Category: Environment

Categories
Economics Environment Photography

[341] Of more on A² and gas prices

The gas prices in Ann Arbor seem to have taken a rest today but yesterday, on average it went higher by a few cents when compared to the day before. On that day, Shell and BP probably had the highest price. I got picture of it for you!

Can’t wait to see the day when the average gas price hits $3.00 per gallon. Why am I excited? So that I could see more of this:

And yeah:

So what should we be doing? Here’s a hint: We can neither drill nor conquer our way out of the problem. Whatever we do, oil prices are going up. What we have to do is adapt.

It’s Krugman on gas prices. To my understanding, the crux is, the demand curve is shifting up and the supply curve is going down.

Alternative energy now!

Categories
Economics Environment

[340] Of OPEC and gas prices in Ann Arbor

The gas prices here are crazily high. The last time I checked, it was around $1.95 per gallon. The lowest was probably $1.85 per gallon and that was in Ypsilanti. I can’t imagine the gas price in California; it has probably long passed beyond the $2.00 per gallon benchmark. I believe the cheapest gas price would be in Indiana, somewhere near Michigan City.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the OPEC President Purnomo Yusgiantoro believed there is an oversupply of oil in the market. Of course, Saudi Arabia and a few others oil producing nations have been saying the same thing in the past few months.

I on the other hand am not so convinced. Seeing the rising gas price certainly signals shortage of supply. Saying otherwise is anything but the truth unless the traditional downward sloping demand and the upward sloping supply curves are somehow wrong.

There are only three ways price could go up; the increase of the generic demand curve while everything is constant, the fall of the generic supply curve while the demand curve is unchanged or when both of the previous cases happen at the same time.

At the same time, despite the talk of inflation, I believe inflation has nothing to do with this; the only explanation is the supply and demand graph.

Therefore, OPEC is not telling the truth, or at least they are not telling the whole story. In my opinion, there are only two viable explanations and one conspiracy theory.

One, the quantity of crude oil is fast declining and they do not want to alarm the world. And thus, they are keeping saying the opposite of the obvious – there is an old saying that goes if you keep telling a lie, it becomes the truth – there is an oversupply of crude oil.

Second, OPEC is simply trying to capitalize on its monopoly power by charging the consumers above its marginal revenue. Before the rise of price, I am sure OPEC charges the consumers above its marginal revenue. Right now, if the second scenario is true, I am sure that they are increasing the distance between their marginal revenue and demand curve and thus, gaining great profit.

The conspiracy theory is that the Muslims countries, which make up the majority power in OPEC, jack up the price in order to punish the US. Yet, this sounds too fictionous if you ask me.

In any case, we the environmentalists are laughing our ass out seeing those SUV drivers pumping up the increasingly expensive gas into their tanks. And hey, it is fun to utilize the economic theory that describes the income and substitution effect of these SUV drivers. It is economics at work for us and cruel humor to savor by us.

Alternative energy now!

Categories
Environment

[334] Of celebrating the 34th Earth Day

Today is Earth Day. It is the 34th Earth Day to be precise and the tree that was planted in front of University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment in conjunction with the 1989 Earth Day is now 15 years old.

Since 1989, a lot of things happened. The Berlin Wall, the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, the Earth Summit, the Kyoto Protocol.

Sometimes, despite seeing how we are not doing enough to save the Earth, it is amazing to see how far we have gone. From the discovery of the ozone hole more or less two decades ago, the fight for a greener world has moved from confirming some of the most depressing environmental issues, from discussion among the top scientists to grassroots support and actually fighting it at the highest possible level.

In the US and probably in Europe, the politicians ignore the green lobbyists at their own peril. My only hope is for the same truth to be applicable in Malaysia. My dream is to see Malaysia  somehow transforms itself from a conservative society to a liberal one. Until that happened, environmentalism would probably face a hard time garnering grassroots support in my home country.

Other than that, there is really nothing I have to talk about.

I was thinking on writing how to live a sustainable life in celebration of Earth Day but Yahoo! has already done that. I see little benefit in doing a redundant work. I couldn’t agree more with Yahoo!’s 10 big things you can do to make a big different. Most of the things I wanted say is said there. I guess all greens think alike. But I must say, our association with Leonardo Di Caprio is a little bit, umph, unexpected, perhaps. :)

Google is also keeping up with its tradition of Earth Day celebration.

And Ann Arbor, being hotbed for the green movement in the Midwest region, will be celebrating the Earth Day this Sunday. I am planning to celebrate Mother Nature.

You should celebrate Earth Day too. Or at least, turn off the tap, switch off the light, recycle the paper, get out of the car and walk.

Happy Earth Day.

