Yes to Hugo! No to Cheap Gas!

[beetbox]

Let's focus our energies on long term solutions such as socialized mass transit. We cannot afford to continue our scorched earth petroleum policies no matter what the dollar amount.


WP: Wave of Marine Species Extinctions Feared

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1722821

Global warming: Will you listen now, America?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1708926&mesg_id=1711322

Melting glaciers is only one of Alaska's problems. As Kate Troll, an environmentalist writing in the Anchorage Daily News, put it earlier this month: "Besides retreating glaciers, insect infestations and more intense forest fires, Alaska is experiencing melting permafrost, flooded villages, warming oceans, coastal erosion, shifts in bird and wildlife populations, and shorter seasons for ice roads. And there is more to come, as Alaska is heating up at twice the rate of the rest of the world."

Last year was the warmest summer on record for much of Alaska. An Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report published in November 2004 said Alaska's average annual temperature rose 3.3C between 1949 and 2003. Some areas have risen twice that much.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,15...

Warming hits 'tipping point'

Siberia feels the heat It's a frozen peat bog the size of France and Germany combined, contains billions of tonnes of greenhouse gas and, for the first time since the ice age, it is melting

Ian Sample, science correspondent
Thursday August 11, 2005
The Guardian

A vast expanse of western Sibera is undergoing an unprecedented thaw that could dramatically increase the rate of global warming, climate scientists warn today.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1546797,00.html

[shraby]

1. You know it and we know it.....but the government

has to lead on alternate energy. That is where the money for the research is. Until the government does, high fuel costs put the people in a huge financial bind, some to the point of going under. If Chavez can alleviate that for the poor God bless him for it.

[skids]

2. Well... I'm not sure much more basic research is needed.

Really It's up to the business sector to scale up what's already in the labs. There are a few medium sized businesses that are doing so, but a lot of the other technology is stuck in limbo waiting for a business plan and serious effort at deployment.

Here are just some of the products that don't need anymore basic research, but you have to pay way more for them than they would sell for if truly mass produced:

http://www.metaefficient.com/metaefficient/archives/heating/cleardome-2x4-cleardome-solar-indoor-and-outdoor-forced-air.html
http://www.whisperchill.com/facts/energy.cfm
http://www.beaconpower.com/products/EnergyStorageSystems/SmartEnergy6kWh.htm
http://www.whispergen.com/whispergen/
http://www.electricwaterheaters.com/ariston/aristonwwaterheaters.htm

(...The last two could be adapted further to use solar preheated water or other solar supplemental heat source.)

Keep asking "why?" because the only good answer is a product in your hands.