Al Gore: Our Choice

I came across this book on a book club I belong to. I have qualms about the sincerity of Al Gore and his campaign to "save the environment" and the "fate of civilization as we know it" but he is telling the truth, phantom ulterior motives aside. I'm not saying go buy the book but it is something to be aware of.

And, a short video from the man himself. I still think he looks an awful lot like the lizard people from that TV series "V" back in the 80s. They were aliens that looked like us and made friends with us, then when they had us they ripped off their faces and were revealed to be an elite, more highly evolved, reptilian race. And I'm mad that Bill Clinton still makes me smile uncontrollably even after all the evil he has done. Anyway, Al Gore commands a lot of attention and he is right that the world is facing a crisis, literally of global proportions. He holds "solutions summits" but I have not paid attention to his suggestions for solutions.

IBM Smart Grid - United States

IBM Smart Grid - Visions - United States

Smarter power for a smarter planet

For most of the last century, our electrical grids were a symbol of progress. But today's electrical grids reflect a time when energy was cheap, their impact on the natural environment wasn't a priority and consumers weren't even part of the equation.

As a result of inefficiencies in this system, the world's creation and distribution of electric power is wasteful.

Fortunately, our energy can be made smart. It can be managed like the complex global system it is. Smart grid projects are already helping consumers save 10% on their bills and are reducing peak demand by 15%. IBM scientists and industry experts are working on smart energy solutions around the world. Our electrical grids can be a symbol of progress again—if we imbue the entire system with intelligence. And we can.
Let's build a smarter planet.

I paraphrased this website. 

I think it shows an interesting trend among corporations to superficially offer salvation solutions to a problem they will profit from even as we continue to over-consume.  

We will simply be buying more "energy efficient" luxuries in slick packaging by corporations we have long trusted to "know what's best for us" as they are richer and smarter.

ecogeek.org- brains for the earth

ecogeek.org brains for the earth

Are you an EcoGeek?

We've got to keep 6 billion people happy without destroying our planet.

It's the biggest challenge
we've ever faced....
but we're taking it on.

Are you with us?

About EcoGeek

Written by Hank Green on 06/04/06

Technology can be a force for evil, or for awesome.

Those who shun technologies that could save the planet are just as guilty as those who ignore the environment.

There's a safe balance, where the awesome can help nature as much as it helps us have a good time and live easier lives. EcoGeek devotes its pages to exploring the symbiosis between nature and technology. If you're interested in that, then stop by, and stop by often.

Dear God, please help me to not plug my ears and scream, "la, la, la" every time I hear the word "green". 

Alternative Energy Stocks: The Investor Resource for Alternative Energy Stocks

Alternative Energy Stocks: The Investor Resource for Alternative Energy Stocks

About Alternative Energy and Clean Tech

Alternative and renewable energy companies either directly produce energy from renewable or environmentally-benign sources, or develop and commercialize technologies and applications for the production of clean energy. Clean technologies (cleantech) are technologies that allow the economy to maintain and grow its output while neutralizing or minimizing adverse impacts on the environment. Cleantech includes innovations in a number of areas such as pollution control, water management, materials science and nanotechnology. Alternative energy, renewable energy and cleantech play an increasingly larger role in all areas of industry and modern life.

Well, this is discouraging.  I read about Oregon Department of Transportation buying their solar panels from Solar World of Hillsboro and I thought how nice to be buying locally.  Then I tried to invest in Solar World and discovered that they are not traded on US stock exchanges but on German DAX.  Sigh.  

It gets worse.  Oregon offers businesses that relocate to Oregon a green tax incentive credit.  Solar World bought property in Hillsboro from Wal-Mart and Flir, both times selling their tax credit to the companies that did nothing to promote environmentally sustainable business in Oregon.  

I hope Solar World is at least paying taxes in Oregon and hopefully doing something positive for the local economy in Hillsboro and I hope their employees are making a living wage, with benefits, and not a bunch of temps.

This site looks like a good place to find green stocks that are doing something good for the American economy and environment and for the people who live here.

The Age of Stupid

The Age of Stupid

The Age of Stupid is a 2008 film by Director Franny Armstrong starring Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

It follows seven documentary characters, British windfarmer Piers Guy, Indian airline boss Jeh Wadia, Nigerian medical student Layefa Malemi, French mountain guide Fernand Pareau, Iraqi refugee kids Jamila & Adnan and New Orleans Shell paleontologists Alvin Duvernay America, UK, India, Nigeria, Iraq, Jordan, The Alps

... turning into a drama

Now we have one last mountain to climb: producing a daily 20 minute live web TV show, The Stupid Show, from the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December 2009. Just on the off-chance we can influence public opinion and therefore the politicians before they sign us all up to a suicide pact.

I paid $25 for my son and I to go see this movie.  It was broadcast live all over the world.  It had a great opportunity to rile the masses but instead it droned on and on.  It was very amateur, obtuse, and one by one audience members left in disgust.  I made my son stay to the bitter end because I really wanted this film to work.  It didn't.  Calling consumers stupid is not going to motivate them to give up their lifestyle.  Attacking politicians publicly just makes a fool out of you.  Calling attention to the Copenhagen Climate Summit was the sum success of the documentary.