (with an emphasis on non-motorised options).

  Now that would be transformational.
  On What Californians know that Shellenberger & Nordhaus don't posted 2 years, 1 month ago 13 Responses

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  Gas tax AND fuel economy standards

  I think you have created a bit of a false choice by saying that is a question of a gas tax OR improved economy standards.  Both are probably necessary.

  There are many problems relying only on fuel economy standards.  First, the market movement to heavier SUV-like vehicles has meant that a portion of the market has left the light-duty vehicle category, and thus has circumvented LDV fuel economy standards.

  Second, even in the car-saturated US, there is an annual trend to driving more distance.  Thus, savings from better fuel economy simply are being overwhelmed by the increasing number of kilometres driven.

  While I am not necessarily a fan of Greenspan, his proposal for a US$ 3 per gallon gas tax is very much welcome.  Such a tax would have a significant impact on usage (probably more than a fuel economy increase).  We would be wise to use Greenspan's tax recommendation for political gain (and conveniently ignore most of the rest of his recommendations).
  On Greenspan on energy posted 2 years, 1 month ago 8 Responses

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  Re: What's so bad about beer?

  Well, it is not just a US-issue, but also globally.  Alcohol is involved in a significant number of deaths and accidents.  It is also often involved in acts of violence and other crime.  Alcohol is attributed to family violence and family break-ups.  

  Should the type of product affect whether it is sustainable?  Well, what about guns, other weapons, SUVs, Learjets, fur clothing, etc.  Maybe someone produces a nice version of these products, but I am not sure they should be on this list.
  On 15 Green Business Founders posted 2 years, 1 month ago 33 Responses

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  Questionable products

  A motorised vehicle manufacturer and a producer of alcohol?  You might want to consider the deleterious social side effects of these products before giving the producers too many kudos.On 15 Green Business Founders posted 2 years, 1 month ago 33 Responses