Letter to Obama on fuel standards and reducing our dependency on oil.

These are my embellishments to a form letter written by Union of Concerned Scientists Action Center to be sent to Obama at a click of a button.  You are always supposed to customize them so they hopefully get more attention.  The 3rd and 4th paragraphs are theirs.

More than 20 years ago, I took a photo of graffiti on a wall in Spain that said basically, 'Americans are vampires of petroleum.'  And we've gotten even worse since then. 

I also recently saw an issue of Popular Mechanics from the '50s. The cover story was about the best cars with the best mileage. The artwork involved a graph showing the models and their mpg.  And guess what?  It was about the same as today!  There's been no improvement in 60 years!.  We've used the internal combustion engine for over 100 years with little innovation.

We cannot be held hostage any longer to America's addiction to oil. When we talk about the high price of gasoline, today's gas prices are the most visible, but certainly not the only price we pay. We pay in pollution. We pay in endangering our security. We pay in falling behind in the jobs that can come from a clean energy economy.

You have the ability to empower U.S. industry and U.S. drivers to be the solution to this problem once and for all. Raising fuel efficiency and global warming emissions standards to the equivalent of 60 mpg by model year 2025 would save the average U.S. driver nearly $9,000 over the life of the vehicle at $4 gas prices, even after paying for cleaner car technology. That's like cutting the gas price from $4 to less than $2.75 a gallon, all while cutting global warming emissions and creating jobs right here in the United States! 

Personally, I don't mind the higher gas prices. It's seems to be the only way to get Americans to conserve or change their lifestyles. I know it will be painful in the short term, but the changes we have to make will be amongst the best things that ever happened to the planet. 

A few additional details that need to be addressed:

-We need better home building methods (which exist but builders keep building things the same old way), solar and wind turbines on our roof tops, more walkable cities, and more fuel efficient transportation methods.

-Why didn't you make the automakers convert factories to produce mass transit equipment rather than close them down as part of the bailout?  We have to buy these things from overseas.  Manufacturing needs to be more local. Perhaps the government can help interested businesses purchase these factories by guaranteeing them the contracts for the equipment?

-Also, why do we not require methane gas to be captured to keep it out of the atmosphere and to be used as fuel.  They just vent it into the atmosphere where it's the worst of the greenhouse gases at coal mines, oil and gas wells, land fills, etc.  Why are we so wasteful? In other countries, they have generators that produce electricity directly from this. It could be used to power equipment at the mine, well, landfill or neighborhoods that surround the landfill. 

Along that note, any nuclear power plant should have a turbine that keeps turning producing power to circulate cooling water and run equipment as long as there is heat coming from the reactor.  Simple solution to what has happened in Japan.

-Please stop subsidizing corn! For any purpose, but especially for ethanol! It is a low yield per acre crop that requires tons of harmful fertilizer.  It wastes more energy to grow and produce the ethanol than we get from the ethanol.  And the products they make from it are bad for our health. It's also a lousy food for livestock.  It makes them unhealthy.    Instead subsidize small farmers that grow  vegetables and humanely raise livestock for sale locally.

Invest in the future. Oil and gas, is not the future.

Why isn't a turbine turning to provide power to pump the water in the reactors?

Another example of how we ignore simple solutions and waste available energy.

So, they build these plants to produce electricity, but then they have diesel and batteries for backup power? If it's producing heat, it's producing steam, which means it can turn a turbine. Even with the reactor shut down, as long as there's heat, there should always be a turbine turning to provide the energy to pump the water and run equipment. Why would you do anything else? This way there would always power to operate the plant in an emergency.

This is worse than the coal mines just venting out the methane from the mines rather than capturing it or using it to power equipment in the mine, because it could prevent a disaster.

Now that it's too late, Tampa newpaper publishes article about wildlife rescue groups not allowed to participate in spill response.

Experienced groups who could have rescued the thousands of birds, adults and nestlings, left to suffer and die on the many islands due to a policy of not 'disturbing the nesting grounds.'  While the contractor hired by BP advertised for and hired people with little experience.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/bird-rescue-experts-kept-on-sideline-after-gulf-oil-spill/1119315

And I was writing to many media organizations asking them to look into both those issues: the organizations not allowed to participate and the policy of leaving the birds to suffer and die on the islands. 

More on the methane we routinely just release into the atmosphere.

Methane extracted from garbage dump in Philippines used to generate electricity.  Rather than just releasing it into the atmosphere where it is one of the most damaging green house gas.
http://www.greenfudge.org/2010/07/14/methane-extraction-project-converts-trash-into-energy-in-the-philippines/

So why can't we do this in all of our landfills? We make so much garbage, the least we could do is use it for energy.

