Post Office seeks ways to save on fuel costs
The largest operator of a civilian vehicle fleet in the country, the US Postal Service is really feeling the effects of increased gasoline prices. According to the Deputy Postmaster General, the USPS spent $1.7 billion on gasoline and diesel last year, and predicts that number to increase by $600 million this year. As a result, the USPS, which uses 200,000 trucks has been forced to look for alternative means of reducing fuel consumption–some of which have been successful, some of which, not so much.
One strategy, which has not proven very effective, was the purchase of 30,000 alternative fuel vehicles, including flex-fuel (E85), CNG and biodiesel trucks. In particular, the flex-fuel trucks saw a decrease in fuel efficiency by 29% and ended up consuming 1.5 million more gallons of gasoline than before.
Some more effective solutions have included realigning routes so drivers don’t have to make left turns (which require more idling), adding GPS systems to plot more efficient delivery routes and, the most effective solution: having employees deliver more of their route by foot.
From around the web:
- This funny (and creepy) ad is from the WWF.
- Some British towns impose criminal fines for improper garbage disposal.
- California outlines broad global warming plan, aiming to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050.
- McCain on the environment, a mixed bag this week.
- Government finds that climate change poses a threat to our national security.
- Utah looks at shortening work week to 4 ten hour days to save resources.
Oil prices affect more than just gasoline costs
Often overlooked by the public is the fact that many products used in our daily lives are derivatives of petroleum, other than gasoline. The most common of these petro-products are plastics. The NPR program, Day to Day, had an interesting audio piece on the effects of the skyrocketing costs of oil on the plastics industry and consumers. Click here to listen.
Addicted to corn, part II
Despite record high gas prices, it has previously been theorized that without the increase in biofuel use the past few years, gasoline might actually cost 15% more than before the adoption of these alternative fuels. This has led us to wonder whether we have become addicted to corn?
However, now, with the recent floods in the Midwest, another twist with respect to our increased reliance on ethanol has developed. The flooding that has inflicted widespread damage on the ethanol industry–ranging from the destruction of some corn crops, factory closures and transportation line disruptions, may now be responsible for a new spike in the cost of gasoline. This is because the decreased production of ethanol will increase the cost of the supplies that are available to be added to our fuel supplies. Currently, gasoline in the U.S. contains about 7% ethanol.
We may now face a situation where not only are the net environmental benefits of ethanol questioned, but our current reliance on it may also be increasing gasoline prices. If these two assumptions are correct, we may have created a situation that is a net negative. Of course, we are still in the early stages of biofuel adoption and all of its impacts are not fully understood. Nonetheless, this further illustrates the dangers of rapid policy shifts that can result in unintended consequences such as these.
Government report warns of more extreme weather from climate change
Having previously criticized the use of anecdotal evidence in climate change arguments, the report released last week by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program came as a welcome piece of analytical work. Led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Program’s report looked at more than 100 years worth of climate data in concluding that the United States is likely to face substantially more extreme weather events in the future as a result of continuing greenhouse gas emissions.
Specifically, the report confirmed the theory that the U.S. Southwest is likely to face more frequent droughts and that extreme downpours will more frequently plague other regions of the country, due to increased water vapor in the air. The Washington Post has a useful graphic here, illustrating some of the report’s main points, including: fewer cold days, more frequent hot days, more frequent heat waves, more frequent and intense downpours, more intense and frequent droughts, and possibly more intense hurricanes.
Santa Monica replaces parking lot with a park (where you can park)
An interesting new take on beach parking opened in Santa Monica last month. The city, recognizing that parking lots on the beach are a major facilitator of pollution entering the ocean, and realizing that much of the city’s beach parking was at capacity on only a handful of days per year, decided to replace almost an acre of beachfront parking with a grass playing field. The grass is a hardy breed, designed to survive the six or so days per year when the lawn will be needed for beach parking. The grass, and adjacent asphalt area (immediately to the east of the lawn) will be closed to cars on all other days of the year.
According to the city, “as runoff passes through the soil, pollutants are treated through natural chemical and biological processes. By preventing, at the source, runoff pollutants from reaching the ocean water quality in the bay will be improved and marine beneficial uses protected.”
