EarthAction

EnergyBiz Article on Feed-In Tariffs

The 'Legal Eagle' section of the May/June issue of EnergyBiz magazine features a Guest Opinion piece that I wrote about feed-in tariffs (FITs)—now being called in the US and Canada, 'Renewable Energy Payments' (REPs). It's brief, timely and talks about why REPS have proven to be the most effective laws to accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy. Click here to read the article. Click here for the main website of EnergyBiz online magazine. Let me know what you think.

You really have to wonder

When you're sitting this far South of the American continent (...Chile...) watching entire towns being evacuated to protect them from the eruption of the Chaiten volcano, you think, that is so sad but then it's normal, it's the way of nature, these things just happen. Then when the next thing you hear is that a cyclone in Myanmar has left hundreds of thousands of victims, and that an earthquake in China has caused nearly 10,000 deaths, you really have to wonder. At least I wonder: after 15 million years of so-called human evolution, do we humans know any more now about nature than we did then, when we first attempted to stand on our two feet? The brave, tough settlers of this remote, isolated, and still pristine region of Chile have no idea when they can get back to their homes, their farms, their cattle or their fishing boats -- because no one, not even the best scientists and volcano experts in the country, are able to predict when it will be safe for them to return.

Native Americans (North and South), lived --and in some places, luckily still do-- with an acute awareness of being part of a system, and tried to stay in tune with natural cycles such as tides, rainfall, phases of the moon and such. These were just another part of their own life cycles. They didn't have the science to predict weather or any other natural phenomena, but they could tell the signs through small changes in vegetation, animal behavior and others. That didn't spare them from natural catastrophes, but at least it made their livelihoods more sustainable and minimized their impact on the systems they depended on.

But then we became civilized -- meaning, basically ,that we grew so far apart from nature that somehow, we started considering ourselves above it.  Don't stop reading here -- I won't advocate for a massive return to the caverns or anything like that. I love urban life and the sweet benefits of civilization. I just want to say the obvious -- we need to become extremely and constantly aware,  we need to re-learn to tell the signs and become more and more aware of the interrelations and the delicate balance of nature -including humans-. We need to teach our kids (show them, not tell them) about it - it's crucial.

So, I guess all I'm trying to say is, let's share the knowledge we've accumulated and use the wonderful science and technology we've created to minimize and hopefully, eradicate habits and attitudes that are disruptive of the fragile systems that shape this tiny planet. And most of all, let's not get tired of fighting apathy, ignorance or just plain greed.

(Photo courtesy of abc.es)

Have you read Little Brother?

In my tenth grade English class, the year’s ongoing theme was freedom versus security. To have more of one, you have to have less of the other. We put laws into place that limit our freedom, but increase our sense of security. However, the perennial question is, where do you draw the line? When do you know the balance has tipped too far in one direction? Tied into the debate is the question of “real” security versus a false sense of security, which further muddies the water.

Reading Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, reminded me of that class, and the way it made me question the world around me. All too often schools fail to encourage curiosity, inquiry, and creative thinking. This book works to engage people of all ages (although it is specifically targeted at young adults) in these kinds of questions.

The novel stars Marcus, a seventeen-year-old boy, who lives in a close-future post-9/11 world that is chillingly believable – after all, we live in a world where Nelson Mandela is a terrorist, air marshals are grounded because they are on the no-fly list, your laptop can be searched just because, tourists taking photos are automatically terrorist suspects, and waterboarding is not torture.

This book is a must-read, whatever your age. Buy a copy for yourself, and then buy copies for your loved ones, nieces, kids, and grandchildren.

Download Little Brother for free, shared under a Creative Commons license, or buy Little Brother from Amazon.

Save The Whales!

I live in Hawaii and am aware of numerous whales dying on our beaches from the effects of sonar. For many years the US Navy has used unsafe frequencies of sonar in the range of whales around the world. Sonar is harmful to whales because sonar frequencies are so loud that they can cause the whales’ organs to rupture. This often results in death. Some of the other consequences are problems with their communication, or singing, which is needed for their ability to migrate, mate and stay together. Sometimes this causes many whales to beach themselves, or baby whales to be separated from their mothers in a vital period of their lives.

The Navy have been told many times how harmful sonar is, but they have not heeded the warnings and they continue its use it within the range of whales. The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) have made protecting the whales from the Navy’s sonar experiments one of their priorities. Since 2001, they have asked people like you to write the Navy letters asking them to carefully regulate any use of sonar so as not to cause damage or death to whales. By signing the letter here, the Navy will know that we are serious about saving the whales.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr user Zen, shared under a Creative Commons license)