Serious Cybernetics

Back in the blogging seat again...

2010-11-27T01:37:00.003-06:00

The work demands at my new employer in Iowa just proved too daunting to continue with the Serious Cybernetics blog. Perhaps that's why I no longer work there and have returned to an entrepreneurial role with my own computer company: Des Moines Tech Support.

With this company I have the ability to blog on both computer issuesand my broader interest in technology and culture. My current blogging effort resides at http://dsmtechsupport.wordpress.com/.

Perhaps you can join me there...

Bob Pauls

Thanks For All the Fish

2007-05-03T10:33:00.000-05:00

After residing more than 28 years in Carbondale, I’m finally pulling-up my tent stakes and moving to the Tall Corn State. I moved to Carbondale in 1979 for a four month curriculum development job at SIU’s School of Technical Careers. The job stretched into seven months and then all the pieces fell into place to stay here for a long stint with the City of Carbondale.

After several other jobs since then, Des Moines has finally lured me away with a great opportunity and a pay scale unthinkable in the depressed economy of Southern Illinois. I’ve written before about the third-world economy of this region where wages remain low and sustainable prosperity continues to be elusive. Things may be improving in some areas, but the availability of high-pay/high-tech jobs in the region is abysmal. I’m encouraged by some of the collaborative work of ConnectSI and their goals to bring broadband communications to all parts of the region and in so doing raise wages and train the workforce for information age jobs. This is a project that everyone should support.

Despite my imminent departure, I will continue to author this blog, albeit probably not as frequently as in the past. So, this is not a goodbye, but an ‘I’ll talk to you later’ message. The blog’s scope of topics will expand to encompass the culture, technology and environmental issues of the Midwest, not just Illinois. Its not that big a stretch. Illinois has many issues in common with its surrounding states: similar expected climate change, the fall-out of utility deregulation and carbon-based energy pricing, the potential opportunities and dangers of expanded biomass-based energy development, similar solar energy development options, the issues of telecommunications convergence and media concentration, an insidious belief that King Coal is the solution to our national energy problems, and many other cultural and economic factors.

I’ve concluded that the biggest long-term threat to Southern Illinois is the lack of leadership committed to a sustainable economy. That problem will only go away with voter self-education and action on the issues. I remain optimistic for the future of the region and hope not to be proven wrong. Please, carry on and thanks for all the fish. (music)

Paper or Plastic? Just Say NO!

2007-04-29T09:30:00.000-05:00

In a recent blog post by Peter Gregory, he advocates charging consumers for the luxury of fast food take-out supplies. He like many others, is simply tired of cleaning up other people’s discarded food packaging trash. The concept is in lock-step with most environmentalists that believe in the principle of “polluters pays”: those who pollute should pay for the true cost of generating the pollution and cleaning it up.

Pollution is, of course, in the eye of the beholder. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Even the lowly plastic grocery bag has value to some people. When you return it to the store from which it came, it will likely be recycled into another product such as parking lot space tire curbs, playground equipment and most anything else that can be made with polyethylene.

The greater likelihood is that it will end up in a landfill or somewhere in nature where is harms wildlife and litters roadsides, streams, and sewers.

Imagine a world without flimsy plastic bags. It isn’t hard since they weren’t introduced until about 1977. Life will go on and we’d be better off without them.

The U.S. throws away about 100 BILLION bags each year. The manufacturing of plastic bags accounts for 4 per cent of the world’s total oil production.(1)

People are starting to get fed up about our love affair with the tragedy of the commons. Europe is levying significant taxes on the bags and San Francisco has banned them. South Africa, Taiwan and Bangladesh have also banned plastic bags. Paris will outlaw them by the end of 2007, and all of France will ban the bags in 2010. Phoenix and Boston are considering similar bans. Other USA communities are requiring use of thicker and stronger bags that cost more and motivate businesses to be less generous with their free distribution of the materials.

What should your local government do about the problem? The alleged pro-business solution is, of course, to ‘educate the public.’ Sorry, that just doesn’t work. Tell me, have we managed to prevent litter through cradle-to-grave anti-litter campaigns? No. If it affects your pocket book directly, you it sit-up and take notice. That is why Europe has pursued taxing plastic bags, and why US cities do so little more than establish ineffectual education programs because they a) don’t want consumers to ‘sacrifice' and b) don’t want to mandate environmental protection measures upon small businesses.

My view? Effective 12 months from passing a city or county law, place a 15 cent tax on plastic bags. The tax will fund year -round litter collection and prevention programs. In so doing, also let the marketplace find a solution that suits business customers. Some stores will help transition customers to cloth and synthetic mesh bags, encourage consumers to re-use their heavy-duty bags and boxes, or offer recycled paper or cellulose/corn-starch derived bags. Others will charge for the bags in addition to the tax. In so doing they will be sending a message that the company shouldn’t subsidize the use of wasteful packaging. It won’t be painless, but it will work. Consumers are price sensitive and when reminded at the point-of-sale of the true cost of wasteful behavior, they respond with intelligence.

All it takes is leadership.

Now, banning plastic bags will not completely solve Peter’s complaint about the other forms of community litter from fast food vendors. That’s another topic for the future.

Sheila Simon Receives Conservation League Endorsement

2007-04-15T13:29:00.000-05:00

The Illinois League of Conservation Voters (ILCV) has endorsed Sheila Simon for Mayor of Carbondale.

Sheila is one of only twelve municipal candidates statewide that has received the coveted endorsement.

ILCV's endorsement decisions were based on the Illinois Environmental Council's scorecard of incumbent's environmental voting records as well as the ILCV's candidate questionnaire that probed candidates' views on pressing environmental issues.

From the LCV website:

The Illinois League of Conservation Voters (ILCV) is the political arm of the environmental movement in Illinois. Through elections, we actively support candidates who promote sustainable economic development and oppose candidates who vote for anti-environmental legislation.

• We run tough and effective campaigns to defeat anti-environment candidates, and support those leaders who stand up for a clean, healthy future for Illinois.
• We hold elected officials accountable for their actions Environmental actions..
• We build coalitions, promote grassroots power, and train the next generation of environmental leaders

“Sheila Simon is a fantastic example of an experienced leader who understands the essential role environmental conservation plays in sustaining the social and economic health of our cities,” said Amanda Espitia, Executive Director of the ILCV.

Press Release of Simon endorsement

Council Candidates: Timid Souls

2007-04-14T15:04:00.000-05:00

I wrote yesterday about Carbondale’s mayoral candidates’ positions on energy and the environment. If you thought I was disappointed with their inadequate meager ‘action plans’, you should understand why we should be even more disappointed by the candidates for City Council and their lame and archaic remarks about protecting the environment. I seriously wonder if they are channeling for Caspar Milquetoast!

I’ve reviewed all the candidates’ campaign literature that I could locate, as well as their published survey results regarding energy and environment issues hoping to find a glimmer of hope that the next crop of leaders will show more wisdom. If you read the responses to questions posed in the 2007 Carbondale Nightlife council candidate survey, you will likely be disappointed. My primary observation about the statements can be summarized by one simple question, “Have most of them been asleep since 1970?” Do they not know about the bold moves toward building sustainable communities are being undertaken across the nation? Have they not heard of global warming and local government actions in support of the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement? At least the candidates' statements are not as bad as Mayor Cole's record of saying "I do not think investments in photovoltaic energy options would be beneficial to tax payers."

The council candidate's milquetoast and pandering comments are a sad statement on the depth and quality of their thinking about your future.

“(Paul) Simon passionately believes that politicians, the media, religious leaders, and educators have, individually and collectively, abandoned their responsibility to lead. In doing so, says Simon, they have made us vulnerable to future political, moral, and economic disasters.” — Publishers Weekly review of Our Culture of Pandering, 2003.

To not draw unwanted attention from the easily distracted public, candidate statements tend to be platitudes about the importance of being careful and the need for further dialogue. Political consultants advise, above all else, say nothing controversial that might alienate constituents. Consequently, what words of wisdom do we get from Carbondale's candidates? Lewin asserts the safe position that recycling is good for Carbondale. Jack says, “We should strive to be a leader…” Pohlman says, “We should … look to the long-term good…” Haynes says, “we have started the first steps to explore …” Brown says, “The City should research grant programs.” Pretty scary stuff, huh?

