To quote Karen Carpenter, "Christmas cards have all been sent. The Christmas rush is through."

This holiday season, how many presents did you buy, either for family and friends or yourself? It's a rhetorical question but a very important one. Here's the related query: how much pollution did you generate in the holiday shopping season versus the rest of the year?

I ask because on the course toward sustainable and green living, it is important to understand exactly how much pollution is generated in the production of all goods and services. Without this knowledge, it is very difficult to measure your carbon footprint (your impact on the planet).

Last time, I introduced you to The Story Of Stuff, the best global warming video I've seen in months. As good as it is, this 21-minute gem is about much more. It tells us pretty much EVERYTHING wrong with our current industrial model and helps consumers understand the full sphere of environmental ramifications from our unsustainable ways.

In order to help capsulize Annie Leonard's many valid and urgent points, here are the top issues she raises in her magnificent work and what we should do about them.

The URL for the video once again is:

http://www.storyofstuff.com

1) We are running on borrowed time. Every year, the industrialized world presses further and harder into pristine areas in order to obtain an ever-shrinking number of natural resources. This is the exact opposite of sustainability. Global warming is a mere byproduct.

Not once during my years in school was I happy about taking a pop quiz. Hence, I won't burden you with one here. Nevertheless, I must ask if you watched The Story Of Stuff and absorbed its many important messages.

So, are you part of the golden arrow?

Last time, I gave you 3 key points from this exemplary and instructive 21-minute video. I have 2 more for you. They point to the need for a return to simple living. We can turn the tide on global warming. Simple living constitutes a key behavioral change and one of the best ways to stop global warming.

Now, on with the show:

One of the most underreported news stories of 2007 regarded the immense heaps of electronic waste which the western world (especially the United States) exports to countries with lax environmental laws and/or enforcement for "disposal". There are dumping firms in China and elsewhere which are more than happy to take our discarded cell phones, computers, MP3 players and television sets to be strewn along the countryside with little or no regard to people or wildlife. Of course, when they operate, such devices consume large amounts of electricity so we also must seek ways to stop global warming which allow us the amenities of modern electronic equipment.

On our great quest for ways to stop global warming, the question of carbon credits arises frequently. Now, there is an opportunity to achieve carbon credits as we engage in cell phone recycling. Who could argue with that, right? Certainly not I! Before we strike at the heart of the matter, though, we should begin with a refresher on my carbon credit definition.

Simply put, a carbon credit is a glorified accounting maneuver in which greenhouse gas emissions which are not supposed to be allowed at a particular location or in a specific region are permitted because emissions which permissibly would occur elsewhere do not happen. If one lives in the fallout zone of those emissions, such a person’s disfavor with the arrangement would be understandable. Measured on a planetary scale, though, a carbon credit can be an important interim point along the journey for a clean future.

Measured against inflation, the price of consumer electronics and information technology hardware has fallen precipitously over the last ten years. In fact, I remember when a decent large-screen television cost 3 months’ salary. Since I am a movie buff, the fact that I can watch a pristine DVD reproduction of my favorite filmed entertainment on a screen which fills my family room all for under $1,000 is exciting to say the least.

The down side, and it’s a big one, is that our move to high-definition, cutting-edge technology means that we will cast off (literally) tons of old equipment which has to go somewhere. Unlike some other types of trash, dumping or incinerating electronic waste should not be done because of toxic side effects such as dioxin. Land pollution facts tell us that burning hazardous waste can leave entire regions contaminated and uninhabitable for decades or centuries.

Where does that leave us? Since I am an environmentalist, it should come as no surprise that I advocate recycling electronic waste. However, that’s not always a practical option for folks. The good news is that government entities have begun to partner with manufacturers to provide collection points. An example of such collaborations is the Plug-In To eCycling initiative from the Environmental Protection Agency.

You can read more at

In some parts of the world, the Christmas season only now is in full swing. At Chez Kroehler, the gifts under the sustainable Christmas tree were unwrapped before Catrin and I were tucked snug in our bed on Christmas Eve and the decorations all were stowed before we opened the egg nog on December 31st.

I wish to begin the new year with an examination of a very important issue and statement of my formal position on the topic of working forests and sustainable commercial forestry. There is no lack of controversy on these marks but achieving consensus is vital if we are to embrace the full panoply of ways to stop global warming with the zeal they deserve.

One firm intimately involved in commercial forestry is Weyerhaeuser. I will make few friends in the inner circle of the environmental community by stating this but Weyerhaeuser must be treated as an ally if we are to progress toward a truly sustainable and environmentally just future. Indeed, Weyerhaeuser reforestation projects are the first aspect of the larger issue of working forests which I would like to engage.

Before I do so, however, I ask that you indulge me in a brief, interrogatory digression:

Was your 2007 Christmas tree paper or plastic?

One of the lessons of the E-IQ quiz which I assigned last week is that America’s forests are larger than in recent years. In all candor, that fact is in dispute. What is not in dispute, however, is that the commercial forestry industry does a far better job today of replanting than in any recent decades. Why? Part of the reason is that the general public has demanded the industry’s support in reversing air pollution and causes of global warming.

