Funny Cause It's True

It is funny because it's PATHETIC (and sadly, true).

Jon Stewart on the Daily Show illustrates the empty rhetoric and historical failure of the US federal government to transition the wealthiest nation in the world to a clean energy economy.

Link here and laugh a little.

Clean Energy Jobs Need an Ocean Policy

A National Ocean Policy is vital to the economic and environmental health of the oceans and should be instated as soon as possible, according to Michael Conathan, director of Oceans Policy at the Center for American Progress.

His statement before the House Committee on Natural Resources lays it out in clear if not staid language. But it has to be said, and although policy is not nearly as exciting or dramatic as say, saving a sea turtle from a poacher's harpoon or throwing rancid butter at Japanese whaling ships, it is crucial.

It is about jobs and the "economic engine" of the oceans. Wind energy is a great example. 

The BBC reported that the installation phase alone of a 150-megawatt wind farm resulted in the creation of more than 800 jobs, according to Conathan. Furthermore, the Department of Energy has predicted that the build out of 54 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 would result in the creation of 40,000 American jobs.

Cape Wind estimates that construction of its well-publicized 420-megawatt wind farm in Massachusetts will create between 600 and 1,000 jobs during the construction phase.

Yet other developed countries in the world are cruising ahead of us as investors in the US are slowed by a regulatory matrix as dense as cement. 

"Today European countries have installed nearly 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind facilities, and Europe and China combined have permitted more than 40,000 megawatts of wind turbines in their oceans. The United States has permitted exactly 488 megawatts, and we have yet to break ground on our first turbine," according to Conathan.

For ten years, the Cape Winds project has dealt with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Minerals Management Service (now the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, or BOEMRE), and other agencies, according to Conathan.

"Businesses simply will not invest in this industry until these issues are resolved. And until that investment comes, the employment opportunities these projects represent—in engineering, manufacturing, construction, transportation, maintenance, and other categories—will not be created."

The solution: a National Ocean Policy. As long as healthy oceans are given due consideration and respect, this is the future that we need.

Chain Your Car to that Tree

After reading a concise editorial in the Seattle Times about the grim potential of ocean acidification, which is caused by climate change, a bit of levity was needed.

Happily, it came in a posted comment to the editorial :

The solution is simple:
1.plant a tree
2.chain your car to that tree.
3. when you feel that strong primitive instinct to pro-create, get a puppy.

Thanks "English Racer".

The Unintended Consequences of Stoke

Who knew catching a rad set needs greening? Last week, Rip Curl, the surfing apparel company, kicked off their World Tour competition with a litany of sustainable features.

The event was a success, especially with a veteran surfer beating back youth and wrangling waves to win it all. Congrats to Kelly Slater.

Turns out there is further opportunity to green surfing. There are toxins and waste in basic elements of surfing including sunscreen, board wax, and the boards themselves. According to Evirosurfer, 60% of coral reefs are threatened as 6 million bars of wax and 400,000 boards are manufactured each year.

Check out Envirosurfer's excellent infographic titled "The Toxicity of Surfing", and subtitled "The Unintended Consequences of Stoke". 

Let the Sun Shine

Clean energy is not a fad, or a cause or an idea. It is a business, and it is growing despite what you may have heard. 

"Venture capital investments in U.S. clean tech companies jumped 73% to $1.1 billion in the third quarter of this year compared to the same time last year", according to USA Today.

Meanwhile, the blogosphere and the tweet world is ablaze with New York Times columnist's Paul Krugman's Here Comes the Sun piece. Here he is knocking one out of the solar park:

"Let’s face it: a large part of our political class, including essentially the entire G.O.P., is deeply invested in an energy sector dominated by fossil fuels, and actively hostile to alternatives. This political class will do everything it can to ensure subsidies for the extraction and use of fossil fuels, directly with taxpayers’ money and indirectly by letting the industry off the hook for environmental costs, while ridiculing technologies like solar.

So what you need to know is that nothing you hear from these people is true. Fracking is not a dream come true; solar is now cost-effective. Here comes the sun, if we’re willing to let it in."

And it's alright, it's all right -- George Harrison.

Eye on the Prize

Two contrasting images:

A shark in the Palau sanctuary

A shark fin market in Taiwan

We may have won some battles but we have yet to win the war.

Images: National Geographic

Rip Curl Catches the Sustainable Wave

Fun and Sustainable

Surfing seems pretty stream-lined. At the most basic it only requires a surfboard and a bathing suit. Actually, the bathing suit is not required, but it is recommended, for various reasons. But like nearly everything, there is still opportunity for surfing to catch the sustainable wave.

Rip Curl knows this and has jumped in. The water may be a rich blue color but Rip Curl's World Tour surf competition in California this November will be shades of green.

Beyond boards and board shorts, they are launching several creative initiatives to bring the benefits of sustainability to the sport. Not least of which is valet service for skateboards. Yes, that's not a typo. Bicycles of course are already accommodated but now skateboards get VIP treatment, too.

On the bigger impact side of things -- the event will be powered by biodiesel from local restaurants, nearly 90% of the waste from the event will be diverted, and the banners and flags will be recycled, also known as upcycled, into "high quality retail goods," according to the event promoters.

Also, surfboards broken during the intense wave carving in the thunderous surf will be repaired and donated to local surf organizations. Traditional sustainable practices will be applied at the event such as water stations to refill bottles and beach clean ups in and around the area.

Seems like there's even more reason to get out there and catch a wave.

Kudos to Rip Curl for making the sustainable move and to Sustainable Surfing for showing them how.