Recent Comments:
13 ways to make getting around more green (and safer) {Autoblog Green}
Oct 24th 2006 11:02PM This kind of advice is stupid. Walking saves gas? Really? I'm glad some pundit needs to tell me that.
Don't own a car?? That's f---ing ridiculous for 99% of households. I've lived many many places in my life, and I've never lived anywhere where I could possibly forego a car. Not if I want to have a job or buy groceries.
Why don't these knuckleheads just stick to advising people to s--t on a compost heap. But by all means, YOU people should heed this advice. It'll make MY gasoline cheaper if you do, and then I can buy a Hummer.
US Senators propose ethanol pipeline {Autoblog Green}
Oct 10th 2006 10:16PM I don't think that's a problem for a pipeline BUILT for ethanol in the first place. You just don't want to put ethanol in a pipeline built for gasoline. Same as with the plumbing in flex fuel cars and E85 gas stations.
But maybe this senate investigation will resolve the issue. Probably just take 12 years and $80 billion to figure it out.
Peak Oil still coming, says "Twilight in the Desert" author {Autoblog Green}
Oct 10th 2006 10:09PM I 'spect the name Matthew Simmons will fade away like all those people who wrote scary screeds about big-bad Japan 15 - 20 years ago.
So what if energy demand is "ever increasing"? Of course it is. But to avoid peak oil and oil shocks, it's not required that the mideast have "unlimited" amounts of oil. It's only required that the worldwide oil supply gradually grow enough to keep up with the modest growth in demand (maybe 2 or 3% a year?) until other alternatives are more economical. That is NOT high growth, despite all the hyperbole -- it's actually what you'd call rather slow growth.
Why electric car companies should be focused on this one ideal EV market: Hawaii {Autoblog Green}
Oct 2nd 2006 5:02PM While I agree for the reasons you cite that Hawaii would be a better place than most for EVs, I'd guess Hawaii is much too small a market itself for traditional vehicle manufacturers to make electric cars just for it -- they'd never recoup the capital investments. And what's the point of "testing" EVs there, if that's the one and only viable market for them?
Might be a good niche for these scattered little shops that are making funny looking little EVs though.
Forbes says Prius, Ben & Jerry's ice cream bad for the environment {Autoblog Green}
Oct 2nd 2006 2:00PM UtilityMaximizer and NZK are right-on. Don't think of the retail price tag, think of the cost to make it. Fashion handbags cost a lot less than their price, because designers are able to scam huge premiums for their brands.
Not so with the Prius, which appears to truly be more costly to build. For mainstream cars, it is accurate to say their different costs reflect the value of their economic inputs (and pretty accurate to say the retail price tag does the same, as no one can get away with charging huge premiums). Net-net all costs trace back to the cost of human labor at the most primal level.
However I agree that just because something consumes a greater value of inputs doesn't mean it has a more severe net environmental impact. The free market pricing mechanism is like a computer program, but that program is not trying to solve the problem of conserving the environment.
Gas prices fall as fall elections draw near. Coincidence? {Autoblog Green}
Sep 27th 2006 12:41AM Yes, George Bush controls the price of oil. And he made the price go real high over the past year and a half because he just wanted everyone to hate him.
No, the conspiracy nonsense ignores the REAL fun in the oil markets, which is the dynamics and cheating among the OPEC cartel (which is indeed a socialist conspiracy, being a price-fixing cartel of the state-owned oil companies of 11 countries). They agree to limit production to just the right point of maximizing their profits (think of supply/demand curves in econ 101).
This behavior would be highly illegal if conducted between private businesses in any country in the world. But these aren't private business under some government's jurisdiction. These are governments themselves. Hence no actual law breaking. They are allowed to screw the consumer.
Anyway, when the price is high, every individual member has a strong incentive to cheat his sack off and let the oil flow in order to make as much money as possible. If only one cheats, it won't affect the price of oil.
But if discipline fails and too many of them cheat, then supply gushes, and prices and profits plummet to the detriment of them all. No doubt some of that insanity is playing a role even right now.
Brazil embarks on biodiesel {Autoblog Green}
Sep 26th 2006 12:13AM *** In an effort to complement its world-leading ethanol production ***
Actually I believe the Unites States is ahead of Brazil by now in ethanol production, I guess that makes us the world-leading ethanol producer. At least, if we haven't quite passed them already we are on the verge of it, and will imminently be leaving them in the dust.
And hell, we don't even care about ethanol. It's amazing how much productive capacity we have when we get around to doing something.
Global warming: "we have a very brief window of opportunity" {Autoblog Green}
Sep 17th 2006 12:31PM *** He warned that taking no action would result in drastic consequences including a significant rise in sea levels putting most of Manhattan under water; ***
I think this is the kind of lurid fear-mongering that understandibly turns people off. I recall the latest "scientific consensus" press release of a couple weeks ago claimed a century of global warming of several degrees would cause a rise in sea levels of only from about 7 inches to 20 inches. That'll put most of Manahatten underwater? Don't think so.
