According to Focus Earth, astounding results in a poll conducted by ABC News,
Planet Green, and Stanford University, “puts a whole new spin on American
environmentalism”. Every black cloud has a silver lining. The black cloud of
energy costs and gas prices has produced a silver lining of mass consciousness-
raising over global warming, the health of our planet, and our own personal
carbon footprints. Albeit it economically driven, I will certainly take having
people wake up and smell the coffee due to a stressed bank account instead of a
terminally ill planet. Surveyed from all over the nation, here are some of the (more…)

Magnetic Levitation, or Maglev

Ever wonder what happened to the jet packs, that was going to have us jetting
through the air like the Jetsons? Well, turns out they couldn’t get past the
20 second fuel limit. Then there was the monorail, or the updated version, the
maglev. Those futuristic, sleek, cool trains that glide almost silently over
head atop modern concrete superstructures. (more…)

According to the Arbor Day Foundation, we need more trees where we live.

Why do we need more trees?:

Wildlife – Trees help make nature a part of our daily lives.
Trees provide nesting sites for songbirds, and
food and cover for a wide variety of wildlife.

Conserve Energy – Cities without trees are “heat islands”.
100 million additional mature trees in U.S. cities
would save $2 billion per year in energy costs. (more…)

School is soon to be in session. As you all know, when children return to school,
the masses of paper head home. What are they? Pictures, drawings, spelling tests,
and a variety of other items. You home is now invaded with a mountain of paper
trash. Just normal correspondence with the teacher, brings 5 to 6 pages itself.

So why not start a re-cycling box the first day the kids start school? It should
be exceptionally easy to fill. Especially on that certain day of the week, i.e.
Tuesday Folder. Which is the day the teacher sends home the last weeks graded
papers. A weeks worth of graded paper can be up to 20 pages. Some of which you
may keep and the rest usually ends up in the file 13 (trash can). (more…)

March 2008

What’s left of Greensburg State Bank built in 1989 is getting demolished.
Dee Corns, employee and wife of the Bank President tells of rebuilding the
bank in the same location.  They will build green using eco-block (icf).
There was a lot of material reclaimed from the bank before the demo
started.

Robert Mitchum, city council member, discusses who might be mayor. (more…)

U.N. scientist say we only have 10 years to mend our ways, because if we do
not clean up our act, mother nature has some nasty surprises:

Storms – insured losses from weather events have increased 15 fold in the
last 30 years.

Floods – U.N. scientists predict 200 million climate refugees in the next
40 years.

Drought – Land stricken by severe drought has doubled in 30 years. (more…)

The number of utilities interested in renewable power is growing and more large
scale projects are being implemented, but the wider acceptance of these technologies
is still being hampered by their intermittent nature. Improved power storage will
increase the use of electricity from solar and wind power. The result will be power
on demand instead of when the sun shines or the wind blows. And of course the faster
renewable energy sources grow the slower the increase of greenhouse gases by
replacing carbon-based fuels.

With the exception of predictable peak-load requirements, most electricity demand
is for a continuous, reliable supply. If there were some way that large amounts of
electricity from intermittent producers such as solar and wind could be stored (more…)