EC June 2009

ec@lists.wvsierraclub.org

5 participants
15 discussions

FW: NYT (Friedman -- While Detroit Slept)
by James Kotcon 05 Jan '10

05 Jan '10

From my father-in-law. JBK >>> "Bob Elliott" <rdelliott(a)socal.rr.com> 12/12/2008 7:29 AM >>> <http://www.nytimes.com/> <http://www.nytimes.com/> The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/> _____ December 10, 2008 Op-Ed Columnist While Detroit Slept By <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/tho maslfriedman/index.html?inline=nyt-per> THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN As I think about our bailing out Detroit, I can't help but reflect on what, in my view, is the most important rule of business in today's integrated and digitized global market, where knowledge and innovation tools are so widely distributed. It's this: Whatever can be done, will be done. The only question is will it be done by you or to you. Just don't think it won't be done. If you have an idea in Detroit or Tennessee, promise me that you'll pursue it, because someone in Denmark or Tel Aviv will do so a second later. Why do I bring this up? Because someone in the mobility business in Denmark and Tel Aviv is already developing a real-world alternative to Detroit's business model. I don't know if this alternative to gasoline-powered cars will work, but I do know that it can be done - and Detroit isn't doing it. And therefore it will be done, and eventually, I bet, it will be done profitably. And when it is, our bailout of Detroit will be remembered as the equivalent of pouring billions of dollars of taxpayer money into the mail-order-catalogue business on the eve of the birth of eBay. It will be remembered as pouring billions of dollars into the CD music business on the eve of the birth of the iPod and iTunes. It will be remembered as pouring billions of dollars into a book-store chain on the eve of the birth of Amazon.com and the Kindle. It will be remembered as pouring billions of dollars into improving typewriters on the eve of the birth of the PC and the Internet. What business model am I talking about? It is Shai Agassi's electric car network company, called Better Place. Just last week, the company, based in Palo Alto, Calif., announced a partnership with the state of Hawaii to road test its business plan there after already inking similar deals with Israel, Australia, the San Francisco Bay area and, yes, Denmark. The Better Place electric car charging system involves generating electrons from as much renewable energy - such as wind and solar - as possible and then feeding those clean electrons into a national electric car charging infrastructure. This consists of electricity charging spots with plug-in outlets - the first pilots were opened in Israel this week - plus battery-exchange stations all over the respective country. The whole system is then coordinated by a service control center that integrates and does the billing. Under the Better Place model, consumers can either buy or lease an electric car from the French automaker Renault or Japanese companies like Nissan (General Motors snubbed Agassi) and then buy miles on their electric car batteries from Better Place the way you now buy an Apple cellphone and the minutes from AT&T. That way Better Place, or any car company that partners with it, benefits from each mile you drive. G.M. sells cars. Better Place is selling mobility miles. The first Renault and Nissan electric cars are scheduled to hit Denmark and Israel in 2011, when the whole system should be up and running. On Tuesday, Japan's Ministry of Environment invited Better Place to join the first government-led electric car project along with Honda, Mitsubishi and Subaru. Better Place was the only foreign company invited to participate, working with Japan's leading auto companies, to build a battery swap station for electric cars in Yokohama, the Detroit of Japan. What I find exciting about Better Place is that it is building a car company off the new industrial platform of the 21st century, not the one from the 20th - the exact same way that Steve Jobs did to overturn the music business. What did Apple understand first? One, that today's technology platform would allow anyone with a computer to record music. Two, that the Internet and MP3 players would allow anyone to transfer music in digital form to anyone else. You wouldn't need CDs or record companies anymore. Apple simply took all those innovations and integrated them into a single music-generating, purchasing and listening system that completely disrupted the music business. What Agassi, the founder of Better Place, is saying is that there is a new way to generate mobility, not just music, using the same platform. It just takes the right kind of auto battery - the iPod in this story - and the right kind of national plug-in network - the iTunes store - to make the business model work for electric cars at six cents a mile. The average American is paying today around 12 cents a mile for gasoline transportation, which also adds to global warming and strengthens petro-dictators. Do not expect this innovation to come out of Detroit. Remember, in 1908, the Ford Model-T got better mileage - 25 miles per gallon - than many Ford, G.M. and Chrysler models made in 2008. But don't be surprised when it comes out of somewhere else. It can be done. It will be done. If we miss the chance to win the race for Car 2.0 because we keep mindlessly bailing out Car 1.0, there will be no one to blame more than Detroit's new shareholders: we the taxpayers. _____ Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and favorite sites in one place. Try <http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000 010> it now.

