Friday, December 30, 2011

Packing List

-hiking boots
-baseball cap
-sunscreen
-chapstick
-fleece socks
-lodge reservation
-little black dress
-heel-y shoes
-fancy earrings
-paperback novel 
-dinner plans
-ice skates
-ready, set...

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Somewhere In Nebraska...

Thanks for the image, S

Post Holiday

M had the flu on Monday. Our post-holiday dinner plans were a no-go.

I broke the news, along with M’s apology, to N as we drove home from her tennis clinic. The hug I was also instructed to deliver would have to wait a little bit. We were in a moving vehicle. The seatbelts presented an obstacle. 

N took the news pretty well. She blinked at the empty landscape outside the car window and wondered out loud, “Well, who ~is~ coming to dinner?” 

It made me chuckle. Rather than the regular fall-out from Christmas candy sugar high, or the particular heartbreak of waking up to a morning without presents and stockings the holiday crash for this nine year old was an uncrowded dinner table.

The Bike Kitchen


Across the alley from me, in a house that lay dormant for a long, long time, sits The Bike Kitchen. It's a volunteer shop that welcomes people to bring their bikes and to learn how to fix them up. You can also get miracled by The Bike Kitchen by a fixed-up or rebuilt bike that has been donated. 

This Bike Kitchen is a departure from the pretense you'll find in some bike shops. They'll never snicker or roll their eyes at your curled under handle bars, your ancient ten speed, or tell you this bike isn’t a good enough bike to bother fixing. I wouldn’t begrudge anyone with the skill level or the cash from having the very best ride a bike can offer. I also believe biking's price of admission shouldn’t require a tricked out, custom-built, titanium frame. 

Growing up the rule in my house was that nobody got a bike before we were ten years old. At ten I got a baby-blue dirt bike with white rimmed tires and a banana seat. My mom found an ad in the Thrifty Nickel that said something generic like “girls bike”. We went over to the seller’s house, walked over to the side door of his garage while he wheeled the bike onto the lawn. He dusted off the seat and batted off the cobwebs from between the spokes. It was twelve dollars. And it opened up a wider world to me. Libraries, swimming pools, friends’ houses and flat out farther reaches of my neighborhood were within a short ride.

The Bike Kitchen has a broader field of vision than the semi-pro or racing enthusiast and sees people like me. Twenty-some-odd years after my banana seat dirt bike days I still ride. I’m not particularly fast nor accomplished as a biker but that was never my aim. Cycling is fun, it’s healthy, it’s environmentally conscious and a cheap way of getting around town.

The Bike Kitchen operates by a philosophy that anyone that wants to be biking should be able to for free. Yep. Free. No money is required. Financial donations are welcome. The more valuable donation, though, is your time. And the volunteer base that sprawls across the front lawn with wheels and pedals and wrenches in the air is pretty amazing. People volunteer their time helping others fix their bikes, or fixing up donated bikes to give away, or helping in the backyard vegetable garden.

I don’t mean to be coy about this so I’ll just say so out-right: The Bike Kitchen is a really great neighbor.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Peace on Earth

Ah. Coffee, slippers, pig-tails & a round or two of table-tennis. Quite a morning. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Champagne After

My friend, T, works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He works in a lab restoring armor.
A young couple was visiting the lab, and the fellow proposed to his fair lady. The ring was hidden inside a fifteenth century helmet. Boy was she surpised! I think she said 'yes' since everyone shared some champagne afterwards.

Brainiac

Green Roofs

ERIN DUERR /Journal Star file photo
It looks like Lincoln will have another green-roof  dotting the upper portions of the city. The Urban Development Department is working on a plan to build an 11,500-square-foot green roof on a building bound by by 13th, 14th, P and Q streets.


I'm a big supporter of finding a purpose for unused spaces. Fire escapes, alleyways and roof tops are the sorts of platforms that people glance at but largely ignore. Chicago made a concerted effort to green their rooftops a couple of years ago and found that green roofs last longer than conventional roofs, provide natural insulation and thereby reduce energy costs, create peaceful retreats for people, and absorb storm water.

On a wider scale, green roofs improve air quality and help reduce the Urban Heat Island Effect, a condition in which city and suburban developments absorb and trap heat. Remember the blisters you got as a kid when you who has walked across a scalding parking lot in the summertime? Your feet felt the effect of an Urban Heat Island.

One of the most famous American green rooftops, Chicago's City Hall, combines extensive, intensive, and the intermediary semi-intensive systems on one retrofitted roof. Under the Mayor's direction, the City of Chicago's Department of Environment City Hall pilot program kicked off a citywide push to support green rooftop systems with incentives and grants.