The one person showing some original thinking seems to be Luanne Brown when talking about lighting and noise abatement; however, both she and Pohlman dismiss out of hand the possibility of operating a municipal energy distribution system. Why? How did they form that knee-jerk opinion without the City thoroughly investigating the situation?

Five of the six candidates take the safe, but timid position, that the city should defer to the state and federal government to solve our worsening environmental problems. Most, like G.W. Bush, just want to stay the course and talk, talk, talk about the issue until we are distracted by more important news such as, "Who is Anna Nicole's baby's biological father, really?"

The best of the candidates appears to be young Joe Moore. He’ll get my vote. I don’t know if any of the rest have a chance. Moore says, “On the power generation end, we need to increase our use of solar, wind, and thermal power. On the consumption end, we need to be promoting energy efficient products to cut our consumption.” While lacking specifics, he at least ‘gets it’. He sees that energy issues need to be approached from both directions and has an appreciation on how Ameren is hurting the region.

Its truly embarrassing, but only three candidates even mention the words conservation and alternative energy in their survey statements. While three reference the importance of walking, biking, and the current bus system in town, no one specifically talks about Cool Cities, sprawl, other transportation planning issues, telecommuting, purchasing green power, green building codes, encouraging green businesses, solar rights, water and waste management (other than recycling), education and outreach, and dozens of other proven municipal energy policies and projects.

"The electorate, without fail, gets the government it deserves.”

How will you vote? And then, after the election, what will you do?

Mayors Matter: My Pick

2007-04-13T09:48:00.000-05:00

I have a little experience in energy management, energy conservation and renewable energy. So, when it come to voting for local government leaders to guide our communities to a sustainable future, my obvious preference is to select representatives that understand science and technology and have a vision for taking a smarter energy path than the one that has gotten our nation into such dire straits. The newest report on global warming shows how badly Illinois leaders have done on this issue.

Illinois’s carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel consumption grew from 191.1 million metric tons to 233.8 million metric tons between 1990 and 2004, an increase of 22%. Illinois ranked third nationwide for the largest absolute increase in carbon dioxide emissions over the 15-year period.
In Illinois, carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants jumped by 64% between 1990 and 2004, rising from 55.7 million metric tons to 91.5 million metric tons. Illinois ranked first nationwide for the largest absolute increase in carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants over the 15-year period. (1)

Since the overwhelming consensus among scientists is that we have less than a decade to drastically alter our path to self destruction, I refuse to vote for a candidate that doesn’t understand the urgency to act quickly and responsibly, or who lacks a the personal will and vision to take bold steps to save the planet.

When I look at the records of accomplishment (both personal and business) of Carbondale’s two mayoral candidates, I see some promise in both, but I am also very disappointed in both for doing so little when so much is needed at the local level.

We are working within a new scientific paradigm. We no longer have the luxury of waiting for new technology to save the day, or slowly adopting Commercial Off-the-shelf Technologies (COTS), nor do we have the luxury of addressing environmental issues as a solely feel-good, do what is politically expedient experiment.

Technology, the environment and environmentalists (me included) have changed since the first Earth Day in 1970. Today, when we talk about protecting the environment, we talk about ALL the ramifications of not taking the ‘long view’. We talk about decreasing the incidence of cancers, heart attacks and strokes caused by environmental toxins, eliminating lead and mercury damage to children’s developing brains, reducing waste and converting waste materials into value-added commodities, reducing air particulates that are causing soaring asthma rates, safely eating fish from our local lakes and rivers, building sustainable and efficient transportation systems, and makingsound investments in both energy conservation and renewable energy technology that create jobs and community.

I appreciate Mayor Brad Cole for taking some important baby steps in improving the carbon footprint of the City of Carbondale, for signing the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement, considering operation of a municipal power distribution company, proposing to purchase some hybrid vehicles for the City fleet, pursuing funds for an expanded recycling program, installing efficient LED lighting in City street lights, symbolically encouraging bicycle use in the city, and advocating a community clean-up program.

I appreciate Sheila Simon for her initial efforts in promoting bicycle use and an expanded recycling program, advocating for a smoke-free community, for advocating energy audits and installation of photovoltaic power systems on city buildings, and for favoring action consistent with the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. She prominently lists environmental goals in her campaign platform. "My most immediate goal is to address city government as a consumer of energy. Since all of us together pay the power bill for the city, we have both an economic incentive and an environmental incentive to reduce our energy use. The city can be a leader in energy conservation. The city can also be a leader in some very simple ways to address environmental issues."

Where Sheila Simon failed me was doing far too little at the municipal level and not using the election campaign to address environmental issues in a stronger fashion. The Ameren crisis, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports about human caused global warming, SIU’s proposal to build a new coal-fired power plant, and other ‘teachable moments’ could have been used to highlight how the environment is a local issue needing a strong local response.

Sadly, Mayor Brad Cole did the same thing. Cole further failed me by not taking bold action from his bully pulpit as mayor. He has simply taken the slow, easy and politically expedient path. For example, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) unanimously passed the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement on June 13, 2005. I wrote about it in my first blog at the start of the 2007 and shared it with the mayor. About a week later and six months after the USCM took action (nine months after other Illinois cities had already joined the Cool Cities bandwagon), Cole, without any discussion or approval from the Carbondale city council, signed the agreement. Since then, all he has done with it is forward it to the Carbondale Energy and Environmental Advisory Commission – the same City commission that Cole has sought to eliminate.

What I think distinguishes the two candidates on the issues of the environment is that Brad postures as an environmentalist and Shelia embodies it to her core. Sheila rides her bike to work and Brad drives his SUV. Where Sheila prints campaign literature on recycled paper, Brad spends lavishly on non-recycled political junk mail.

I suspect that if I visited either candidate’s homes I could immediately see in action the environmental sensibilities of the candidates. At Sheila’s, I suspect I’d see laundry hanging outside on the line, multiple recycling containers, and a fleet of bikes for all family members and all occasions. It seems unlikely that I'd see that at Brad's place.

Where Sheila believes in investing City funds in renewable resources, Brad says, “I am not sure solar power is a viable option for our location on the globe.” Say what!? Is that due to Brad’s astounding ignorance on the topic or is he simply playing it safe? Where Sheila envisions multiple opportunities for renewable energy applications, Brad comes off looking like a spokesperson for Exxon in both style and substance.

No mayor or city council candidate is perfect. I do not expect elected officials to be energy and environmental engineers, just as I do not expect them to necessarily be CPA’s, bond counselors, legal experts, health administrators, traffic engineers, or business owners. What I am looking for at this point in Carbondale's and the nation’s history is a well-rounded candidate that not only talks-the-talk about saving the planet, but walks-the-walk. On issues of climate, energy and the environment, I want a person that boldly responds to the grave danger we are in and is willing to not only live a sustainable life by example, but also take bold steps to rethink and guide the City of Carbondale into a sustainable future. Of the two candidates for mayor, I believe Sheila Simon is a better person for that crucial leadership role.

The Weather Looks Dim

2007-04-11T11:10:00.000-05:00

Back when I was in junior high school, I was responsible for recording daily measurements from our school’s weather station and plugging the data into rather unsophisticated weather prediction models to predict the next three days of local weather. Rarely were the predictions accurate beyond 24 hours. With the availability of massive weather databases, super computers and complex algorithms, scientists are increasingly able to now build complex climate models and predict long-term climate change.

That junior weatherman experience helped lead to my interest in understanding solar energy and renewable energy resources. Little did I know that formative weather prediction experience would contribute to my renewed attention forty years later to climate models and predicting the future of civilization.

On March 26th I wrote about the effect of a not well-known phenomenon called global dimming. I feel compelled to return to the subject because of its importance to understanding the very real global emergency that we face. I do so because others and I believe we have less than a decade to make drastic behavioral changes or we will pass the point of no return for saving civilization, as we know it today.

I described global dimming as the reduction of heat from the sun reaching the earth. Look at the accompanying picture of the effect of ocean going vessel exhaust plumes discharging pollution into the Pacific Ocean. It is a small piece of evidence about the direct effect humans have in dimming the sun.

What is the importance of global dimming? It has masked the actual high rate of global warming. It means we have limited time to change our destructive behavior. By we, I mean me, you, our city governments, park districts, state offices and federal bureaucracies, and the nations of the world. This is not a plea worthy of the annual Chicken Little Award. Rather, it is a plea to ask for your deeper understanding of consequences.

