The Real-World Comes to Class
Written on 09/15 at 10:39 PM by Andy Posner
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Last Friday in my graduate seminar class titled "Carbon Neutrality: Fact or Fiction?" the real-world came to our class in the form of a businessman/entrepreneur, and the director of policy and legislative affairs for the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island. They came to discuss the semestre-long project upon which our class will be embarking. The idea is that we will divide up into three teams of three, and each team will be assigned to work for a client, working on the question of whether or not they can become "carbon neutral," what that would mean, and if they should pursue that course or simply one of "reduced emissions."
Growth or No Growth: That is NOT The Question
Written on 08/23 at 10:43 PM by Andy Posner 0 comments
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A recent NY Times article discussed the Bush administration's plan to to issue a new rule that will expand the practice of mountaintop coal mining. The rule change will make it easier for mining companies to engage in the practice, which "is the most common strip mining in central Appalachia, and the most destructive. Ridge tops are flattened with bulldozers and dynamite, clearing all vegetation and, at times, forcing residents to move." The real goal of the rule change, according to the NY Times article, is to "to make it easier for mining companies to dig more coal to meet growing energy demands and reduce dependence on foreign oil."
Move Review: The Eleventh Hour
Written on 08/18 at 07:27 PM by Andy Posner 0 comments
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The 11th hour, directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners, and narrated and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, picks up the environmental narrative where An Inconvenient Truth left off and improves and expands on it. Al Gore’s powerpoint presentation gives the audience the sense that global warming is the greatest crisis ever faced by mankind, but that it can be solved without any major lifestyle changes or restructuring of the economy. The 11th hour not only deepens the environmental narrative by showing how all of the earth’s ecosystems are in decline--forests, oceans, soil, climate, biodiversity, and so on--it also moves away from the laissez fare approach to the environment taken by Mr. Gore, whose message seems to be “stabilize emissions of CO2, but hands off the economy!” There are no easy answers in this documentary.
Making use of over 50 interviews with policy experts, environmentalists and scientists ranging from David Susuki to Paul Hawken, Stephen Hawking and Lester Brown, the 11th Hour presents the case that the entire planet is in trouble. Oceans are in decline. Forests are disappearing. Species are going extinct. Humans are losing their connection to nature. The quality of the topsoil all over the world is being degraded. The movie’s title, the 11th hour, is defined as “the last moment when change is possible.” Not only do we have a small window of time in which to act on global warming but, according to the movie, the time has come to rethink our relationship to the natural world. By broadening the scope of its ecological concern beyond the single issue of global warming, the film renders laughable the notion that hybrids and compact fluorescent light bulbs alone are going to save us.
Britain Claims it Can Be Carbon Neutral By 2027
Written on 07/30 at 10:46 PM by Andy Posner 0 comments
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By cutting Britain's energy consumption in half and producing the rest of its energy from renewable sources, the center for alternative technology has come up with a plan it says will make Britain carbon neutral by 2027. They have written a 114 page report detailing their plan that can be downloaded here.
What About The Mercury in Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs?
Written on 07/23 at 10:47 PM by Andy Posner 0 comments
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Compared to incandescent light bulbs, compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs offer tremendous energy savings. It used to be that the only complaint with CFL's was that the quality of the light was poor and difficult on the eyes, and some people found it annoying that they buzzed. Well, I can attest to the fact that those problems have been solved, as the CFL's that I just purchased put out excellent-quality light and are extremely quiet as well. There is, however, one more issue with these bulbs: they contain tiny amounts of mercury.
Welcome. I call this the ideas blog. That’s because this is where I explore new ideas, discuss new inventions, and chronicle how they are being implemented in the real world. I call these the three I’s: Invest. Invest. Implement. Here I will look at everything that’s going on in the world of information technology, open-source software, renewable energy, energy efficiency, micro-credit/poverty alleviation, social justice, politics and literature. If that sounds overly broad, keep in mind that many of the world’s most intractable issues--poverty, hunger, injustice, environmental degradation--are profoundly intertwined. Solving them requires big ideas, and that’s what this blog is all about.
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Green Microfinance: Advancing Social Equality and Environmental Sustainability in the United States
Click here to download a PDF of my complete thesis. Questions and comments are much appreciated!
My masters thesis in Environmental Studies at Brown University looks at how microfinance--the provision of small…
A Solution to the Limited Success of Micro-Credit in the United States?
Micro-credit has undoubtedly been a runaway success in developing countries as a tool of both poverty alleviation and economic development. To date, some 100 million people have been reached by micro-loans, and Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank…
Tonight, the Oneness of Things
It is late and my mind should be drifting through the colorful abyss of deep sleep, yet instead i find that tonight sleep will not come. I am like a hungry flower who dreams of bees so ardently that all…