Links about the environment
The environment is a very long term interest for me. I ran a diaper service in Denmark from 1991-96 to provide an alternative to the very un-sustainable throw-away diapers. In connection with this project I learned a lot about the life-cycle of products and became more and more interested in how we generate and use energy.
My Hybrid Honda Insight is the most wonderful car I've ever owned. Not only do I get 60 mpg, but it drives almost like a sports car. If you'd like to read more about it, see the excellent InsightCentral website. Now we are a 2-hybrid family, since John bought a Prius in early 2005. Be sure to see the new movie Who Killed the Electric Car?
Sierra Summit
In September 2005 I attended the Sierra Summit, where Sierra Club activists voted Energy and Global warming the most important issue for the coming years. I have included a box about the Sierra Summit at the bottom of this page.
Environmental management
In Denmark I worked for several years with environmental management systems. That is, systems to help firms find out "how to do the right things right";. By using resources sustainably, companies can see a big difference in their bottom line. In a short paper I explain how Industry takes up the Challenge of Sustainability. Its companion website expands on the paper with a number of links and tools for environmental management. My article Dynamic Leadership through Environmental Management presents guidelines for organizing environmental management in your company. I also wrote an opinion piece forlocal newspapers in connection with the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg called America is Ready to be a Leader in Sustainability, explaining how this country is working without government help to help solve the world's environmental problems.
Campus Environment
My alma matter, Oberlin College, has an excellent Environmental Policy, sponsored by a group called the EnviroAlums, for which I serve on the Steering Committee. The College is gradually working to implement the policy. In 2005 I wrote a recommendation called Managing the Implementation of the Oberlin Environmental Policy to help students and faculty in this work, based on the ISO-14001 guidelines.
Many of the exciting environmental activities at Oberlin originate in the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies, located in a cutting edge sustainable building. The head of the Environmental Studies Department at Oberlin, and the man who envisioned the building, is David Orr, who has written numerous books about education and ecology. His newest book Design on the Edge: The Making of a High-Performance Building tells about the process involved in creating the Lewis Center.
Physics professor John Scofield and May 2006 graduate Michael Roth are working on introducing windpower to Oberlin, which you can read about in the article A New Age for Wind Power in Oberlin? on the college website. Read more about it on the Physics Department Wind Turbine Site.
At the Alumni Council Weekend in September 2006 I enjoyed meeting with alumni, faculty and students who are working towards a greener Oberlin, including working with the College purchasing office to recommend sustainable products. I also managed to find time to visit a project by 2005 alumnus, Sam Merrett, Full Circle Fuels, a fuel station that supplies both biodiesel created on location and ethanol, and converts vehicle engines to accomodate the new fuels.
Denmark and the Environment
The Danish government and the European Union have been very instrumental in the work toward a sustainable world. Read more from Danish sites on my environmental links page.
Eco-tourism in Denmark
If you are interested in a trip to Denmark to study its environmental projects, you might be interested in my proposal to Oberlin College for study trips to Denmark. I would be very happy to plan a trip for your organization.
Environmental technical writing
I have worked as a Technical Writer with several environmentally oriented companies, an environmental consultancy in Denmark, Vestas Wind Systems and an environmental compliency firm in California. The Environmental Safety and Health Communication SIG of the Society for Technical Communication offers support to technical writers in this field. I have been the newsletter editor and recently also revised the website including a WIKI. Please see the section on Environmental articles on my portfolio page.
Issues
Solar Power
As you can see from the ad on this page, I am an "Ecopreneur" for a new venture whose vision is to make America a solar nation, with solar panels on 25% of homes in 20 years. This is possible because of a very favorable rental solution, and a knowledgable and passionate network working to get the word out. See the flyer for more information and then study our website at jointhesolution.com/bonsol. I hope you enjoy reading, watching the video and using the tools at the bottom of the page to determine how much solar panels on your home can affect what you pay for electricity and how your energy use impacts the earth. Here is a viewer of average sun in your area, which will give you another indication about how well it will work.
