Ed Ring

You wouldn't think so if you read recent press reports. Just like this time last year, the global press is bombarding the public with alarming reports coming from the bottom of the world. From the Discovery Channel on April 28th, 2009 "Huge Ice Shelf Breaks From Antarctica, Fractures." From National Geographic News on April 30th, 2009 "Giant Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses." From Reuters on April 28th, 2009, "New York City-sized Ice Collapses off Antarctica." Exactly one year ago, similar stories circulated, and if anything, they were more alarming. On March 25th, 2008, the BBC reported "Antarctic Ice Hangs by a Thread," a result, they stated, of "unprecedented global warming." But these reports, both last year and this year, are talking about the same ice shelf - the Wilkins Ice Shelf, an insignificant bit of floating ice that is located on the...

A recent article in New Scientist by Fred Pearce entitled "Rainforests may pump winds worldwide" describes a new meteorological theory wherein vast forests play a critical role in generating winds that pump water around the world through the atmosphere. Here is how Pearce summarizes this theory: "How can forests create wind? Water vapour from coastal forests and oceans quickly condenses to form droplets and clouds... the gas [from this evaporation] takes up less space as it turns to liquid, lowering local air pressure. Because evaporation is stronger over the forest than over the ocean, the pressure is lower over coastal forests, which suck in moist air from the ocean. This generates wind that drives...

Earlier this week, on April 15th, 2009, not coincidentally the day each year when tax returns are due from America's workers, there were "tea parties" held throughout the United States - approximately 2,000 separate events, some drawing over 10,000 people. It is probably accurate to estimate several hundred thousand people participated. In Sacramento, California, at what was reputed to be one of the biggest events, there were over 5,000 people in attendance at peak, but given the duration of the event, well over three hours, and the apparent turnover of people arriving and departing, probably closer to 10,000 people actually participated. Looks like grass-roots to...

Published in 1968 "The Population Bomb" became an enormously influential book, postulating, among other things, that humanity's population growth, at current rates of expansion, would within perilously few centuries become a spherical ball of human flesh expanding at the speed of light in all directions into the universe. Like other such doomsday tracts, the Population Bomb extrapolated select demographic trends into the future, and predicted catastrophic shortages - land, food, energy, water, even the air itself. Now we know better. We know, for example, that greater overall prosperity combined with female literacy - both ineluctable trends - lead to declining human populations, not...

The prevailing challenge facing humanity when confronted with resource constraints is not that we are running out of resources, but how we will adapt and create new and better solutions to meet the needs that currently are being met by what are arguably scarce or finite resources. If one accepts this premise, that we are not threatened by diminishing resources, but rather by the possibility that we won't successfully adapt and innovate to create new resources, a completely different perspective on resource scarcity and resource policies may emerge. Across every fundamental area of human needs, history demonstrates that as technology and freedom is advanced, new solutions evolve to meet...

In a briefing last week General Motors reaffirmed their commitment to the launch of the Chevy Volt by late 2010. The primary purpose of this briefing was to discuss the benefits of lithium battery technology as well as the reasons for their choice of LG Chem to produce the first generation of batteries for the Volt. Several points are worth noting: GM is completing what will be the largest automotive battery lab in the U.S., and they intend to maintain in-house manufacturing capacity to integrate the battery cells into modules and complete battery systems. This gives GM more flexibility to choose cell suppliers for their 2nd and 3rd generation extended range electric vehicles, and lets...

It would be an understatement to say we've been accused of taking controversial positions on environmental issues - smart growth, global warming, government reform, fossil fuel and nuclear power, to name a few. The problem, however, is these positions are not adopted out of some pathological need to be contrarian, they spring from genuine conviction based on substantial research and thoughtful deliberation. To keep all this contrarianism in perspective, there is a quote from Mark Twain worth repeating, he said "a cynic sees the cost of everything and the value of nothing." And being mindful of this quote we respect those who adhere to the conventional wisdom on many of these issues. It...

Whether or not electric cars are going to hit the roads in volume anytime soon is more uncertain than ever, with the market for new vehicle purchases off nearly 50% compared to just one year ago, and the price of a barrel of oil back under US $40. But while the near term prospects for the automotive industry are daunting, the future is brighter than ever, and the many credible contenders to deliver EVs continue to grow. The latest EV we've found is here as a spinoff from Electrovaya, a Canadian based maker of lithium ion batteries for laptops and medical devices. About one year ago, Electrovaya announced the Maya-300, an all-electric vehicle with a top speed of 35 MPH and a range of 120 miles...

About a year ago I participated for a few months with an industry group that was attempting to insert some rationality into what is probably the most irrational, extremist, dangerous, job-killing, regressive laws in the modern history of the United States, AB32, California's Global Warming Act. Unlike renewable portfolio standards, which can at least be justified by virtue of their potential to improve the U.S. balance of trade and promote energy independence, California's global warming act is based on uncertain science and propelled by political opportunism. It is an utterly futile gesture, and even if it weren't, most of the regulations being solidified regulate land use and...

While regulating CO2 emissions occupies an ever increasing share of policymaker and environmentalist priorities, which translates into countless new businesses and technologies to address this new challenge, there are still all those other air pollution emissions that we used to worry about exclusively, and almost, but not quite eliminated. While impressive results in air pollution have been logged ever since the introduction of the catalytic converter and unleaded gasoline, microscopic particulates are still not being captured by conventional systems. The problem with these microscopic particles is that even though they are invisible, they actually pose greater potential health...