In 2006, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS) provided in its scientifically authoritative TV series, NOVA, a revealing portrait of the cause, history and consequences of global dimming and its relationship with global climate disruption. Excerpts and a transcript of the program are now available online. There is also an excellent teacher’s curriculum guide available for hands-on understanding of weather. Take a few minutes to understand your planet.

Going The Distance

2007-04-10T09:44:00.000-05:00

How far can you travel on a gallon of gasoline? For decades the big automakers have thwarted efforts to raise the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standard. They thought they were safe from the winds of change when George W. Bush was elected. They miscalculated and are now, because of their stubborn recalcitrance to improving vehicle fuel efficiency, being told they can expect requirements for significant upgrades to the CAFÉ standards!.

Four factors have caused them to come under the spotlight:

A large increase in crude oil and transportation fuel costs

The loss of political control in the Senate

A miscalculation about their former allies in Congress and the administration, and

The awakening of the electorate to the reality of global climate change.

Suddenly before Congress are proposals for cars to achieve 30 to 35 mpg and the trucks to get at least 23 mpg within the next five years. A competing Senate proposal goes further in calling for a 27 mpg rate for trucks in 2011. Dick Durbin (D-IL) has proposed an across-the-board legislation to increase CAFE standards to 35 mpg on both light trucks and cars by model year 2017. Current standards only require an average of 27.2 miles per gallon (MPG) for cars and 21.6 mpg for light trucks.

Meanwhile, an independent fuel economy panel is reported to have concluded that SUVs and trucks can be built with substantially better fuel economy, and that U.S. competitiveness would not be impacted by increasing the standard. Auto companies were shocked with that news. Although the panel did not reach a conclusion as to level of the achievable mileage standard, the report said that existing technologies could add as much as 12-14 mpg to cars and 11-13 mpg to trucks.

The auto manufacturers may have been shocked (hardly), but probably not their network dealer owners that hear complaints on the sales floor that customers want to get better mileage. How big has been the outcry? Consider that Hummer dealers are now offering to perform unauthorized modifications to their new vehicles to boost MPG even though doing so violates their own warranty

So what is the average consumer to do while we wait again for Congress to catch up with the needs of the nation? Buyer options are wide.

» Buy a more fuel efficient vehicle such as the hybrid Toyota Prius. Find and compare cars!
» Drive more efficiently.
» Maintain the existing vehicle for optimum efficiency
» Take fewer trips by consolidating trips.
» Move closer to the user’s typical destinations so as to reduce commute and shopping time and distances traveled.
» Stop using the inefficient automobile and either walk, bike, ride-share or use mass transit whenever available.
» Reduce the weight of the vehicle. This is primarily how auto manufacturers have been improving mpg. They’ve gone to thinner windows, aluminum, magnesium and plastic components, lighter frames, and smaller primary and spare wheels and tires. Drivers can keep their vehicles empty of extraneous junk, including those sand bags and concrete blocks used last winter for improved real wheel traction. For every extra 100 pounds you carry in your vehicle, you reduce gas mileage and fuel economy by roughly 2%.
» Buy or lease a hybrid vehicle.
» Already have a hybrid? Convert it to a 150 mpg plug-in hybrid or wait for the anticipated OEM version.
» Retrofit the vehicle for biodiesel or electric use.

You can make a difference in global warming and save money by using transportation fuels efficiently. Every gallon of gasoline saved cuts emissions of carbon dioxide, the key greenhouse gas, by about 25 pounds.

The Business of Doubt

2007-03-28T12:08:00.000-05:00

On Monday the Daily Egyptian printed an editorial by Jonathan V. Last about Al Gore and environmental uncertainty. Since you can’t read Mr. Last’s irresponsible editorial online at the DE website, you need to visit the Philadelphia Inquirer where it is was originally printed.

Thankfully, Jonathan M. Gray, an SIU Associate Professor of Speech Communication, had his rebuttal printed today. I can’t improve upon his analysis other than to note that Mr. Last has previously written:

“Killing the environment will take time. This big ball of mud is pretty resilient. But if we love our planet -- and really, who doesn't? -- then we have to show corporate America how little we care about it. Only then will it be safe to be an environmentalist again.”

Satire? Or just sowing more seeds of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about the problem?

There does seem to be a concentrated effort by well-funded climate change deniers to cast doubt about the seriousness of humanity's disruption of the planet’s ecosystems. At least one group, DeSmogBlog, is taking on the deniers by outing their credibility. They state

“Unfortunately, a well-funded and highly organized public relations campaign is poisoning the climate change debate. Using tricks and stunts that unsavory PR firms invented for the tobacco lobby, energy-industry contrarians are trying to confuse the public, to forestall individual and political actions that might cut into exorbitant coal, oil and gas industry profits. DeSmogBlog is here to cry foul - to shine the light on techniques and tactics that reflect badly on the PR industry and are, ultimately, bad for the planet.”

Check it out!

Reader Feedback

2007-03-27T09:29:00.000-05:00

I have a booklet (more like "a trilogy in five parts") of blog topics I’d like to write about that are consistent with the purpose of this blog: the quest for the ultimate answer to the “ultimate question of life, the universe, everything.”

I welcome your feedback on how to arrive at the answer, so I’d sure like to hear from my readers what topics, issues or subjects you would like to see discussed (or avoided) here.

Please add you comments below. If all this blather reads too much like a Vogon’s procedure manual, well, you can let me know that too.

Your Ameren Rate Survey Results

2007-03-26T22:29:00.000-05:00

The results of my very unscientific poll on AmerenCIPS rate increases are in. It was an experiment to see if polling works well enough in a small, local blog. Only 21 people bothered to vote on the question of “How much did your latest electric bill increase compared to 12 months ago?” Respondents said:

32% said their electric bills almost doubled despite probably implementing some minor energy reduction strategies. Based on my conversations about the region, these respondents were definitely the owners of all-electric homes or apartments. Another 9% saw more than a 70% increase. As expected, another 37% had an increase of 20 – 50% reflecting a price increase matching the average expected rate of increase. I don’t know what to say about the 3 people that saw no increase.

A decidedly unscientific poll, but of some interest none the less.

Movies Too Hot To Handle

2007-03-26T11:42:00.000-05:00

If you missed the first two days of the environmental film fest being sponsored by the Shawnee Group of the Sierra Club, you can play catch-up starting with tonight’s viewing of “Too Hot Not to Handle” - a 90 minute HBO special on Global Warming that features leading climatologists and leaders who are taking positive actions to reduce global warming emissions. It will be reshown Wednesday at 7 PM in SIU-C’s Parkinson Hall (next to SIU Carbondale covered parking lot), Room 124. Tonight, you can see it at 7 PM at the Mix Coffeehouse, 106 South Division St., in beautiful downtown Carterville, a community located between the Capital of Southern Illinois and the Center of the Universe (aka Marion).

On Tuesday you can see “Out of Balance” - an expose of Exxon Mobil’s efforts to distort the global warming science and debate, and presents global social changes that must take place to preserve our planet for future generations. One hour film is followed by discussion and information on cutting your own energy use. It will be shown at Church of the Good Shepherd, 515 S. Orchard Drive, Carbondale at 7 PM.

Last, but not least, you can see the final showing of “Kilowatt Ours” - a one hour film takes you from the issues of mountain top removal to large scale solar panel projects to one family’s efforts to reduce their household energy use. It will be shown at the Longbranch Coffeehouse, 100 East Jackson St., Carbondale at 7 PM. Be there!

Global Dimming

2007-03-26T09:45:00.000-05:00

What’s with that title? Maybe another typo or maybe a reference to the dumbing of the electorate? Hardly.

Global dimming is the reduction of heat from the sun reaching the earth.

You’ve seen the manifestation of the causes of global dimming if you’ve ever flown in a plane or been to a high viewpoint and looked to the horizon where that sickly orange/brown haze hugs the horizon everywhere on the planet.

The dimming isn’t due to some intergalactic light dimmer (rheostat) switch increasing resistance to flow of the sun's energy. The real contributors to global dimming include the products of incomplete fossil fuel (coal, oil, gas) combustion, the black carbon from burning of wood, jet contrails, airborne volcanic ash, and aerosols.

Is global dimming anything to really fret about? Some scientists now consider that the effects of global dimming have masked the effect of faster than predicted global warming and that resolving global dimming may, therefore, lead to increased future planetary temperature rise. Some scientists have postulated that global dimming has...