In the undated photo above, we see that the air between the forest and the snowy mountaintops is fairly clean. Sadly, such is not the case everywhere and while I concur that the forest products industry has cleaned up its act in the United States to a measurable extent, other places around the world continue to suffer from clear cutting and widespread deforestation at historic rates. Humanity must look past territorial boundaries and engage in wide reforestation efforts.

Last year, I wrote about how Florida’s Showcase Green Envirohome was born of family tragedy and natural disaster to become the world’s greenest and most hurricane-resistant home. Parts of that series were syndicated throughout the blogosphere because of the human tale it tells. In no way do I wish to grandstand on profound loss but human history is chock full of examples of how people turned lemons into lemonade and charted a new course for the future.

Right now, as you read this, residents of California are doing just that. So, even as the toll from recent forest fires there is tallied, it is time to spend at least part of the time pondering the ecological response. We need to rebuild businesses and homes which were destroyed, as well as many lives, but also restore the area’s natural beauty. So, I advocate that California forest fire updates henceforth take into account reforestation efforts whenever possible.

One organization with a proven track record of replanting fire-damaged areas is American Forests. The folks there are the real deal. That’s why Jim Griffin, the man with whom I created the Green Earth Expo, selected American Forests as the organization to plant trees from Expo proceeds to help offset the week-long event’s carbon footprint.

Residents of the Western world such as this author rail against needlessly wasteful forest practices as a significant inhibitor to reforestation. Our argument is valid. However, the air we breathe is blind to territorial borders, as are cyclones, forest fires and hurricanes. In short, if we wish to save ourselves from the worst effects of global warming, we need to take a global perspective on reforestation.

Poverty around the world, including fuel poverty, whether in cities or rural areas, is a big problem not just for the moral fabric of society but for environmental protection. What’s more, many of the regions with the most at-risk species of wildlife are desperately poor, with the average resident earning less than $2.00 per day.

Such regions also are fraught with civil war, coup d’etat activity and rebellion. Arguably the worst side effect of these conflicts between people is the fact that aid workers cannot do their job because of the danger – including the management of reforestation projects.

Since my previous column covered the role of plastic shopping bags in supermarkets, today’s installment may seem a departure. Trust me, my friend. The two issues are related. If we ever hope to succeed in jump starting reforestation projects around the world in order to return our biome to its pre-industrialization state, we must address the question of reforestation in conflict zones.

It’s time for me to hop on my virtual soap box, so to say. Plastic beverage containers are an environmental menace. Once quite rare, they have become so commonplace that millions of them are used once and then discarded every single day. The illogic of waste!

Recycling helps and the Cindy Crawford video excerpt which I would like you to watch explains that recycling is a very good thing. I have purchased a reusable water bottle much like the one in the Cindy Crawford video excerpt and encourage you to do likewise. However, the real solution is quite different and more difficult to achieve. What we ought to do is understand the role which water quality plays in the life of every living thing on earth. First, though, the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7wEiuaSbmo

There is no such thing as clean coal! Period!

In my first year as a Keyboard Culture Expert, I have mentioned my position on clean coal but never as affirmatively as right now. Why the change? Well, it’s not really a change so much as a tweak in my narrative style. It is precipitated by two events of historical significance.

Firstly, we have the nomination for President of the United States of Senator Barack Obama. No matter whether you follow politics passionately with an inclination toward one political party or away from another, or are lukewarm about all of it, you are or will become aware of the fact that Senator Obama’s nomination by the Democratic Party has caused a marked uptick in budget allocations for television advertising by fossil fuel companies, including mining interests.

In a word, fossilized conglomerates which have been embraced by many national politicians in recent years have become frightened. Whereas earlier in this decade they have spoken occasionally about clean coal technologies, now they can’t seem to refer to them often enough.

Since this is not a political blog, I will leave the matter there with a simple statement of fact. These companies are frightened.

Secondly, though, is the preceding event to Senator Obama’s nomination, the partnership between Environmental Defense, a standard bearer in the quest for a clean environment and a reversal of global warming, and one of the world’s largest investment firms, Kohlbert Kravis Roberts.

“We don’t want to spend taxpayer dollars on fuels that make global warming worse.”

– Hon. Kitty Piercy, Mayor

Eugene, Oregon

June 23, 2008

Last time, I gave you my position on clean coal technologies. They are a myth. However, since no reasonable environmentalist can expect the world to abandon coal overnight, the most important thing for us to do is disseminate the truth about clean coal technologies and drive consumers of coal toward clean, renewable resources.

One area where the environmental community can obtain the fastest results is in educating government bodies. NRDC, the Natural Resources Defense Council, is a very influential organization doing just that. The quote above came in part as a response to their work.

There’s an old saying which some believe originated as a Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. The new millennium certainly qualifies! It often seems that the weather has become our worst enemy. If I were a polar bear, I know that I’d feel that way.

Greenland photo credit: Kim Hansen

So far this month, I’ve been telling you about the significance of proclamations about global warming which have emerged from the scientific community this year. The news is not good. In fact, it’s horrible. All peer-reviewed predictions about the causes and effects of global warming are coming to fruition and it may well happen that next month, summertime melting of polar ice in the Northern Hemisphere will be complete. We could have an ice-free Arctic for the first time in the history of humankind.

That’s a very big deal. In fact, some of the more conservative estimates by very respected academic bodies gave us until 2050 before we’d see a completely ice-free Arctic, even in summer. They were way off. Why? Was there a flaw in their interpretation? Could it be that atmospheric carbon content is not the best measure of the doom we have leveled on ourselves?

