Xiaoniu 小妞

Ban the Bulb - This article explains that if every incandescent bulb was replaced with a compact fluorescent one that the power savings could lead to the elimination of power stations. Amazing. I feel great knowing that I switched over years ago. Almost all of the bulbs in my house are fluorescent. The only ones not yet changed are the ones in the dining room (the CF bulbs just are not bright enough) and in the bathroom (to cheap to switch to new bulbs before the old ones burn out).

Possible Ban on Wind Energy - This is just stupid. Somebody introduced a bill that would make it illegal to generate energy from wind turbines. The reasoning is that some birds are occasionally killed by the turbines. According to the article the percentage of birds killed is close to 0.003%. I think that you’ll find more birds dying due to the crap that comes out of and goes into a coal burning facility. Sounds like a very cheap shot at keeping environmentally poor options going while keeping clean fuels out.

Last year Sue got me a subscription to National Geographic magazine. I love it. I read it when I get a few moments and usually make it through a magazine a month, which is just right. The thing that really stands out to me is that every single issue is loaded with articles about the greenhouse effect and the impacts on our planet. Most of the articles are about the melting glaciers, but there are other topics. I haven’t read old copies of NG, but I get the feeling that this is a trend that has been going on for at least 10 years.

This gets me thinking about what I can do. The biggest thing is car efficiency. On one hand we want to get another small car. With just the three of us a small car is plenty of space and they’re great on gas. On the other hand when there are four of us a small car just won’t cut it. So, we’ll end up with something larger. The downside is that there are absolutely no larger vehicles that get decent mileage.

The car we like best is the Honda Odyssey and that gets on average 19mpg. That’s way less than the 35mpg we get in Sue’s car. Not much different that what I get in my truck, although, we limit trips in the truck to just around town. SUV’s and other vans are worse. Decisions, decisions.

I wish that car manufacturers would get out and make some bold changes to their cars. Screw the oil companies and make some reliable and efficient cars. I’m tired of hearing about GM’s hydrogen and electric cars. If you can make them why not find a way to get them into production. How many years can GM promote these vehicles without actually making any.

I read another article, which I cannot find otherwise I’d post a link. It mentioned that car manufacturers are creating hybrids, but even they are not efficient. A loss of 80% of energy is pretty bad. How expensive would heating your house be if 80% of the heat went out the walls or out with the exhaust? What is stopping them from making more efficient cars? If it is money I’d lay down more for something that got impressive mileage.