Author: Michael Beyer (Page 1 of 2)

http://www.vice.com/read/what-anonymous-cops-are-saying-about-the-eric-garner-grand-jury-1205

Follow the link above to the postings about the dispute.

Super interesting fallout. One opinion urges the officer Eric Holder to resign. Another says a civil war is coming, while another talks about the way society is putting criminals on a pedestal and disrespecting police. It definitely must be difficult to be a police officer now, but when one opinion says people need to learn how to act around police officers, I say that police have protocols to deal with people who resist them which do not include shooting them 8 times while unarmed as well as putting someone in a chokehold and holding them there when they proclaim “I can’t breathe” over and over 11 times. Yes they are doing their jobs, but people are not under oath to have complete and utter respect for officers, whereas police are under oath to protect people and have been instructed how to incapacitate people, but use this education to the most extreme. There must be some discretion taken on the part of officers in the future.

This NYTimes article explains the way Scott Pruitt, Attorney General of Oklahoma and President of the Attorney General’s Association has collaborated in secret with Devon Oil company, a large campaign contributor of his. In fact, Attorneys general in at least a dozen states are working with energy companies and other corporate interests, which in turn are providing them with record amounts of money for their political campaigns, including at least $16 million this year.
“Individual attorneys general have shut down investigations, changed policies or agreed to more corporate-friendly settlement terms after intervention by lobbyists and lawyers, many of whom are also campaign benefactors.”
“But the attorneys general are also working collectively. Democrats for more than a decade have teamed up with environmental groups such as the Sierra Club to use the court system to impose stricter regulation. But never before have attorneys general joined on this scale with corporate interests to challenge Washington and file lawsuits in federal court.”
With 27 of the nations’ Attorneys General as Republicans, environmentalists must be hanging their heads at the tough struggle that surely lies ahead.

I think working outside the system in marches and rallies has proven a good tactic in the past, but how can we mobilize a country who voted in a republican congress which is targeting Obama’s environmental reform. This is just another reminder of all the moving parts within this struggle. Alternative technologies may be promising, but as long as our government supports the oil industry and other non renewables, the battle might be a losing one.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/politics/energy-firms-in-secretive-alliance-with-attorneys-general.html?ref=energy-environment

“It is economically to our advantage to move as quickly as possible to a system of 80 percent renewable energy,” “Our estimate is that the changeover will cost about 500 billion euros,” or about $628 billion, Eicke Weber, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems’ director and a professor of physics at Freiburg University, said. “However, between now and 2050 we will realize savings of between €600 billion and €1,000 billion. These are savings on the total energy system, including fossil fuels and the distribution system.” The simulations show that switching to a low carbon economy can be done without damaging businesses or living standards. In addition, “This model distinguishes itself by its level of technological detail and its comprehensive coverage of the relevant interactions in the system.” said the professor. One thing I found interesting is that they took into account daily fluctuations in energy use: “the electricity system would incorporate substantial storage capacity to handle the fluctuations of supply and demand. This could take the form of about eight million batteries connected to home photovoltaic systems and a doubling of current pumped storage capacity. Heat storage would be split among about 150 large-scale centralized storage plants and about seven million home storage units. Also, jobs to build this infrastructure would be made available! Sounds like a win, win. Hopefully they’re able to pull this off and set an example for the rest of the world and even use the simulation in other places.

This article explains the costs associated with making developing countries more green. Originally, the estimated costs associated with first world sustainable aid to developing countries was severely underestimated at 100 billion dollars. It turns out that they will have to face costs of around 500 billion dollars to help achieve goals set forth by the UN Environmental program. The fact that climate change is a byproduct of current first world powers who made their money from unsustainable development tells me that putting the burden on developing countries is unfair. We’ll see who is willing to pay.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/500-billion-poor-countries-climate-change-costs-soar-u-n-n262561

Let’s take a step back and look at some photos of the social conflicts, daily lives, and just quirky things going on around the world. The photos contain commentaries on the mike brown ruling mainly. One picture of his mother after the grand jury verdict came out and one of the riots in Ferguson following the verdict. I often forget how impactful pictures can be. So, take a look!