Long before traveling to Australia for the third International Solar Cities Congress this past February, I knew that water swirls counterclockwise from a sink south of the equator, versus clockwise in Florida (and everywhere in the United States). I knew that it is caused by the Earth’s rotation and recently learned the name of the cause, the Coriolis Effect. When I finally drained a sink in the lovely seaside city of Sydney, I grinned.

Before I had the chance, though, I sat on the longest airline flight of my life, Honolulu to Sydney. I stared out the window for much of the journey and, oddly, the Pacific Ocean didn’t seem so deep from cruising altitude. The Pacific Ocean is big! My five-hour flight from California to Hawaii, the day before I flew to Sydney, proved that!

Because of this, of course, the Pacific Ocean has immense currents. One of the largest is known as the North Pacific Gyre. It, too, is caused by the Coriolis Effect and originates from the same Latin root which gives us the word gyrate. The North Pacific Gyre spans thousands of miles. Imagine a slow-moving undercurrent from the Aleutian Islands to Hawaii. Yes, it’s that big and it is in constant motion, just as the whole planet is.

Clear to Mostly Cloudy in Moments

The atmospheric patterns which give Florida its pleasant weather also used to provide it with adequate rainfall to keep skiable lakes and the aquifer topped off nicely during every month of the year.

Overdevelopment (which I refer to as urban sprawl), global warming and the El Niño effect have changed that in recent years. In fact, when I moved to Florida two decades ago, we enjoyed regular afternoon downpours during 9 months of the year or more. Residents, including this author, almost could set our clocks to the weather. If the time was 3PM, cloud fronts were due to begin building over the Atlantic Coast and move westward. If it was 5PM and the cable television or electrical service had not flickered, we were due for at least a brownout at any moment.

Different Pollutant, Similar Result

The world’s oceans are every bit as important to the inhabitability of the planet as forests and prairies are because they produce immense quantities of oxygen and, until we short circuited the atmosphere, absorbed billions of BTUs of solar radiation.

The oceans are their own unique biosphere, excreting and metabolizing in manners quite different from most terrestrial life. Like the rest of the planet, though, the atmosphere within the oceans is self-regulating, providing food and shelter in harmonious balance, until greedy Homo sapiens came along and treated the oceans like a garbage dump.

Soda Pop and Slushies

The dialog surrounding dead trees and bodies of fresh water in the Northeastern United States and Maritime Canadian Provinces (which I mentioned last time) ultimately yielded an hemispheric alert. Soon thereafter, the Clean Air Act of the United States was amended and updated to address acid rain, as it was known at the time, and thousands of lakes and surrounding forests were given a fair shot at recovery. As important as the landmark legislation was, though, it only postponed the inevitable, acidification of the world’s oceans.

If acid rain was caused by nitrogen and sulfur in smokestack and tailpipe emissions, why does an acidification problem remain if nitrogen and sulfur now are under control?

Bicycle Sharing Beauty

Vélib’, short for vélo libre, free bike, is an unparalleled success in the industrialized world. According to the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy, more than 1,000,000 people joined the Parisian bicycle sharing program in its first three weeks of existence.

What does this tell us? Three key points emerge:

The nose-bleed prices which motorists around the world saw during the first half of 2008 owe their heights to causes geological, psychological and political. However, no matter where we place the blame, the simple fact is this: with Iraq still producing a mere trickle of oil and the Saudi royal family struggling to perpetuate the myth that it can remain one of the largest oil producers in the world, demand will continue to outstrip supply for many years.

As you well know, dear reader, high fuel prices have broad impacts on the modern world and can drive us, pardon the pun, to desperate acts. One of them is a modern form of alchemy, the migration to water injection for gas engines.

In the United States, Mischief Night comes every October 30, a night when otherwise upstanding citizens do foolish things in the name of foolishness, such as adding sand, sugar or water to the fuel tank of a neighbor’s automobile. Such naughtiness generally causes more inconvenience than damage but the parallels to water injection for gas engines are most apt.

After all, if adding water to a fuel tank can lead to engine failure, water injection can’t be much better, can it? Could the solution to record fuel prices be that simple? If we approach the problem backwards, we may find the answer. After all, automobile tailpipes often drip water. So, there must be water in gasoline, right?

In order to help you understand all of the ramifications of water injection for gas engines, I will engage in a full explanation of the role of gasoline in the modern internal combustion engine in my next post.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Stepping Lightly

Back in December, I told you about the splendid online video, The Story of Stuff. It explains in brilliant terms the reality of pollution created in order to provide the amenities of modern life, including air pollution and the waste stream (especially landfills and electronic waste (ewaste)).

The main message of The Story of Stuff is to consume less. Naturally, I am in full agreement. It is a lifestyle I have adopted. However, since I wrote about the aforementioned exemplary video, the green revolution has made several key strides in the consumer marketplace. We have Clorox selling a line of green cleaners. We have Delta Air Lines embracing a green operating model in a very public way. So, with all this positivity occurring, how can you hop on the bandwagon and not just consume less but take the next step and become as green as possible?

Knowing, monitoring and reducing your carbon footprint are the key steps. So, how does that differ from consuming less? The two points most definitely are interrelated. However, leveraging the knowledge of your carbon footprint helps you achieve another vital aspect, insulating yourself from green washing.