While we think this project is very forward thinking and should be a guide for other projects on how to efficiently and intelligently make use of our public services and resources, it is surprising that something like this is still such a unique idea. Taking a rarely used, pollution causing feature, like this beach parking lot and turning it into a nice ball field, while at the same time allowing for parking on high use days, is so incredibly rational that it is surprising that in this day and age, that more projects like this one don’t exist. Hopefully it will be the catalyst for others like it in the future.
Factcheck.org is great resource for analyzing candidates’ green claims
In past presidential elections, it was often difficult for the public to be made aware of misleading statements made by the candidates. The main check and balance was usually one’s opponent, who was often viewed by the public as equally biased. However, the nonprofit website factcheck.org solves this problem by taking an analytical look at some of the candidates’ most egregious claims. Given the important role the candidates’ position on the environment is going to play in this election, factcheck.org is a great resource, as it was last week in parsing through Sen. McCain’s recent claims regarding his green policies.
Upon a closer analysis, factcheck.org found that McCain made a series of misleading and inaccurate statements regarding the environment and his green policies last week.
Factcheck.org found that McCain:
“…said that ending a moratorium on offshore oil drilling “would be very helpful in the short term in resolving our energy crisis.” But according to a government report, offshore oil wouldn’t have much of an impact on supply or prices until 2030.
McCain tried to paint Obama as an opponent of nuclear power, yet Obama has said he is open to nuclear energy being part of the solution and has supported bills that contained nuclear subsidies.
He has soft-pedaled the “cap” portion of his cap-and-trade proposal for greenhouse gases, even denying that it would be a mandate. The cap is a mandatory limit, however, and McCain even says so on his Web site.
McCain’s new ad, running this week, rightly says that he bucked his party in supporting action on climate change years ago. But its images of windmills and solar panels are misleading in that he supports subsidies for nuclear power, which isn’t pictured, and opposes them for wind and solar energy.
McCain continues to say that a suspension of the federal gas tax will lower prices for consumers, though hundreds of economists say he is wrong.”
Motorcycles release more air pollution than SUVs
Having dissected the Prius vs. Hummer myth, we found it interesting to learn that motorcycles release more pollution into the air than even SUVs. While motorcycles are about twice as fuel-efficient as cars and emit less CO2, because they are unable to carry heavy equipment like catalytic converters, they release large amounts of nitrogen oxides, which results in the release of ten times more air pollution per mile than an average car. While two wheelers comprise only 3.6% of registered vehicles in California and only 1% of the miles driven, they account for 10% of the state’s smog emissions from vehicles. So although switching from a passenger car to a motorcycle will save you money at the gas pump, it will actually do more harm to the air than even your gas guzzling SUV.
Gore’s home electricity usage criticized again
Environmental champion Al Gore was criticized last year for consuming 20 times more electricity at his Nashville home than the national average. In response to that report, Gore announced his house was in the process of a major green upgrade, including the installation of solar panels and low energy light bulbs. Apparently, the same group that levied this criticism last year has found that the Gore residence’s electricity usage for the year following the green upgrade jumped another 10%. A Gore spokesperson explained that the dates used for the analysis (June 2007 to May 2008) were misleading since the home’s renovation wasn’t completed until November of 2007.
While none of this goes to the substance of Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, it does arm critics with a powerful weapon to discredit the messenger. One criticism of Gore has been that his message is embraced mostly by those people already predisposed to his politics, when it is the people who are naturally opposed that need convincing. When stories like this one about his home’s electricity consumption so starkly contrast with the message he is preaching, it merely gives his critics another reason to ignore and discredit that message. While few of us live perfectly green lives, Gore’s choice to become the iconic figurehead of the anti-global warming movement puts him in a place where he is inevitably going to be held to a higher standard. When he fails to live up to that standard he gives climate change skeptics just another reason to be distrusting.
[Thanks to reader Shoeman for the story tip.]
Environmental groups sue Bush Administration over polar bear/global warming ruling
Environmental groups recently filed suit in federal court alleging that the Department of the Interior was wrong to hold that the placement of polar bears on the endangered species list does not mandate the regulating of greenhouse gases. The Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council, the plaintiffs in the case, argue that because the polar bears are endangered due to the effects of global warming (i.e., melting Arctic sea ice), that the result of their addition to the list requires the taking of measures to decrease the causes of global warming.