Categories
Economics Environment Politics & government Science & technology

[332] Of Gmail, Climate Stewardship Act and a great satire

I have been invited to Gmail! w00t! 1 GB of space baby!
The layout seems to be very simple and I like it. Simplicity with a extraterrestrial free space is good. And just to show off, here is what Google sent me:

First off, welcome. And thanks for agreeing to help us test Gmail. By now you probably know the key ways in which Gmail differs from traditional webmail services. Searching instead of filing. A free gigabyte of storage. Messages displayed in context as conversations. So what else is new?

Gmail has many other special features that will become apparent as you use your account. You’ll find answers to most of your questions in our searchable help section, which includes a Getting Started guide. You’ll find information there on such topics as:

How to use address auto-complete
Setting up filters for incoming mail
Using advanced search options

You may also have noticed some text ads or related links to the right of this message. They’re placed there in the same way that ads are placed alongside Google search results and, through our AdSense program, on content pages across the web. The matching of ads to content in your Gmail messages is performed entirely by computers; never by people. Because the ads and links are matched to information that is of interest to you, we hope you’ll find them relevant and useful.

You’re one of the very first people to use Gmail. Your input will help determine how it evolves, so we encourage you to send your feedback, suggestions and questions to us. But mostly, we hope you’ll enjoy experimenting with Google’s approach to email.

Speedy Delivery,

The Gmail Team

Of course, there is a talk that Gmail violates privacy by scanning the private mail in order to display ads. But for the time being, the opportunity cost is low for me. I am willing to sacrifice a bit of privacy for one of my favorite firms. It’s Google for God’s sake. Who hates Google?

Maybe Yahoo! and MSN but hey, almost all of us hate MSN, don’t we?

And Earth Day is two more days. Do your bit for Mother Earth by reading the mail below!

Dear Mohd Hafiz, This Thursday, April 22, is Earth Day, and I have some great
news! Thanks to the incredible support from more than 850 online
donors, we have set a one-week online fundraising record for
Environmental Defense. We are now over $150,000 toward our June
1 goal of $725,000.

This is tremendous first week, and we thank everyone who joined
the 51 Club. Your commitment to Environmental Defense Action
Fund and our work to pass the McCain-Lieberman global warming
bill has gotten our campaign off to a terrific start!

If you have not yet joined the 51 Club with a minimum donation
of $51, don’t wait any longer! If you have already joined,
please consider a second or a third gift now —
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/n11Lsyp1SaI_/

Your support is critical if we are to win the 51 votes necessary
to pass the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act in the
Senate.

The odds are against us. Passing the most comprehensive and
practical global warming proposal ever offered in Congress will
be tough. Frankly, the opposition from special interest
lobbyists remains strong. It is precisely because
McCain-Lieberman takes such an important step toward reducing
pollution that the big polluters and many oil, energy and auto
companies are spending millions to stop it.

ExxonMobil is one such company. The extent of ExxonMobil’s
cynical public relations campaign came to light in a recent PBS
report on NOW with Bill Moyers, which reported that the company
has funneled millions of dollars to organizations that raise
doubts about global warming. Their basic strategy was laid out
in a confidential memo that blatantly spelled out their
disinformation tactics. The memo, titled “A Global Climate
Science Communications Action Plan,” reads: “Victory will be
achieved when uncertainties in climate science become part of
the conventional wisdom.”

Let us be clear: any type of “victory” ExxonMobil will claim in
pulling the wool over the public’s eyes will be short-lived.
There is scientific consensus about the dangers of global
warming, and corporate interests should not sway you from this
fact. We are up against some mighty foes, and the stakes are too
high to back down. This is why we are asking for your help
again.

So, this Earth Week, act now and join the 51 Club today with a
minimum donation of $51. Together, we can counter the special
interests and win this critical vote —
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/n11Lsyp1SaI_/

Sincerely,

Ben Smith
Manager of Online Activism
Environmental Defense Action Fund

PS: Thanks to the over 260,000 people who have signed our online
Emissions Petition supporting the McCain-Lieberman bill. Thanks
also to the hundreds of people who have mailed and faxed in
print petitions, which continue flooding into our mailroom every
day.

Fifty one bucks?
What can I say? Die Grunen: ekologisch, sozial, basisdemokratisch, gewaltfrei.
Anything for a noble cause.

One more thing, today in the Michigan Daily, Jess Piskor has written one of the best pieces the paper has ever published this semester:

The leaders of this worldwide revolutionary message are without doubt Electronic Arts, Chevrolet and Nike. Their slogans, taken together clearly spell out what needs to happen: “Challenge everything.” “Start a Revolution” – “Just do it.”

Kudos. Finally, after a lot of crap, somebody actually tries to reinstitute glory to the Daily editorial board.

p/s – Monaco is on fire.

Categories
Environment History & heritage Photography

[327] Of Ghost Town

A site with a collection of photos, depicting the current state of Chernobyl. Via Seat of the Revolution.

Let’s pray the same terrible incident won’t happen again.

Say no to nuclear power; there are other better alternatives.

Say once is enough, twice is too much.