A survey of Lincoln's green rooftops is rather impressive, actually:
  • The Arbor Day Foundation installed a 7,369-square-foot green roof
  • Color Court installed a modular style green roof that covers about 20 percent of the roof
  • The Prairie Building at the Pioneers Park Nature Center Prairie Building has a green roof planted with drought-tolerant plants
  • The former Whittier Junior High has a small green roof that serves as a test plot for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Sandhills Publishing installed a 2,000-square-foot green roof on part of its parking garage last year.
  • An 8,000-square-foot green roof has been planted on the new Assurity Life Insurance Co. headquarters

According to calculations by the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District  a 7,900-square-foot green roof system has the potential to capture, store and use nearly 100,000 gallons of rainfall and snowmelt annually that normally would end up in city storm drains.

In a town of this size I think that's a pretty impressive inventory. I'm glad to think we'll have one more to add to the list.
 

Canned Food Drive

Poster Artwork by V.
Thank you to everyone who participated in Prescott Elementary School's Roots & Shoots service project this winter. Our Canned Food Drive raised 377 lbs of non-perishable food donations for the Lincoln Food Bank

Since the average person eats approximately 25lbs of food a week Prescott's donation was roughly equivalent to feeding a family of three for five weeks. Wow!

Graph Slacker

At the end of every year I put together an Annual Report for my job performance. It's been a busy year. 

With EPA regulatory engines hitting overdrive and the features of a fossil-fuel limited world coming into focus - I had a lot to talk about. Mix those essential ingredients with my seasonal sugar-high and over-achiever tendencies and this annual report got a little out of control. I'll spare you the details but by running the numbers you'll get the gist:

23 Pages of Text
1 Table of Contents
17 Report Sections
3 Glossy Photos -- gosh, those were pretty
4 Data Tables
3 Footnotes

No comb binding, no color graphs. I know, I slacked on the graphs. But I have to leave room for ~something~ new next year. 

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Sandhills Trip

N's Vacation Wish Was to Practice Tai Chi On A Rock

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Compressed Air Energy Systems


Nebraska Public Power District continues to close in on compressed-air systems as a viable form of generating electricity. 

They've developed an innovative energy project which stores compressed air in one of the panhandle’s geologic formations 3,000 feet below ground, then uses the same pressurized air to turn a turbine and produce power. There are, maybe, two systems like it in the world. 

The salt dome geoformation outside of Big Springs , Nebraska was a natural gas reserve the oil and gas industry tapped in the 1950s & ‘60s. The same site was used for natural gas storage in the 1990s which means the rock formation is both sealed and breathable. In other words the rock lets the gas both in and out which indicates site provides sufficient pressure, support of the air injection process and produces good air with drawl rates. 

In October, NPPD’s board of directors approved utility staff to begin negotiating a lease agreement with the land owner and development of an Air Injection Test plan. Pushing some rough preliminary numbers the production of electricity from a compressed air system would cost NPPD $1,200 to $1,300 per kilowatt. 

It’s an exciting project. One I'll be glad to watch develop. To learn more, check out this powerpoint presentation.

Holiday Cut

Rewind a couple of years and land yourself at a Christmas occasion with me in our late-late twenties with my new baby.
 
So, with this rewind, I'm twenty-nine and N is in my arms for every holiday occasion. My bloodshot eyes sting from the cameras and the flashbulbs going off everywhere. Who knew my parents could lead a double life as members of the paparazzi? N was so darned cute, and my family so dear that the holiday was still a good time. 

Weeks later I clicked through the digital Christmas photo files on my mom's computer in one of those side-show type set ups. To show my parenting bias I must say that N was a stunner. Frame after frame she was just captivating. Blending together the best features of her mediocre parents and kicking it up a notch with her sweetness and...well...she is exquisite. Always has been. Not that I'm biased. I sat on my mother's floral print couch, cooing over photos of this gorgeous creature that is my kid and wincing at the pale, pasty-faced person with greasy hair holding her. 

Whoever you are, wherever you're naturally inclined to fall in the powder puff scale of personal appearance (whether you're well assembled and spotless every morning or the sort of person who gives your crumpled shirt a sniff-test on your way out the door) newborns will take you down a notch. Maybe two. My new parent personal appearance descent is excruciatingly well documented from that first Christmas. Tinsel sparkling in the background.

You can end the rewind on the tape there, thank you. For the record: I no longer own the shirt I was wearing. I should have given it more than the sniff test that morning.

N is nine years older and just lovely. I've had a little more sleep and also made a holiday habit of getting my hair cut just before the family gatherings commence. My appointment is this week.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Pre-Holiday Weekend Numbers Game

32: Chocolate-chocolate-mint cookies baked
2: Acts of the Play N & Co. Performed in Both English & Mandarin 
7: Christmas Ornament Crafts N Made with Sam & the Girls
90: Minute Hike in Wilderness Park with Ms. B
2:Christmas Trees Trimmed at Our House
8:Trips to the Grocery Store
3: Parlor Games Played
4: Chapters N & I Read of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

Conserve...C'mon, Everybody's Doing It

You've seen those door hangers in the hotel bathroom, right? The ones that encourage everyone to reuse the towels? 

