"Straight Up" by Joseph Romm—book review

Joseph Romm impressed me with his book, Hell and High Water.  He showed what lies in store for humanity if we don’t stop burning fossil fuels.  He also debunked the notion that hydrogen cars are a feasible alternative to fossil fuel cars in the next 20 years or so.  He made it clear that electric cars fueled by renewable energy are a necessity if we are going to avoid climate catastrophe.

Straight Up, published in 2010, is a compilation of posts from his popular blog:  www.ClimateProgress.org .  Most of the posts are from 2009 with a few from 2008 and a few from early 2010.  They cover the science of climate change, the clean energy solution, the right-wing disinformation machine, and why progressives are so lousy at messaging.  Romm does everything he can to stir us to action.

Which raises the question—with all this arsenal of facts, why aren’t people marching on the Congress to demand clean energy?

To me, the simple answer is that the oil companies run the media and the Congress, so people simply don’t have the understanding or the power to make significant changes.

However, somehow we have to be able to reach people.  I found the most fascinating of part of Romm’s book to be where he explores the nature of rhetoric.  He quotes Plato,

If a rhetorician and a doctor visited any city you like to name and they had to contend in argument before the assembly or any other gathering as to which of the two should be chosen as doctor, the doctor would be nowhere, but the man who could speak would be chosen, if he so wished.

And so it is that a scientist can be cut to shreds by a radio talk show demagogue.  Rhetoricians have understood for centuries that a winning strategy is NOT to appear smarter than your opponent.  Romm points out that Shakespeare has Mark Antony say “I am no orater, as Brutus is, but—as you know me all—a plain blunt man. . . .I tell you that which you yourselves do know.”

So to win the global warming debate, we have to get people to know what they already know—namely that the climate is changing.  That part should be doable.  Then we have to get them to understand that the change is caused by fossil fuels—that gets a lot trickier since people with what Romm calls Anti-Science Syndrome (ASS) throw all sorts of gibberish on the scientific reality.  And finally, we need to convince people that we can do something about it—and that means government intervention in a country where people love to hate the government, and it means we need to throw out the good oil boys from Congress where corporations are now allowed unlimited spending to buy elected officials.

One weakness of the book is that in 2009 Romm was a bit too hopeful that Congress would pass the Waxman-Markey bill, which was scuttled by the Senate, and is now dead with the House of Representatives under the control of the Republicans.  But Romm’s daily posts on ClimateProgress are the best source that I have seen for up to the minute reporting on the rapid deterioration of earth’s climate, the battle to cut fossil fuels and support clean energy, and the challenge to learn how to talk about all this is plain, blunt terms.

Tornadoes, floods, rising seas--oh my!

Cartoon from the SF Chronicle--6-19-2011

And here's another one that tells it like it is:

from Funny Times, June 2011

Tahaka Road show.

I am glad to communicate the timely event staged by Samora Ramusa and the entire Tahaka crew, which took place in South Africa began on the 16th of june 2011.
A showcase of craftsmanship,innovation and design was the name of the game. A roadshow that brought African Automotive design to the forefront, inspiring the youth of Africa. The the unique low profile sports car is the vision of Samora Ramusa a young African visionary of our time. More will be updated on his developments and the Tahaka design group.

Coal vs. Solar

The price of rooftop solar is already lower than new natural gas peaker plants or nuclear power.  Figure 1, below, shows the rapidly declining price of solar power.   According to an article on Climateprogress.org--(see solar is ready for the full article) by 2015 solar will be competitive with coal.  Since it takes 6 - 8 years to bring a new coal plant on line, any investment today in a new coal plant will be cost ineffective by the time it is built.  See Figure 2, below.

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Not only does it make no sense to build new coal  fired power plants, but it is time to start shutting down the existing plants.  See the documentary "Last Mountain" for some good reasons why (in addition to global warming)

Movie Trailer for Last Mountain

Tahaka (South Africa)

Tahaka is a young and new emerging auto design and production company which will soon pave way to Africas auto industry. The founder of this unique design movement is Samora Ramusa. He points out by saying "We are currently focusing our energy on supercar production while developing an institution that is non-existent in Africa, which is called auto-design. Due to material, machinery and financial limitations, Tahaka will focus on craft production until adequate development. For now our prime focus is on generating public awareness, generating funds and developing ourselves, to the like of the world of the supercar producers". Through this process we will develop the youth of Africa and create an environment that will shelter their ideas and let them expand their thinking abilities. Tahaka will have a road show showcasing their innovations with the following objectives.

