jgray008’s Recent Comments

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  Please contact me about OSCar

  Jonas,

  My name is James Gray of Linux Journal.  I am writing an article on the OSCar.  Can you email me at jgray@linuxjournal.com?  I'd like to get your opinion on it.

  Thanks in advance,
  JamesOn Fast Company publishes an unsparing take-down of green architect William McDonough posted 1 year ago 3 Responses

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  I hope these changes occur!

  It is interesting to read this prediction on the expansion of rail travel.  I certainly hope that they occur asap!  It is odd how here in the US, rail travel is actually good in some spots, such as Amtrak's northeast corridor and within California.  Where I am in Michigan, the schedule from Detroit to Chicago is pretty good with several trains per day, and the speeds are getting faster due to track upgrades.  At the same time, it is so mind-boggling how there are these huge, irrational holes in the network.  For instance, there is no train that could take me from my home in Lansing, the state capital with 500,000 residents in the region, to Detroit, a metro area with 5 million people.  I just wonder if there is anyplace else in a rich country where cities of similar regional importance aren't even connected by rail.  

  In another case, I read how Ohio is looking into rail service between Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland.  It is great that this is finally happening, but all of these cities are huge metro areas that are so interdependent.  How on earth did we get here?

  I hope we can finally get some sense and make projects like this happen once and for all.On Rail and the coming changes in transport posted 1 year, 5 months ago 17 Responses

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  One more thing on offsets

  I would add that deforestation, which occurs mostly in poor countries in the tropics, creates the same amount of emissions as the world's cars and trucks do.  Therefore, this deforestation is something that needs serious attention.  What better way then through investment from high-quality offset projects?  It is a viable, sensible conduit for such activities.On Conservative senator offers two progressive amendments to climate bill posted 1 year, 5 months ago 6 Responses

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  International offsets are bad?

  I don't know if I'd call the elimination of international offsets as a common progressive/enviro position.  More progressives (like myself) argue that investing a chunk of available funds in renewable energy and forestry projects overseas is an efficient and just way to deal with climate change.  While they should not be the only solutions, they are an important tool in the toolbox.  Funds from US-based offsets could go a long way towards supporting poor countries in their efforts to develop more sustainable economies, reduce deforestation, increase forest cover, etc.  At the same time, the goal is typically to work in areas of extreme poverty where people rely very heavily on their natural resource base for their survival.

  I am currently researching a project by CARE in Guatemala that is doing wondrous things with very little money to improve land use and livelihoods of extremely poor people On Conservative senator offers two progressive amendments to climate bill posted 1 year, 5 months ago 6 Responses

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  Benefits of Kyoto

  I just want to echo the comments of the poster who mentioned that our current administration did not consider the benefits of joining Kyoto.  I just finished attending 3 days of conferences at the Carbon Expo <http://www.carbonexpo.com> here in Cologne, Germany.  I was blown away at how far the Europeans, Japanese and Canadians have progressed at getting the carbon trading market set up, as well as the projects that are either done or in the pipeline.  Essentially there are projects such as energy efficiency, methane capture from landfills, biofuels, wind and solar, etc, which are being done either within Kyoto signatory countries or in developing countries through what is called the Clean Development Mechanism (or Joint Implementation in some more advanced countries.  The latter two programs allow the Kyoto countries with emissions reduction targets to do projects in developing countries and get emissions credit for them.  The poor countries benefit by getting investment and new technologies.

  Anyway, my main point is that the Kyoto countries are now ahead of us since they have been getting the infrastructure in place to do these projects - energy companies, consultants, lawyers, hedge fund managers, green technologies and the now successful European Union Emissions Trading System - you name it.  What is this expertise worth?  I would guess a great deal.  They are getting everything in place to be less carbon dependent, while we sleep (and complain).  Considering the benefits gained by this, I'd be curious to see a real cost-benefit analysis of Kyoto.

   On Kyoto is a bargain posted 3 years, 6 months ago 9 Responses