These door hangers will typically rely on the "Save the Planet" line of reasoning. The environmental benefits of electricity and water conservation. It's you're gut instinct, isn't it? Sell somebody on the merits of conservation, and they'll conserve.

Turns out there are a fair number of people for whom the "Save the Planet" message finds fertile ground. Hook, line, sinker. They'll reuse their towels.  But there is a larger group of people for whom the social norm argument is much more persuasive. 

Somebody, somewhere performed a hotel door-hanger study. There were two sets of text: one with your typical "Save the Planet" message, and another which mentions 75 percent of hotel guest reused their towels and asked this guest to do likewise. 

The research documented a 20 percent increase in towel reuse when the habit was more of a social norm than conservation effort.

Mulago Foundation


Each Holiday Season I'll gift a cause or charitable group. I figure if I'm finding enough money to buy trinkets and stocking-stuffers that might or might not be used by familiar faces I can certainly kick a little money toward world needs. 

Among non-profits there is a well oiled machine that makes holiday donations easy. Because my donations move around I'm on a lot of donor lists. This means I get a powerful amount of mail this time of year to comb. A lot of good work and inspiring stories find me and it's hard to select where or what or who to select each year.

What I like about Starr's presentation is that he tasks the giver with transforming their good intentions into community and world impact. To look past the theoretical potential of a cause to the actual outcomes. He provides a series of criteria to evaluate the impact potential of giving. I found this lecture both moving and helpful.

Starr heads the Mulago Foundation, a philanthropic fund that acts more like venture capital for upstart world-changers than a typical foundation. Mulago's Scalable Solutions Portfolio includes promising smaller development organizations like KickStart, Samasource, and the One Acre Fund.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Green Job Growth

Despite perennial efforts to pit jobs against environmental regulations recent analyses would suggest the U.S. EPA's regulations are actually creating jobs rather than eliminating them.

The University of Massachusetts evaluated the job market impact projection from two rules which will force the power sector to make substantial capital purchases for infrastructure upgrades and pollution control equipment. Their findings indicate these two rules will  require about 1.46 million years of new labor to make those changes happen over the next five years -- the equivalent of 290,000 full-time jobs.

I would never dispute the real and sizable costs of compliance which would run in the ballpark of $200 billion. However, at this point, it isn't just the greenies saying these jobs would make a much-needed dent in unemployment. The clean energy and energy efficiency sectors are among the fastest growing segments of the nation’s economy. These job markets are putting people back to work and attracting new opportunities and investments to countless communities across the nation.

On top the jobs benefit, environmental regulation serves as a catalyst for industries to upgrade, innovate and evolve. To do so the nation builds a diversified and skilled workforce. The EPA also tasks industry with solving problems that markets ignore like environmental and public health.

According to the Office of Management and Budget, the EPA generates up to $551 billion in economic benefits every year. A 2010 analysis of rules passed in the prior decade,  calculates the benefits-to-cost ratios across various government agencies. The EPA came out on top with the highest ratios by far, with benefits from its regulations exceeding costs by an average of more than 10 to 1.

The net benefit of compliance boosts GDP in the long run by creating livable wage jobs and making communities both healthier and more productive.

Runs The Whole Show

N: Mom, you know I don't believe in God, right?
Me: Yep.
N: And that doesn't make you mad does it?
Me: No, faith is an extremely private matter. It's not up to me whether you believe in God or whether you don't. You have to find something that works for you on that score. 
N: OK. Because I don't think there is a God but I do believe in a Higher Power.
Me: Yeh?
N: Yeh. Here, I'll draw you a picture of what I mean. 

[She draws the night sky on 1/2 of a page of paper. Points to the seam between the stars and the blank page]

N: I think something lives on the edge of the universe. I call it a Higher Power. It isn't a person but it runs the whole show: the planets, the science, the seasons and traffic lights. It's made up of magic and dust.

Richard III

Now Is The Winter of Our Disco Tent
Thanks, C, for the link!

BSG Addiction

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Academic Record

I was crouched down in the front hallway of L’s house, last week, zipping up my Calc III notes & textbook into the big mouth of my backpack. My brain was fogged up from the past 90 minutes going over the highlights of the course material and preparing for my final exam. 

At the doorway we were saying our good-bye’s and have-a-nice-holiday’s when L started fidgeting, a little awkwardly, and said…

“I want to congratulate you on completing this series of calculus courses. A lot of people would have started with a stronger background in math, had more recent coursework, or been handed less challenging material and they would have given up. You have worked exceptionally hard. I really admire how you’ve stuck in there.” 

It was, quite possibly, the highest compliment I could have received.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Xmas Tree Lighting

We went to the State Capitol for yesterday's Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. N was more impressed with the architecture than the celebration.

When grown-ups participate in a holiday sing along, we fail to jazz it up sufficiently for her. She took my camera and wandered around for awhile. Snapped this photo of the ceiling.

If I Had A Trilion Dollars...

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) reported last week that over a trillion dollars has been invested in renewable energy, energy efficiency and smart energy technologies since 2004.

