Energy Efficiency

Nuclear nonsense

Stewart Brand’s nuclear enthusiasm falls short on facts and logic 197
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago Stewart Brand has a new book coming out, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto. Brand argues, among other things, that environmentalists should reconsider nuclear power. Amory Lovins responds with a thanks, but no thanks.
Making lemonade

What to do with the utility handouts in the climate bill? 1
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago One compromise more than any other enabled the Waxman-Markey bill to navigate the sticky regional politics of the Energy & Commerce Committee, and then the House floor. That same compromise built a bridge between coal-state Dems and industry, utilities and environmentalists. Dave Roberts handicaps the LDC option.
Get It Together

Obama Tells Agencies to Shape Up on Sustainability 0
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Tank and File

Ask Umbra on replacing hot-water heaters 21
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago When the parents of three little boys wonder which hot-water heater makes the most sense for them, Umbra sheds light on the issue.
Let's Make a Seal

Ask Umbra on drafty houses 3
Posted 2 months ago When you tighten up a house to save energy, do you lose the benefits of fresh air exchange? A perplexed couple wants to know, and Umbra breezes in with an answer.
Rooting for the underdog

For Khosla, clean tech is all about scale 0
Posted 2 months ago Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla believes "clean tech" is all about greening "old tech."
Still fallacious

The perfect market fallacy 9
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago A "market" is nothing more than a description of our collective allocation of resources. Economists refer to markets as being efficient only when they meet a specific set of conditions, at which point the benefits that accrue from Adam Smith's invisible hand are realized through the independent actions of profit-seeking actors. But most markets are inefficient--often woefully so.
A big breakthrough on green jobs 8
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
The New York State Senate and Assembly, too often a model of corruption and dysfunctionality, rose above petty politics last week to pass forward-thinking legislation on climate and energy, setting a precedent for bipartisanship and a sensible cap and trade system.
Pane in the Glass

Should I suck it up and buy vinyl windows? 30
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
The more estimates I get, the more despondent I am about being able to afford windows I feel good about. And the more I realize why people think greens operate in another sphere.
The Guardian’s 10:10 climate change campaign 0
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago
Visions of the Green Future

California students take Refract House to Solar Decathlon 5
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago
On the Silicon Valley campus of Santa Clara University, workers are building a contemporary wood-clad home that wouldn't look out of place in the pages of Dwell or another shelter magazine for the po-mo, Tesla-driving, little-square-eyeglasses-wearing set. Which is exactly the idea. The home is California's entry into the U.S. Department of Energy's biannual Solar Decathlon and is a collaboration between undergraduates at Santa Clara University and the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.
How to win friends and influence people. No seriously, how?

More on No Impact Man and personal eco-behavior 11
Posted 3 months ago
The other day I highlighted a new piece from Elizabeth Kolbert in the New Yorker, which was critical of No-Impact Man and other "stunts" in hyper-green living. Mainly I used it as an excuse to point to my old piece on the civic sphere, which, ahem, you should read.

I should have made it clear in the post that I have not read the No-Impact Man book (or the other books mentioned in Kolbert's piece), so I'm not really qualified to comment on whether her criticisms are fair.

Not surprisingly, Colin Beavan -- No-Impact Man himself -- doesn't think so! Kolbert's main charge is that personal lifestyle changes like his, no matter how committed or extreme, tend to obscure the fact that the big changes needed are collective -- social and political. One person changing doesn't amount to much.

Beavan wrote me to protest that a) he agrees with Kolbert's point entirely, b) his book actually contains a whole section toward the end about volunteering for NGOs and going to lobby Congress, and c) he has consistently used his platform to push for social action. One of Beavan's supporters also mounts a convincing defense in this post. It does seem that, whatever you could say about the other books in Kolbert's review, she did seem to squeeze Beavan into a box to make a point, a box in which he doesn't really belong.
a look at his legacy

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, champion of the environment and clean energy, dies at 77 2
Posted 3 months ago
Ted Kennedy leaves a legacy of protecting the environment and promoting energy efficiency.
Beginning the Great Leap

Four ways the U.S. & China can start cooperating now to tackle climate change 0
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
The recent high-profile visits to China by leading members of Congress and the Obama administration have made it clear that China and the U.S. are taking climate change seriously and recognize the importance of working closely together to find ways to reduce global warming pollution.
don't be a burnout!

How to deal with incandescent excuses and ‘dim bulbs’ 2
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
The phase-out of incandescent bulbs in the European Union begins next month, so it's time to get prepared for a new round of ridiculous excuses about why folks can't use more efficient lights.
Sugar Crash

Of car crashes and Snickers bars 0
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
How many Snickers bars does it take to power a car crash? The answer shows that when it comes to energy, our common sense is just plain dumb.
appliance standards ASAP please!

New Study Finds $123 Billion in Savings From New Appliance Standards 2
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
The Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP) and the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released a new report highlighting the opportunities for saving billions of dollars and huge amounts of energy through updated federal appliance standards.
One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

Alaska legislature rebukes Palin, but Alaskans may still lose 3
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
The odd saga of stimulus money and the state of Alaska drew to a close yesterday, ending in what should have been a big win for efficiency, as the state legislature voted to override former-Governor Palin's veto of efficiency money.
Rebuilding america

A policy framework for investment in energy efficiency retrofits 1
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Any strategy to capture the benefits of energy efficiency in our “built environment” must include a program to retrofit our existing stock of residential, commercial and industrial structures.
Flushing, um, energy waste

Sanders & Merkley introduce bill to fund waste heat capture [with video of cats flushing toilets!] 6
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Sen. Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (Vt.) have introduced a fantastic bill -- the Thermal Energy Efficiency Act -- that deserves to be part of the climate/energy package the Senate votes on later this year.