States to get right to set own automobile fuel efficiency and emissions standards

California and 13 other states that have sought to set fuel efficiency standards and limit emissions on new cars sold will get that right.

President Obama is set to issue a federal order Monday to make this possible, according to a New York Times article.

It's clear that people want to hold carmakers to a higher standard. This might make the cars more expensive, but the success of pricier hybrids has shown that people are willing to pay for cars that satisfy their conscience.

The more states that pass such standards on fuel efficiency and emissions, the more that automakers will make all cars more fuel efficient. Really, this is a long time coming. My wife's old 1998 Honda Civic would get 38 mpg on a good day. Now, a decade later, things haven't improved much, and that's not acceptable.

California's big energy gamble

California has been a world leader in design, style, entertainment and technology. If Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger gets his way, the state will also be a world leader in reducing energy use and carbon emissions.

A recent episode of Nova on PBS focused on the Governator's initiative, called AB-32. Here's a link to the PBS Web site on this particular program, "California's Big Energy Gamble." You can get additional information and watch streaming video of the program.

The initiative hopes to slash predicted emissions by 30% by 2020. By 2050 it aims to reduce California's emissions to levels not seen since the early 20th century.

Critics say the initiative will destroy the state's economy by increasing energy costs to the point where jobs and capital leave the state.

The program compares TV stars and neighbors Ed Begley, Jr., and Bill Nye (The Science Guy). Begley has six KW of solar panels on his roof, Nye has four KW. Begley also is ahead of Nye by having dimmable flourescent lights. Watching the friendly competition and back and forth between the two is fun and illustrative of how people can put green initiatives into their homes.

But these improvements come at great cost. A single wind turbine on Begley's house cost $3,000.

Yet most ordinary Californian's can't afford such improvements. The show looks at Richmond, Calif., which is a low-income area between San Francisco and Sacramento. A local activist describes how leaky window frames cost an extra 30-40% in wasted energy, but that people can't afford to buy new windows with the already high costs of energy in their homes. It's a Catch-22.

This is where government tax credits for energy efficient windows fall short. My wife and I upgraded windows a couple years ago, and the tax deduction saved us only several hundred dollars - on nearly $13,000 in windows. It will take us a long, long time to recoup the costs through energy savings.

With 12 million low income people in California, there is no chance people can upgrade windows without true tax credits, instead of simple deductions.

Yet getting Americans to upgrade windows and other household elements to reduce energy costs should be a key strategy to wean us off foreign energy sources, and thus make us more secure from foreign threats like energy dictatorships, which harbor terrorists.

But there is hope in the big picture, because the power of the state is large. California now gets 10% of its electricity from renewable energy. Schwarzenegger plans to double that in just two years, and to have the state attain 33% of its electricity from renewables by 2020.

Of course there are numerous challenges to AB-32. But there are also some solutions within the private sector. I'll explore these in future posts.

The episode of Nova is thought-provoking, and definitely worth a watch.

A new twist on the free press: France to offer every teen a complimentary newspaper subscription

U.S. newspapers are facing declining readership and advertising, and much of that is due to the emergence of new media and the fact that kids don't tend to read physical newspapers.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has offered to give every French teen a free sub to a newspaper of their choice, according to this story.

Sarkozy announced a number of initiatives to bolster the press, according to the article.

"The habit of reading the press takes hold at a very young age," Sarkozy said.

The president said the newspapers themselves would provide free copies for 18-year-olds, while the state would cover the cost of delivering them to many thousands of homes.

In addition to the free paper scheme, Sarkozy announced plans to double the government's budget for buying advertising in the press, a freeze on the cost of postal distribution and a reduction in payroll taxes for newsagents.

I'm not in favor of massive U.S. subsidies for teen newspaper readership. However, I do think it would be smart for U.S. metropolitan dailies to offer a free subscription to teens in order to boost their ranks of future readers. It's called a loss-leader, and it might not be a bad idea if newspapers want to keep from losing.

Bailout money goes toward bank bonuses

As further proof of the foolhardiness of these bank bailouts, it appears that Merrill Lynch execs were paid nearly $4 billion in bonuses just days before new Lynch owner Bank of America got another $20 billion in TARP funds. See a story here.

And, these bonuses were paid out a month ahead of schedule. Does anyone smell rotten fish?

Global warming is dead, long live global warming!

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday, and today it's turning bitterly cold and windy. So, today, I'm all for global warming.

But with the state of the economy and other issues taking precedence, Americans are less and less concerned about global warming, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Jan. 7-11 among 1,503 adults.



What's telling about the results of this survey is the fact that Americans are thinking more about domestic issues these days. There is less of a global mindset. Take a look at the following chart, which was available on the same Pew survey page.



Americans haven't been so focused on their own country's issues since the mid 1990s, which is ironic since things seemed to have been going pretty well at the time, at least compared to now.

Getting back to how we view changes in weather patterns, the term we probably should be using is climate change. On average, many areas are indeed getting warmer. But they're also getting colder in the winter. Maybe the Earth's axis is changing, or other developments may be causing overall climate change.

