Green Options

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How far would you go to stop Global Warming? Or does that question not make sense — for one would go to the ends of the earth to save…the earth. It’s for the future generations, right? Our children’s children we proclaim and thus we compost and recycle and wear organic hoodies. However, there is a point where technology may go too far, as it is bound to do. The future we seek to protect could be a horrible one at best. Enter artificial life to protect the environment, move to designer babies and Gattaca becomes a reality. The technological imperative: if we can do it, we will.

From the article:

Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth.

The announcement, which is expected within weeks and could come as early as Monday at the annual meeting of his scientific institute in San Diego, California, will herald a giant leap forward in the development of designer genomes. It is certain to provoke heated debate about the ethics of creating new species and could unlock the door to new energy sources and techniques to combat global warming.

Mr Venter told the Guardian he thought this landmark would be “a very important philosophical step in the history of our species. We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it. That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before”.

The Dream of Today’s Youth, Faith in Obama:

By: Anthony J. Gerst. In the timeless words spoken by men everywhere and throughout time, I say to the reading audience “oops.” The Grand Opening for the new Obama office in Iowa was at Keokuk, not Fort Madison. A little background information on this, Iowa has 99 counties, currently there are 45 offices in [...]

I’ve reached my threshold of impending doom news for the day. Instead, I’d like to focus on what’s important: life, now. WWIII is on the horizon, the ice caps are melting and Britney Spears has loss custody of her children and somewhere along the lines we forget that before the planet meets its end, we will.

No matter how many articles your read or blogs your write, the end is always coming. For some it’s 40 years from now, for others its 4 months. No one wins. And as we hear a thousand times, we should make every day count.

Today, I’m working outside.

Watch the video below, this isn’t a you tube 2 minute tribute — so grab a glass of wine (or bottle) and…learn.

From ABC News Article:

Professor’s full speech

Randy Pausch, a 46-year-old computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has terminal cancer and expects to live for just a few more months.

This week, he said goodbye to his students and the Pittsburgh college with one last lecture called “How to Live Your Childhood Dreams,” on his life’s journey and the lessons he’s learned.

The Wall Street Journal called it “the lecture of a lifetime” and those who have seen it have more than agreed.

People Understanding People: UN Iowa?

If one thinks of Iowa, the thought of an active UN organization is probably the last thing that comes to mind. However, we quiet mild-mannered Iowans have a tendency to be quite active in concerns of the globe. Iowans take their civic duties seriously, as the state UN chapter even publishes the UN Advocacy News for concerned members.

Working primarily with the Better World Campaign, the educational branch of the UN foundation, the Iowa Chapter will be holding several meetings around the state. From the peace and security meeting I attended, to ‘citizens speak back’ events on climate change, poverty and hunger, and one on human rights.

Regrettably, Deborah Derrick the Executive Director of Better World Campaigns and former Senior Adviser for Legislative Affairs at the U.S. State Department, found herself stranded upon the tormented tumultuous tarmac of American’s runways in D.C., and was unable to attend the meeting.

We were graced however with an excellent speaker from Drake University, Professor Debra DeLaet. This charming speaker is from the college’s Department of Politics and International Relations. Rather timidly she took center stage making it a point to stress, several times, that the following would be her own opinion. In her classes it is evident she imparts to her students that the world is interdependent. She put forth a four-point proposal in her speech. Debra DeLaet’s opinion is that the primary issue of our nation should be getting back to the core values of America. In a follow up question, I pushed her to define this in more detail. As I suspected, and hoped, she was referring to the need for America to rely upon our Bill of Rights and civic freedoms to guide our security concerns - at home and abroad.

Another primary point in Professor DeLaet’s speech was the need to seek out the moderate voices in the world, not the extremists, when attempting to deal with foreign policy issues. It is with much regret that extremism runs rampant throughout the world today. The politics of America is polarized with extremist elements running the party machines. In my opinion the best aspect of the professor’s speech was her final point, hammering home that security issues in our nation go beyond military threats. Like I, the good professor stresses that environmental issues are a greater concern for our nation. Her examples were that of resource scarcity, and pandemic threats that would affect the globe more dramatically in terms of human life, than the current terrorists threats.

