Comments Solar John has made

Children are in danger

And one more thing Mr. Gore.  Massey Energy also maintains a coal slurry impoundment in West Virginia, just upstream of a school.  If that impoundment should fail, and they have failed before, hundreds of children will be killed.  Don Blankenship and Joe Machin care about nothing but enriching themselves.  This has to stop.

Solar John

What a Dick!

Solar John

What about the batteries?

Someone needs to tell BMW NOT to lease the batteries.  That would be a deal-breaker for me. It would be too easy to kill the car, reminicent of what happened with the EV1. On Electric Mini Cooper coming to the U.S. posted 1 year, 1 month ago 3 Responses

Which is less harmful to the environment?

Whiskerfish,

IMHO creating some shade with solar panels is far less harmful to the environment than coal mining, especially MRT coal mining, is.  And yes, a roof is a great place for a solar panel, but other than that I find your comments absurd.  

Solar John

One less SUV and one less driver

An SUV is removed from the road, and the owner loses his driving privileges (because he goes to jail). That's a win-win situation. On Investigators see more SUV arsons as economy sinks posted 1 year, 1 month ago 2 Responses

The Best EV

Gotta love the competition.  2011 will be a good year to buy an EV.  We should know which is the best by then.On Chrysler to offer electric car by 2010, full lineup of EVs sometime after posted 1 year, 2 months ago 4 Responses

We Can't Drill Our Way Out This Time

and we shouldn't be begging the Saudi's for help.  Washington needs to get out of the state of denial it is in, and start supporting electric transportation in a meaningful way.  I've watched gasoline prices rise over the past two years I've noticed that my electricity rate has stayed about the same.  In fact, it is even less than it was two years ago because I'm now on a variable rate plan.  When plug-in electric cars finally become available I'll be the first in line.  They're going to sell like hotcakes!  

Solar John

We need leadership

George W is STILL telling us that the solution is to drill in Anwar and off of the Florida coast, and to build more refineries.  With leadership like that, is it any wonder that some of us still buy gas-hogging vehicles?  And it's not all W's fault.  Hillary wants to give American's a gas tax holliday for the summer months. The soloutions are out there, but our politicians haven't discovered them yet.  

Solar John

I'm not choosing money over the environment

I spend my money in ways that tend to be good for the environment.  This includes supplementing my electricity with solar PV, supplementing my heating with bio-fuel, and minimizing my use of gasoline by driving an electric car (in the future).  I also conserve and recycle.  I try to inspire others to do similar things via my blog:  http://solarjohn.blogspot.com
I'm trying not just to reduce my use of fossil fuels, I'm trying to eliminate it altogether.
If I take a job closer to home for less pay, I will not be able to do these things to the extent that I do now.  When you (Wolverine) think of other ways that I could be spending my money and time, I think you would have to agree that the environment is one of my top priorities.  Another priority is to get my kids through college, which also requires a lot of $$$.  I'm preparing them to be good stewarts of the earth and sky long after I'm gone.
Thanks (Pathos) for your kind words, but I'm not trying to offset the environmental impact of a long commute, I'm trying to eliminate it.  On All-electric car coming to the U.S. next year posted 1 year, 7 months ago 17 Responses

Grid strain

Most of these cars would be charged at night.  Demands on the grid are lowest at night.On All-electric car coming to the U.S. next year posted 1 year, 7 months ago 17 Responses

Frankencrops

It's time to start saving tomato seeds from your own open-pollenated crop if you don't already do so.  I suspect that eventually you won't be able to buy tomato seeds except for Monsanto's genetically-altered ones. It's likely that these shiny, perfect, disease-resistant, tomatoes will have lost their ability to fight cancer, and a single fungus or disease might wipe out an entire crop in any given year.  

Solar John

appreciators of feminine beauty

I hope I didn't hurt her feelings with my previous comment.  Forgive me, I'm not as polite as caniscandida, nor do I have his marvelous way with words.  Let me just say that if I were standing next to her, I would surely have to hold that leaf farther away from my body. On Catching up with our favorite European eco-porn activists posted 1 year, 8 months ago 11 Responses

Volt now, BEV soon

Amaz...

Lutz is right to be excited about the possibility of 300 mile range BEV, as long as he stays on track with the Volt.  

You've got it right Blackbirdhighway.  I've had enough of negativity.  Just do it!
 

Solar John

Stop Blaming W

"W" is certainly no friend of the environment, but it's time to stop blaming him, and to start doing your part.  Every time you flip on a light switch, you become part of the problem.  Forget about the grandiose political speeches about the future of renewables.  Our leadership says one thing, but does just the opposite.  We can wait no longer for help from them.  Too often we get hung up on the "payback" of a PV system.  Instead of going forward, we decide to wait until the price come down.  Meanwhile, our air, water, and land becomes more polluted each day.  God only knows how much suffering and how many premature deaths are caused by burning fossil fuels.  It's time to take matters into our own hands.  When people lead, leaders follow.  Let's Roll!

