EnerMeter

Can anyone still think more petroleum is the answer?

Meanwhile, the oil approaches Florida.

Of course, no one could have predicted.

“I said to the Republicans, join with me,” Obama said. “There’s been some good work done by John Kerry and Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham. Let’s go. Let’s not wait. Let’s show the American people that in the midst of this crisis, all of us are opening our eyes to what’s necessary to fulfill the promise to our children and our grandchildren.”

Top Kill Fails!

Offshore oil vs. offshore wind ... who wins?

How many offshore wind turbines could have been bought for the cost of 1 Deepwater Horizon? The answer is enlightening.

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the problem, ultimately, with driving headlong at a brick wall; you can stop by standing on the brake pedal, or you can stop by hitting the wall, but either way, you’re going to stop.

It is time to go Beyond Petroleum.  Way beyond petroleum, all the way to solar.

Start the drums rolling.

  Washington Public Utility Districts Association (WPUDA) installed a solar generation system on their headquarters building in 2008. During May, 2010 rMeter installed monitoring equipment that has allowed the creation of a desktop widget that can be downloaded below. The image shown is the sunshine received today, May 22, 2010. The display begins at 6:00 AM and continues through 8:00 PM.

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From Alex Steffen at WorldChanging:

When We Talk Zero, We Sound Crazy. When Bill Gates Does It, Bankers Pick Up the Phone.

On Friday, the world's most successful businessperson and most powerful philanthropist did something outstandingly bold, that went almost unremarked: Bill Gates announced that his top priority is getting the world to zero climate emissions.

…

And Friday, Gates predicted extraordinary climate action: zero. Not small steps, not incremental progress, not doing less bad: zero. In fact, he stood in front of a slide with nothing but the planet Earth and the number zero. That moment was the most important thing that has happened at TED.

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We have a backyard bird feeder here in Santa Cruz, California,  and have had for several years.

So far this year on only two days have I seen any goldfinches. A couple of months ago there were two, and then again last week one day there were three.

Last year there were often 10 or more goldfinches hanging on the thistle sack. It was a rare day when there were none. It is very lonely looking at that sack this year.

The house finches are here along with a variety of their brethren, but I am starting to get a bad feeling about the goldfinches.