When you have read enough, you can call me for more information or reserve your solar system directly on the website, You don't commit to anything more than your intention and then with a $500 - $1000 deposit when your panels are about ready to be installed. The first systems will be installed in spring 2008. After that you will pay rent at a fixed rate for 25 years, that will most likely start at about what you pay now for electricity.
If you are passionate enough about solar energy to sign up to be an Ecopreneur aka Independent Direct Sales Associate (which of course won't pay anything until the customers start paying) go to www.powur.com/bonsol, where there is even more information in the "Back Office" when you sign in. You have to take a series of tests about Citizenre and solar to qualify, but you don't have to pay anything (other than paper, printing, telephone, etc.) to be part of the network, and you will receive a small commission on your customers' payments.
Support the Securing America's Energy Independence Act
You can help influence Congress to make it easier to install solar panels on more roofs by signing the petition to ask congress to support an eight-year extension of the solar and fuel cell tax credits with the The Securing America's Energy Independence Act (S. 590, H.R. 550).
Global Warming
I am increasingly worried about the effects of Global Warming. Therefore I have been trying to become more active in my local commmunity promoting the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which originated with the mayor of Seattle, but as of July 28, 2006 has been signed by 275 US mayors. The Sierra Club has taken up the challenge with its program Cool Cities. Now the state of California is also working toward its own Solutions For Global Warming.
As many economists know, working to slow global warming can have an excellent effect on the economy, not ruin it, through resource and energy savings and the development of new industries in the field of renewable energy and sustainable building, none of which can be outsourced. The Apollo Alliance has an economically feasible plan to achieve energy independence within a decade.
Knowing that sustainable development is good for local communities as well, I gathered materials for Upland politicians, How Upland can become a Cool City with materials from the California, Seattle, Cool Cities websites and other sources. I am working to create a support group to encourage Upland to become a Cool City. I have also been encouraging our neighboring city of Claremont to join.
Last year, I compiled a long reading list of books about Global Warming and other environmental issues, based on a list started by Environmental Defense staffers. Of course new books appear all the time, so these are just starters! There are also many links on my links about the environment page. I was very moved by Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth.
Food and the Environment
I did a talk for several organizations with a PDF slide show about the effects of producting food on the environment. Each page was a picture I had either taken from our local area, or found on Flickr. You can see the pictures I took locally here on Flickr. Click the pictures to read my comments.
Oceans
The Los Angeles Times ran a very disturbing 5-part series in July 2006, Altered Oceans, with incredible videos, pictures and graphics, besides the articles from the paper. I had recently read about the garbage dump in the ocean. One of the parts of the series shows this, and its effects on sea birds and animals, very clearly. The New York Times ran an article about one solution at Unlikely Partners Create Plan to Save Ocean Habitat Along With Fishing
Sierra Summit
In September 2005 I went to San Franscisco for the Sierra Summit after reading about all the wonderful speakers and even outings. You can me picking dandelions Thursday in Crissy Field in the Gallery (pictures 20 and 38).
There were incredible speeches by among others
- William McDonough, who designed sustainable new towns at the request of the Chinese government, has written an unusual book on environmental design Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things,
- George Lakoff, whose book Moral Politics : How Liberals and Conservatives Think is an attempt to explain conservative and liberal thought to each other, so that we can learn to communicate - for example, to preserve the environment.
- Dave Foreman on Restoring the Wild (read about him in Carl McDaniel's excellent introduction to environmental topics through biographies of "visionaries", Wisdom for a Livable Planet) with, believe it or not, Marine Brigadier General Mike Lehnart from Camp Pendelton Marine Corps, where they are doing a great job protecting endangered species and performing environmental management on Marine bases!
- Al Gore (whom I didn't hear, because they didn't expect him when they wrote the program - he was supposed to be addressing a group of insurance people in New Orleans about the insurance problems connected with global warming. Turns out the insurance people got practical experience instead!),
- Robert Kennedy Jr., who has written a very eye-opening book Crimes Against Nature,
- Arianna Huffington (see her blog at The Huffington Post,