Tuesday, March 11, 2014
100% renewable energy is practical by 2050
According to a new report from Stanford University researchers, we could move to 100% renewable energy by 2050 using only technology that's currently available. The biggest obsticles are political, including the building of more interstate power lines. This approach would save the average person $3,400 a year compared to the current mix of energy sources, and doesn't even begin to factor in possible improvements in energy efficiency. It also doesn't assume the use of nuclear power. One of the biggest social changes is a move to an auto population that is completely powered by electricity or hydrogen. This is a clear statement from very well informed sources that such a future is easily possible, given the political will.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Apple chief executive Tim Cook's Leadership on Environmental Responsibility
Under Apple chief executive Tim Cook's leadership Apple has stepped up its commitment to curbing its environmental impact, pledging to supply 100% of its power from renewable sources and crack down on the use of minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that can fund war and human rights abuses
...
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/03/tim-cook-climate-change-sceptics-ditch-apple-shares
...
“When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind, I don’t consider the bloody ROI (Return On Investment),” Cook said, adding that the same sentiment applied to environmental and health and safety issues.
He told Danhof that if he did not believe in climate change, he should sell his Apple shares. “If you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock,” he said.
Cook’s comments and visible passion over the issue are one of the strongest signals yet of his commitment to reducing Apple’s environmental footprint. He told shareholders that he wanted to “leave the world better than we found it”.
Friday, February 28, 2014
This Historical Moment on Earth
“The most remarkable feature of this historical moment on Earth is not that we are on the way to destroying the world—we’ve actually been on the way for quite a while. It is that we are beginning to wake up, as from a millennia-long sleep, to a whole new relationship to our world, to ourselves and each other.”
~ Joanna Macy
~ Joanna Macy
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
The City of Austin is now updating our generation plans and making
decisions about where our electricity will come from for the next
several decades, and they want to hear from us. If you'd like to see
Austin move to more and more renewable sources (even 100% at some
point), please take a minute in the next few days and email Austin
Energy (tinyurl.com/TellAE) and City Council (http://www.austintexas.gov/mail/all-council-members).
Send an email as simple as the one below:
“As a stakeholder in our city’s future I favor a plan that gets us to renewable resources as quickly as possible and retires or minimizes the use of coal from the Fayette Power Project as quickly as possible.”
You can also attend one of the Austin Energy Stakeholder Input meetings:
Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014 – 6 to 8 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014 – 1 to 3 p.m.
Like my friend Jeff says, we own our utility and we're lucky in that. Our input can make a difference in how long/how much we rely on coal and natural gas.
Thanks, people!
Send an email as simple as the one below:
“As a stakeholder in our city’s future I favor a plan that gets us to renewable resources as quickly as possible and retires or minimizes the use of coal from the Fayette Power Project as quickly as possible.”
You can also attend one of the Austin Energy Stakeholder Input meetings:
Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014 – 6 to 8 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014 – 1 to 3 p.m.
Like my friend Jeff says, we own our utility and we're lucky in that. Our input can make a difference in how long/how much we rely on coal and natural gas.
Thanks, people!
A Prediction of Falling Cost of Solar Power
I found this article published in Scientific American in 2011:
"Smaller, Cheaper, Faster: Does Moore's Law Apply to Solar Cells?" by Ramez Naam.
This could be directly relevant to points that we want to make to Austin Energy about their 10-year generating plans. The article compares the rate of the drop in cost per KWH for photovoltaic power generation to the way computing power has increased exponentially.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/03/16/smaller-cheaper-faster-does-moores-law-apply-to-solar-cells/?print=true
Here is an except--the last two paragraphs of the article. The author does conclude that the cost is dropping exponentially:
"We should always be careful of extrapolating trends out, of course. Natural processes have limits. Phenomena that look exponential eventually level off or become linear at a certain point. Yet physicists and engineers in the solar world are optimistic about their roadmaps for the coming decade. The cheapest solar modules, not yet on the market, have manufacturing costs under $1 per watt, making them contenders – when they reach the market – for breaking the 12 cents per Kwh mark.
The exponential trend in solar watts per dollar has been going on for at least 31 years now. If it continues for another 8-10, which looks extremely likely, we’ll have a power source which is as cheap as coal for electricity, with virtually no carbon emissions. If it continues for 20 years, which is also well within the realm of scientific and technical possibility, then we’ll have a green power source which is half the price of coal for electricity."
From: Susan Lippman
"Smaller, Cheaper, Faster: Does Moore's Law Apply to Solar Cells?" by Ramez Naam.
This could be directly relevant to points that we want to make to Austin Energy about their 10-year generating plans. The article compares the rate of the drop in cost per KWH for photovoltaic power generation to the way computing power has increased exponentially.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/03/16/smaller-cheaper-faster-does-moores-law-apply-to-solar-cells/?print=true
Here is an except--the last two paragraphs of the article. The author does conclude that the cost is dropping exponentially:
"We should always be careful of extrapolating trends out, of course. Natural processes have limits. Phenomena that look exponential eventually level off or become linear at a certain point. Yet physicists and engineers in the solar world are optimistic about their roadmaps for the coming decade. The cheapest solar modules, not yet on the market, have manufacturing costs under $1 per watt, making them contenders – when they reach the market – for breaking the 12 cents per Kwh mark.
The exponential trend in solar watts per dollar has been going on for at least 31 years now. If it continues for another 8-10, which looks extremely likely, we’ll have a power source which is as cheap as coal for electricity, with virtually no carbon emissions. If it continues for 20 years, which is also well within the realm of scientific and technical possibility, then we’ll have a green power source which is half the price of coal for electricity."