Solar John

New Solar Panels

Solar John wrote: Nanosolar is building $1 per watt solar panels

Reference, please.

Here you go:

http://www.nanosolar.com/blog3/2007/12/18/nanosolar-ships ...

John

Solar John

Biggest Eco-Villains

Right behind George Bush, Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy gets my vote.  

Solar John

We need a president who cares

Protecting the land that sustains is just one reason this country needs to find alternatives to oil and coal.  Laws that require quick reclamation of the disturbed lands back to their original contours with native vegitation and productivity was the vision of the original reclamation laws, not the reality on the ground.  It won't happen until we get a president who cares.

Solar John

Why not plug in?

Why not a plug-in hybrid Honda?  I drive a Civic, and I love it, but I'll not buy another new car until I can get a plug-in.  If it has to be a Chevy Volt, then so be it.

John
http://solarjohn.blogspot.comOn Honda plans small "affordable" hybrid car for U.S. market by 2009 posted 1 year, 11 months ago 2 Responses

It's all about the $$$$$$$$

Welcome to West Virginia.  A coal-sludge impoundment failed in 1972, leaving 4000 homeless, 1,100 injured, and 125 dead.  You would think someone would learn from this.  But no, Massey Energy currently has a sludge-impoundment upstream of an elementary school.  Much has been written about it, including this:
  http://www.sludgesafety.org/news/2006/01_09.html

Governor Manchin needs to be booted, and Don Blankenship, Massey's CEO, needs to be sent to jail.  Not only does he put the lives of thousands in danger, he is the worst polluter in the history of the United States.

John

Solar John

killing ourselves

If we stop using electricity no power plants will be built.  Obviously we can't do that, at least not anytime soon, but we can cut back.  We can install compact fluorescent lights and energy-efficient appliances.  We can go a step beyond that and install solar panels or windmills.  Within the next three years we'll be able to trade our fossil-fuel-powered cars with electric ones.  But whatever you do, please don't wait for someone else to solve the problem, and please help to elect a president who truely cares about the environment.  The one we now have allows mountains to be blown up, a crime against nature.

John  
http://solarjohn.blogspot.com

Solar John

From a Kentucky Newspaper:

In practical terms, the new rule wouldn't mean a lot more mountaintop mining because regulators haven't been enforcing the current rule on stream protection anyway, routinely granting exemptions from the buffer zone, said Joe Lovett, head of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment in West Virginia.
Strip mining has buried hundreds of miles of streambeds in Appalachia in the last 20 years.
Rather, one big problem environmentalists have with the proposed change is that it would end their chance of getting a court order for OSM to enforce the stream-protection rule to their liking, or of some future administration requiring tougher enforcement.
"If we don't have that law, we're up a buried creek," said Vivian Stockman of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, which has fought to limit mountaintop mining.
Surface mining leaves behind huge amounts of rock and dirt that have to be put somewhere. Ending or reducing exemptions from the stream buffer rule would limit -- perhaps even cripple -- mining by making more areas off-limits.
"They know that this is a threat to the coal industry," Lovett said, so the administration wants to change the rule before President Bush leaves office.

Solar John

How to fight back:

It looks to me like this ruling makes it easier for coal companies to destroy or pollute streams.  Here's some additional info:

Excess Spoil, Coal Mine Waste, and Buffers for Waters of the United States--Proposed rule. [30 CFR Parts 780, 784, 816, and 817]

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edo ...

In the event you DO want to respond, here's how:

People have 60 days to submit comments on the proposed rule by mail or courier to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Administrative Record, Room 252-SIB, 1951 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20240, or by Internet through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Please identify the comments by including docket number 1029-AC04 in the subject line.

Solar John

No Roof Left Behind

Maybe someone should come up with a "No Roof Left Behind" project.  After all, a roof is a terrible thing to waste.

http://solarjohn.blogspot.com

Jhn

Solar John

Grow Some

Illegals in the U.S. should be back in Mexico growing corn to help feed their own population, not complaining about the high cost of tortillias.

John

Solar John

A note to Sheryl

Hey Sheryl,
I tried your one-sheet suggestion, but found that it quickly reaches an irreversible tipping point.  Any other suggestions?

SJ
http://solarjohn.blogspot.com

Solar John

Put your money where your mouth is Branson

I've been waiting over a month for Branson to send me an entry form.  I'm beginning to wonder just how serious he really is about this.  I also remember awhile back where he was going to give his job to someone on a reality TV show.

It seems that Richard Branson likes to be in the spotlight, but I've seen no proof that he's really serious.  I've posted my entry on my blog:  http://solarjohn.blogspot.comOn Sir Richard to the Rescue? posted 2 years, 7 months ago 16 Responses