Not really jonesin’ to write about any one thing today so I thought I share what I’ve been reading. As long-time readers know, I used to intermittently post a Sustain-a-Links newsletter, which basically consisted of tidbits from interesting articles from around the sustain-o-sphere mixed with a little irreverence. I intend to continue providing links to informative and interesting pieces being published elsewhere, but more informally from here on out. And though the structure of these posts is changing slightly, the goal is still to provide five stories on five different topics from five different sources, with a little sass. Only through diversity will we ever find the light. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Awards| Gore shares Nobel Peace Prize with U.N. panel | “Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work to raise awareness about global warming . . . The former vice president said he would donate his half of the $1.5 million prize to The Alliance for Climate Protection, a U.S. organization founded by Gore that aims to persuade people to cut emissions and reduce global warming.” | Associated Press | I can’t wait for the right-wing idiots of the world to start equating peace with terror, just to slam a liberal for doing something better and more useful than all the conservatives in the world could do together, on their best day.
Climate Change | Warmth makes the world more humid | “The atmosphere is becoming more humid in a pattern consistent with man-made climate change, researchers have found. Their study, reported in the journal Nature, confirms the global increase in humidity found in previous studies.” | BBC News | August in St. Louis just got better! I can just see the headline – “Thousands drown while breathing air!” Check out the BBC’s “How The Greenhouse Effect Works” for an explanation of how the greenhouse effect works. Cryptic title, I know.
Development | New Orleans trims Katrina revival plan | “After struggling for months to come up with $1.1 billion for the first stage of New Orleans’ hurricane rebuilding plan, city officials faced with growing public frustration intend to drastically scale back. The $216 million fallback plan being released today will at least get the rebuilding started, said city Recovery Director Ed Blakely, and give the public desperately needed signs of progress — which, in turn, will encourage private investment in New Orleans.” | Becky Bohrer, Associated Press | Anything at this point is progress, as you can tell from my previous post, “NOLA, Two Years Later“.
Energy| Coming soon: a hydrogen highway? | “Frequently labeled the Holy Grail of energy resources, hydrogen promises to one day help America kick its oil habit and clean up the environment. It is the most abundant chemical element and emits no greenhouse gases, only energy and water. But myriad technical hurdles remain to get hydrogen technology out of the lab and into driveways. Among those is making sure there is infrastructure to generate, handle and distribute the fuel, said John Sheffield, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla. To help tackle those challenges, UMR is taking part in a public-private effort to establish Missouri’s first permanent hydrogen fueling station and using a pair of hydrogen-powered shuttle buses to transport soldiers along a 55-mile stretch of Interstate 44 . . .” | Jeffrey Tomich, St. Louis Post-Dispatch | This is being done between Rolla, MO and Lebanon, MO. Most people, including Missourians, don’t really know where those places are. Point being, if they can do, so can bigger cities.
Transportation | 2008 Saturn Vue Greenline: Less cost, fuel efficiency rated at 25 city/32 highway | ”Set to make its showroom debut this fall, the 2008 Vue Green Line still relys on the belt-alternator-starter (BAS) system, although fuel economy has increased slightly to 25/32 mpg city/highway. That’s an impressive feat, as it has both beat the odds against more stringent EPA mpg testing procedures as well as achieved the best highway fuel efficiency of any SUV currently on the market — and all at a lower price than the competition.” | Rory Jurnecka | I appreciate that companies are spending millions of dollars to develop technologies that allow hybrid SUVs to get the same freakin’ miles per gallon as my non-hybrid sedan. Come on people, just stop buying these tanks and let R&D money flow into developing brand new technologies, and into making bandages for one of the worst product introductions in the history of mankind.
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