California is suffering one of its worst forest fire in 50 years and major cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego have been put on alert.
Category: Environment
Green technology sometimes is so simple that it is unbelievable.
As we progress with time, we are developing better technology that can be applied in various fields. However, some of us look too highly on hyper-advance tech with the like of F-22 Raptor, Lotus Elise 111 and AMD Athlon Clawhammer processor and look lowly on technology that seems to be too simple. Perhaps this is the reason why so many people describe the greens as the primitive people as some of us prefer a much simpler tech appliance to the sophisticated ones.
One instance is the construction of straw houses. Basically, a building is built with larger percentage of the material used is the omnipresent straw. Of course the building wouldn’t be 100% straw. Imagine the consequence of a strong gale against such house. Concrete and lumber are used sparsely in the method, mainly for foundation and support purposes. The straws will be compacted and sandwiched within the wall of such house. When I say sandwiched, I mean within the walls itself.
The benefit of such building is energy efficiency. Straws are particularly good in preserving heat and somewhat eliminate the need of a heater in the middle of the winter. Also, the cost of such house is way below typical house. Here is a report by Wired about this technique.
Another simple green architecture is the mud house. This method uses only mud, sand and naturally available fiber for construction in opposition to concrete and cement. The idea might sound pathetic but such building could last as long as the normal house. In fact, renovation will also be easier and less costly. Linked here is an example of a beautiful mud house.
Admittedly, these two construction technologies are primitive, dated back to at least a hundred years. But yet, the efficiency it provides is amazing and comparable to modern marvels.
Moving along the tech tree, one could come to conclusion that the greens are always concerned with renewable energy. For the past few years, the greens have advocated the use of solar and wind energy up in the governmental level.
While encouraging the use of renewable energy, new simple technology resulted everywhere. I am fairly familiar with the advancement made in solar cells because I am obsessed with them. Furthermore, I am working for University of Michigan’s solar car team and had the responsibility of taking care the solar panel on the 2003 car, SpectruM.
The latest achievement is the solar window shades, currently under the R&D stage in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) of New York. In this technique, solar cells are places inside a glass (in this case, the glass window). During the day, the windows will act as a small, quiet and clean power generators. This will take down the needlessly expensive monthly electric bill. Furthermore, according to Anna Dyson as quoted in Wired News, this technique has the efficiency of more than 50%, much higher than typical solar cells; I’ve worked with solar panels with the efficiency of 17% to 28% and I found it hard to believe when the report says “”way more than 50 percent” energy-conversion rate”. However, I can’t argue until I’ve seen the data personally.
Apart from green interests, this solar window solar shade is an effective shade. In fact, it does a better job in shading to the normal shade. Since the cells absorb light, glare will be a thing of in past. Solar window shade is a simple but useful idea.
One could say simplicity is beauty.
p/s – The Wolverines blanked the Fighting Irish 38 – 0. A shutout against a No. 15 team.
pp/s – Ajax has finally regained their form in the face of a Champions League game against Milan this Tuesday. Ajax won against RKC Waaljik with a convincing 4 – 1 at home.
I, to some extend consider myself as a libertarian, putting personal rights and liberty at the uppermost respect. By saying that, I believe smokers have every right to smoke. Honestly, although I am a green, they do have the right to enjoy nicotine.
At the same time, the air is there in the atmosphere for all kind of activities, regardless whether the activity leads to pollution or not. All living things, from the Inuits to the Australians, Human to ants, animals and trees, must have access to air. We all own it at the same time and we all are responsible for it. Air, is a resource that must be managed as how ideal communists would manage their asset. Everybody has the right to it, smokers and non-smokers alike.
Though it is their freedom to own yellow teeth, a rusty trachea and two lungs with reduced capacity, smokers have no whatsoever right to smoke in the middle of the public, forcing the others to risk inhaling the disgusting smoke. If the smokers have no respect for the non-smokers, then the non-smokers should not respect the inconsiderate smokers.
Though some smokers no doubt do observe public rule, some of them unfortunately do not. These selfish individualistic species need to realize that they do not exclusively own the air. Other people, correction, most people, the non-smokers who actually realize the risk/reward idea deserve the right to clean air. We deserve the right to live a life without cancer.
I don’t care about the smokers’ health. Smokers bring no social benefit to anybody. If they are to suffer cancer, it is their own undoing. If the smoke starts to hunt you, do not turn to me. Do not sue the giant tobacco companies. Just smell the flower.
If everything in this world rested on me, I will make sure that the world will be a greener place to live in. All of my policies will be based on three of the Green Four Pillars – okologisch (ecological sound), sozial (social stability) and basisdemokratisch (democratic society).
The economy will not be based simply on capitalism. There are more to life than just capitals. Though free trade is important, certain things will be given some leeway, of such as subsidies so important industries to the green ideology may flourish for the benefit of the whole. Taxes and tariffs will still play an important role in a laissez faire market.