From: Susan Lippman
Monday, February 24, 2014
Next Gen Climate Action
One of the more interesting developments on the political front is the creation of "Next Gen Climate Action" (http://nextgenclimate.org/).
Excessive influence of money in politics is not the ideal way to do this, but at least it's a welcome sign of the changing times.
NextGen Climate Action is a non-partisan, San Francisco-based organization focused on bringing climate change to the forefront of America’s political dialogue.
Founded by investor and philanthropist Tom Steyer in 2013, we act politically to avert climate disaster and preserve American prosperity. Working at every level, we are committed to supporting candidates, elected officials and policymakers across the country that will take bold action on climate change—and to exposing those who deny reality and cater to special interests.There is a great article about it here in the NY Times.
Excessive influence of money in politics is not the ideal way to do this, but at least it's a welcome sign of the changing times.
Notes from Class V
The slides from class 5 are here.
The topic for this 5th and final class was "Solutions are Possible".
The topic for this 5th and final class was "Solutions are Possible".
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Notes from Class IV
A copy of the text from "How to have a sample conversation with a Climate Skeptic" is available here.
Susan L. provided us with copies of the “Outline Summary of the Movement Action Plan: The Eight Stages of Successful Social Movements" which is available at:
Susan L. provided us with copies of the “Outline Summary of the Movement Action Plan: The Eight Stages of Successful Social Movements" which is available at:
Here is a two-page summary by a George Lakey, founder of “Training for Change”:
Sermons from Wildflower UU Feb 16 Climate Change Preach-in
Monday, February 10, 2014
Recorded Environmental Presentations at the FUU Public Affairs Forum
For those of you who were unable to attend the Public Affairs Forum for the First Unitarian Universalists of Austin, here are some of the U-Tube links to our recent environmental speakers sponsored by our Green Sanctuary Committee:
Note that the first link is for one of our class participants, Jeff Crunk.
Jeff Crunk: "Will Austin Move Beyond Coal in 2014?"Niyanta Spelman: "Tropical Rainforests and Why They Matter"David Bamberger: "Habitat Restoration and the Quality of Life"Jane Tillman: "Backyard Birds of Austin"Bob Gedert: “Getting to Zero Waste for the City of Austin"Andy Sansom: "The Drought - We Can't Build Our Way Out of It"Briget Shea: "The Drought in Central Texas"Richard Kostecke: "The Mission of the Nature Conservancy in Texas"Andrea DeLong-Amaya: "Native Plants for Texas Landscapes"If you subscribe to the FUUCAustin channel, you will be notified by email each time a new Forum or Service video is uploaded. The link to get subscribed is:
Slides from Class III
The slides from class III are available here. (The videos were removed because they were too long to post online.)
The theme of the class was: Denying Climate Change - How we talk (or don’t talk) about climate change
The theme of the class was: Denying Climate Change - How we talk (or don’t talk) about climate change
Monday, February 3, 2014
Slides from Class II
Slides presented in the 2nd class are available here.
Here are links to some very good sites about climate change:
RealClimate.org This blog is written by real climate scientists for public (though some of the posts can get rather technical). There are links to online classes for climate change, and a great set of resourses for beginners here
Globalissues.org also has a great set of resources for learning about climate change here.
As preparation for the 3rd class, Susan Lippman sent us this link to the article she mentioned which describes the "eight stages of successful social movements". She plans to give a short presentation on this during the 3rd class.
http://www.popularresistance.org/major-social-transformation-is-closer-than-you-may-think/
Here are links to some very good sites about climate change:
RealClimate.org This blog is written by real climate scientists for public (though some of the posts can get rather technical). There are links to online classes for climate change, and a great set of resourses for beginners here
Globalissues.org also has a great set of resources for learning about climate change here.
As preparation for the 3rd class, Susan Lippman sent us this link to the article she mentioned which describes the "eight stages of successful social movements". She plans to give a short presentation on this during the 3rd class.
http://www.popularresistance.org/major-social-transformation-is-closer-than-you-may-think/
Monday, January 27, 2014
Slides from Class I
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Class Outline Information
The
Reality of Climate Change
This adult education class offered by Wildflower UU
church. This class assumes students have
a basic understanding of climate change and will go deeper into a comprehensive
collection of issues. Classes will
include presentations, short videos, and discussions. Classes are open to anyone interested. There is no fee or registration
required. They will be held at the Faith
Presbyterian Fellowship Hall on 1314
E Oltorf St, Austin. Classes are on
Sunday evening from 7:00pm to 8:30pm starting on 1/26 and ending on 2/23.
Class I: Brief overview of impacts, basic
science, politics and solutions. A history and timeline of the climate
change movement. What’s been happening
in the past few years. Emerging
religious movements view of climate change, including the UUA, Wildflower UU,
and other Austin religious organizations.
Sharing of personal interests, motivation, and activities.
Class II: Major
global impacts now and in the future: IPCC report, and other breaking news
focusing on melting ice, ocean acidification, sea level rise,
drought. Impacts on food production, social justice, conflict, population
dislocation. Tipping points, timelines of changes, and putting things
into perspective.
Class III: Social and Political Aspects of the Climate Debate:
How leaders, media, regular people are thinking (or not
thinking) about climate change. The skeptics, their arguments and motives,
and how to address them. How public opinion is changing.
Class IV: Legal Issues, Treaties, Progress, Setbacks,
and Outlook: A brief review of
history, followed by a look at what’s happening around Austin, Texas,
nationally, and internationally, and what we can expect on the legal front in
the coming years.
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