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Saturday, June 13, 2009
PIA's Plug-In Vehicle Tracker
Want to know who'e coming out with what electric vehicle and when? Plug In America has put together an awesome page that tracks pretty much everything you want to know about new EVs in the works and when to expect them.
Check it out.
Dave
Friday, June 12, 2009
Energy Secretary Chu At CalTech
According To Paul
Full Speech Here
I heard that Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, was giving the commencement address at CalTech this morning, so I jumped in our solar-powered RAV and drove over to Pasadena to hear what he had to say.
Pasadena is a beautiful city, and the section of town where CalTech is located is old and very wealthy. Walking through the leafy campus, Jacarandas in full bloom, I admired the buildings that for decades housed some of the smartest students our country ever produced as well as a sizable number of foreign kids intent on getting the best education possible in their chosen fields of mathematics, science and engineering. My anticipation over Dr. Chu's speech grew with each step.
He did not disappoint.
Those of us in the EV movement were overjoyed when Obama picked Dr. Chu to head the Energy Department. An actual Nobel-winning PhD in physics who has a deep understanding of our predicament regarding energy and climate change in charge of the Energy Department. A true breath of fresh air!
He broke the ice by defining the term, nerd, using the Wikipedia definition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerd), since most in his audience proudly considered themselves as such. I think it's actually on the form when you apply to CalTech.
Having dispensed with the obligatory humorous start, he got down to business by reminding the audience that, in the early 70's, scientists solved the pressing need to grow more food in order to keep millions from starvation and expressed that our problems today are every bit as important if not more so. He implored the students to take seriously the need to act fast in solving these problems and to not allow those who prefer faith over reason to interfere with the task at hand.
As one would expect, he talked about energy mostly, but my ears pricked up when he said we needed to prepare for the "inevitable transition to electricity as the energy for our personal transportation". While most may have missed the importance of this comment, it meant everything to me. Those at the top of the Obama administration understand the need to move from dirty fossil fuels to renewable electricity, and their efforts so far show they are serious.
Chu's defunding, at the federal level, of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle means he knows we need to put our efforts toward solutions that are ready now, not some expensive, inefficient technology that requires us to continue buying our energy from oil companies.
As the speech ended and I started to go, the strains of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 "Ode to Joy" flowed out of the loud speakers and I walked through the beautiful purple flowering Jacarandas happier than I've been for a while. Maybe these scientists, engineers and mathematicians can indeed help us to ward off the worst of what will come.
Paul
******
Air France Search Hindered by Garbage
I was wondering if this would be a problem and indeed, it looks like it is going to be. Apparently, the searchers for the Air France flight that went down the week before last are having problems telling what's plane debris and what's trash.
Now let's take a look at this for a moment. Middle of the ocean and a plane that has hit the water. Other than depth and visibility, there should be no problem locating this stuff if you could figure out where it was. The idea that they are finding stuff, only to rule it out as garbage and not from the plane is absolute insanity. It just goes to show how bad things have gotten and it's sad that it takes a tragedy to bring it to light.
Dave
Monday, June 8, 2009
Food Inc. The Movie
I saw the filmmakers speaking about this movie back in February. It looks to be a really amazing film that has important info that everyone in the industrialized world needs to see. Food and they way we consume it is at the heart of the problems at hand and I truly believe that the way to start a change is by educating people as to what they are a part of.
Dave
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