"contributed to the deaths of a million people in Africa, and afflicted 50 million more with hunger and starvation.”

That conclusion was broadcast in the 2005 BBC documentary on climate change that is summarized here. A very extensive discussion of the global dimming is also available.

It’s a topic worth your review. Knowledge is power.

King Coal is Dead! Long Live the King!

2007-03-25T09:35:00.000-05:00

Since the middle of the last century clean coal has been the Holy Grail of the power industry: highly desired but unachievable. That is not stopping greedy business and politicians from looking for money to proceed with the Great Coal Rush.

36 states are racing to build at least 94 (possibly 150) new coal-fired electric power plants with the capacity to power at least 62 million American homes. This race dubbed America's new coal rush, has utilities hell-bent on get their plants built before inevitable new federal and state regulations are passed that restrict greenhouse gas emissions. Some 62 gigawatts of new production potential are being proposed. Illinois is neck and neck with Texas for having the most proposals. Illinois might build 8 or more gigawatts of new capacity with 10+ coal plants. Add to that list one more plant that SIU President Glen Poshard now says he wants built - a new $200 million coal-fired SIU power plant to replace its existing fluidized bed boiler system on the SIU campus.

You can’t be a politician from southern Illinois without exclaiming the virtues of coal as a cure for the unemployment, better schools and roads, tourism, and a litany of other civic goals. Every downstate politician loves to promote clean coal even though it is an impossible dream. (Call me a cynic, but the best use for coal is as a transitional feedstock for creating liquid fuels before be finally switch-over to a renewables-based transportation system.)

Yes, we’ve all been told repeatedly that the total known world reserves of coal might be sufficient for 200-300 years' of humanity’s needs at current consumption levels – never mind the environmental consequences. As evident in this map, the United States is the ‘Saudi Arabia of coal.’ Despite that analogy, I say King Coal’s future is limited!

How dare I speak such heresy? I say what I say about coal because:

» The burning of coal already produces more airborne mercury and greenhouse gases than any other single source. The Illinois Department of Health has already issued fish consumption advisories for every waterway in the state due to dangerous levels of mercury. Don’t eat the fish! Texas already ranks first in the U.S. in carbon emissions.
» The soot from coal plants is a leading cause of asthma attacks, lung cancer, heart attacks, and even premature death in the region. Asthma is the leading cause of school absenteeism due to chronic illness (about 10 million lost school days each year). In St. Louis, estimates are that approximately 15% of children under age 18 suffer from asthma. This is more than double the national average of 6.3%.
» Coal mines will continue to kill miners. Illinois has lost 21 miners since 1996. The nation lost 819 in that same period. Think that is bad? Eighty percent of all mining deaths now occur in China even though it has only 35% of the world’s coal. While their death rate is starting to decline, in 2006 China lost 4,746 coal miners! In 1942, China lost 1,549 miners in one day due to a coal-dust explosion.
» Midwest wind energy alone could meet 25% of America’s electricity needs and create thousands of additional jobs in manufacturing, installation and maintenance of clean energy systems.
» Solar power in all its many forms has too much potential to be ignored any longer.

The amount of solar energy intercepted by the Earth every minute is greater than the amount of energy the world uses in fossil fuels each year.

Even the conservative Business Week Magazine hints that the era of coal may be ending. It will surely be a slow death for coal as we transition through technologies being touted again such as coal gasification, methanation and liquification for creating liquid motor fuels.

The extensive research into clean coal technology has resulted in the general conclusion that these conversions will create vast amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions – “far more than is released in the extraction and refinement of liquid fuel production from petroleum.” That isn’t exactly a popular conclusion for a region like southern Illinois that is suffering from perpetually high unemployment.

Eventually the research (Follow the money!) led to proposals to artificially sequester the vast amounts of carbon dioxide into artificial trees, the deep ocean or into underground geologic repositories. (Out of sight – Out of mind). The federal government has plans to aggressively research sequestration options. Those plans bring us to Illinois’ quest to be the lottery prize recipient of FutureGen – a $1 billion, 275 MW coal power plant that would sequester carbon dioxide emissions at a rate of about one million metric tons per year. After initial proposal rejections from several states, the two Illinois cities of Mattoon and Tuscola are in very intense competition with Odessa and Jewett, TX for the FutureGen prize.

FutureGen for Illinois touts the alleged benefits to the state:

» FutureGen will create an estimated 1,300 direct jobs during construction.
» FutureGen will create an estimated 3,250 indirect jobs during construction.
» FutureGen will create 150 permanent jobs.
» FutureGen will create 375 spin-off jobs in related investments.

So, why pick Illinois? As seen in the map above, Mattoon and Tuscola both sit above vast coal reserves. Those reserves contain more energy than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined.

A long list of Illinois notables supports the project. Curiously, the group’s website makes zero mention of any negative consequences. Therefore, there must be no risk right?

“When something is too good to be true, then it isn't”

Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney described the FutureGen situation another way:

“If Johnny jumped off a cliff, does that mean you should jump off a cliff?” If Texas is foolish enough to offer a taxpayer bailout for an unknown quantum of liability arising from a potential disaster of unknown proportions, does that mean Illinois should follow suit? I don’t think so. I’m not going to stick Illinois taxpayers with a commitment of unknown proportions.”

What risk is that? He’s was talking about the monumental FutureGen risks that private insurance companies won’t insure. He’s talking about the financial risk that must be so eliminated that both Illinois and Texas are falling all over themselves to legislate away any financial risk to the plant operators if their construction plans go awry and emission sequestration doesn’t work. You know simple risks like:

» An earthquake releasing to the local atmosphere the estimated fifty million metric tons of carbon dioxide that would be stored underground compressed at over a thousand pounds/inch of pressure.
» The risk of rupturing the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) pipeline that Governor Blagojevich wants to construct stretching from the coal gasification plants planned to Illinois Basin oil fields in southeastern Illinois.
» The risk that that all hydrocarbon reservoirs are likely to leak over (geologic) time?
» The risk that carbon dioxide might start filling the basements of nearby homes.
» The risk that displacement of brine (salt water) into drinking water well aquifers.
» The risk of induced earthquakes or surface land deformation. (source)

Isn’t it time to just stop the madness?
Isn’t it time to end our addiction to coal?

The pursuit of clean coal distracts us from proven solutions for energy security. We should be telling all levels of government to stop coal subsidies and support programs for efficiency and clean energy. The sooner we abandon clean coal as the Holy Grail, the faster our nation can develop a sane energy policy that makes for a sustainable environment.

The Ameren Monopoly

2007-03-23T09:35:00.000-05:00

Jim Syler (aka Calion), Chair of the fringe Southern Illinois Libertarians recently wrote in Carbondale Bytelife about ‘Electricity, markets and monopolies”

In classic Libertarian-speak Syler asserts, “The only way out of our electricity problem is to cut Ameren loose from its state-privileged status, to fly or fall on its own.” He says this will benefit consumers because Ameren”will be afraid that if their price is too high or their service too poor, other companies will come in and try to undercut their business.”

I’m convinced that Libertarians want utilities to rain havoc on consumers. From the flames of the resulting chaos, they have an expectation that some Phoenix-like, benevolent, natural order (and Wal-Mart style ‘Falling Prices’) will spontaneously sprout from the ashes.

The Illinois Libertarian Party takes the position that:

“Allowing the free market to set electricity rates is the best way to get reliable service at competitive rates. The Libertarian Party of Illinois opposes legislation that controls prices for any market service, including electricity.”

Libertarians simply choose to ignore both distant and recent history of scandalous abuses by utilities that were unregulated monopolies. I’ll be the first to admit that understanding utility regulation is not an easy task. There are so many federal and state laws that have distorted the market. Many of the laws were actually written by the utilities, handed to legislators, and hastily passed without decent analysis. It should come as no surprise that the electric industry sought to improve the profitability of its monopoly standing by giving “more than $40 million to Congress since 1999 (more than two-thirds to the Republican Party) and spent an additional $260 million lobbying the federal government over that same time period. The crisis we are in now in Illinois over deregulation and high prices was nurtured in the utilities and sold to the ICC as a universal panacea for Illinois energy problems. Everybody was tricked into or bought-out by the plan. Just follow the money!