The media needs to get over the misleading term "global warming." Not every area is going to get warmer. Some scientists predict the coming of a "little ice age."

We may be experiencing man-induced climate change, and that is something we can address by reducing carbon emissions and other air pollutants.

Regardless of your thoughts on global warming, climate change, et. al., it does behoove us all to reduce our reliance on carbon-based fuels. Doing so will reduce pollution (thus reducing allergies, thus reducing health care costs) and it will reduce our reliance on foreign energy sources (thus reducing our need to assert ourselves in far-flung conflicts, thus reducing our military expenditures and loss of life).

As a tool to get the public's attention, the mantra of global warming has had its time. Now it should die, and we should focus on the other benefits of alternative energy sources.

Facing declining oil production, Mexico installs one of the world's largest wind farms

With a price tag of $550 million, a new wind farm in Mexico is not cheap.

But with oil production falling 9% last year, Mexico realized it needed to take a step toward the future, according to this USA Today article.

Situated on the isthmus between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, the 6,180-acre farm will boast 167 turbines capable of generating 250 megawatts of electricity. The area has wind gusts of 16-22 mph.

The wind farm is being built and operated by Spanish energy company Acciona Energia, which says it should produce enough electricity for a half million homes, and reduce carbon emissions by 600,000 metric tons annually.

Accounting for other wind projects, Mexico aims to generate 2,500 megawatts of electricity by 2012.

One thing I like about this project is the fact that Mexican cement giant Cemex is putting forward 25% of the development costs, in return for the rights to some electricity. Cemex wants to reduce its energy costs.

Under President Obama's plan to revitalize our economy with green initiatives, he should offer tax incentives that encourage U.S. manufacturers to invest in public wind and solar projects.

Seth Godin's five pillars of success

At his blog, Seth Godin points to what he calls the five pillars of success.

They are:

1. See (really see) what's possible
2. Know specifically what you want to achieve
3. Make good decisions
4. Understand the tactics to get things done and to change minds
5. Earn the trust and respect of the people around you

He points out that most people spend too much time focused on point No. 4. I think he's right.

Numbers 2, 3 and 5 are just as important, if not more. Still, not understanding the tactics to get things done is a sure way to fail.

I like these five pillars. They are so deceptively simple, yet have been proven effective time and again.

The politicization of bank bailouts

Of course we know that some of the bank bailouts have been made possible by having friends in very high places.

So far, most of those have come at the discretion of appointed leaders within the Treasury. As such, it's a little harder to nail down the exact way in which strings are being pulled.

Now, a Wall Street Journal story indicates that Democratic Representative Barney Frank appears to have influenced legislation to benefit OneUnited Bank in his home state of Massachusetts.

As head of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank is in a position to do such things. Unfortunately, he's not alone, according to the story:

Several Ohio banks received funds after Ohio's congressional delegation complained bitterly about the treatment of Cleveland-based National City Corp., which regulators forced into a merger rather than provide with cash. And in Alabama, the state's top banking official says a windfall there -- five banks are slated to receive funds -- is testament to the influence of two powerful Alabama lawmakers who sit on key congressional committees.

If we want to keep political favoritism out of the private sector, which is one of the things President Obama campaigned for, then we need to simply let these banks fail. Sell the assets to the highest bidder. If no one buys the debts, well I guess the debts are forgiven.

How much further down the road to corporate welfare must we go?

Another low-speed electric vehicle

The problem with some of the electric vehicle concepts out there is that they are designed for low speeds. In order to be efficient, they have to be small and light. In accomplishing that, their roadworthiness and speed for the highway is compromised.

Here's another one, called the EcoV Electric Car. It would be great for use at factories or for short commutes in a limited area, but it's good that other manufacturers are focusing their efforts on the open road, where the majority of people actually want to drive.



Here's some more information that was attached to the video:

EnVironmental Transportation solutions, LLC, manufacturers the EcoV-1. A battery electric vehicle (BEV), or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), the EcoV-1 offers a low carbon, high mpg, low speed alternative to moving people and packages outdoors or indoors.

One chassis, several skins:
passenger van - utility truck - stake bed - pick-up postal/delivery - recreational vehicle for golf - handicap & wheelchair access.

For more information and investor opportunities visit www.EcoVElectric.com

Wind turbine design from Down Under

From Australia comes a wind turbine electrical generator that is cheap and easy to install.

Designed to be placed at a home's roof peak, where wind speed is greatest, it supposedly could be sold for as little as 700 Australian dollars, or about $450 U.S.

The disadvantage to this kind of wind turbine is it has to be situated in the direction of the wind to gain maximum efficiency. For many East/West facing houses (at least in the Midwest) that is not a problem, because of prevailing wind patterns. If my house was facing South, it would generate less power.

Here's the video:

Wind power, old and new

In this striking juxtaposition of wind power icons, old meets new.

Here's the caption from the photo, which is featured at the Boston Globe's photo feature, "Sailing around the world."

A figure from Antony Gormley's "Another Place" welcomes one of the Tall Ships to Merseyside as it sails past the Burbo Bank windfarm on the approach to the Port of Liverpool on July 18, 2008, Liverpool, England. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)