Thoughtocracy

Pacific Garbage Patch altering Biodiversity

thinker — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:23:56 +0000

Also known as the North-Pacific Gyre, the North-Pacific Garbage patch has offered sea strider (Halobates sericeus) a vast new breeding ground, which is tilting the ecosystem away from biodiversity and towards a monoculture of invertebrates. Read more…

A Message From a Republican Meteorologist on Climate Change

thinker — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:01:37 +0000

The Huffington Post featured this article by Paul Douglas:
A Message From a Republican Meteorologist on Climate Change.

It is interesting because it outlines the difficult track reports must take in order to gain traction in the USA’s politically charged climate. “Climate change is either The Mother of All Coincidences — or the trends are real.”

The Myth of Electric Cars

thinker — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:11:40 +0000

Society at large remains out of touch with the sources of its energy. Electric cars can represent some efficiencies and they do represent a different source of energy, but they may not be the silver bullet that many environmental groups hope for.

is an electric car a true alternative if its drivetrain is ultimately powered by coal, nuclear power, and lithium strip mines rather than petroleum? When the Royal Society of Chemistry ran the numbers, it found that fully adopting electric cars in Britain would only reduce the country’s CO2 emissions by about 2 percent.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2012/0213/Tesla-SUV-with-wings-or-not-we-should-kill-the-electric-car

Humorous Video on Wind Power

thinker — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:27:22 +0000

This is really clever.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Iran and the West Rediscover Oil as Weapon

thinker — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:47:45 +0000

Hark back to the 1970′s: Iran and the West Rediscover Oil as Weapon

Spoofed Vote4Energy commercial puts pressure on Big Oil

thinker — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:06:28 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

PolluterWatch.com (a project of Greenpeace that holds polluters accountable for the work they’re doing to block the transition from the dirty fossil fuels of the past to the clean energy sources of the future) recently spoofed an oil ad meant to sway US voters towards the interests of Big Oil.

Philip Radford (Executive Director, Greenpeace) announced this spoof ad on the HuffingtonPost.com website under the title “Trimming Astroturf From the American Petroleum Institute’s ‘Vote 4 Energy’ Ad”.

Oil Barrens Threaten the President of the United States

thinker — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:39:36 +0000

Jack Gerard – the head of the American Petroleum Institute has threatened the President of the United States over the construction of the Keystone oil pipeline.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The pipeline obviously represents a huge commercial interest, and they are willing to fight for the money invovled.

Politicizing Science

thinker — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:36:34 +0000

This is an old story from 2005, but it is still relevant:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19162-2005Jan18.html. Climate change is attacked on political grounds when it becomes inconvenient for economies.

Bolivian Glaciers Melting

thinker — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:49:56 +0000

The ski season ended in 1998, and within 20 years, experts expect the ice to be gone. Water shortages are bound to follow. Crisis looms for Bolivia as glaciers melt.

Polluted Waters

thinker — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 07:46:30 +0000