Republican Scandal and the RES Robin Hood:

By: Anthony J. Gerst.

My writings have the tendency to rant, rag, B-slap on Congress quite often. There are still good people on the hill, ladies and gentlemen. Of course almost everyone thinks their own representative is a decent, moral person, trying their best to represent the people. I personally believe Senator Harkin, my representative, is all of this and much more. But Michigan, I am envious of you. John Conyers Jr. is a representative of the people. You should be very proud to have him as your elected official in the House of Representatives.

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) unlike Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), has diligently worked toward impeachment of George W. Bush. Currently he is waiting on the contempt of Congress resolution to come up for a vote on the floor. Before the August recess, the Judiciary Committee passed a resolution that held Harriet Myers and the White House in contempt of Congress.

The contempt charge pertains to the investigation of the firing of nine federal prosecutors, and a tie into the White House playing a key role. To add a little insult to injury, the replacement prosecutors seem to have been hired based upon political contributions and affiliations. Further roadblocks in pursuing this contempt charge have arisen, as officials from the Justice Department and our former Attorney General have apparently given false testimony.

The honorable statesman from Michigan is not afraid to tackle the issues that are crucial to the people of our nation. He has one of the best congressional sites on the net, in my humble opinion. Here is a link should you wish to follow up this, or other crucial issues of the day, like the Jena Six.

Congress will soon be putting the final negotiations on this session’s energy bill. It is crucial that the Renewable Energy Standard (RES), which was passed in the house, be included in this law (H.R.3221). In the House resolution almost all utilities would be required to meet 15% of their service from renewable energy by 2020.

Ethanol Vs. Food:

By: Anthony J. Gerst.

Remember these words, “The wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling. . . This land was made for you and me.” The wheat harvest around the globe this year was a bust. It was either scorched or drowned. Global reserves of wheat are at their lowest in 26 years. During the last week of August wheat prices in Europe rose to L200 per tonne, which is double the price of last season. On the Chicago Board and Trade, wheat hit $7.44 a bushel. I heard today, unofficially, that it is now more than $8.00. On my blog site, Watchdog 316 dated July 24, you can find an article called, ‘Bread Four Dollars a Loaf,’ this will give you a fair look at the global collapse of the wheat harvest.

Across the planet this season, Mother Nature has wreaked havoc. From devastating heat waves to torrential downpours, the resulting effects of these climatic shivers are barley shortages everywhere. The consequences are rising prices for pasta and bread. In Italy, boycotts have already been experienced because of the exorbitant cost of linguine. This sadly will go beyond the price of linguine, macaroni, bread and my personal favorite lasagna. The ramifications of this rush to supply ethanol, with the less than perfect crop of corn, will result in increases of dairy and meat prices as well. Increased feed expenses for the livestock industry will wash over the freezers in grocery stores, like a green wave of exodus, as your hard earned capital flows to the checkered aisle.

God was sued earlier this week by state senator Ernie Chambers, the longest-serving member of the Legislature. Before you shake your head and offer a quiet chuckle: listen up. God has been served for the following: “fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects and the like.”

Not to mention, according to Chambers, “widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants.” By all accounts the All Mighty sounds like a real…interesting guy?

In the lawsuit, Chambers also claims the plaintiff never returned his calls. “Plaintiff, despite reasonable efforts to effectuate personal service upon defendant ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are,’ has been unable to do so,’” Chambers said.

Chambers issued this lawsuit in response to another he considers to be frivolous and inappropriate. In doing so, he raised a lot of eyebrows and maybe even opened a few minds. Beyond rampant religious belief and ideals, it comes down to our beautiful legal system. Anyone can sue anyone, even the almighty himself… wherever he may be, he may be wanted for questioning.

From the article:

OMAHA, Neb — State Sen. Ernie Chambers is suing God. He said on Monday that it is to prove a point about frivolous lawsuits.