3 2

Re: [EC] Waxman-Markey Crisis from the Center for Media Advocacy
by Jim Sconyers 30 Jun '09

30 Jun '09

And now both our senators say they'll vote against it, just like all 3 of our Congresspersons. Jim Sconyers jim_scon(a)yahoo.com 304.698.9628 Remember: Mother Nature bats last. --- On Tue, 6/30/09, Paul Wilson <pjgrunt(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: Paul Wilson <pjgrunt(a)gmail.com> Subject: [EC] Waxman-Markey Crisis from the Center for Media Advocacy To: "WV Chapter Energy Committee" <EC(a)osenergy.org> Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 5:55 PM The Waxman-Markey Crisis Source: Mother Jones, June 22, 2009 As the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill nears a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, environmental groups are "teetering at the edge of existential crisis," writes Josh Harkinson. "Almost all environmental groups agree that Waxman-Markey is far from ideal," but some are supporting it, while others "believe the bill is so deeply flawed it might actually make matters worse." Critics say the bill "lines the pockets of polluters with little to show for it. The most it would cut carbon emissions by 2020 is 17 percent below 1990 levels, nowhere near the 25 to 40 percent reduction sought by scientists and international climate negotiators." Other concerns are that the bill may decrease clean energy production, as it would overrule higher renewable mandates in states like California; it would strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its ability to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants; and it would auction just 15 percent of emissions permits, giving a whopping 50 percent "to the fossil fuel industry for free." Some environmentalists blame the United States Climate Action Partnership, "a coalition of industry and moderate environmental groups," for sticking with a "quietly hammered out" agreement developed during the Bush administration. Others criticize President Obama, "who spoke out in favor of auctioning off pollution permits during his campaign ... but is now thought likely to sign whatever bill crosses his desk." Meanwhile, the industry front group Cooler Heads Coalition is planning efforts to oppose the bill, with "scientific skeptics and legislative critics," reports Greenwire. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ EC mailing list EC(a)osenergy.org http://osenergy.org/mailman/listinfo/ec

1 0

Waxman-Markey Crisis from the Center for Media Advocacy
by Paul Wilson 30 Jun '09

30 Jun '09

The Waxman-Markey Crisis<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2B0X5wX2ZukvihVxYcK…> Source: Mother Jones, June 22, 2009 As the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=iIRY1XcDd9OecSQPx41C…>nears a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, environmental groups are "teetering at the edge of existential crisis," writes Josh Harkinson. "Almost all environmental groups agree that Waxman-Markey is far from ideal," but some are supporting it, while others "believe the bill is so deeply flawed it might actually make matters worse." Critics say the bill "lines the pockets of polluters with little to show for it. The most it would cut carbon emissions by 2020 is 17 percent below 1990 levels, nowhere near the 25 to 40 percent reduction sought by scientists and international climate negotiators." Other concerns<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=HYFQcGvCbtv2aq8a1vaQ…>are that the bill may *decrease* clean energy production, as it would overrule higher renewable mandates in states like California; it would strip the Environmental Protection Agency<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=x6b%2BkkoPx%2BetcuQV…>of its ability to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=L64ixFEWEMKyt8zwci8T…>; and it would auction just 15 percent of emissions permits, giving a whopping 50 percent "to the fossil fuel industry for free." Some environmentalists blame the United States Climate Action Partnership<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=EdOkpB4klxdIi7PSbFPU…>, "a coalition of industry and moderate environmental groups," for sticking with a "quietly hammered out" agreement developed during the Bush administration<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=CfBgJ8qqWZhKf%2FWW%2…>. Others criticize President Obama<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=5%2FsgQo%2FcwysNTq%2…>, "who spoke out in favor of auctioning off pollution permits during his campaign ... but is now thought likely to sign whatever bill crosses his desk." Meanwhile, the industry front group<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=HDRLsFykvu4jKrqU3Eyt…> Cooler Heads Coalition<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ZgWlqhJ4htdkc4hM5NER…>is planning efforts to oppose the bill, with "scientific skeptics<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Iw5BkoXVHGBi71VFSnwO…>and legislative critics," reports Greenwire<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=JXFikPOGNEZt6u%2BNhN…>. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha

1 0

poor Allegheny Energy
by Jim Sconyers 29 Jun '09

29 Jun '09

I contacted Allegheny to apply to their corporate giving program for a grant for my nonprofit. Reply: They have no money in their giving program for 2009. Poor little rich corporation - boo hoo for them! Jim Sconyers jim_scon(a)yahoo.com 304.698.9628 Remember: Mother Nature bats last.

2 1

Two green workshops sponsored by the DEP
by Jonathan Rosenbaum 29 Jun '09

29 Jun '09

A colleague sent this to me and I thought this may be of interest. DEP is sponsoring two workshops at http://www.wvdep.org/registration . 1). Putting Green Building Concepts To Work For You! on August 5. 2). Environmental Management System Workshop on August 18-19. Both of these events will be in the Charleston area. -Jonathan

1 1

Fwd: [GW-ACT-LEADERS] Study: 100 New Reactors Would Result In Up To 4 Trillion Dollars In Excess Cos
by James Kotcon 24 Jun '09

24 Jun '09

New study from Vermont discusses the cost of nukes. I particularly enjoyed this quote from a former NRC Commissioner. See full story at the link below. JBK Commenting on the study, former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Peter Bradford said: "This study makes clear that new nuclear reactors can only be built if taxpayers or customers assume the very large risks that investors would normally bear in the U.S. economy. Such subsidy to a mature industry - already heavily subsidized - is contrary to the fundamental free enterprise principles that protect customers and allocate resources efficiently. The risks of cost overruns, reactor cancellation, poor operation and the development of less costly competitors are real. All have happened to nuclear power in the U.S. before. If the enormous financial burden of assuming these risks falls on the taxpayers (in the form of loan guarantees), it will increase our national deficit and crowd out other borrowers needing federal credit support. If it falls on customers (in the form of ratemaking guarantees), it will create additional economic hardship and job loss ... Setting a quota of 100 new nuclear reactors by a certain date presumes - against decades of evidence to the contrary - that politicians can pick technological winners. Such a policy combines distraction, deception, debt and disappointment in a mixture reminiscent of other failed federal policies in recent years." >>> Marc Vayssières <marcv(a)DCN.DAVIS.CA.US> 6/22/2009 11:42 PM >>> An interesting study reported on nuclearpowerdaily.com: http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/100_New_Reactors_Would_Result_In_U… l Marc Vayssières - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS list, send any message to: CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp

1 0

PATH - SIERRA CLUB AND WVHC MOTION TO ALTER FILING AND SERVICE RULES
by William V. DePaulo, Esq. 24 Jun '09

