Green Options

My family and I awoke, greeted by a spectacular show of autumn colors while our Capitol Limited Amtrak train coasted alongside a meandering river somewhere outside Martinsburg, West Virginia. We headed to the glass enclosed lounge car to join a convivial community of train travelers, snapping photos of quaint mountain towns and even a wind farm perched atop a ridge.

Our destination was Washington D.C. and after careful consideration, we concluded that getting to the nation’s capitol by train was both the most energy efficient way (when compared to flying or driving) and a most enjoyable one. We stretched out on comfortable and spacious seats, had plenty of room to stretch our legs in the lounge or cafe car, avoided the hassles of airline check-in and security, and had ample free time to play games with our son, read a book, watch the world passing by out the windows, even sip a cup of Fair Trade Certified Green Mountain Coffee purchased at their cafe.

Hardly our first train trip on Amtrak (and no stranger to the European intercity rail system), we, as ecotravelers, found riding with Amtrak far more than an ecologically sound and more fuel efficient way to travel. We joined a community of fellow travelers eager to slow down more to enjoy the scenery, rather than flying thousands of feet overhead or speeding down boring Interstate Highways in a car.

Americans are riding the rails in a big way these days. From October 2006 to September 2007, about 25.8 million Americans took a trip on Amtrak. An average of more than 70,000 passengers ride on up to 300 Amtrak trains per day. Amtrak, officially called the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, was created by the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970. After a 150 years of passenger rail service by private freight companies largely disappeared due to the rapid growth (and, in hindsight, disasterous ecological and social impacts) of automobile and airline travel, the U.S. government stepped in to set up a public service passenger rail service so that intercity passenger train travel could still be continued. Fortunately for us.

Who do you want to be the next President of the United States of America?

(A) An unbranded cow.

(B) A politician who doesn’t listen to his/her associates (AKA “The Decider”).

(C) A tool of war.

(D) None of the above.

Image credit: maverick. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved October 28, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/maverick

Sarah Palin quotes from across the spectrum: from man not causing global warming, to the war in Iraq being a task from God, and how offshore drilling will save us - she says it all.

1. Introduction
It’s obvious why Sarah Palin got the VP nod. And Saturday Night Live makes this point most brilliantly: Hillary Clinton.

2. Sarah Palin On The Environment
Just one day before being picked as the [...]

The baby bear had been shot in the head and left on the campus of Western Carolina University. Obama yard signs had been stapled together and put over the dead bear’s head. Was this just a sick fraternity prank or a twisted statement of support of the McCain/Palin ticket?

the commenting has begun in Red, Green and Blue’s and ReframeIt’s Green Economy Scavenger Hunt. Remember: $1000 dollars and a guest post at RG&B is up for grabs for the person who creates the best body of finds and comments related to the growth of the green economy, and the presidential candidates’ approaches to doing that.

Addressing the fact that the United States has historically contributed the most to global warming, and over the past eight years has done the least to stop it, 350.org has come up with an exciting and timely campaign.

Realizing that whoever takes office as U.S. President next year has a lot of work to get the country back in the game and to ensure that climate change is taken seriously as an issue, it becomes important that the the next US President participates in the Conference of Parties (COP) that will be held in Poznan in December. And to ensure that this does happen, it is important that the people of the world invite them for the same!

We’ve suffered through too much of this cowboy politics crap (pun intended) to allow it to happen again.

Entrepreneurs all over America identify with Joe the Plumber which is why he has clearly become the talk of the town. But what about the Ecopreneurists? To me you folks are the entrepreneurs of the New Economy who have the potential to not just to rebuild…but rebuild a sustainable economy. What are your thoughts on Joe The Plumber ? Does he represent you?

“Drill, baby, drill” is not an energy policy, and it will never make us energy independent. US oil production peaked in 1970 at more than 11 million barrels a day, ironically just three years before the oil crisis.

I’ve long suspected I live in a political bubble in Northern California. The debates I hear among friends is whether to vote for Obama, Nader, or McKinney. I’ve never even seen a McCain/Palin yard sign or bumper sticker, but I knew that was all going to change when I traveled to Northern Ohio for my grandmother’s funeral.

Obama and McCain agree on the goals of energy and climate policy. Both candidates acknowledge global warming is man-made and advocate a mandatory cap-and-trade policy in the United States for dealing with carbon emissions — something the Bush administration opposes. They’re also largely in agreement over reducing oil consumption and investing in new energy technologies.