Interestingly enough, the one trillionth dollar was recorded as the two-week long gathering of 15,000 world leaders stalled in their attempts to negotiate an international climate change agreement in Durban, South Africa

According to Bloomberg the investments made, any of which might have accounted for the trillionth dollar, supported projects like: the 77MW expansion of a biomass co-generation plant in Brazil; a 48MW wind farm in Fujian province of China; the 396MW La Ventosa wind farm in Mexico; and the development phase of a  125MW solar thermal project in Morocco.

According to BNEF, annual clean energy investment rose nearly five-fold in seven years. Last year’s $243 billion investment level is right about halfway to the yearly investment levels required to slow climate change.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Blago

McK: Am I the only one who thinks Rod Blagojevich looks like the lead character from A Clockwork Orange?

(Silence)

McK: So...that's just me who thinks that?

Me: Now that you've said so? No, it's not just you. Not anymore.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Winter Attire

She's Started Signing All of Her Schoolwork as "N, The Gryffindor, and PROUD OF IT!"

Morning Moon

Sigh. It was a lovely welcome to my job-site!

Facebook Find

Thanks, J.

Greening Lincoln


A three-day "Greening Lincoln" workshop focused on neighborhood improvements for an area south of the State Capitol began today at St. Paul United Church of Christ, 1302 F St. The program will brainstorm street design options to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and comfort, add more street trees, and incorporate green infrastructure elements such as rain gardens to manage and treat stormwater runoff  inside a focus area along 11th Street from A to J streets.

Lincoln was one of five cities chosen to be part of the Greening America's Capitals program, an initiative of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which includes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Transportation.

I'll admit it: I'm a public meeting junkie. But you don't have to be a public meeting wonk to show up. If you have a bike or pedestrian habit, an interest in city street-scapes, or an affinity for neighborhood or environmental issues I'd encourage you to attend or all sessions at St. Paul's church  free of charge.

Today's sessions were largely a series of listening sessions for neighborhood concerns and interests. Tomorrow is a design work session to mark up maps and street-scape sketches. Day three wraps up the series with a presentation of the workshop outcomes.

The three-day schedule is as follows:

Tuesday
  • 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. -- Welcome and project overview
  • 1:30 to 3 p.m. -- Breakout sessions on small businesses and new technologies; the environment and sustainability
  • 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. -- Breakout sessions on history, art and culture; schools
  • 5:30 to 7 p.m. -- Neighborhood association meeting

Wednesday
  • 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. -- Open house and team work day
  • 5:30 to 7 p.m. -- Public meeting

Thursday
  • 11 to 11:45 a.m. -- Presentation of workshop outcomes

Monday, December 5, 2011

Saturn Storm Advisory

What first showed up as a small blemish on the face of Saturn about a year ago turned into a rager of a storm that has wrapped around the entire planet, covering around 1.5 billion square miles.

The storm, sometimes called the "Dragon Storm", marches through the planet's atmosphere and is recorded through a series of false-color mosaics from NASA's Cassini Spacecraft. The red and orange colors which show up in the Cassini images indicate clouds that are deep in the atmosphere. Yellow and green colors indicate intermediate clouds. White and blue indicate high clouds and haze. The rings of Saturn appear as a thin horizontal line of bright blue. Casini has been following the 9,000 mile wide storm as it moves across Saturn's surface, snapping some spectacular photos along the way.

This "Dragon Storm" is about 500 times larger than the biggest storm previously seen by Cassini. At its most intense the Dragon generated lightning flashes more than 10 times per second.

"Cassini shows us that Saturn is bipolar," says Casini team member Andrew Ingersoll. "Saturn is not like Earth and Jupiter, where storms are fairly frequent. Weather on Saturn appears to hum along placidly for years and then erupt violently." Evidently storms on Saturn are less like a weather events and more like a volcanoes. Before the storm erupts there is a build up of pressure under its placid exterior.

This event was a single thunderstorm that raged continuously for more than 200 days, affecting nearly 20 percent of Saturn's northern hemisphere. While the storm's active phase is over some of the clouds it created still linger in the planet's atmosphere today.  


Sunday, December 4, 2011

Snow Bound

There was just enough snow to keep us inside yesterday. We watched the original Muppet Movie, spoke some Mandarin Chinese, and roasted a fresh batch of orange-pecans.

Thanks, MW, for the photo!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

A View From This Morning


“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”  - Annie Dillard

Thanks, Kashoan, for the photo!
  

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Nebraska Tree Stands + Co-firing = Electricity

Last year, the Nebraska State Forest Service approached the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) with the idea of utilizing dead standing trees for electricity production. A series of different invasive insects and diseases such as emerald ash borer and thousands of cankers disease are threatening ash and black walnut trees in Nebraska. Those tree stands could produce a significant woody fuel source considering that Nebraska has 1.2 million acres of forestland producing a net 1.47 million air-dry tons of biomass every year; non-forest land with trees produce an estimated 597,000 dry tons, and an additional 270,000 green tons of wood waste are generated through smaller woody biomass processes in the state. Dead and diseased trees left standing pose an increased fire hazard, and it’s pretty clear we’ve got biomass to burn.