Most of the disastrous utility laws now on the books began with deregulation brought about by the Energy Policy Act of 1992. That’s the same complex act (393-pages) that, in its infinite wisdom, designated Yucca Mountain as the ‘permanent disposal site’ for used nuclear fuel and other radioactive materials from commercial nuclear power plants and U.S. Department of Defense activities. The act distorted alternative transportation fuel development leading to uneconomic subsidization of ethanol from corn. It’s the same act that also failed to significantly raise automobile fuel economy (CAFE) standards.

The latest incarnation of AmerenCIPS is one of nine public utilities in Illinois that are retailing monopolies regulated by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), a state agency established to “to pursue an appropriate balance between the interest of consumers and both emerging and existing service providers in accordance with applicable statute and rules.”

Essentially, when it comes to electric utilities the ICC has repeatedly blown numerous opportunities since the 1980’s when I helped argue before the ICC that Ameren needed to invest far more in sustainable energy solutions such as conservation and renewables. First, the ICC failing to foster significant demand reduction and demand management solutions that would reduce the need to build more polluting coal and nuclear power plants. Then it failed to guide acquisition of renewable energy supply sources, and most recently, it miserably failed to protect the electorate from an artificial purchasing process where the new “retailing Ameren” gets to buy power from the old “power generation Ameren” company at unnatural prices.

No, sorry, I cannot see cutting “Ameren loose from its state-privileged status, to fly or fall on its own.” Not when there are so many opportunities for the company to leverage its unregulated monopoly status to pillage its customers’ bank accounts. There is no quick easy solution. The solutions I see working best in the long run are those that turn every home and business into both an energy demand reduction engine and a distributed energy producer using renewable sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and other clean fuel technologies.

Fuel Fights

2007-03-21T15:33:00.000-05:00

One of the hot issues 64 years ago was fuel rationing. It wasn't an issue of high energy prices as Americans tend to view it today, but one of scarcity of fuel due to its priority use in World War II.

"During World War II many consumer goods were rationed for civilians in order to supply more goods for both American and Allied troops. Among the items rationed were sugar, red meat, gas, oil, coffee, and rubber. In October 1942 fuel oil was rationed. During the especially cold winter of 1942-43 this brought numerous protests from citizens. A temperature of 65 degrees was set as the standard for homes, by the federal government." (Source)

65 degrees is still a reasonable standard. If everyone used that benchmark, we probably wouldn't need fuel from the Mideast where we are now in a protracted war that has caused over 3200 American soldier deaths and 23,417 casulties.

Both posters were originally published by the United States Government Printing Office.

Carpe Utility

2007-03-17T09:35:00.000-05:00

In response to rising costs and concern for better management, Carbondale’s Mayor Cole has proposed seizing the local infrastructure assets of AmerenCIPS through the process of eminent domain. There are generally five reasons that a municipality would want to take over a publicly held utility such as AmerenCIPS.

Cost
Safety
Reliability
Local accountability
Control

Ameren will undoubtedly raise a stink about the eminent domain process and claim that Carbondale citizens cannot afford the cost of acquisition.

1) If the City can run the utility with less expense, then it is in the community’s interest to proceed. We don’t know if Carbondale can afford to buy the utility until the costs are analyzed in a comprehensive feasibility study.

2) Can Carbondale maintain the infrastructure with equal or better safety for its employees and for citizens using power from the utility? That is an unknown, but is certainly possible after an intensive education/training program of personnel is undertaken.

3) Can Carbondale provide greater reliability of energy delivery in both the short- and long-run? I am not convinced that can happen in the short-run, but I do think it is possible in the long-run by carefully investing in technology that simultaneously lowers energy demand and substitutes diverse supply sources that have greater sustainability.

4) Local accountability is the second best reason for acquiring the utility assets. Elected officials accountable to local citizens is, in my book, preferable, to a large corporation being primarily responsible to only its investors and Wall Street analysts. Accountability can turn into a negative if the new governing entity operates in an unprofessional manner as the region has witnessed in recent years with the Rend Lake Conservancy District. In Rend Lake’s case their audit identified management deficiencies in 16 areas and recommended more than 70 specific actions to stop bad management from continuing.

5) Control is the primary reason Carbondale should explore acquiring the utility’s assets. With good stewardship, Carbondale can build a sustainable and comprehensive energy management system for the community. Without the local control, the community will be unable to chart its own energy destiny and be independent of the utility and its suppliers. Also, the City can be independent of state/federal legislators and regulators that may have conflicting priorities.

I think that the advantages of acquiring the Ameren infrastructure probably outweigh the disadvantages, but we all need more information upon which to base a sound opinion. Using eminent domain is not without serious risks. It is almost always an adversarial process. We can look to numerous examples around the country where local units of government have tried and failed to use eminent domain for private utility acquisition. In many instances, the government body has lost the battle and been liable for paying significant litigation and lobbying costs. For example, Morristown, Maryville, and Alcoa, TN, as well as, Kansas City all failed in their attempts to take over the gas distribution systems in their communities.

Any plans to acquire AmerenCIPS would be both complex and expensive, and in then end, businesses and citizens may end up saddled with millions of dollars in debt without neither better utility rates or service.

Should we abandon the idea now? No. Lets move forward cautiously peeling away the issue’s layers to get at the truth of the matter AND explore other options along the way. This exploration must require citizen involvement to be trusted and successful.

Wildlife Rehabilitation - Free Again

2007-03-16T22:26:00.000-05:00

Nature is generally unforgiving. When a bird or mammal becomes ill or injured, depending upon the species, they are often completely on their own to acquire shelter, food, and medical care.

Some people argue that the animal should be left alone to allow "nature's way" to complete the cycle of life. I would tend to agree, but stop after remembering how responsible the human species is for harming animals in so many other ways. Human activities injure and kill animals by the millions every year and are responsible for countless extirpations of species. The list of extinctions that have occurred in the US alone is mind boggling. The least we can do is intervene where possible to give the creatures a chance for survival.

Wildlife rehabilitation organizations around the world perform amazing wonders in helping sick and injured wild creatures. In southern Illinois we have Free Again, a volunteer, non-profit organization providing wildlife rehabilitation services for injured, ill or orphaned birds and other animals. Founded in 1987, Free Again cares for nearly 400 bird and mammal species yearly.

The primary goal of Free Again is the rehabilitation and release of these wild creatures back into their native habitat. Through awareness and education, Free Again encourages a peaceful co-existence between people and native wildlife.

As we enter the "busy season" when young animals are entering this dangerous new world and animal activity and migrations resume, organizations like Free Again need your help. I encourage my readers to visit the Free Again website and consider contributing goods, service and your very valuable volunteer time to the organization. You can make a big difference.

Our Heritage of Hills

2007-03-16T09:35:00.000-05:00

Less than 80 miles as the crow flies from my doorstep in Carbondale are the ruins of a once-thriving prehistoric city of up to 20,000 American Indians known as Cahokia Mounds. Cahokia was among the most complex, sophisticated societies of prehistoric North America. At its population peak around 1150, researchers say, the city covered nearly six square miles.

Cahokia was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1982 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is one of twenty World Heritage Sites in the United States.

Several theories exist for the demise of the ancient civilization. One theory suggests that Cahokia was abandoned because of environmental abuse: over-hunting and deforestation. Another suggests that political collapse was the primary reason for the site’s abandonment.

Cahokia is under new environmental and political threats today. The nation's largest garbage hauler, Houston-based Waste Management, which owns the towering Milam landfill in nearby Fairmont City (Madison County), wants to expand to floodplain land adjacent to the world heritage site. How big is the Waste Management company? It has over 22,000 collection and transfer vehicles - the largest trucking fleet in the waste industry.

The company would expand its existing landfill and use its trucks to build a decidedly different kind of mound - one of buried garbage that would be constructed within 2,100 feet of the Cahokia Mounds and close to Horseshoe Lake State Park. The 222-acre expansion area for the landfill would also inundate 18 acres of wetlands in the floodplain.

Two environmental groups (Illinois Sierra Club* and American Bottom Conservancy) have filed an appeal with the Illinois Pollution Control Board to stop the construction on the site. Kathy Andria, president of American Bottom Conservancy said

"I think it's unconscionable, so disrespectful to the site, to the American Indians living today who would see garbage put on top of a site they consider sacred."

Each day an average of 400 truckloads (about 3,000 tons) of trash are deposited in a mound to a height of almost 170 feet height at the existing landfill site in Milam.