Interior Department Secretary, Dirk Kempthorne, holding the same point of view as President Bush, argues that the Endangered Species Act was not intended to address global warming and that climate policy should instead be enacted through the political process. The policies surrounding the inclusion of polar bears on the protected list has already proven to be quite controversial.
Honda launches zero emissions car on a limited basis
Honda announced that its first production run of a zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell car rolled off the assembly line yesterday. The FCX Clarity will run on only hydrogen and electricity, does not emit any greenhouse gases and is two times more energy efficient than traditional gas-electric hybrids.
While the climate effects of the FCX Clarity are extremely limited, so is the availability of the car. Honda is currently only leasing a “few dozen” cars in California and plans to increase that number to only around 200 within the year. (Although a fall launch in Japan is also planned.)
One of the major problems is, of course, the availability of hydrogen filling stations. A quick review of this government resource shows that there are only 13 hydrogen filling stations within 25 miles of the (super progressive) City of Santa Monica and only 24 stations within 100 miles. Whether widespread hydrogen distribution will be built is obviously a major issue that needs to be addressed before hydrogen cars can provide a practical alternative to the current options.
[Thanks to reader Marsoner for this story tip.]
Oil companies given some immunity from harming polar bears
Bush Administration officials at the Fish and Wildlife Service ruled that the oil companies working on the Northwest Alaskan coast by the Chukchi Sea would be protected from liability if they accidentally harmed endanged polar bears or pacific walruses. This ruling applies to the seven oil companies that paid $2.6 billion in a government auction for the right to drill in this region. Ten percent of the polar bears in the arctic live in this area.
The Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision is not a blank check to harm the bears, as the oil companies will be required to study the location of the bears’ dens and train their employees on measures to protect the bears. In return, the companies will be protected if they unintentionally hurt a bear or walrus.
Apparently this is not the first time oil companies have been granted similar immunity-as they enjoyed this type of protection in the same region from 1991 to 1996. Additionally, no polar bear deaths have been attributed to oil company action in Alaska since 1993 and only two have been known to be have been killed since 1960.
Israelis grow extinct date palm from 2000 year old seed
Scientists in Israel have succeeded in getting an ancient date seed to sprout and grow. The date palm is of a species that has been extinct for hundreds of years. The seed itself was found about 40 years ago during an excavation of the ancient Jewish fortress at Masada. The seeds have spent the last 2000 years preserved in the ancient fortress’ storage rooms, buried under mounds of debris.
This news is of a special importance given modern scientists’ concerns for protecting the world’s future food supplies from the threats of climate change or other doomsday scenarios. Although none of us will be around to see it, at least we know if a doomsday scenario does occur, the survivors should be able to grow our old seeds for thousands of years into the future. Some comfort.
Pluto is still not a planet, but its name is given new meaning
Although not technically a “green” story, the following news plays to a sense of nostalgia for anyone who grew up learning that Pluto was (incorrectly) the last planet in our solar system. Apparently in a nod to this “former” planet, the International Astronomical Union (the world organization charged with naming planetary bodies) has given the name “plutoid” to describe celestial “bodies that [are] large enough to be round, but [do] not gravitationally dominate their orbital neighborhoods.” The two already known and named plutoids are Pluto and Eris.
LA drops 400,000 black balls in local reservoir
On Monday, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) dropped 400,000 black balls into the Ivanhoe Reservoir in Silver Lake. The Los Angeles Times describes the purpose behind this as:
“The water needs to be shaded because when sunlight mixes with the bromide and chlorine in Ivanhoe’s water, the carcinogen bromate forms, said Pankaj Parekh, DWP’s director for water quality compliance. Bromide is naturally present in groundwater and chlorine is used to kill bacteria, he said, but sunlight is the final ingredient in the potentially harmful mix.
The DWP drop was designed to stop the three from mingling in the 10-acre, 58-million-gallon Ivanhoe Reservoir. The 102-year-old facility serves about 600,000 customers downtown and in South Los Angeles.”
Apparently the black balls soak up the sun’s rays, preventing most of them from entering the water, thereby preventing the chemical reaction that creates the carcinogen bromate. The black balls are also known as “bird balls” since they are used by airports to keep birds from congregating in nearby wetlands. For some reason, these images make us think of this commercial.
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Private Leaders