A quick definition: Green washing is the willful process through marketing and/or propaganda of defining a practice, product or service as being sensitive to the environment or greener than that of a competitor when the opposite is true.

While measuring the carbon footprint of a practice, product or service is not the only way of determining the precise hue of its green credentials, it is the most meaningful and effective way of assessing its role in combating or exacerbating global warming.

The good folks at the Earth Day Network have created a brand new online calculator of everyone’s carbon (or eco) footprint. Arguably the most wonderful aspect of this nifty tool is the fact that it includes nationality in the calculation. I exhort you to surf over to www.earthday.net/ecofootprint today and assess yourself. If everyone did likewise, we’d be a whole lot wiser about where we stand on an individual and collective mark and have a serviceable grasp on the length of the journey which lies before us as we fight global warming and reduce atmospheric carbon footprint by 2% per year.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

New Approaches to Old Problems

Nearly a decade has passed since the Environmental Defense Fund, one of my favorite American charities, began its broad effort to reform the courier and freight industry. Contributing significantly to air pollution, smog and global warming, the hundreds of thousands of vehicles in use every day around the world to deliver goods on demand constitute a superb opportunity to engage the problem head on and collaborate with the courier and shipping services to help them improve their bottom lines and embrace sustainability at the same time.

While United Parcel Service, UPS, has engaged in its own laudable innovations with respect to hybrid-electric delivery vans, hydrogen fuel and enhanced route planning to reduce engine idling, Federal Express, FedEx, has been the true leader.

Roughly 5 years ago, FedEx agreed to a revolutionary partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund with a very simple goal: prove that hybrid-electric engines can work in the heavy-duty, stop-and-go daily operations of a typical FedEx delivery van just as well as dirty old diesel systems which FedEx uses every day. To call the initiative a success is an understatement!

Having surpassed the impressive milestone of 2 million miles traveled, the FedEx hybrid-electric operating model has proved itself day after day and the shipping leader is on track to have 170 of the rugged yet low-emission vehicles on the road by the end of this calendar year, operating in more than a dozen North American cities with a parallel program in western Europe ramping up.

I commend the leadership of FedEx for having an open mind about low-emission delivery vehicles at a time when petroleum diesel fuel cost less than $2 per gallon but this success story hardly ends with the impressive achievements of 2008. You see, the personnel structure of FedEx is tightly integrated. It is one of the reasons that the company consistently wins awards as one of the most admired employers in the world.

When delivery drivers who participated in the proving process for the hybrid-electric vans learned that they wouldn’t have to change their daily practices one iota yet would consume roughly half the volume of fuel per day that they had on the standard vehicle, they rejoiced and sent a clear message up through the management chain that they wanted to see FedEx embrace low-emission business practices wherever possible.

People Power Impresses Corporate Power Structure

The clamoring from the labor base of the company for a greater corporate posture toward environmental sustainability has led not only to the expansion of the hybrid-electric delivery van fleet but two other key innovations as well.

That’s right. FedEx is on track not only to have well over 100 diesel-electric delivery vans on the road but the shipping leader also has begun an important initiative to utilize hybrid-electric gasoline vehicles in North America. Long considered standard in Europe, the inclusion of a specially-designed hybrid gas model for the North American marketplace will give FedEx another distinction and competitive edge. For this reason, when I need to ship documents and parcels of high importance, FedEx is the only service I use.

Reducing fuel consumption, while vital, is only one side of the savings which FedEx has embraced. It also is a leader in covering the rooftop of no fewer than two of its freight sorting facilities with photovoltaic arrays. Oh yes, FedEx now has the largest corporate installation of solar generating capacity in the state of California with no plans to stop there.

Naturally, if we really wish to stave off the worst impacts of global warming, everyone must pitch in and do more. FedEx and its rivals have a long way to go. Nevertheless, the year 2008 has shown that it not only is possible but profitable for leading service providers from around the world to go green and as a consumer of such services, you can help commend companies such as FedEx for acting responsibly by voting with your wallet. I do and exhort you to follow my lead.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Carbon Credit Definitions Must Be Comprehensive

So, what is your ecofootprint? In my September 10 post I gave you the means to determine your carbon (eco) footprint with your nationality taken into consideration. So, once you know your footprint, what should you do?

The simple answer is that you should reduce it but, naturally, there’s more to the matter than a simple exhortation. Besides, by reading this thread, we know that you utilize a computer which is connected to the Internet and consumes electricity. In other words, you do not live the simple life of 200 years ago. You have embraced the modern, industrialized world. Hence, unless you are ready to embrace an agrarian existence, you need a way of reducing your carbon footprint to the same level as if you lived on a farm and grew your own food.

That’s where the carbon credit definition comes into play. Last summer, I explained how carbon credits work for purposes of consumers. I went on to list my favorite carbon credit companies and the reasons for my favoritism. I stand by those reasons every bit as much today as back then. However, the Environmental Defense Fund, a charity which all of my readers know that I adore, has created its own list at CarbonOffsetList.org

This wonderful section of the website of the Environmental Defense Fund does a fabulous job of explaining the charity’s carbon credit definition. As you will find from reading the list at CarbonOffsetList.org the Environmental Defense Fund focuses in like a laser on methane capture. There is no denying that capturing methane is a vital priority in the quest to stop global warming. I will offer no criticism of such an approach. However, I will add one point.