Approval for the site must be granted by both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

If the landfill is completed, the City of Madison would receive $1 million a year from the landfill; Madison County would also receive approximately two million dollars annually in tipping fees.

(* Disclosure: I serve on the governing board of the Illinois Sierra Club.)

Poll: We Can Do More To Help Environment

2007-03-15T18:25:00.000-05:00

The Gallup News Service released the results of an interesting poll last month about environmental priorities for government and citizens. People definitely think the government should do more to help the environment. They also think their neighbors should do more, but offer only a few suggestions as to what. Only about 50% identified actions that they or their neighbors could take. Suggested actions include: "developing alternative fuel sources (19%), addressing global warming (16%), imposing stricter standards on fuel emissions (10%), and setting tougher fuel standards for autos (6%)."

About a third of Americans think the government should strengthen environmental protection laws and their enforcement (not specific to global warming), including by setting higher standards on clean water, holding industrial organizations accountable for pollution, and passing stronger laws for protection of natural resources.

Democrats and Republicans are about equally likely to suggest that the government should initiate more research to find alternative energy sources (20% and 21%, respectively). However, Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans (23% vs. 11%) to say the government should acknowledge and address global warming, specifically.”

When it comes to telling their neighbors what to do, people suggest that their fellow citizens can be better stewards of the environment by conserving more, recycling more, and polluting less (in that order). But of these, cutting down on energy consumption is by far the largest category of responses. This includes using more energy-efficient products (18%), buying smaller or more fuel-efficient cars (13%), and driving less (10%).

When it comes to recycling they place low emphasis on reducing their consumption patterns, preferring instead to recycle more of what they increasingly consume.

Greenhouse Gas-O-Therapy

2007-03-15T09:31:00.000-05:00

I couldn't turn-on the "Smell-O-Vision" for this announcement about reducing greenhouse gases, so please just take my word for it that it is definitely worth your while to attend any of the film showings scheduled next week that are part of the Sierra Club's First Annual Environmental Film Fest.

The first film on Thursday, March 22nd is “Kilowatt Ours” -a one hour film that covers topics ranging from mountain top removal to large scale solar panel projects to one family’s efforts to reduce their household energy use.

The Thursday showing is co-sponsored by the Kaleidoscope Group.

For a detailed show schedule and links to descriptions of the film, visit the Sierra Club's Shawnee Group blog.

A Political Fiction

2007-03-14T12:45:00.000-05:00

Lately, some local bloggers have been especially effusive in their praise of Carbondale Mayor Cole and the fact that he is such an active “full-time” mayor. Some call him “a real bargain” and “our Vista Volunteer” because he works full-time for a low salary.

For example, in regard to the upcoming election, David More argues for “voters to not to turn back the clock, and return to the days of the part-time Mayor . . . but to Spring forward with a full-time Mayor whose #1 job is making Carbondale a better place to live and work.”

Lost in all this admiration is the history of the City-manager form of government in Carbondale. The pundits miss the fact that the citizens of Carbondale legally chose to adopt the Council-manager form of government as a means of reforming the abuses of past municipal government systems. A full-time, partisan mayor is not an ingredient of the chosen reform.

Recall that there are three possible forms of municipal government. All three are found in southern Illinois. Most municipalities of communities with more than 10,000 citizens use either a mayor-council government (sometimes referred to as the strong-mayor form of government), a council-manager government (E.G. Carbondale), or the once prevalent, but now generally disfavored, city commission form of local government (E.G. Marion).

In the council-manager form of city government, mayors typically are part-time jobs because the council delegates authority to administer the details of government not to the mayor, but to the City Manager. The mayor is normally supposed to primarily perform ceremonial duties and act as a member and presiding officer of the elected city council that sets policy and gives the manager direction.

That is the way the voters approved the governance system for Carbondale and the way things worked well for decades before the current mayor took office. Historically, the Carbondale City Manager (currently Jeff Dougherty) has looked to trade organizations such as the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) for guidance on how to administer government in a non-partisan manner. The ICMA publishes eighteen best practices of operation for professional city managers.

Despite the many good intentions and efforts that Mayor Cole has, I suspect that there is an aversion in the community to the bloodless Coup d'état that seems to have occurred in city hall. The mayor’s position was never intended to be a full-time position. Taxpayers pay the City Manager a very hefty salary to professionally administer the affairs of city government without the need for the heavy hand of a full-time Mayor residing in city hall all day, every day. It is irrelevant that the mayor is willing to serve full-time or at low pay. That is simply not what the voters agreed to support.

Mayor Cole says he is running for office to be a full-time mayor. His opponent has clearly stated that she is running for the part-time office of mayor in keeping with the traditional council-manager form of government. In essence, they are running for different offices, but one of the offices is a fiction and does not exist.

This is not to say the mayor’s role should be marginalized. To the contrary, elected mayors are very important because they can use the “bully pulpit” to resolve divisive community issues and help lead a community to new solutions and opportunities.

There is a very real danger in supporting the continuation of a low-salary, full-time mayor position, especially when the person has sworn allegiance to one political party. First of all, it is a step backwards from the desired goal of professionalizing municipal administration by having a CEO-level administrator responsible for running government in a non-partisan manner. In the case of Mayor Cole, he is an avowed Republican with statewide political aspirations. This alone hinders his impartially when it comes to representing a non-partisan city administration, and makes all his actions (good or bad) suspect when he acts independent of Council direction or authority. Moreover, since “perception is reality,” any act the Republican mayor takes will be deemed partisan behavior with political overtones.

A second danger of a full-time, partisan mayor is that city employees will always feel either real or imagined pressure to operate in a partisan manner for the sake of job security, promotions and raises. With an non-partisan city manager stationed between the employee and the elected body of council decision-makers, employees have greater freedom to professionally act for what they see as best for the city, rather than what is preferred by any in-the-house, full-time, partisan mayor.

Away We Go!

2007-03-14T09:37:00.000-05:00

Such is the original name of the 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma, which later became the popular 1955 movie starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones.

Try to imagine that the production was really about the future Illinois.

Based on calculations about global warming, the winter climate of Illinois is now expected to begin looking more and more like that of present day Oklahoma, and in summer it will be closer to that of Texas!

“Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.”

Such is the assessment of a Union of Concerned Scientists report on the results of pending climate change. Their detailed assessment suggests we are in for some wrenching changes.

“Illinois’ climate will grow considerably warmer and probably drier during this century, especially in the summer. As a result of these changes, by 2030 summer in llinois may feel more like current-day summer in Oklahoma or Arkansas, while winter may feel like present day Missouri. By 2095 summer climate will resemble that of eastern Texas today with winters that feel like Oklahoma.”

Image an Illinois growing season 2 - 6 weeks longer. Accompanying that longer season may be increases in the frequency of Mississippi River floods, drought, tornadoes and severe storms.

Since 75% of Illinois is used for agriculture, there are likely to be significant shifts in viability and productivity of certain crops. If the crops can survive the expected weather extremes and altered threats from pests, farmers may shift towards wheat production in lieu of corn.

I recommend everyone take the time to review the brief sections of the report listed below:

It looks like the future just ain’t what it used to be.

Away We Go! Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!

Illinois Holdem Power Poker

2007-03-09T08:30:00.000-06:00

It’s a high stakes media game this week as Ameren and the Illinois legislature play poker with the energy supply system of 390,000 electric customers in 576 communities in Illinois. (See service area map).

The Illinois Senate Environment and Energy Committee showed their hand Wednesday by unanimously voting to extend the electric rate increase proposed in House Bill 1750. The freeze would be extended only six months to allow time to craft better solutions for Illinois.

Ameren has raised the bet by issuing a news release in which the company threatens to take the following punitive measures. A careful read of the threats would indicate that they primarily affect their employees, low income residents of Illinois, and those having the most difficulty paying the high electric bills of the company. Way to stick it to the little guy, Ameren!

Immediate steps would be taken to lay off employees
Nearly all of the companies' contractors would be laid off
Reliability projects, including tree trimming, would be postponed
Connections for new homes and businesses would be delayed
Response to customer calls would stretch from seconds today to many minutes
Elimination of the proposed $20 million customer credit, primarily for the relief of residential electric heat customer
Elimination of the zero-percent interest Customer Elect Plan (CEP) for phasing in higher electricity rates
Elimination of the zero-percent deferral assistance program for certain non-residential customers
Elimination of the $15 million pledged for energy assistance, energy efficiency programs and aid for low-income customers; and all community donations and projects would be discontinued.