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/week-in-pictures/week-pictures-nov-20-26-n256876

This article is about the huge help efficiency could lend to reducing carbon emissions in our future. Of the largest economies in the world, Germany has been rated most energy efficient, yet scored a rating of merely 65 out of a possible 100. According to some numbers in the article, “efficiency will have to account for 40 percent of the emissions reductions if warming is to be limited to 2 degrees Celsius, as world leaders have pledged, Mr. Benoit said. That will cost $14 trillion between now and 2035, more than $600 billion a year, doubling the current rate of spending on efficiency. In addition, Environmentalists, though, are disappointed with an October agreement by European Union leaders to set a non-binding target of increasing the bloc’s energy efficiency by at least 27 percent by 2030.” So, we’ll see what actually happens. It could be interesting, but it is important within all our extreme innovation to take a look at existing technologies and see if it is possible to make them more efficient.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/01/business/energy-environment/energy-efficiency-may-be-the-key-to-saving-trillions.html?ref=earth

An investment firm in Latin america is beginning to invest in the land. “The region has lost some 36 million hectares, or 89 million acres, of forest and grasslands to agriculture since 2000, said Walter Vergara, a senior fellow at the World Resources Institute in Washington, one of the conservation groups supporting the project.” In addition, latin america accounts for 13 percent of the global food trade which is a number that could take off once the farmland is restored and made arable again. Overfarming has been a huge issue in these regions unfortunately, but this investment bank, which is Luxemborg-based, sees land as something that could attract more sources of income. Deforestation prevention is also part of their investment as the trees hold lots of value in erosion control and water absorbtion which can benefit farmland as well as pasture land.
My immediate response to this was finally! someone who is helping the often forgotten land of latin america. It will be interesting to see where this takes agriculture in the region and if more investment firms will think about investing here. In addition, I wonder if any environmental groups have been involved in communicating with the investment firm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/08/world/americas/investors-recruited-to-restore-farmland-.html?ref=earth

Martin Litton, a lifelong environmentalist and active within the SIerra Club has passed away at the age of 97. I think this is a pertinent time, to take a look at those people who initially were vocal about human respect of nature. If it weren’t for them, we could be in a much worse place environmentally speaking. This article contains an interview where Litton explains his struggles with developers in being an avid environmentalist. David Brower relayed that Litton was the Sierra Club’s conscience most of the time he was involved with it, saying he had a bright and hopeful mind, willing to motivate people. One quote from Litton:
“Shall we fail to go into battle because it is hard to win?” he wrote. “Could not 22,000 Sierra Club members, without strain, turn out 22,000 letters a day for a week?” He continued, “There has never been a Congress, a president, a secretary of interior, a governor or a newspaper editor who would not sit up and take notice of that.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/martin-litton-fighter-for-environment-dies-at-97.html?ref=science&_r=0

In 2003, there was promise for hydrogen fuel cell cars. George W. Bush said in a speech that a child born in 2003 could be driving a hydrogen-powered vehicle for their first car. During the Obama Administration, the Government cut spending to hydrogen fuel cell research and development because of a lack of feasibility. Now, California, Germany, and Japan are all increasing the number of their hydrogen stations to about 50 by the end of next year in an attempt to generate support and infrastructure for these hydrogen cars.

The fact is, hydrogen cars are more inexpensive than electric, more efficient, and have a longer range. It’s just the infrastructure that is lacking. Hydrogen fuel-cell science is fully developed and ready to be scaled up to trucks and busses, so if we can generate the infrastructure, they would easily be incorporated into daily life.
Check out the article for the nerdy details about how hydrogen fuel cells work and how they are able to cut costs : http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/science/earth/hydrogen-cars-join-electric-models-in-showrooms.html?ref=science

It seems like a very promising technology. I wonder what is greener to produce, though? a hydrogen fuel cell or a Lithium-ion battery?

“We don’t want to claim that we’re going to solve all of humanity’s problems,” cautioned Ferrari (a graphene researcher at University of Cambridge), “but we are in for a very interesting next ten years.”

This was the closing quote form an NBC article about this supposed miracle material called Graphene. From the article, “It makes batteries charge faster and last longer. It can detect light better than the best sensors. It could lead to flexible, impossibly thin touchscreens, super-strong composites and implantable electronics.” The article also reported that labs around the world are inventing things that use this material almost every day. What is the material? Its simply an almost two dimensional sheet of carbon arranged in hexagonal shapes.

It will be interesting to keep this material in the back of our minds as technologies press on into more and more innovative places. Apparently, the implications are huge, and the EU already has a billion dollar flagship program which hopes to roll out strong, conductive polymers in the next ten years, and then move from there.

Environmentally, this industry would have little to no impact simply because carbon is everywhere. With the heavy quote “We don’t want to claim we’re going to solve all of humanity’s problems,” one can’t help but imagine all the great this material could do.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/wonder-material-graphene-just-getting-started-researchers-say-n236766