From Scratch

I've spent a lot of time mulling over nuclear power, specifically the Japanese plants. Why would anyone want to expose a population, and the environment to inherently harmful and dangerous chemical reactions? How is it justified, and what glitzy marketing scheme actually convinced people to OK it? In all my mulling and weighing, I've realized that nuclear power is in fact imperative to Japan. A curse indeed, Japan doesn't have fossil fuels to utilize as an energy source, and it does not want to be dependent on imports. As it seems, Japan's adopted nuclear fission as its home brewed fossil fuel. To address the fuel rod proponents, yes, I can see how meltdowns could be paralleled in harm and distress to coal mine disasters and oil spills. (Though do you think there could ever be a glorious Chilean miners-type rescue in a nuclear meltdown? EDIT: see Fukushima 50: WSJ - 3-24-2011 ) I agree that across the board, all sectors of the energy market exhibit regulatory ne...

NYT>Science>Environment>Green>Yet Another Route to Cellulosic Ethanol>Feb. 10, 2011 Corn ethanol plant in Colorado. A/B) My personal commentary: Lately I've been reading a lot about biofuels— oh, and natural gas/hydraulic fracking, but I'll focus on just one energy source for now. A lot of good questions to ask about biofuels pertain to its viability— economically and sustainably. This NYT's blog post addresses revenue methods for one biofuels plant in particular,  Ineo Bio. I say it's a pretty clever strategy. To summarize the article, Ineos Bio, a subsidiary of a major chemical company, introduced a new concept for bringing biofuels to a commercial scale. This concept involves a three-way stream of revenue. The strategy kind of reminds me of how media advertising works now, in a bundle. To incentive advertisers, media companies throw in 'free' ad space, ie, Seventh Generation pays $1,000 for a half-page ad in The Economist , The Economis...

Folks, I just whipped up this essay a couple nights ago for an Energy Finance fellowship for which I applied. It's long and dense, so take a bite, digest what you can. The essay prompt was rather open-ended, which was fun in terms of throwing in my opinion (God knows I've got lots stored up). It was was kind of enjoyable pondering over the prompt, as I've been more on the "Got an idea? Write up a plan, gather what you need, and do it" side of eco-consciousness, as oppose to the technical, bureaucratic side. Hopefully my essay expresses my optimism for a more energy conscious American society. There's something about the Golden Gate.  Is it because it pushed the boundaries?  Challenged, at the  time, new technologies?                                                                     ...

NYT>Home and Garden> Preventing Heat From Sneaking Out of the House Weatherstrip your door utilizing a rubber door sweep. As an urbanite living in an apt. most appropriately described as "livable" in regards to its size, most of Tedeschi's article on weatherproofing a house does not apply to me. A house with an attic and basement? --I'll pass. However, Tedeschi provides a couple valuable weatherproofing tips that too applies to an urbanites apt.: If your doorway lacks adjustable thresholds, install a rubber door sweep (about $7 at Home Depot). Weatherstripping, is also a must, for doors and windows. Mr. Gfeller prefers stripping of various thicknesses (the labels say whether they’re designed for doorways or windows); Frost King’s cost about $4 to $7 a package. Mr. David prefers V-shaped stripping (about $4 from Frost King); this type, he said, breaks down less easily than foam. Thanks for the tips, Pragmatist. This would be the first step in retrofitting...

I've decided after months, maybe it's already been a year-- this blog needs life. I need to breathe some liveliness into my personal blog. With my nouveau title "From Scratch," I will scour news sites and blogs for the latest in all aspects of environmental news and present them to you as I find appropriate. The format of my posts will be as follows: A) A link to the article or write-up B) My personal commentary C) The core values of the topic that one should digest There you have it. Now, let's try this out.

For this Monday mornings breakfast, Pollan cooks up the perfect combination of eggs and FDA regulation. I truly love hearing this guy talk about food. Go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/opinion/29schlosser.html?hpw

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704868604575433620189923744.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5 Ok, I know that I'm simply re-posting other writers' articles, but I like to think I post the creme de la creme of environmental articles. Maybe you don't want to sift (ehem, read through) all those green articles out there. I'll do the heavy lifting for you. Creator of the Dilbert cartoon, Scott Adams, wrote a light-hearded, half satirical piece on his green building experience. I thought he touched on a lot of good points that I'm fairly familiar with in regards to the green building industry. There's a lot of certainty in what you're actually doing, and a lot of experimentation with materials. --All this while maintaining environmental- consciousness. In green building, the goal is to be aware of nature, as oppose to ignoring and overpowering it (ie: window placement, air conditioning in houses etc.)