Chambers said senators periodically have offered bills prohibiting the filing of certain types of suits. He said his main objection is that the constitution requires that the doors to the courthouse be open to all.

“Thus anybody can file a lawsuit against anybody — even God,” Chambers said.

According to the U.N. approximately 1.1 billion people are without safe drinking water. The number is shocking. How is that possible? I suddenly feel like a giant ass for taking that long shower this morning. In some sick twisted way, our problems become miniscule — we feel better to the extent of others misfortune.

Fortunately, there is a new revolutionary product that could make dirty water a thing of the past. Michael Pritchard, an Ipswich-based businessman invented a £190 bottle, appropriately named the ‘Lifesaver Bottle.’ In mere seconds, the bottle can purify the dirtiest of water using an advanced filter system. Even water littered with fecal matter doesn’t stand a chance. The military is having a field day with this product, considered the ”Best Technological Development,” at the Soldier Technology conference. The entire stock was bought by the military. When will this Lifesaver reach the people? From the article:

Michael Pritchard hopes that the bottle could be a life-saver for refugees in disaster regions where access to clean drinking water is vital. However, the military are already latching on to his idea. Four hours after Mr Pritchard launched his new “Life Saver” bottle at the DESI defence show in London yesterday, he sold out his entire 1,000 stock. “I am bowled over,” he said.

Military chiefs are excited because the bottles, which can distill either 4,000 litres or 6,000 litres without changing the filter, will have huge benefits for soldiers who hate drinking iodine-flavoured water. Mr Pritchard, who runs a water treatment business in Ipswich, was inspired after watching coverage of the tsunami in south-east Asia on Boxing Day 2004 and of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana the following year.

He was amazed to see refugees waiting for days to get any fresh water.

He said: “Something had to be done. It took me a little while and some very frustrating prototypes but eventually I did it.”

“Depending on who you believe, they’re at or beyond the limit of what is possible.” Chills crawl down my spine when I read that quote. Who are we to define what is possible, even if you happen to be a director of electromechanics. The words are heavy with regret – that will no doubt come back to bite you in the ass. Impossible is an imaginary word. We’ve long since shattered the 4-minute mile, why can we not do the same with internal combustion engine?

A patent for the “technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries,” caught the eye of energy enthusiasts for good reason. What does it all mean?  Check out the CNN article below:

An Austin-based startup called EEStor claims motorist could plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles roundtrip between Dallas and Houston without gasoline.

By contrast, some plug-in hybrids on the horizon would require motorists to charge their cars in a wall outlet overnight and promise only 50 miles of gasoline-free commute. And the popular hybrids on the road today still depend heavily on fossil fuels.

“It’s a paradigm shift,” said Ian Clifford, chief executive of Toronto-based ZENN Motor Co., which has licensed EEStor’s invention. “The Achilles’ heel to the electric car industry has been energy storage. By all rights, this would make internal combustion engines unnecessary.”

I’m a huge fan of Stonyfield Farms yogurt – love their french vanilla and their environmental practices. Besides being the first company to offset 100% of CO2 emissions, they also give 10% of their profits to protect the earth. In 2006, they gave $1,010,918 to non-profit and educational organizations dedicated to environmental and sustainable practices. Here at Planetsave, we’ve teamed up with Stonyfield Farms, and by following this link you can  [...]

Remember the Planet Relief day Live Earth had set up with the BBC? They wanted a mass electricity switch off. Theoretically, everyone would take place in shutting of their lights and appliances and then Live Earth would measure the amount of energy saved. It was a grand attempt at awareness. Not to mention how cool it would look to see cities completely void of light. Sound dramatic and well terribly unpredictable? The national grid wet their pants. Planet Relief day got canceled. Read an excerpt from the BBC article:

The National Grid was nervous over the idea, advising against Live Earth’s switch off plan and negotiating for a year with the BBC on an alternative for Planet Relief.

Their reasoning was that the unpredictability of demand during such an event could mean some people losing their electricity supply and even raise the danger of emitting more carbon dioxide rather than less. While a sudden disappearance of demand is an unusual thing for the National Grid, its engineers know a lot about surges.