Global warming by definition affects the whole planet. There are billions of other inhabitants besides people. We rely on those inhabitants for the functioning of our biosphere. In other words, those inhabitants help pollinate crops and prevent rainfall from eroding our topsoil. Ergo, truly comprehensive solutions to such challenges as methane capture must protect habitat for wildlife in order to fit my short list of preferred options.

This is why I have become enamored with CarbonFund.org Its projects include methane capture and reforestation as priorities. After reducing pollution at the source, these two steps are the most important. No wonder that the Environmental Defense Fund has added it to CarbonOffsetList.org

CarbonFund.org belongs on everyone’s list and if you do not currently purchase carbon credits, the best time to begin is right now.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Newer does not always mean better. As a movie buff, I know this to be true. Still, there are other areas in which humanity’s progress truly improves upon the ways in which we used to do things. As regards personal transportation, especially in large cities, the first decade of the new millennium has produced mixed results. On the one hand, we have the Prius and Segway, both evolutionary leaps in the right direction. On the other hand, we’ve had the pervasion of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) on every continent.

As we seek to move ever more people and merchandise, we must find ways which consistently are better. No doubt you know by now that the Interstate Traveler is a great solution and I am pleased to inform you that it draws closer to breaking ground with each passing day. However, it cannot be everything to everyone. So, in order to solve all of the world’s ills in the realm of transportation, we need multiple solutions. Some, as above, will be modern; others will be retro.

Given the depth of the problem of air pollution and its march toward suffocating levels in most of our largest cities, urgency informs us that we should embrace whatever works so long as we keep our eye on the ultimate prize of 100% clean transportation. Luckily, by embracing assorted solutions in order to keep progress moving, we can solve problems of congestion at the same time.

Vehicles which are powered through the burning of fossil fuels operate at their dirtiest when idling and when first started. Congested roads cause thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dirty engines to run at their dirtiest for many hours a day every day. Naturally, this situation leads to smog and respiratory ailments for the people unfortunate enough to live in congested cities.

Traffic gridlock also places a large strain on municipal infrastructure due to fender benders and road surfaces which exceed their designed load factors. A vicious circle begins because cities with clogged streets spend too much money filling potholes and deploying traffic police and hence have inadequate funds to invest in mass transit systems.

The auto rickshaw may be an old solution to a very modern problem, however. In the second part of this thread, I will elaborate.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

The depth of the world’s air pollution and transportation problems is such that we need to embrace reasonable solutions wherever we find them, even if they are short-term remedies. It’s just that simple. The auto rickshaw, long a staple of urban transportation in many of our largest cities, has the potential to contribute greatly to our quest for permanent solutions.

Consider, it already is a popular means of metropolitan transport. Because its construction can be a combination of components both new and used from a variety of sources, there are fewer entrenched manufacturers to convince to build the machinery. Arguably best of all, since most of the vehicles have owner-operators who are interested in steady profits and cleaner air, engaging them to become part of the solution is relatively easy.

That’s why Tata Motors, one of the largest auto manufacturers in the world, is engaging the auto rickshaw marketplace with full force. Now with a voice just as loud as that of Ford and Chrysler, Tata Motors has realized that the future of its profit margins comes in affordable transportation. This also is the reason that local governments in India and elsewhere are awakening to the need to formalize an auto rickshaw-based transportation system, especially in those places where there is little or no funding for large infrastructure improvements such as bus rapid transit and light rail.

Where the auto rickshaw becomes really interesting is in the move away from fossil fuels. The first and arguably easiest step is toward clean-burning natural gas. Still a fossil fuel and thus a contributor to global warming, natural gas makes sense as a very short-term modification because it tends to be more plentiful than petroleum fuels and the engine modifications needed to use it in an auto rickshaw are relatively minor. Ethanol, hydrogen and/or ultra capacitors for running on electricity would be far better choices but also much more complex and expensive.

Naturally, this global warming expert knows that fossil fuels must become a thing of the past if we are to save the planet from ourselves but victory will not occur in one giant leap. It will be gradual. Our daily goal must be to accelerate the changes but perfect cannot be the enemy of good. The auto rickshaw is good because it is better than many alternatives but not perfect. For now, that suits me just fine.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Despite what many political candidates and incumbents espouse during election years, there is no such thing as clean coal. That being said, the immense contribution to global warming of the mining and burning of coal has the potential to be offset to a certain extent. To be clear, what I am about to share with you in no way addresses mercury hotspots or other mercury-related issues which arise from our reliance on coal.

Coal mines often contain byproducts which in some cases we capture and in other cases we vent into the atmosphere. Methane gas in a common example and, tragically, its ubiquity in mines is a leading cause of sudden disasters in mining communities. The geological history of our planet is one of the main reasons that the methane is present. The gas was created and compressed over eons of planetary evolution and then trapped beneath the surface. Slicing into the Earth’s crust to extract the coal can allow the methane to escape.

If we think of mines as rudimentary tombs, the potential for repurposing becomes an intriguing concept. After all, if the Earth’s crust was solid enough and strong enough to create and retain billions of BTUs of methane, might it not be possible to use this tomb concept to store other substances? Indeed it can and sequestration is the operative word!