The Forest Service's question was whether Nebraska could burn woody biomass in a co-firing configuration at electrical generating stations designed to run solely on coal. While co-firing is less flashy in the renewable circles than research and testing of biomass electrical generating plants, the benefits associated with co-firing could include lower operating costs, reductions of harmful emissions like sulfur and mercury, greater energy security and, with the use of beneficial biomass, lower carbon emissions. Co-firing is also one of the more economically viable ways to increase biomass power generation today, since it can be done with modifications to existing facilities.

So, the State Forest Service worked with NPPD to send samples of different infected tree species to the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC ) in Grand Forks, N.D for a month-long test to see how woody biomass  would affect heat rate, boiler fouling and slagging when blended at different ratios with coal. The EERC tested different wood types and co-firing ratios with 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 percent biomass.

Several of the tree species appeared generally favorable for blending, especially at co-firing levels below 20%. From an operational perspective, the co-firing scenario looks possible. The trick is the logistics. The diseased trees are available, but unfortunately they’re not located right next to the power plant, or in concentrated areas generally. The dead trees spot the landscape, so harvesting, gathering, storing, and transporting the material will cost money.

With energy demands increasing, fossil fuel prices rising, and regulatory restrictions tightening, the economics might sort themselves out.  Cost-sharing could also take the biomass co-firing concept off Nebraska's drawing board and closer to reality

Green Tuesday


This holiday season, not-for-profit organization Green America floats the idea of "Green Tuesday" in the spirit of Black Friday or Small Business Saturday. It's an effort to inspire people to consider the environment as part of their gift giving traditions.

Following the thought of holiday giving I hope you'll consider making a donation to an organization I admire a great deal called Water for People. Water for People is the nonprofit arm of the American Water Works Association and they're tasked with helping developing countries improve their quality of life by supporting the development of locally sustainable drinking water resources, sanitation facilities and health and hygiene education programs.

Around the world, 884 million people do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion are without adequate sanitation facilities. Dotting the landscape are broken water pumps, filled latrines, and reminders of well-meaning solutions that didn't last. At the end of the day, any technical solution - whether it's digging a well, putting in a pump or installing a latrine - is only as good as its lasting impact. If it breaks and can't be fixed the effort is wasted.

Long lasting solutions are at the forefront of how Water For People plans, creates, monitors and follows up on our programs. In each of their program countries, Water for People activities are concentrated in specific regions, which enable them to create a climate of energy, synergy and motivation that fuels future success for the communities within that region. Water for People works in collaboration with local partners - the local government, local private sector, local civil society, and the communities to develop a strategy and priority plan. And finally the organization works to keep solutions local so that the tools and resources needed for maintenance and repair are never too far away.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Namesake

“Remember that you and I made this journey together to a place where there was nowhere left to go.” ― Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving

I thought I'd provide a little food for thought as everyone sits down to their tables today. According to NPR Tofurkys will served at about 350,000 family and friendly occasions this holiday season.

I have a great deal to be thankful for. Thank you to everyone who has loved, supported, or otherwise helped prop me up this year. From any angle a person looks at it: I'm an exceptionally lucky person. Thank you.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Solyndra

I went to a pretty exciting conference last week. One that pushed past the guessing game of a “Carbon Constrained Future” we’ve had for the past fifteen years. The features of that future have begun to take shape through regulation and permit limits. The conference was focused on maneuvering within that future and still providing electricity reliably. 

It tackled the nuts and bolts of carbon sequestration and cleaner coal paradigms, and I also got to listen in on presentations about biomass systems, methane generators, and compressed-air energy storage systems.

It was hard to grab a coffee at break or make small talk with your conference table neighbor without the word Solyndra popping up. The conference occurred at the same time that Secretary of Energy Steven Chu was summoned to the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations subcommittee to explain the details behind the $535 million in loan guarantees to the now bankrupt solar panel manufacturer Solyndra.

Clean energy technologies are more of an emerging market by comparison to the fossil fuel and coal plant technologies. Testing of these innovative clean energy systems is supported by Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantees. The DOE supports 38 clean energy project through this type of loan program, which are expected to employ more than 60,000 Americans, generate enough clean electricity to power nearly 3 million homes, and displace the use of more than 300 million gallons of gasoline annually.

And that's the bright shiny future of clean energy the loan guarantee program propels. However, with Solyndra out of business and American taxpayers out of $535 million, the House Subcommittee held the unenviable task of figuring out what went wrong. The question of what happened is the jumping off point for a pretty hefty blame game. 

House Republicans were hoping to paint the administration with careless misuse of money. Secretary Chu and some of the clean energy supporters were careful to point out that Congress approved the loan guarantee program that benefitted Solyandra under the Bush administration, and that $10 billion was even set aside to cover losses.