24 Jun '09

Mr. Watkins I attach a copy of the motion filed by the Sierra Club and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy today requesting that the commission modify the rules applicable to this case to permit electronic filing and service in lieu of the costly and cumbersome hard copy filing and service rules currently applicable. For the Commission's information, I attach the USPS receipt in the amount of $29.28 for the postage on this one filing, which was served by mail. This was a five-page document, forty percent of which consisted of the two-page service list, which was typed in 10 point font and three columns wide in order to fit it on just two pages. Briefs filed in the TRAIL proceeding last year frequently had $2 and $3 postage requirements. And, of course, there is no cost shown here for copying. When you get to 20, 30 and 40 page briefs the costs escalate quickly to several hundreds of dollars per filing. Individuals and non-profits cannot afford these costs, and they are not necessary for the efficient operation of the Commission's business. William V. DePaulo, Esq. 179 Summers Street, Suite 232 Charleston, WV 25301-2163 Tel: 304-342-5588 Fax: 304-342-5505 william.depaulo(a)gmail.com www.passeggiata.com This electronic mail is intended to be received and read only by certain individuals. It may contain information that is privileged or protected from disclosure by law. If it has been misdirected, or if you suspect you received this in error, please notify me by replying and then delete this message and your reply. These restrictions apply to any attachment to this email.

1 0

Value of Biofuels on reclaimed mine land
by James Kotcon 23 Jun '09

23 Jun '09

This is a press release from WVU News Service, about a recent presentation given by Paul Ziemkiewicz. The link to the actual PowerPoint is interesting, and we might look at the last couple slides. I was aware of the switchgrass project, but this is the first report of results I have seen. Strictly for your educational enjoyment. JBK PRESENTATIONS: 4) WVU expert discusses renewable energy production on mined lands in Appalachia to group in Washington D.C. A nationally recognized WVU expert on sustainable energy production discussed how energy production can remain a viable part of the Appalachian economy for years to come to a group in Washington, D.C. recently. Paul Ziemkiewicz, director of the West Virginia Water Research Institute at WVU, addressed the Washington Coal Club about new innovations for renewable energy resources on mine-scarred lands at the group’s monthly luncheon forum. Coal Club members heard about the work WV WRI is doing on keeping energy production in the Appalachian economy viable. Ziemkiewicz, who is recognized nationally and internationally for his work in mine land reclamation, described WV WRI studies that could lead to sustainable energy production on former mine sites. Many of these sites offer opportunities for the development of renewable energy resources such as biomass, wind and solar generated power. Ziemkiewicz’s presentation is available at http://wvwri.nrcce.wvu.edu. For more information, visit http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/news/page/7842/ RECOGNITION:

1 0

Fw: [ Email Story ] Plan to fight climate change will mean more coal burning
by Jim Sconyers 22 Jun '09

22 Jun '09

Jim Sconyers jim_scon(a)yahoo.com 304.698.9628 Remember: Mother Nature bats last. --- On Mon, 6/22/09, jim_scon(a)yahoo.com <jim_scon(a)yahoo.com> wrote: From: jim_scon(a)yahoo.com <jim_scon(a)yahoo.com> Subject: [ Email Story ] Plan to fight climate change will mean more coal burning To: jim_scon(a)yahoo.com Date: Monday, June 22, 2009, 7:02 AM jim_scon(a)yahoo.com sent you this article ----- June 21, 2009 Plan to fight climate change will mean more coal burning p>The Associated Press By Jim Tankersley Tribune Washington Bureau (MCT) WASHINGTON - Coal-fired power plants are the largest sou ... Read more -----

1 0

INFO RE: Kathy Mattea and Sierra Club TV commercial?
by William V. DePaulo, Esq. 20 Jun '09

20 Jun '09

Does anybody have any information about a television ad Kathy Mattea either made or is going to make with/for the Sierra Club? It may not have been run yet. If you have any info please fwd to me. Tx -- William V. DePaulo, Esq. 179 Summers Street, Suite 232 Charleston, WV 25301-2163 Tel: 304-342-5588 Fax: 304-342-5505 william.depaulo(a)gmail.com www.passeggiata.com This electronic mail is intended to be received and read only by certain individuals. It may contain information that is privileged or protected from disclosure by law. If it has been misdirected, or if you suspect you received this in error, please notify me by replying and then delete this message and your reply. These restrictions apply to any attachment to this email.

1 0

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

EC June 2009