Environmentally speaking, we should desist all coal mining today, right now as you read this. For a variety of reasons, that won’t happen so let’s make the best of a dirty situation. The same politicians who love to blather on about clean coal also are enamored with the concept of carbon sequestration as a means of fighting global warming. The hard science behind such positions indicates that it can help but is very, very far from being a panacea.

Nevertheless, the sequestration of carbon in mines can be an important stop gap measure which I support, mostly for sentimental reasons since it was the bitumen and coke previously located in the mines which brought us the climate crisis of the new millennium. What more logical place to store some of the byproducts is there?

In my next installment, I will share with you an encouraging yet distinct repurposing of abandoned mines. It does not sequester carbon directly but can result in significant decreases in the use of fossil fuels, having a similar net effect.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Last time, I told you about repurposing abandoned mines for carbon sequestration. While better than leaving them as useless crevasses, this approach has a new rival, aquaculture. You may be wondering how this could work. As it turns out, in some places it is highly effective.

One of the greatest impacts on the planet caused by global warming is shifting weather patterns, especially precipitation. This is the main reasons that Mount Kilimanjaro will be free of its permanent snow pack very soon. Fortunately, some places continue to have adequate rainfall throughout the year. One such location is the mountainous terrain of West Virginia, a spot, not coincidentally, with many abandoned mines.

The rainfall in West Virginia often accumulates in the mines. Luckily, the state of some of the mines is such that the water is suitable for raising fish with the only technical need being of circulating and purifying the water on a regular basis.

HOW ABOUT THAT!

The situation gets better, too. Because the large bodies of water are located deep underground, the temperature is fairly constant throughout the year and there is very little sunlight, which means that they are suitable for raising species of fish which grow naturally in the Arctic Ocean!

This wonderful practice is very real and occurring today. Ponder the possibilities! Appalachian aquaculture allows many of the most popular species of fish to be harvested much closer to most of North America’s urban population centers without endangering scarce natural stocks. What’s more, by growing millions of pounds of fish every year in close proximity to cities, carbon emissions are reduced greatly since much less fuel is consumed in the process.

TALK ABOUT A WIN-WIN!

Needless to say, I am very excited about aquaculture in abandoned mines and can’t think of a better way of repurposing these scars on the face of the Earth. It represents real progress and a delightful departure from the old ways of doing things!

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

A Picture Could Be Worth A Thousand Tons Of Carbon

Here at Keyboard Culture, I utilize repetition sparingly and only for dramatic effect. Indeed, I almost never exceed 3 parts in a series or posts on a particular topic. The greatest exception was my Global Warming Loser series back in May. During the second half of this year, though, I have engaged in an accidental series on environmental contests, as in who can write the most clever poem or story about the environment.

This was never planned but I am deeply gratified to leverage the broad readership of this blog to disseminate vital information. The Environmental Defense Fund already has been featured here for another contest and the deadline for that one has not yet past You can read more here but this latest offering from Environmental Defense has the potential to change another whole demographic group and I just had to share the details with you.

First a quick explanation of the topic...

In previous threads, I have told you about carbon credits. In essence, they allow us to pay money to use clean practices elsewhere as a replacement for the carbon which we produce through daily living. They are not the cure for the disease which is global warming. However, much like fighting malaria, they are an important tool in bringing down the suffering until we don’t need medicine anymore.

Carbon caps are the next logical step. They are a self-imposed limit on carbon emissions which can be utilized by companies, government bodies, entire industries or people. Whereas carbon credits merely place us on the path to recovery, carbon caps are the cure. Both approaches cause us to be aware of our carbon emissions but carbon caps limit our production of carbon, a key difference.

Well, carbon particles in the air are invisible except in the smoggiest cities. They are, to most people, an abstraction. So, how do we communicate such an ethereal concept to people in a persuasive manner which compels them to care about their carbon emissions and take steps to reduce them permanently? That’s where the Environmental Defense Fund enters the picture once again!

A leader among environmental non-profit organizations the world over, the Environmental Defense Fund is running yet another contest, this time for video or graphic submissions which convey a simple point about a solution to the greatest cause of global warming, the use of petroleum products for energy. Way to go, EDF!

The content does not have to be produced in a fancy software environment like Illustrator or shot on a professional soundstage in order to be considered a valid entry. The message is the key so if you have a creative bent, enter today. The URL with all of the details is

http://edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=27811

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

The Intercontinental Smog Express

I told you recently about the awful reality of the North Pacific Gyre, an informal oceanic garbage dump which is caused by casual dumping of solid waste at sea and along the world’s shorelines and formed by planetary wind patterns and water currents. Larger in area than the continental United States, the North Pacific Gyre is as large a stain on the face of the Earth as the unspeakable loss of tropical rain forests on most every continent.

Sadly, it turns out that there is something of an atmospheric cousin to the North Pacific Gyre, known affectionately among climatologists and meteorologists as the Chemical Equator. Confined to a range of latitudinal boundaries, the Chemical Equator is a vast pocket of dirty air which shifts throughout the year with monsoon winds but remains confined to the Intertropical Convergence Zone – a belt of low-pressure air which circles the Earth near the equator.