The testimony certainly provided high points for partisans on both sides of the political spectrum. Each side of this issue have their own message and captive audience with whom their stance resonates. The National Review, for example, chortled when Chu said that the only solar power he personally used was a solar powered flashlight. The left leaning Guardian applauded Chu for being “unflappable” in his testimony. 

In my opinion, the Solyndra bankruptcy inspires nobody to change their opinion of clean energy projects. The people who support renewable energy will see this as an isolated, unfortunate, and costly event – a bump in the road to a better future. On the other side of the coin, supporters of the current energy mix will see this $535 million loss as an inexcusable error never to be repeated. 

With venture capital perennially shy of investing in clean energy and the Obama administration standing by its resolve to promote fossil fuel alternatives, the clean energy field is put into a precarious position. 

Regulation and permit limits are bringing the features of a “Carbon Constrained Future” into focus. But that’s the side that tells us what we can’t use – the alternatives or paradigms that are only acceptable within some kind of constraints. Without loan guarantees or some cash to fuel the possibilities, we have created an energy policy that says “no” to all of the available technologies without providing any alternatives. Without fuelling the possibilities. 

We’ll bring Secretary Chu in for a House Subcommittee grilling, and he’ll be resolute in his stance and everybody will cheer for their side of the aisle and boo at the other side. But nobody addresses what would fuel innovation if DOE loan guarantees fall out of favor. 

With private investors perennially shy of clean energy investments, where would cash-starved project developers go for funding? Without DOE loan guarantees I don’t see how the United States gets from our current energy mix to a cleaner future.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Kitchen Talk

I like to hang out in kitchens. Always have. If I've ever walked into your house then I've probably wandered into your kitchen, grabbed a towel or a knife and invited myself to help out and generally hang around. It's a little presumptuous, probably, if not outright annoying. But, like I said, I like kitchens.

Aside from the vapor that rises from a boiling pot, or the spicy smell of food being prepared I like the idle jabbering that happens in the kitchen. I don't know anybody who's inclined to grate that or stir this in silence.

I would say that most, if not all, family gossip travels through somebody's kitchen at least once. Standing at somebody's counter you're equally likely to hear about babies being born or people getting married as you are to hear about job loss or money trouble or illness. Juicy details of the story get flung around when you're in the kitchen. Even if I were to hear the same story in another space it wouldn't be told the same way. The kitchen provides a different rendering of the same events. It's a more intimate or less rehearsed narrative. It's a story more likely to breathe than be a set of well-practiced monologues.

Obviously the food is eventually served and we take our place at a table. By that time, though, everything is in a pretty bowl, neatly served onto plates or laced up in linen napkins.

When you think about it the dinner table is less than 1/3 of any gathering. There's something that happens in the kitchen over cutting boards and dish-soapsuds in the sink. Even with a good meal, maybe ~especially~ with a good meal, I like to hang out in kitchens. Always have.

After The Show


After attending the Prescott Talent Show last night we went for ice cream to celebrate. I learned several things:
  1.  Ivanna Cone's Hazelnut Shortbread is more of a life experience than an ice cream really.
  2. N has a rather elaborate plan to assemble a dream team of Hogwarts students from Harry Potter and Jedi rebels from Star Wars to battle the dark forces of the universe.
  3. This song by Pink Martini adds just the right zing to the end of a lovely evening.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Go Yoda or Go Home

N performs the Star Wars theme song on her viola as part of the Prescott Talent Show tonight. We were selecting a dress for the occasion and she was hoping to find one that was Yoda-esque. 

After some careful deliberation she went with the thematically appropriate sparkly dress. It was more of a conceptual nod to outer space. Yoda is just one of those iconic figures that requires a proper homage to go all-in or not at all. Altering N's ears was the deal breaker for the all-in option.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Leonid Meteor Shower, 2011

This is tomorrow's apology in advance for being sleepy. If the skies are clear I'll be up early to check out the Leonid meteor shower which will make me an exceptionally sleepy office dweller. I'll be the office mate who sucks down half the pot of coffee to keep propped upright.

The Leonids are made up of cosmic litter, the legacy of the Tempel-Tuttle comet that will occasionally pass between the Earth and the sun on its orbit. The comet litters a stream of dust particles and debris - typically no larger than a pea on your dinner plate -  in its wake. Each November the Earth side-swipes this stream of comet rubble and the particles become luminous as they hit our atmosphere.

Meteor showers are commonly called "shooting stars" and "falling stars" but they're not stars at all, really, just space stuff burning up in the Earth's atmosphere. The Leonid shower is known for its occasional swings of stunning skies. The sort of stargazing that doesn't require a telescope just an affinity for pleasing aesthetics.


“Some years, the Leonids brighten the sky with storms of shooting stars,” says Astronomy Magazine Senior Editor Richard Talcott. “Other years, like this one, astronomers expect the event to be muted, with observers under a dark sky seeing up to 10 meteors per hour.”

