June 2009

  • The Problem with Drivers/Driving in the Seattle, Bellevue, and remaining Puget Sound Region

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    Submitted by Printhethrin on 6/25/09 11:04pm

    All day long, I drive the I-5 corridor for work. Sometimes it makes me want to rip my hair out. I have to schedule my appointments around traffic because if I want to go anywhere in a reasonable amount of time, it requires planning and knowing the streets. There are many types of drivers in the Puget Sound area piss me off, so here's a few I would like to share with you.

    1) Rushing to Work Guy
    What he looks like: He's driving kind of slow, and you keep seeing him bobbing his head up and down. Read more

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  • Bio- Jet Fuel?

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    Submitted by ecoscott on 6/23/09 10:28pm

    Biofuels are one of the buzz words that get thrown around whenever politicians or barstool environmentalists talk about how we can solve the issues of global warming and climate change. As defined by Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel), “Biofuel is… solid, liquid or gas fuel derived from recently dead biological material” -so it must be good for the environment- that’s the line of thinking.

    Here in not the time or place to delve into the truth and/or shadows of those claims. It is enough to know that biofuel is less destructive in general to the Earth than digging up and burning fossil fuels. When we look at some of the biggest polluters, a few other buzz words come to mind: cars, industry and of course airline travel. Anyone who has done a personal calculation of their “carbon footprint” on the Internet will tell you that adding a plane flight or two sends their carbon footprint literally into the stratosphere. Read more

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  • Use Your Horn, Fool

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    Submitted by sarajean on 6/21/09 9:44pm

    June is Drive Safe Month, and while we all like to think that we’re great drivers, the truth is that somebody out there has to be a crappy driver. Otherwise, how would we have over 41,000 people dead last year alone from drunk driving?

    Here are just a few stats and facts for you: Read more

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  • Cellulosic Ethanol: Escaping the Food vs. Fuel Debate

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    Submitted by ecoscott on 6/13/09 9:05am

    The biofuel arm of the clean energy movement is one clouded with confusion, misinformation and a lot of "I don't know what that means" kind of names.

    Here is how biofuel conversations tend to go with my friends:

    Friend 1: What exactly is the definition of a "biofuel?"

    Friend 2: It's, like, fuel that's organic or something. You know, like fuel that's good for the earth.

    Friend 1: Like wind?

    Friend 2: No, like gas that is made from plants or something, or like how you can get the old french fry grease from McDonald's and run your car on it- my friend from up north did that- he retrofitted his BMW to run on cooking oil and drove across the state just stopping at McDonalds! No, I'm serious...

    Today, the conversation would be slightly more on topic, or maybe just slightly more full of posturing and making stuff up:

    Friend 1: Dude, what's cellulosic ethanol?

    Friend 2: I think ethanol is when you make gas out of corn. Read more

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