Driven by Hadley cells, the same results of solar radiation on the atmosphere as give us jet streams, trade winds and subtropical deserts, these cells occupy the intersection of the oceanic and atmospheric patterns of each hemisphere. Strangely enough, this chemical equator generally is dirtier in the north because the land mass north of the Equator contains millions more people than the south and thus millions of additional sources of air pollution.

What strikes me the most is that smoggy metropolitan and industrial areas have an effect so vast that it can be measured on a global scale. Now, thanks to the fine work of the Natural Environment Research Council in the United Kingdom and Clean Up The World in Australia, it is possible for each of us to see with amazing accuracy just where the results of the air pollution which we create will be trapped in the sky and rotated as the planet spins on its axis.

That’s right, through the power of Google Earth, we can see where the dirty air which we caused is located. Give it a try. You may find the results quite compelling. I know I did. Just visit the interactive map at

activities.cleanuptheworld.org

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Photocredit: sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov

During my first few weeks as a founding expert here at Keyboard Culture, I wrote that the quest to go green in the consumer marketplace (and thus score an important victory in the battle against global warming) necessitates  two key steps:

1) Enabling consumers to create their own demand for green products and services; and

2) Making the effort cultural

Simply stated, the environmental community faces something of a chicken-and-egg scenario in going green but market leaders such as Citibank are helping advance the dialog through broad efforts such as paperless initiatives. Operating in a manner which encourages customers and vendors to obtain their account statements exclusively over the Internet and pay their bills in the same manner, we can chip away at entrenched practices.

I am somewhat embarrassed to share that despite my passion for environmental causes, I resisted paperless statements from Citibank and other financial providers for many years. Because I also work in the information technology field, I had just as many technical reasons as I did emotional ones but it wasn’t until I had been an Internet power user for nearly a decade that I went fully paperless with my monthly bills.

The good news is that most financial services providers now offer paperless options, not always for the same reasons but the results are the same. Just look at the results which Citibank achieved with its credit card customers in the first 18 months of its cultural shift toward 100% acceptance of paperless statements:

• 1.8 million trees planted

• 6,800 trees saved thus

• helping make 14 national forests greener

Citibank is far from perfect, persisting in dirty lending practices to resource extraction projects in emerging nations (and we must continue to advocate for an end to such loans). Nevertheless, there can be no denying that customers of the credit card division of Citibank are experiencing a cultural shift, one which helps expand their comfort zone with respect to paperless billing statements and thus making them more open to doing business the same way with their electrical utility or their local tax directorate or other entity with whom they conduct commerce.

I commend Citibank and encourage its peers to emulate the mission statement listed below. It constitutes a very solid beginning for one of the world’s largest financial services institutions.

"We’re on a global mission. Citi is committed to directing $50 billion over the next 10 years to address global climate change through investments, financings and related activities to support the commercialization and growth of alternative energy and clean technology among the clients and markets it serves, as well as within its own businesses and operations."

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

In the industrialized world, transportation accounts for about 40% of air pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon. Since automobiles remain a growing trend within the industrialized world, they are a great concern to everyone fighting global warming. Naturally, I am convinced that the Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Superhighway is the best solution because it is clean but does not ask people to sacrifice car ownership.

I am equally convinced, however, that the only viable solution to reversing the global climate crisis is one in which cars are clean to manufacture, maintain and operate. Hyundai Motor Company, in partnership with CarbonFund.org, has vaulted into the pole position among the major automakers with its commitment to the Genesis Forest Project. This insightful initiative is key in Hyundai’s corporate commitment to offset 100% of the carbon emissions caused in 2009 by the manufacture of every car in the Genesis line sold in the United States, estimated at 3,000 vehicles.

Wow!

The good news continues, too. Hyundai will encourage its customers to contribute to the Genesis Forest Project in Brazil thus offsetting the operation of their cars. I congratulate Hyundai Motor Company for its bold step and CarbonFund.org for facilitating the online carbon calculator and other tools which allow Hyundai drivers to be greener.

I am equally pleased to share with you the fact that the Genesis Forest Project is no mere carbon sequestration site. Nay, it is a very progressive wildlife preservation project in the Cerrado region of Brazil, classified as a biodiversity hotspot. What’s more, the project embraces the Social Carbon Methodology.

What is that, you may ask? Here is a quote from SocialCarbon.com...

The Social Carbon Methodology uses a set of analytical tools that assess the social, environmental and economic condition of communities affected by projects, and demonstrate through continuous monitoring the project’s contribution to sustainable development.

In other words, when Hyundai offsets the carbon from its operations, it does not simply preserve habitat or replant trees, which would be good steps on their own. Instead, they engage with the local populations to create green, sustainable jobs, teaching the residents there how to earn a living through protecting their surroundings rather than slashing them. The chart below explains with visual impact just how the social benefits of clean operations intersect and are proportional. It is from the Araguaia Settlement community, one of the projects of the Ecológica Institute, creators of the Social Carbon Methodology.

In my next post, I will share with you the significance of the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards in the Genesis Forest Project.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Confronting Climate Change. Helping Communities. Conserving Biodiversity.

Last time, I told you about the Genesis Forest Project. I continue grinning from ear to ear whenever I ponder the broad ramifications. Then, I factor in adherence to the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards of ClimateStandards.org and nearly do a cartwheel. After many years of apathy toward global warming by most members of the business community, the climate crisis is gaining significant traction.

