Renew News

The Toyota Prius was postd as the overall most fuel-efficient car by the EPA/DOE, but the most fun is to look at the lists of the vehicles with the worst mileage.  Admitedly, if you are buying a Lamborghini you probably don’t care about efficiency, the environment, or spending money on something so trivial as gas, but the list is still pretty funny… and embarassing for those on it.

See it here.

Snoqualmie (C’mon, say it with me: Snow kwal me) is a typical small town in Western Washington. Typical means it has two distinct faces. Old Snoqualmie has an intact downtown and a railway museum with real live trains. Thomas the Tank Engine visits in the summer. In the new portion of Snoqualmie, developers have built hundreds of homes that now house people whose jobs are in not so nearby Issaquah, Redmond, Bellevue or Seattle.

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I watch a lot of Modern Marvels. They just do such a good job with whatever subject they decide to tackle, and the recent show on Renewable Energy (RE) is no exception. They give a really nice overview of the various types of RE and explain the costs, benefits, and how they are really all interconnected. The show should be required viewing.

I knew about most of the things they talked about, but one of the strengths of this show is their ability to SHOW you things. I have read about wave and tidal power but I had never been able to find anything other than some mediocre photos. Modern Marvels had some great footage and animated computer diagrams showing exactly how both methods worked. I’m really excited about wave power now. I’m going to have to see if I can find out more about it.

If you’re into this sort of thing, or if you are a teacher, I would highly recommend buying this episode. Find it at the History Channel Store here.

Also, they define things so well that I was inspired to add a bunch of entries to the Renew-o-pedia! (That’s the community-maintained encyclopedia of all things Renewable that is associated with this site, in case you didn’t know.)

Tonight at 8pm (7pm Central) the History Channel’s series Modern Marvels is all about Renewable Energy. If you miss it, there will be a recap here at RenewNews.com

Let’s hear it for cute little electric cars! This one comes from India and is apparently being test marketed in the USA.

Read more about this cute little number here, and at the Reva website.

To the relief of environmentalists and renewable energy fans everywhere the Renew-o-pedia went live today! Run on the software from the makers of the world-famous Wikipedia, the Renew-o-pedia will become a great source of information on everything you want to know about renewable energy. The goal is to make Renew-o-pedia accessible and useful to the average person.

For those unfamiliar with Wikipedia, it is a community edited online encyclopedia, and the Renew-o-pedia is the renewable energy version of it. Anyone can write or edit the information in any article, and can write new articles on new topics. Wikipedia has proven to be as reliable on most topics as the venerable and long ago established big names of the encyclopedia world. It does take vigilance and cooperation to keep a wiki working as a good product, but the combined efforts of many minds will keep the information current and high-quality.

So check it out, sign in, and start writing. This has the potential to be a powerful resource for a lot of people. Let’s make it happen!

Tesla has a very sexy new electric sports car that can go 0-60 in 4 seconds while lookin’ good the whole time!

Sexy Electric

It’s only a start, but it’s something. Cities around the country are starting to give a wider array of incentives to drive a clean car: like free parking.

Respect the Hybrid!

This is an excellent movie, and it makes GM look REALLY bad. I’m sure that GM will have plenty to say in defense, but I won’t be able to believe any of it after the strong case presented in the film. People were lined up, conducting a 24 hour vigil with money in their hands to buy the EV1 electric car, and instead of just selling the cars that were right there on the lot in working order GM crushed them. The GM spokesman said the cars were not being destroyed as we watched footage of the crushed cars. It’s astounding. From what I saw in the film, GM represents some of the worst traits of humanity. Their shortsighted, narrow-minded, greedy, wasteful, and self-centered view is really just sad.

GM is not the only one to blame though. If you really want to know who killed the electric car you will have to go see the movie. If you care about the big picture it is a must-see.

For more info and things you can do go to their website.

Let me just say upfront that I knew I was going to like An Inconvenient Truth before I ever even saw a preview for it. That being said, it is a great film. I thought Al Gore actually avoided being alarmist while he was sounding the alarm. Most environmental messages move very quickly into the emotional side of the argument, and while passion is important, it makes it easier to tune out for those who most need to hear the argument.

Al Gore provides mountains of evidence to back his claims, and dispells the myths so often spoken by those who are resisting change.

One of the really interesting things for me about this film is that for those of us who have been environmentalists for decades, there was almost nothing new. I didn’t know all the stats, and have never seen most of the charts, but the basic story is the same as it has been for twenty years. I’m really glad that Gore has finally managed to get the word out, and it amazes me that it has taken this long to reach the public eye.

I hope you will pardon my vast optimism, but everyone should see this excellent film, and together we can change the world.

For more information on what you can do check out www.climatecrisis.net and Five Simple Things You Can Do to Help Save the World