The most important thing that will be made compulsory is the pollution market. Each firm will have its own amount of pollution allowed to be produced. Of course, the amount of pollution it is entitled to will vary according to its size and sector. In this way, the firm will be allowed to do whatever it wants with the permit as long as the activity is within the boundary of the law. Furthermore, the firm will need to pay for each extra ton of pollution it makes as a fine. The amount fine will be large enough as to offset the violating firm profit. In this, it is hoped that the fine will be a sufficient deterrent without hurting the industry greatly.
The only way to produce more products is to obtain pollution permit first. However, it cannot obtain such permit directly from the government but rather, it needs to buy the extra privilege from other firm that uses only partially of their share. Despite this, the government still has the ability to issue such permit as it deems necessary for a sustainable economic growth of a particular sector and not of a particular firm. It is important to state that the permit transaction between firms will still be needed to be approved by the government. In a way, this is similar to the coupon system when in the market, both monetary and coupon units are used for transaction activities. Through this, carbon based economy or rather green economy will be born.
The government on the other hand distributes the permits that in turn given by a world body that regulates the permit circulation internationally. Each country will receive a particular amount of permit after that particular country’s industry, population, resources and area size are considered. A world body, perhaps a neo-WTO will be given the power to make sure that the carbon trading will run smoothly on the international level.
Reward and punishment philosophy will be upheld in order to convince countries to accept this economy. Economic sanction will be imposed on countries that commit serious environmental breach. Most common sanction will be the withdrawal of pollution permits. The heaviest penalty would be an economic isolation on all sorts of goods save essential such as food and medicine. However, environmental violation does not include environmental accidents though inaction may lead to moderate punishment. Through this, it is hoped that pollution problem will be reduced significantly.
Furthermore, developed countries will be demanded to commit a small portion of its income, if it could be afforded, to contribute to global organizations such as the Red Cross/Red Crescent and the UN to fight hunger and poverty. The contributors will be rewarded with extra pollution permits at a discounted price.
Income originated from the sale of pollution permits will be used as near free aids to the third world nations. The aid however will be given as long as the receiver commits itself to green economy. At the first sign of diversion from green economy, the receiver will need to repay the aid in full plus backdated interest.
Politically, countries’ traditional borders will be preserved due to cultural difference but within countries, a new kind of political lines will emerge – the ecoregions. Ecoregions are, as stated in Wikipedia, area that has strong ecological connection to other area. These areas will be considered as one political unit. As a simple example, Southeast Asia will be considered as one ecoregion due to its vegetation similarity throughout the region. In introducing new political border, it is hoped that problem such as polluted river or burning forest will be able to be fought effectively. Though this seems to be difficult and annoying redistribution, such method has already been carried among the great lakes states such as Michigan, Illinois and Ontario (3 of the 11 members of the Great Lakes Commission) in order to manage the administrative matters concerning the great lakes. Note that this caucus crosses the US-Canada border.
Free will and democracy will be paramount in governance though it will not be as free as the libertarians would like. Minimal restrictions will be applied in order to maintain social order. Then again, freedom of expression will be observed to almost the fullest extend.
Socially, recycling will be the way of life. To make it a reality, Californian styled system will be practiced. Recyclable consumer products (i.e. cans, bottle etc.) will be sold a little bit higher than its market price. The additional cents will be returned to the buyer once the post-consumer product is returned back to any recycling center. Of course, the price of recyclable product will be lower than any non-recyclable counterpart so as to encourage consumer to buy recyclable product.
Population will be redistributed to various areas so one area will not have too dense with Humans. Also, population control will be enforced through. By doing this, not only could the government prevent overstraining the ecosystem but the social standard including the health system could also be maintained with high standard. Draconian population control however will not be allowed in the constitution because of the observance ofhuman rights.
The opening of new lands will be minimized. Land will only be allowed to be opened for essential activities when it is needed. Land opening for holiday resort, golf course and such will be made difficult if not impossible. Also, to reduce environmental impact due to development, tight Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be made compulsory to every project without exception.
Transportation also plays an important role in pollution control. To combat pollution, public transportation will be the main method of moving around and the vehicles ownership will be discouraged by the introduction of special tariffs and taxes. Regular public transportation users (including carpoolers) will be rewarded with various schemes such as privilege in government and privately controlled services. In addition, car manufacturers will be needed to meet high environmental standard (engine efficiency and such) before their products are allowed to hit the street.
Area on land and in the water (the Amazon, Great Coral Reef etc.) that are recognized as essential to biodiversity will be preserved aggressively. No development will be tolerated in the area and violation will be met to the fullest extend of the law.
The Earth will be given time to adapt to us and repair herself. We as Humans will not only give the Earth time, we will also be proactive in repairing her. In this, the hope of a peaceful coexistence between Humans, other biotics, abiotics and Gaia will come to reality.
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[195] Of misinterpreting the greens
It is funny how many people tend to insult the Greens. Some of them do have reasons to hate environmentalism due to their extreme industrialist ideology while others are simply being misinformed about the Green movement. Though the earlier group opposition to the Greens is understandable, the latter hostility towards “tree huggers” is annoying. It is here where it is suitable to echo Prof. Charles Xavier’s saying of they fear what they do not understand.
The second group usually identifies the Greens as a return to the primitive people, hating technology and all the comforts that come with it. Some even associate the Green movement freely to vandalism. No doubt there are splitters of people whom hold the dark Green philosophy, the extremists who commit Green terrorism. An example a dark Green organization is the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). They have committed dozens of arsonist acts and cost both the government and the private sectors million of dollars. However, their size is small when compared to the whole Green idealists. Prominent environmental organizations, Greenpeace to name one do not encourage dark tactics though sometimes, they take their protest to the streets. Action, sometimes speaks louder than words.
The Green movement is more than about preserving and conserving the Earth. It is not an idea that exclusively contains the Gaia Theory which says that the Earth itself is a living being, regulating itself through some sort of homeostasis. In reality, as I understand it and at least where my belief is, environmentalism is an ideology that pursues sustainable growth, though the ideology itself is more than about sustainable growth. As Michael Freeden had put it nicely in his paper entitled Green Ideology: Concept and Structure:
Belonging to the family of green ideology is to a large extent a question of self-description. Self-declared green will enunciate views that can be analysed in terms of themes and priority.
The Green movement as a whole demands a growth that guarantees a greener pasture in the future. We fight for a future where the children will be able to see an elephant in the wild African savanna, a future where our children will be able to visit Amazon jungle, seeing all the floras and faunas that they have read in the geography textbook, a future where we do not have wear a mask so that we could breathe easily.
And to achieve all this, we do not intend to undo everything that was achieved through modernization. In fact, we use these technology as our tools and even as goals in our struggle. For instance, for years the Greens are demanding more efficient vehicles to be used on the road. In this, the goal is to reduce pollution by using better engine. This is why the environmentalists are against General Motors and Ford. We are not against them because we are anarchists or anti-capitalists. If we were, then we should be against Toyota or Honda too. However, both the Japanese and to some extend the European companies produce more efficient (reads better mileage per liter) vehicles and thus, we have little quarrel with these companies.
To further prove our hunger for technology, we are encouraging for the use of hybrid vehicles. Up-to-date, hybrid cars have already hit the US road although the refueling services i.e. gas stations (or more accurately, electric stations) are still limited. Fortunately, the number is increasing.
Our belief even touches the energy issues. Though the power issues present a dilemma to most of us, nevertheless we accept the fact that a few sacrifice need to be made. Therefore, we are fighting to upgrade all power plants and in general factories to install devices that could lower and treat their waste instead of demanding for the plants shutdown. Among the smog, the most heated issue concerns the nuclear power plants. Personally, diverging from mainstream Green, I have nothing against nuclear power plants. In my opinion, it is the cleanest way to generate power. The waste that it produces is little compared to the coal power plants. Of course, the issue of dumping the waste will no doubt haunt us but however, we will only need a small patch of land to dispose a century worth of radioactive elements. In spite of this, I as most other Greens believe the numbers should be controlled and balanced by other alternative energy power generators.
Other than that, we are optimistically observing the development of fuel cells. With its only products are oxygen, hydrogen and heat, pollution problem will be reduced tremendously.
And synonymous to environmentalism, recycling activity. Recycling is the most direct connection to sustainable growth as it is a process that reused things that were used. It is the only way to fight consumerism’s waste effectively. Recycling not only reduce unwanted wastes but it also helps to reduce the cost of eliminating the smelly trash that you throw everyday. Through this, we are fighting consumerism positively.
The only reason we are being portrayed as anti-technology is because our opponents have wrongfully painted us with such paint. Every time we demand the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, the industrialists, in particular their puppet, George W. Bush claims it is a step backward in improving the economy. By far, the economy goes down because it has reaches it end of cycle and will no doubt rise up sooner or later, though no doubt the pact will have some impact on the world economy. Nevertheless, the tigers will no doubt start sprinting again and the bears will start to wake up from its hibernation.
The Kyoto protocol could even bring to birth a new market for the global economy – carbon trading market. As oppose to the pessimists report, the pact could even help jump start the idle economy.
Gas giants such as Exxon Mobil also tend to accuse the Greens in believing an urban legend, the global warming. Of course the Earth right now is at its end of an “ice age” cycle and an increase in temperature is only natural. The truth is, the Green is fighting against accelerated global warming, not global warming itself. The oil moguls know this but they manipulated the fact before they present it to the public. They even continue on by saying there is no proof connecting the climatic change with the ever increasing carbon volume in the atmosphere. Though it is true the connection is blurred, there are proofs to suggest the climate is changing slowly. The shrinking size of Antarctica, the major flood earlier this year and the current heat wave in Europe and Asia positively are direct effects from this accelerated global warming which in turn brings climatic change. And not to mention, the worsening drought in Africa. The multinational oil organizations are similar to tobacco giants in some respect – RJ Reynolds denies smoking is a hazard to health – Exxon denies global warming is a fact.
The media also frequently belittle Greens’ effort. Nevertheless, their actions come at no surprise as they are being controlled by money. The idea of free press is far from reality.
Environmentalism is not an obtrusion to development as many have labeled us. The environmentalists do want development. Almost none of us want to live in the cave and light a real fire to cook and for heating. Not even the Greens. Rather, the Greens are the people who search for a better way for the betterment of human civilization. What is development when everything is destroyed in its path?