I'm optimistic though. While meteors might not be prolific this year Astronomy Magazine posits that a few of these meteors could leave bright streaks of ionized atoms hanging in the sky for several seconds — or possibly minutes.

So, I'm good to go. My apologies for being unproductive at work tomorrow have been made in advance. My alarm is set for some ungodly early hour. I have a pack of stuff (warm blankets, a lawn chair, wooly socks...it's like packing for a fireworks display only better) by the back door and the coffeepot is programmed to kick out a thermos of coffee in the predawn hours of tomorrow morning.

Viewing should peak sometime between 2:30 and 4:30 a.m. Central Standard time. If you're awake, you should check out the dark southeastern sky.


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

75% National Recycling Rate = 1.5 Million Jobs

I consider myself in the pleasant company of about 33-37% of Americans who currently recycle. I'm sure I have heartfelt blog post in me about the environmental and ethical reasons to recycle.

This time, though, I want to focus on the findings of a recent report that the United States could create 1.5 million jobs if the national recycling rate reached 75%.
The text juxtaposes a Base Case analysis characterized basically by a continuation of the current recycling participation trends and practices over the next two decades with a Green Economy scenario based on enhancing national recycling and composting practices to an overall diversion rate of 75% away from landfilling by 2030. 

Landfilling materials is a process that isn't labor intensive and it creates fewer jobs per ton of waste (0.1 job per 1,000 tons) for its management.

Processing recycleables (1 to 2 jobs per 1,000 tons) and organics (0.5 jobs per 1,000 tons) is somewhat intensive. A manufacturing process which uses recycled materials is where the numbers open up a wider margin.

The report ends by throwing the Lorax in me a nod and finding that the 75% national recycling rate scenario would reduce CO2 emissions by 276 million metric tons by 2030.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

40 Miles; 1 Station


TransCanada said Monday the company will work with the State Department and Nebraska’s Department of Environmental Quality to determine a new pipeline route.
“I am pleased to tell you that the positive conversations we have had with Nebraska leaders have resulted in legislation that respects the concerns of Nebraskans and supports the development of the Keystone XL pipeline,” Alex Pourbaix, TransCanada’s president of energy and oil pipelines, said in a statement. “I can confirm the route will be changed and Nebraskans will play an important role in determining the final route.”
A new environmental review will be required as well, which the State Department said last week could take until early 2013.
Rerouting the Keystone XL line will likely require 30 to 40 additional miles of pipe and an additional pumping station. The exact route has not yet been determined, so those numbers are still soft. 
I considered the weight of 1700 people attending the State Department’s public meetings last month, Bill McKibben’s weeklong protest at the White House, I Stand With Randy signs in store fronts and on yard signs on every corner in Lincoln, and political pressure from a state and national scene to get 40 miles of pipe and one pumping station.
When you have people on one side and oil or money on the other I think the Kestone pipeline is an example of how people can win. But it takes  a strong, steady push from the peoples’ side to get there. In my lifetime that strong and steady push hasn’t happened all that often. It’s a sort of awe-inspiring sight when it does.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Astronomy Fair

Thanks, guys, for making N's Astronomy Fair so much fun!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Skinny Legs

This past summer N asked if I might teach her how to shave her legs.

I tried my best to maintain a cool exterior, and continued to peel potatoes at the sink. If she never shaved her legs the hair would stay soft and blonde. It would never feel stubbly or coarse. Hasn't everyone's mother made this case? Mine did. It's a compelling argument and when I was ten I nodded in agreement, looked at my feet, and then the next time I was in the bathtub I promptly shaved my legs. It was a razor that had rusted so my legs were all sliced up by the time I was "done".

N was still staring at me in the kitchen. This whole leg-shaving thing was obviously something that required me to muster a response. Darn. I took a deep breath and agreed that some guidance on this matter was a good plan since razorblades were involved. I further reasoned that fall or winter would be the best time to learn since some nicks and cuts were part of learning. Long pants could cover up her learning curve over the winter months. She nodded and I crossed my fingers this the topic would disappear into the abyss never to raise it's sharp head again. 

Nope. She meant it and asked again once the weather turned cold. I meant it too when I said it was a good idea to get some guidance. I thought it was obvious, though, that her mother wasn't the best source of support there. You know, ~razorblades~ were involved for goodness sake! This is my kid we're talking about. Huh. 

So last night we perched ourselves on the side of the tub, lathered up with shaving cream, and started at the ankle. She has these skinny legs that I don't often notice. They're elegant and awkward with knobby knees and perfect, porcelain skin. I coached her about taking long strokes with the razor rather than short swipes. Rinse off the blades and don't apply too much pressure. She caught on pretty quickly,  only nicked her knee once. And I only cried for a little bit. 

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Holiday Craftacular

If you live close to Lincoln don't miss out the Holiday Craftacular Sale& Cocktail Party at Chez Hay tonight from 5-7pm. Pictures with Santa, handmade gifts, and over thirty local artists will show their arts and crafts at the event.