• To highlight the foresight of the youth
• To trigger the young creative minds
• To showcase our hard work and intellectual property
• Empowering the youth with positive examples and innovative products
• To mobilize and unite the youth and community(community gardening, library and design centre)
• Exposure for Tahaka as a brand and movement
• Boost our people’s Self-esteem
• An opportunity to get support from our own home base
• why we are keeping the road show as a local event

 We greatly appreciate the opportunity to be exposed on a national level
we are more than willing to share Tahakas objectives, aims and goals.
why we will not make the car as a subject matter of the interview

 We rather generalise on our side projects than focus on our current project as many Ideas which Tahaka would like to share with the nation

 youth development via design centre
 Auto design institution in the making
 Revival of the robot contest
 Agriculture programme
 Sketch design book compilation
 Tahaka as a movement (uplift and develop the community through technology)
 Creating a global platform where young African youths can exchange ,assist and develop concept design from all spheres of discipline e.g social networks(facebook AADA)

Plus Or Minus Ten Round Up

Ever have one of them days where you wake up in a puddle of your own vomit only to realize later that the vomit wasn't your own after all? I never did but I figured it would be a hilarious and irrelevant segue into this month's round up for a challenge called...Plus or Minus Ten...where we take the year we were born, then add plus or minus ten years, then build accordingly. This challenge best portrayed a generational divide between the youngsters and their super modern rides and the oldsters who preferred to keep them the hell off their lawn. And we all overlapped somewhere in the 80's. Lets see how we did, shall we?

Born in '98, Dohoon Kim goes plus ten with this 2008 KTM X-Bow. I had to look it up but its a real car that seems to be a cross between a go-kart and a formula 1 racer. I woke up today (not in a puddle of vomit) not knowing what an X-Bow is and now I want one!



And speaking of things I want, Legogil goes minus ten with this flashy red '67 'Stang Shelby GT500. That grille, those headlights, the white rally stripes, the big engine, the aggressive stance, the roulette wheel rims, even the corrugated seats are all Mustang, baby!



Its been awhile but Lego Guy graces us again and goes minus ten with this 1982 Series 3 Land Rover. The blue light on the roof denotes that its some kind of emergency vehicle....exactly what is the emergency at hand is a little unclear. Maybe someone ran out of hot sauce at a chili cook-off. That's a major emergency, for sure!



And speaking of hot sauce emergencies, something else that raises my core temperature is this '81 Harley Davidson FLH 1340 as built by the chrome master himself, Bricksonwheels. He went plus ten with this chrome-laden marvel making Mr. 'Wheels and I the exact same age. Now why didn't we do a buddy challenge on this one? Oh right, too busy doing our own thing.



Speaking of my own thing, Lino Martins goes minus ten with this wild custom '61 Dodge Polara called Aztec Gold. Chopped, lowered, with a ruby dazzled grille and a fiery lowrider paint job, this doozie ought to stand out at any car show or brick convention.



Born in '72, Lego911 shows the young whooper-snappers and grumpy old men alike how its done with his first of many entries, this one being an '82 Porsche 944 Coupe rendered in luxurious, yet demure grey.



If demure luxury is not your thing and you'd rather let your mullet flap in the breeze while rockin' out to Led Zeppelin, Lego911 conjures up what the cool teens were driving with this '82 Chevy Camaro. Bitchin' Dude!



Just to show off his versatility with the rendered bricks, Peter shows us what the more forward thinking sportier types were driving in '82...the Ford Sierra XR4Ti.



Europeans and sensible types were driving the BMW E30 3-Series M-3 back in '82. Undoubtedly they wore skinny piano ties and listened to Human League's "Don't You Want Me" on their tape decks. CD's didn't come out until '85, kids. Just thought you'd like to know that.



And what were Europeans and sensible types doing twenty years prior? Turns out they were driving the '62 1500 BMW Saloon. This car defined the iconic BMW DNA (and incidentally their financial security) for the next 50 years. And what were they grooving to on the radio back then? Probably "Green Onions" by Booker T and the MG's.



Penguins aren't just arctic birds and Batman villains anymore. And it isn't just youngsters who make up their own cars. Peter was a youngster once and back then he made up the boxy '82 Penguin. This car may seem uneventful, but it marked the beginning of a looooong prolific career of both LEGO car design and real car design. Good to see he stuck to his roots!



And back in '62 when suave and debonair men were drinking their martinis shaken, not stirred, they were doing it in the stylish
Ferrari 400 Superamerica Coupe Aerodinamico. It was a different time back then...you could drink behind the wheel so long as you were classy about it.



In '82 Sweden introduced the Volvo 740 Estate wagon and the 760 Saloon. Even though it was more of a 70's Disco thing Sweden was still listening to Abba in '82. In fact, Abba is still a national treasure there and its against the law to badmouth them...its an enforced arrest-able offense. Go ahead, look it up, its all true!