Will the full Illinois Senate fold, call or raise the bet in this game of power poker?

91 Days

2007-03-08T09:35:00.000-06:00

Everyone has their pet theory on how gasoline prices are established in the real world. Of course, many people think it is simply tied to the price of crude oil and simple supply and demand. Wish it were so!

For a detailed analysis of the last three years of oil pricing and the influence of political and military events around the world on oil prices, please read this assessment and hope it isn’t at all accurate.

Three facts jump out of the document:

The United States has the largest demand for oil by far, using around 25% of the world's total oil production and 40% of the world's gasoline production -- with only about 5% of the total world population.
Approximately 2/3 of the oil and gasoline consumed by the U.S. is being imported from foreign countries. This dependency leaves the U.S. highly vulnerable to any supply disruption.
At any one time there are about 54 days of stock in the OECD system plus 37 days in emergency stockpiles. 54 + 37 = 91 days.

If oil stopped flowing for whatever reason – terrorism, war, natural disaster – it would only take about 91 days before the economy and world social order spiraled into chaos.

You didn’t want to hear that, did ya?

Eating Oil

2007-03-07T08:35:00.000-06:00

No, the title of this post is not about that clunker of a car in your driveway, nor the greasy french fries you had for lunch yesterday. It is about the actual good stuff you put in your mouth every day that you might have purchased at the local farmers market.

A community with a local farmers market is a stepping stone on the path to community sustainability. In addition to the opportunity markets provide for social interaction, they offer excellent sources of food diversity, nutrition, and local employment. I especially value them because locally grown food generally requires less energy than imported food.

Juxtapose the status of farmers markets in your community with the statistic that 90% of the food consumed in Illinois is imported. Illinoisans spend millions of dollars for food and most of that leaves the local economy. An enormous portion of the family food bill is actually for the fuel to transport food to market. When you eat “foreign food” you are essentially eating the oil needed to get it to you.

“Virtually all of the processes in the modern food system are now dependent upon this finite resource, which is nearing its depletion phase.

Moreover, at a time when we should be making massive cuts in the emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in order to reduce the threat posed by climate change, the food system is lengthening its supply chains and increasing emissions to the point where it is a significant contributor to global warming.” (source)

In a multitude of ways locally grown and consumed food is the benchmark of a sustainable community.

A benefit of farmers markets is the savings they create in energy consumption. One way to measure that benefit is the ratio of energy outputs (the energy content of a food product) - to the energy inputs needed to produce, package and transport the food. Does it make sense to consume 127 calories of fuel to deliver 1 calorie of food? That is the energy ratio to ship iceberg lettuce to Great Britain. Where are the origins of your last banana, head of lettuce, pint of strawberries, and salmon steak?

With the coming of Peak Oil Illinois needs to do everything it can to transition to locally grown food sources.

The transition must begin now. Before the Illinois legislature is House Bill 1300 - The Illinois Food, Farms, and Jobs Act of 2007. HB 1300 proposes to:

“assemble a task force from diverse Illinois constituencies that are necessary to construct and maintain a complete in-state food system for the production, processing, storage, distribution, sale, and preparation of local and organic foods.

The Task Force’s objective is to identify barriers to Illinois creating locally grown and organic food system. The legislation calls for:
Farmer training and development

Helping farmers to transition to locally grown foods, USDA organic, and specialty crop production

Improving consumer access to fresh and affordable Illinois-grown foods in both rural and urban communities (farmers markets, roadside stands, and new and existing groceries)

Removing barriers separating landowners, farmers, businesses, and consumers desiring to participate in local and organic food networks

Constructing a local food infrastructure (processing, storage, and distribution)

Developing new food and agriculture-related businesses, such as on-farm processing, micro-markets, incubator kitchens, and marketing and communications businesses

Research into best practices and opportunities for local and organic food production and handling.”
Communities should support such legislation as part of The Ultimate Answer.

Is An Energy Service Company In your Future?

2007-03-06T10:38:00.000-06:00

In a recent post I mentioned Energy Service Companies (ESCos) – the use of which is one option that cities like Carbondale can employ to reduce city-wide energy expenses.

What is an ESCo? An ESCo is a “business that develops, installs, and finances projects designed to improve the energy efficiency and maintenance costs for facilities over a seven to 10 year time period. ESCOs generally act as project developers for a wide range of tasks and assume the technical and performance risk associated with the project. Typically, they offer the following services:

develop, design, and finance energy efficiency projects;
install and maintain the energy efficient equipment involved;
measure, monitor, and verify the project's energy savings; and
assume the risk that the project will save the amount of energy guaranteed.

These services are bundled into the project's cost and are repaid through the dollar savings generated.” {read more}

The great advantage of using ESCos is the avoidance of risk by the customer. It is up to the vendor to properly manage their technology decisions. If they fail to save energy/money, they make no profit. This is “performance-based contracting.”

ESCos tend to specialize in particular areas of expertise in either the demand or the supply side of the energy saving equation.

A company doesn’t have to be a large ESCo or be a member of the National Association of Energy Service Companies to make a difference for a community. There are hundreds of smaller businesses with technology innovations that can help communities build there way to energy self-reliance and sustainability. They have expertise in energy conservation, wind, solar, and other cost-effective renewable energy solutions.

Demand-side solutions from any number of sources do work. In this report, “Power To Save – An Alternative Path to Meet Electric Needs in Texas, their study found that:

“a comprehensive effort to promote efficiency and other cost-saving demand reduction measures can meet Texas’ electricity needs more reliably, at a lower cost and at a tremendous net economic benefit compared to building a new fleet of expensive and heavily polluting power plants. Over the next 15 years, boosting markets for more efficient products, lighting, cooling, heating and industrial processes can eliminate over 80% of forecast growth in electricity demand, while lowering consumer’s energy bills. With additional measures to further reduce electricity demand and enhance reliability, Texas can completely eliminate its “load growth,” resulting in a gradual decline in total electricity demand to more than 9% below current levels by 2021.”

Our local politicians don’t seem to be considering ESCos or conservation and renewables as part of their response to the disastrous Ameren rate increase. I wonder why that is. If anyone knows about a local politician decisively working on alternative solutions, please let me know.

The Utility Formerly Known as CIPS

2007-03-05T23:34:00.000-06:00

In my last post I started to describe the history and role of planning/management of electric utilities. Using the tool of energy utilities, only two proposals for southern Illinois appear to be publicly under consideration.

1) Carbondale, IL is proposing to acquire Ameren’s local distribution infrastructure (poles, wiring, substations, building meters, etc. and buy power from the ‘competitive’ market.

2) A group of municipal mayors is looking into forming a power purchase company to attempt to get power at a lower bulk rate.

The legislation for option #2 is what legislators call the “Southern Illinois Aggregate for Viable Energy Solutions.” Now there’s a warm and fuzzy name if I ever heard one! Do we call it “SIAFLVES” or maybe “The Utility Formerly Known as CIPS?”

Marketing aside, the two options leave far too much to be desired. Mayor Cole proposes to acquire Ameren assets through eminent domain. This would put the City under obligation to maintain that infrastructure. Carbondale could bid it out to private vendors to manage, or the City could do the work with city employees. They would need to be trained. This is certainly possible. The City already operates sophisticated drinking and wastewater treatment plants.

What would either proposal gain the city and its taxpayers? Under the new electric rate structure from Ameren a theoretical $100 a month electric bill looks like this:

Customer Charge $6.24 6.2%
Meter Charge $3.62 3.6%
Distribution $16.42 16.4%
Supply $67.47 67.5%
Subtotal $93.74
Tax $ 6.28 ~6.3%
TOTAL $100.02

That $100 bill provides the customer approximately 848 Kwh. About 10% represents fixed costs of serving a residence. Distribution (the portion Mayor Cole wants to acquire) constitutes 16.4% and the biggest portion of the bill is for the actual electric power supplied the consumer (67.7%). Taxes are about 6.3%.

I suspect there is little room for cost savings in the distribution portion of the bill. Its only about 2 cents per Kwh delivered. Acquiring the distribution system would be very expensive, fraught with problems with fair valuation, and legality. Yet, it is possibly a prerequisite to forming a truly independent local municipal utility.