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

2005 YU55

I found out two things about this second Tuesday in November. 
  1. Lancaster County will not hold an election today. You can show up to the polls but there's nobody there. No "I VOTED TODAY" stickers just hanging around either.
  2. A large asteroid (2005 YU55) will perform a close fly-by of the planet earth tonight. The asteroid isn't on a collision course, at it's closest point the object is still 202,000 miles away. But that closest point occurs tonight at approximately 5:30pm Central Standard Time.
No election. Big asteroid. Isn't that just just begging to become the plot of my next great sci-fi novel?

Monday, November 7, 2011

Weekend Trip

In a fit of late-fall restlessness we took an overnight trip to Nebraska City last weekend. Packed girlie shoes, dresses, paperback novels and hiking boots. We stayed at Arbor Day Foundation's Lied Lodge.

I love this time of year. It can inspire me to curl up by the fireplace with a good book, or bundle up and go for a hike. The morning air is cold and light and clean. The autumn weather changes its mind several times a day.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

XL


This is my friend, Pat, reading from a statement from Nebraska State Senator Bill Avery about TransCanada and the Keystone XL pipeline. 

The demand for oil is too high for me to support stopping the pipeline all together. I'm not opposed to pipelines. We have 1.8 million miles of natural gas lines connected to most homes and businesses in Canada and the United States. Petroleum product pipelines occupy around 200,000 miles of North America. Most of these pipelines are operated safely and without environmental incident. When properly located and installed pipelines are about the safest transportation method available for petroleum products. 

What I don't like is the 65 mile stretch of pipeline which endangers the Ogallala Aquifer. What I don't like is TransCanada's environmental record

The attached clip was from the public meeting in Lincoln a couple of weeks ago. I voted for Senator Bill Avery and I'm proud to be his constituent.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Movie Night

I spent last evening curled up on the couch with popcorn and hot cider. Each Friday night N and I have a movie date. We watched How To Train Your Dragon which was sort of lovely and thrilling. The young Viking character reminded me very much of my dad. He was clever, loyal, quirky, and surprised by his own acts of bravery.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Wonkish Instincts

It can’t come as much of a surprise that I’m a boringly studious policy wonk, right? At one point, when N was an infant, I hired a babysitter so I could attend a public works meeting. Not dinner. Not a movie. A public works meeting. Here’s the kicker: it was a ~really~ good meeting. One I still recall with freakish clarity and an odd amount of fondness. Huh, I digress. 

My wonkish leanings don’t often come in handy but this past week they did. I was brought into a transmission route planning process at work which afforded the opportunity to geek out over Lincoln’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan. I drew up their GIS maps. I created charts and spreadsheets. I was just giddy with glee. 

At the other end of the public policy or the Comp Plan is a battery of services that affect people’s lives. Policies and public meetings lead to roads, bridges, schools, fire stations and social services. I have an affinity for the sort of lofty goals outlined in policies that guide staffing levels, public programs and budget decisions.

I spent the whole week wrapped up in Lincoln’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan and I was reminded of why I love Lincoln. I was reminded of how this community defines itself and how that identity plays out in terms of physical geography and an offering of programs or services. 

My inner geek, the one I’ve fostered for as long as I can remember, the one I spend a lot of time trying to downplay or apologize for, provided the speaking points. It was pretty darned cool.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

modcloth.com

The New Dress I Bought

Homemade Cake

N and I recently went to the playground. She's at an age where she'll peel off from my side almost immediately. I plant myself on a park bench with my book and, on this particular occasion, I eavesdroped on the following conversation between two boys.

Boy 1: The only  best things in life is friends and money.
Boy 2: Friends, money, and CAKE. HOMEADE CAKE!!

[Boy 2, at this point, breaks it down with an awesome and over the top CAKE dance]

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Part of Our Living

We made a day of it at the Sheldon Art Gallery's Dia de los Muertos celebration yesterday. Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a centuries-old spiritual tradition which celebrates the continuity of life by honoring the dead on their return to Earth for one day each year. 

Sheldon Art Gallery hosted lovely occasion. If you're familiar with the building envision the museum's Great Hall elaborately decorated papier-mache sculptures, masks and papel picados (punched-paper art pieces) hanging from the windows. The occasion was complete with flowers, music, food, families, chatter, and an ofrenda (altar) which was set in one of the shadowy exhibit rooms.

The graveyard picnics and candied skeleton trimmings of the Dia de los Muertos celebration offer some visual continuity with Halloween occasions. But it's a more reverent occasion than Halloween for me. Dia de los Muertos encourages people to speak of the dead as they truly were. The table is set with the departed person's favorite foods, and their vices. Candles illuminate the path the spirit would take to sit at this noisy table of people.

Dia de los Muertos pushes a person past their own fears of mortality. It inspires a person to coquettishly laugh in the face of those fears and throw a big, colorful party with food, music, flowers and (why not?) skeletons. I like the idea that dying is just another part of our living.