Green Leaf Report

It’s become quite a popular movement to reduce your personal carbon footprint and minimize your impact on the earth.  But that isn’t the lack of impact I refer in my title- I’m concerned about our government’s apparent desire to do nothing of any importance to help the environment.  Please read Bucking Court, EPA won’t […]

I just received an email from a friend who has recently testified in front of the Texas government in support of wind energy.  The email text and attachment text is below.  I’m not sure if emailing this around is the most efficient idea, but this is a good time to contact your representatives and […]

I arrived today at the WindPower 2008 conference in Houston - I’m so excited to attend!  So far we’ve only attended for one partial day, but I’ve already met some great new people and learned things about wind that I didn’t know I didn’t know.
After our registration, we headed over to the […]

Unfortunately, the Exxon Mobil shareholders meeting in Dallas yesterday was unsuccessful in splitting the chairman and CEO roles, achieving only 39.5% of the vote.  Several shareholders groups are angry at Exxon Mobil’s lack of investment in alternative fuels, and think Exxon Mobil is short-sighted in its reliance on oil.  Shareholders - including members of the […]

HP scientists have just made my electrical engineering degree obsolete with their proof of the existence of Memristors.  Thank goodness I sold my college textbooks long ago- I’m happy to see any breakthrough related to huge reductions in power requirements, though.  In theory, this memristor component holds memory without requiring power:
Building computers with Memristors might […]

After more than a decade of working in various engineering and technology management roles, I’m tired of the argument that a great technology is its own marketing and sales team.  This is especially a problem when recession fears start cropping up, and the knee-jerk reaction of many leadership teams is to cut marketing and sales teams […]

I spent the first twenty two years of my life in New Orleans, living the culture of locally harvested seafood cooked to perfection.  I miss those years, but I can no longer guarantee the source of my seafood, and have stopped eating it.  Europe is also having problems verifying the source of their seafood, though […]

I just noticed in a previous post how similar the words politician and pollution are when my spelling abilities temporarily lapsed.  With that in mind, I wrote letters to my two Texas state senators this week for their political pollution in blocking the energy bill provision that would support renewable energy standards.  We could have this […]

I enjoyed an article earlier today about the changing political feelings in Brazil over climate change.  In the article, a 2005 drought and 2004 hurricane were noted as two items bringing the threat of climate change home to Brazil. While it was very interesting theory and I’d love to believe it’s true, I’m concerned […]

For years, a landfill has been a less than desirable addition to any hometown. No one wants to live near the dump, and debates have gone on for years over the social and racial makeup of neighborhoods where dumps were finally located.  All in all, not a pleasant or fair situation.  But maybe change […]

The Texas monsoon season has finally slowed to an occasional drizzle.  After two years of intensive drought and day after day of record-setting heat, the record-setting rains arrived in north and central Texas; we haven’t seen rain like this in almost 100 years.  So far this year, we’ve received 30 inches more than the normal 15 inches […]

Years ago, miners carried canaries deep into coal mines to detect high levels of methane and carbon monoxide gas: If the canaries died, it was time to evacuate.  Interestingly, the National Audubon Society recently issued a report on the declining numbers of common bird species in America.  Some bird species are down over 80% in […]

  TXU has received their permits to build two more coal plants in Oak Grove, TX.  In classic TXU style, the two plants will be lignite burning; the dirtiest, most polluting form of coal will be used because it’s cheap. The fact that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gave the green-light to this project on Wednesday helps clarify […]

A friend of mine sent me a link to the Sanyo Solar Ark the other day.  I love the message of teaching the community about environmental concerns and protecting the planet. 
Deep down, I have to wonder if Japan is getting ready to load their animals up, two by two.
 
Technorati tags: Solar+Ark+Sanyo

I absolutely love this article about making bioplastic packaging that can then be used as fuel.  What an outstanding idea- design for the re-use!  If this happens, maybe San Fran would start allowing plastic grocery bags again: Take a wasteful, landfill -clogging item and prepare for its useful second life.  It seems weird to think of […]

That’s the direct quote from Shelley Dahlburg, an attorney for the state of Texas, during the arguments over the governor’s right to fast track the 11 proposed new coal plants.  I’m not clear which side Dahlburg is arguing; but if it’s for the coal plants, well, it’s good to know that the lack of future clean air […]

Recently we had an earthquake in Texas, or so I read in the news.  TXU received an offer they couldn’t refuse (or at least voted to accept, barring any better offers), and agreed to cancel eight of their proposed eleven coal plants.  It would be one of the largest corporate buyouts- so exciting to see such fast […]

So TXU is trying to rush in the coal plants so that if carbon dioxide emission caps come into play they’ll have a higher cap level to work within.  Great.  But some large TXU investors are also questioning the intelligence of the planned new coal plants.  Maybe we should join these other investors at the […]

Wind and sunlight are all around us, yet men continue to risk their lives underground, chipping out coal. Do we continue with the status quo and resist change because it’s cheaper, or because simple inertia keeps us on the known path? Are we afraid of being called tree-huggers when we’re serious conservatives? […]