German engineers designing portable toilets to use methane generated by waste for energy in refugee camps:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5908344,00.html

A whale skimmer

So perhaps with all the extra oil gushing into the Gulf since they removed the cap again, perhaps they should be putting to use giant tanker skimmer they are so skeptical about because it works better where there's a lot of fresh oil.  And maybe they are, but I have no way of knowing since the media does such a poor job of providing updates on details such as this.

Of course, there'd be more fresh oil concentrated in one place if they'd stop spraying toxic dispersant which are just making the problem worse.

Here are a few articles saying they've extended testing of A Whale.

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/07/a_whale_oil_skimmer_testing_ex.html

and
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0707/Oil-skimmer-A-Whale-gets-some-tweaks-in-bid-to-work-the-BP-oil-spill  which mentioned that it was able to keep skimming while the other boats quit due to rough seas, something television news programs have failed to mention.

Upset about the spill? So start using less oil. Today.

I keep being asked to boycott BP, buy bumper stickers or join hands on a beach.  The better way is to start reducing your carbon footprint.

There's no time like the present. Here are some easy things I do that you can start right now, today:

Waste less gas.  Don't let your car idle. Don't drive round and round looking for the closest parking space or sit idling as you wait for a space blocking the road and forcing others to also sit. Park the car at the first space you come to and turn it off immediately. Don't start it until you are ready to pull out. Coast, don't race up to red lights.  Don't speed. Make sure your tires are properly inflated.  Combine trips. Do your shopping on your way home from work for example. Don't drive short distances that you can easily walk. It's often faster and more comfortable to walk than deal with parking, traffic and a car that's hot as a furnace from being parked in sun.

Use less plastic.  Refuse throwaway shopping bags.  Use fewer plastic bottles.  Get stainless steel bottles and a filter for your tap. You can pick these things up at Walgreens and similar stores which I am sure you'll pass on your way home from work. Make brewed iced tea and other drinks at home.

Waste less electricity. Adjust your thermostat. Every couple of degrees makes a big difference. Use your ceiling fans and dress appropriately for your climate.  Don't heat up the house in summer by using your oven. In winter, heat up your house by cooking things in the oven.  Turn things off and unplug when not in use. Pick up some CFLor LED bulbs on your way home if you haven't already made the switch in any lights left on for an extended period.

Don't buy silly things.  Shop resale. Stores are full of silly pointless things the planets resources should never have been wasted on to manufacture, package and ship.  You also don't need a special cleaner for everything.  I have very few and do most things with vinegar, baking soda and rags.

Eat less meat. Buy more locally produced food and goods.

Toilet paper and paper towels from recycled paper for the few messy messes that your don't want to use your rags for.  Soft toilet paper comes from old growth forests, btw.  Don't use it. I like the Safeway store brand and there are several supermarket chains that are affiliated and carry the products. Tom Thumb and Randalls for example.

Unsubscribe from magazines and papers you rarely read. Use websites that stop junk mail.

And those are just things you can start doing right now. I hope you keep it up by getting a more fuel efficient car or car pooling, walking and using public transport.  By improving your home for efficiency. By Switching to a low energy notebook computer.  By shopping resale for clothing, accessories and furniture. By replacing batteries with rechargables.

And best of all, most of these things save you money and are healthier for you.

Shopping list:
Reusable shopping bags. Whole Foods and a few other supermarkets have the best large recycled plastic bags.
Stainless Steel drinking bottles- Walgreen has some with both a flip top and regular screw cap for $5.
Water filter
Vinegar
Baking soda
Spray bottle
Tire guage

Some things you might want shop online, resale or discount or big box stores:
Compact Flourescent or LED light bulbs in multi packs.
A more expensive water filter that is cheaper in the long run due to filter costs. I use the Aquasana.
Cloth Napkins, although you could always use dish towels. Try resale, dollar stores or ikea.

As LEDs get cheaper and more available, choose them over CFLs. There are many negatives to CFLs which are full of mercury which must be disposed of properly, are not meant to be used upside down and possibly affect power quality which could harm other electrical equipment.

Smaller members of the food web in the Gulf

I've been worried about crabs and other smaller creatures in the gulf. Was anyone doing anything to preserve them?  The shore birds can't come back if there is no food for them?  Can these things be spawn as they do in fish hatcheries? Can we get the fish hatcheries that now mostly breed fish for sport fishing and our food industry be converted to these now vital residents of the gulf? What about the live bait industry?

Today NBC had a report with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute that didn't answer all my questions, but did mention the issue with the smaller creatures in the chain and that they were producing fish and coral for restocking.