And in '82 when cruel and ignorant men were taking over major corporations, they were doing it in style with this Ferrari 512 BBi - Boxer Berlinetta. Also they had sultry nearly naked women strewn across the hood as evidenced by all the Ferrari posters in the 80's.



And when you want to leave the 80's behind you would be Gillies Villeneuve and you would do it in your '82 Ferrari 126 C2. Peter tells us '82 was a dark year for the entire Scuderia Ferrari team as not only did they lose their popular Villeneuve but another driver was involved in a career ending accident. Yowza!



Now this is just the kind of buddy challenge you want to see. Nathan and Ralph were both born in '75 so the Jack of All Trades and the Maestro of the Studs collaborated to come up with this neat pair of brown Caddies, Nathan with the '85 and Ralph taking on the 20 year older '65. Both are using Ralph's Devil May Care Lettin' All The Studs Show style. Ya gotta love it!





It was a different time when I was born, way back in '71. Smoking a lot and putting out a cigarette on your kid's arm was considered good parenting. But being born in '93, thankfully Aaron F1 knows nothing about that world as evidenced by this sweet little '83 Lamborghini Countach LP500 QV.



I bet that cruel little segue surprised ya, didn't it? What can I say, I was bored and wanted to see if you were paying attention. What didn't surprise any of us though is the fact that Jmaokoen has built yet another F1 racer. This one is a 1985 Brabham BT54.



Krika99 tells us the Bat-Pod ejected from the bat Tumbler in 2008. Its true, too. I've got the Dark Knight DVD right here to prove it. It seems like just yesterday I was watching that and thinking Sweet Baby Jeebus, how cool is that!? And in the whole scheme of things it seems like just yesterday that Krika99 was born. In '98 I graduated from college.



Rolic breaks all the rules with this '99 SAAB 9-5 wagon first manufactured 10 years before the birth of...his baby daughter. He tells us the rule breaking would offer some irony for the round up but I think the irony started right in the opening paragraph and just got way more twisted from there. Here's to a bright future for his little girl...and the SAAB is pretty sweet too.



And speaking of a young man with a bright future, Raphy chimes in with this 1987 Chevrolet Camaro in Gumball livery. I wonder if that's the same as gum ball livery? 'Cuz gum balls can be pretty colorful, right? No? Anyway, sweet Camaro. It just needs a high school dropout with a mullet and a black led Zeppelin T-shirt...and maybe a thin mustache. Chicks dig the 'stash!



Chicks might also dig this '67 Chevy truck as built by Tim Inman and best known for the fuel heist scene at the beginning of Fast and Furious 4. Then he goes on to tell us he was born, in '81, not '77 but the '67 shares a body style with the '71. Now I'm all sorts of confused but that must be all the chrome. You see, I'm like a goldfish, as soon as I see something shiny I forget all that I know.



Ok, what was I doing here? Oh right! Wrapping up this round up and talking about the next challenge. This one is called Cars, Too and is sort of a Cars 2 tie in with any other car with a face. The skull and cross bones blazoned across the hood of the Death Proof Nova would totally work for this challenge or anything from children's illustration book would work as well. How will we...um...Face off in this challenge? You'll just have to stay tuned next time to see! Get it? Face off. Hah! I can't believe how funny I am! Can I get a hell yeah all up in here?! C'mon, who's with me?! Ahh forget it then! See ya next time.

Excellent video about the Volt and solar panels

Please check out this video about the Volt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsZVOUfJVCE&feature=player_embedded

What does a Chevy Volt cost?

I've been using the manufacturer's suggested retail price of $40,295 for making cost calculations. But the reality is that the Volt is in such demand that most dealers are marking it up. We bought our Volt from F.H.Dailey in San Leandro. Their markup was $3,220. Our salesperson, Jim Moran, told us that that the markups have ranged from $2,500 to $5,000 for the 17 Volts that they have sold. He expects that this markup will continue with the 2012 model since they will once again still only have about 17 Volts to sell.

He explained that GM will be making 30,000 - 40,000 Volts for 2012 and that these will be sold in 47 states. California will still only get about 4,000 Volts. He said that the reason for the markup is that the volume is so small that the dealer needs to mark up the price to make a profit. I also think that the law of supply and demand is at play here--the car is in high demand, so the price goes up.

The June 3 LA Times reports that some dealers are marking up the price by $20,000! Some are also claiming that the cars are "used" even if they only have 100 miles on the odometer. In that way the dealer can collect the $7,500 tax credit--unscrupulous, but apparently not illegal.  Chevy says they cannot find any evidence of this practice and are investigating--stay tuned.

On the bright side, I have read that the 2012 Volt will qualify for California's $5,000 tax credit for electric vehicles. Apparently the 2011 model did not qualify since the battery did not have a 150,000 mile warranty (it has 100,000 miles) and the gas generator could not guarantee low enough nitrogen oxide emissions.