ClimateStandards.org is an alliance of key polluters, environmental advocates and researchers including such big names as British Petroleum, the Nature Conservancy and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Together, this alliance has created the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards. An impressive set of methodologies which evaluate land-based carbon mitigation projects in the early stages of development, the specific requirements call for participants to:

• Identify projects that simultaneously address climate change, support local communities and conserve biodiversity;

• Promote excellence and innovation in project design; and

• Mitigate risk for investors and increase funding opportunities for project developers.

What a powerful combination!

Naturally, I advocate strongly for everyone to embrace energy efficiency as my wife and I have and then purchase carbon credits for the rest. However, as our choices among carbon credit providers grow, we now have a layer of protection against substandard or myopic projects which sequester carbon but do little to assist local communities, create green jobs or foment innovation in the low-carbon economy.

Even if you do not own a Hyundai Genesis, you can offset the carbon emitted by your driving through Hyundai’s partnership with CarbonFund.org in which the Genesis Forest Project is the recipient of the proceeds of offsets purchased. That project adheres to the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards of ClimateStandards.org making the entire project a deep, lovely hue of green.

Keep at it, folks! You’re doing great!

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Since this is a global warming blog, it should come as no surprise that I perceive of petroleum in terms of its effect on the climate of our lovely planet. Such a perception, of course, is important. However, the process of delivering petroleum fuels to our local pumping station is complex and highly polluting.

Worse still, it is easy for the world to lose sight of the fact that only a fraction of the world’s oil is buried beneath desert sands. Most, in fact, is entombed by tropical rainforest or other territory which is important to wildlife and people, especially subsistence farmers. It is for this reason that petroleum companies owe a special debt of gratitude to the peoples who grant mineral rights to the oil beneath their feet. In some cases, though, such a debt is abused, as in the case of the Cofan Indigenous community of Ecuador.

For many years, Texaco, now part of Chevron, deliberately dumped waste oil from its petroleum mining activities into a river which its personnel knew was utilized by the Cofan people. As a result, many Cofan families suffered horrible side effects.

The new film [Crude details this horrible, deliberate and avoidable tragedy. I invite you to view the teaser and sign the related petition at

ChangeChevron.org

Even as we move into the era of peak oil, it is imperative that we never lose sight of the fact that our reliance on petroleum for energy causes a whole range of negative consequences, most of them avoidable if we exert will power. The poisoning of the Cofan Indigenous community of Ecuador is one of the sadder (but by no means saddest) results.

No member of the human race deserves abuse, particularly by greedy oil companies which use a portion of their profits to engage a propaganda campaign to convince citizens of the industrialized world that petroleum is not a dirty business. It surely is!

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

As displayed clearly from high above in this image, the Deep Horizon/BP oil disaster of 2010 has left a scar of unspeakable depth on one of the most biodiverse regions of the planet, one which may not recover for decades. In fact, I invite you to visit the special page which NASA has created on its website for assorted images and scientific analysis of the disaster. The URL is

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/oilspill

However, even as the world quite justifiably is focused on the catastrophic oil slick which covers thousands of square miles of beautiful seascape, it is vitally important that we focus on the larger question. Nothing good comes from burning fossil fuels, especially petroleum, for energy. Petroleum is poison.

We poison ourselves when we mine petroleum. We poison ourselves when we ship it. We poison ourselves when we refine it into any number of liquid fuels. Worst of all, we poison ourselves when we burn it.

I am certain that it will come to you as no surprise that I also am deeply concerned with the impact on wildlife of the devastation of the Deep Horizon/BP disaster. However, it is essential that we remember that many oil-producing regions which have few if any enforced environmental regulations have suffered a similar fate over the years, to grave results for people and animals.

When will the madness end?

Petroleum is poison. We need to our addiction now. Like many narcotics, abusing oil made us feel good in the early days. Now, it doesn’t provide a single moment of euphoria. So, what’s the point?

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

jpg credit: NASA JPL

I have followed with keen interest for years the rapid pace of advancement of engineered algae within the context of oil production and reclamation. Indeed, it was more than 20 years ago, after a major oceanic oil spill, that I learned that types of algae can be deployed on the surface of the open seas which quite happily eats the oil and leaves behind a benign byproduct which degrades harmlessly in salt water.

Beginning about 5 years ago, I learned of the promise of algae as a source of petroleum from various sources, including agricultural waste and urban effluence. Now, in the wake of the worst environmental disaster in America’s history, all of the aforementioned interests can be unified.

My friend Dave Hoffman of Oregon has provided me with exciting calculations of how algae can be deployed to the seas to solve our most pressing problem. Arguably the best news is that the algae can do its work right on the surface of our bodies of water.

To replace America’s domestic production of petroleum, we would need 15,000 square miles of surface area upon which harmful substances could be converted to petroleum or chemical precursors thereof, producing few if any harmful effects in the process. Granted, such a vast area would cover almost all navigable coastal waters of the United States but the statistic nonetheless provides encouraging insight into just how relatively minor a project it would be to clean the Gulf of Mexico and simultaneously begin a pilot project for harnessing energy stores along the surface of our waters rather than dangerously beneath them.

Algae for bio fuels and oil production or reclamation is an idea whose time has come and I urge every government of the world to embrace it zealously.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler