Vilsack for Department of Agriculture or Corn Lobbyist

“Vilsack has championed the development of ethanol, an alternative energy, in Iowa — something that coincides with Obama’s vision for an energy-independent future, and something he can promote from the Department of Agriculture.” Source: CNN

Is ethanol really a good alternative energy source? What are the pros and cons? Will Vilsack be a good representative of the entire Department of Agriculture or will he spend all his time pushing for more ethanol production?

PROS OF ETHANOL
1. Clean burning
2. Potential providing more horsepower than gasoline
3. Already in production and added to current fuels
4. Higher thermodynamic efficiency = potentially better performance (if no gasoline is involved)
5. The Department of Energy claims the process of making ethanol results in a 34-66 percent surplus of energy
6. Gasoline blended with ethanol lowers carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions 

CONS OF ETHANOL
1.  Alcohol is corrosive so storage tanks would need to made of stainless steel or plastic
2. Increases the use of pesticides, fertilizers, heavy equipment and transport
3. Doesn’t work well in cold weather
4. Cornell University scientist David Pimentel claims that it takes 1.3 gallons of oil to produce one gallon of ethanol.

The question is where to put our financial resources to most effectively reduce pollution and our dependence on foreign oil? Corn, hydrogen fuel cells, solar, wind? What fuels will dominate in the future?

Who is Saving The Green

A theoretical environmental capitalist is what I am. I like stuff, I hate hassle and I like being “green”.

My idea of environmentalism is buying a pair of organic cotton jeans that will fit when I lose 10 pounds but I cannot comfortably wear right now, so I go to that place in the mall and buy two non-organic pairs of jeans that do fit right now. Being eco for me is buying recycled paper towels that I use to cover my prepackaged food when it goes into the microwave and recycling most of the packaging from the stuff I buy on amazon, unless it requires too much dismantling, whereby I just toss it in the dumpster.

I want to be a good environmentalist but my efforts don’t come close to the true savers of the planet. Who are these modest but authentic Greenies?

The true eco practitioners among us are those ultra thrifty, super frugal types. The type that are so thrifty and so frugal that they make extra effort to reduce their use (so as not to spend more money) and reuse and reuse and resuse things that aren’t meant to be reused (so as not to spend more money) and look for things to recycle (so as to make money). 

The three Rs of being eco should not be given equality on that little green triangle but should be graded in order of environmentalism. Reduce gets the most points followed by reuse, then recycle and a fourth one should be reinvest (my favorite).

True story:

 At the end of a party friend’s mom saves the melting stick of butter that is barely wrapped in paper. She gives the melting butter to her daughter-in-law to take home but asks to have back the little plastic plate (a thin throw away party plate) the butter was on and collects all the plastic silverware to wash when she gets home. Now that’s a serious environmentalist who wouldn’t claim–or even want to claim–she is one!

True story:

We had all our ugly maroon colored gutters taken off our house, never to be put back on but instead replaced with new and prettier gutters. One morning a guy is digging in the construction dumpster in front of our house. The next thing I know Josh is helping the guy carry all the gutters to his truck. Josh also found some other metal junk in our shed to give him and the mirrored closet doors that no one else seemed to want to take. Awesome! I love living in the city!

True Story:

A friend in the neighborhood who is remodeling her house said that the meth addicts take her scrap metal if it is left out and recycle it for cash. At least it is getting recycled.

True Story:

Instead of throwing out plastic grocery bags if they have holes, a neighbor tapes the holes so she can use every single one for picking up dog poo. She also keeps a bag in the backyard and only tosses it once it is full. That is another super star Greenie. If I had a dog my green plan would be to train it to poo in the compost pile… actually, that smells like a bad idea.

Me?

I’ll keep doing my part on the eco chain… “reinvesting”. I’ll keep buying products made from recycled products and buying new products that are eco. I don’t rack up many eco points this way but I’m helping the economy, right?

 

Creative Environmentalism

Benefits of Eco Lighting

Gasp. What did I just say?! 

During a home styling consultation I suggested halogen lights in the family room so that the family could dim and brighten the space. 

I believe in green styling. My condo that I rent out as a corporate apartment is colored with eco paints, run on 100% wind power, is set up for recycling, and all the light bulbs were replaced with CFLs. Why in the heck was I suggesting halogen–an energy hog of the home?

The eco alternatives to incandescent bulbs and halogen lamps are CFLs and LEDs. Unfortunately, neither of these eco alternative lights has a great ability to dim (I’ve heard dimmable CFLs make noise). 

The way to get around it? Use low wattage and more lights. For ambiance turn on only a few lights. Why bother?

Facts

If you change five incandescent light bulbs to ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs, you’ll save: 

Enough energy to:

•Run your ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerator for over 4 years

Enough money to:

•Buy a new ENERGY STAR light fixture

•Purchase 94 swirled ice cream cones 

•Buy candles for 63 romantic dinners

source: EnergyStar.gov

HAVE YOU SWITCHED OVER TO EARTH FRIENDLY LIGHTING YET?