The real money potential is in the supply portion of the bill. Ameren’s residential customers are now paying slightly under eight cents per Kwh. One year ago it was only about seven cents per Kwh. All-electric customers were paying even less.

For every one-cent decrease in the energy supply charge, a customer saves over 17% on their bill.

Acquiring cheaper energy has the greatest potential for saving money, or at least reducing future increases. There are three possible ways to lower the cost of electricity. Either engage either supply-side solutions or demand-side solutions. The first two are supply side:

1) Buy it in the open market from suppliers with excess capacity that can sell power cheaper than Ameren.
2) Build your own energy production system using the cheapest long-term fuel source that has the least negative impacts upon the environment. That cheap source is probably not coal and it more likely to be wind, biomass and solar.
3) Implement demand-side energy conservation measures that lessen the need for off-site energy delivery.

In any utility network, reducing the need for one unit of power is the same as producing one. If the utility can recover the cost of conserving power and do so cheaper then producing it, then it is in the best financial interest of the utility and consumers to pursue that option.

What are the ingredients of a demand-side solution? Building insulation, high efficiency windows, radiant barriers, energy efficiency building codes, high efficiency lighting such as LEDs and compact fluorescents, high efficiency heating and cooling systems, and lifestyle adjustments. No rocket science required!

One has to wonder why our political leaders aren't giving more attention to demand side solutions.

Municipal Electricity & Eminent Domain

2007-03-04T17:46:00.000-06:00

There have always been three primary functions of public electric utilities: generation (production of electricity), transmission (sending high voltage power to distribution points), and distribution (delivering power to your business or home). The first public utilities typically controlled all three functions. Because of recent deregulation, utility companies such as Ameren have legally separated the functions into 'independent' companies.

The planning and management of these systems was once the exclusive purview of private business. Energy suppliers would go where the markets were most lucrative. Initially, companies chose urban cities to install their systems. Rural America was left without electric power unless power was provided by small-scale electric wind energy systems that typically served one homestead. Back in 1975, some 40 years after REA began, I spent some time scouring farms along the back roads of North Dakota to salvage abandoned wind systems that could still be found. Many of these systems have been refurbished and work today. Most farmers eventually allowed their wind systems to fall into disrepair after the federal government got into the energy planning, production, transmission and distribution business by enabling rural electrification with the REA. Some farmers are returning to their earlier energy producton roles by insstalling wind power and biomass power systems.

In some cases, individuals and small communities read from a different book than the REA bible and chose to provide themselves with their own public utility power. They didn’t rely upon the federal government; they did it themselves. As a result there are now 70 municipal utility companies that are members of the Illinois Municipal Utilities Association. Flora, IL is unique among them as they own and operate all of their utilities: electric, gas, water, and sewer.

Most of the 70 Illinois municipal utilities are ‘transmission-dependent’ - meaning they buy their power from larger suppliers, yet maintain their own distribution and customer service infrastructure. This is essentially the type of system proposed by Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole. The biggest difference being that rather than build the distribution system from scratch, Cole proposes to pay for the system while obtaining ownership through the legal process of eminent domain. This is a commonly used method to acquire property necessary for the completion of projects such as removal of blight or the construction of railroads, highways, public buildings, and open space that are deemed for the public welfare.

Eminent domain use is not without its critics. Its use is generally opposed if its purpose is to provide other private parties unfair advantage in the marketplace. Yet, eminent domain can be used to remove harmful blight and acquire resources for needed badly needed public infrastructure. The downside of eminent domain is the potential to be sued by the owner of the property being taken and having to pay the plaintiffs court costs if the case is lost. Interestingly, Mayor Cole thinks the fight is worth it to acquire the valuable utility infrastructure of the Ameren electric distribution utility, and not worth the effort in the case of the blighted American TAP bar in downtown Carbondale - a major downtown health, safety, and aesthetic nuisance.

Energy planning and regulation duties have increasingly become the purvue of states as a result of improper behavior of utility companies. The Illinois Commerce Commission has the role of protecting consumers from unfair pricing and investigates informal complaints against public utility companies. They are the just one of the entities that bears responsibility for the devastating effects of the January 2007 Ameren price increase.

The latest twist in the Illinois legislature’s grievance against high-priced Ameren electric service is the proposal to reapply the freeze on electric rates long enough to allow competition to enter the Illinois market, thus giving consumers a choice of which provider to use. The rationale being that in a competitive market, electricity prices should go lower as the market prices adjust to supply and demand pressure. Competition in the form of alternative Energy Service Companies (ESCos) will theoretically produce business innovation and new technologies will replace older, inefficient, and expensive systems. Consumers are supposed to benefit. So far they haven't and probably won't!

I’ll soon write about ESCOs and options open to communities that want more energy self reliance.

How Much Was Your Electric Increase?

2007-03-03T14:36:00.000-06:00

I'd like to conduct an unscientific poll regarding the AmerenCIPs rate increase that is affecting many Illinoisans. Before taking the poll shown adjacent in the blog menu, please compare your electric service utility bill from the latest bill from the same month a year ago. Do not include your natural gas service bill costs or taxes - just sum of the three bill categories: DS-Residential (DS-1), Electric Supply (BGS-1), and Taxes. It should be totalled for you on (probably page 3 of the bill. We know that this winter has been colder than the previous year. When I report back the results after the poll closes in two weeks, I will adjust the data for weather impacts. Please ask your friends and neighbors to also take the poll.

In case you don't have access to your historical paper bill records, any AmerenCIPS customer can access their historical bill and payment history (up to 23 months of data) at http://www.ameren.com. While there you can read Ameren's official rationale for the increase. Thanks.

A Rising Ocean Floods All Economies

2007-03-03T14:00:00.000-06:00

The aphorism "a rising tide lifts all boats" refers to the prospect of everyone benefiting from a prosperous economy. If you believe that concept, then you ought to accept that a rising ocean floods all economies.

I recently came across an interesting application of Google Earth mapping applied to the issue of global climate disruption. Most people are aware of the predictions of sea level rise expected this century as a result to melting of polar ice caps. The organization Step It Up 2007 has created an impact video of the effect of sea level rise on New York City – specifically Manhattan Island. Expected flooding there would sink much of lower Manhattan beneath the New York harbor.

You can view the YouTube video now.

One effort of the Step It Up 2007 organization is the Sea Of People project that injects the human element into the sometimes boring statistics of climate education.

We can expect to see similar mapping and community education projects applied to all sorts of environmental impacts: change of growing patterns as the great corn desert plant zone moves northward and other ecosystems disappear to replaced by others, depletion of aquifers, and of course, more visualizations of the disappearance of islands and coastlines all around the world. Stay tuned. It should be a very interesting century.

EPA Sea Level Rise Map

UN Observed Climate Trends

BTW, I’d like to talk to any Illinoisans working on interesting applications of mapping systems that improve our knowledge of natural resources or other Illinois spatial data.

Y2K Déjà vu All Over Again

2007-02-27T11:43:00.000-06:00

Time will tell if we make it through another computer network event like the computer clock rollover to the year 2000. Despite the millions of dollars spent on avoiding the Y2K catatrophe, a lot of software vendors still are struggling to catch up to 'the changing times'. Déjà vu.

March 11, 2007 is the big switch to daylight savings time. The problem is that it is occurring three weeks earlier than the past. A lot of software and PC chip devices such as PDAs and some smartphones are hard coded for a different date for time switchover.

Think you are safe because you bought a computer after 2000? Think again. If you happen to be using Windows NT4 (lots of businesses are), Windows 2000, or XP Service Pack 1, Microsoft will not be issuing patches for the problem on those older operating systems. You are on your own to manually change clocks from here on. That, or buy a new operating system. {hint, hint}

At least now you'll have an excuse for being late to that meeting on March 11.

Vote In Tuesday’s Primary

2007-02-27T07:34:00.000-06:00

It is primary election day in Carbondale.

Go exercise your suffrage for one of the four candidates for mayor and your picks of seven candidates for city council.

Voting is a right best exercised by people who have taken time to learn about the issues. ~ Tony Snow

Saving Lives and Communities

2007-02-27T07:02:00.000-06:00

Kudos to SIU custodian Gary Lannom of Marion for his quick thinking in saving the life of SIU Student Pen Congyue’s toddler son two weeks ago. The story just appeared in the Daily Egyptian today. Would that we had more everyday heroes in the region.

While Lannom received his first aid training from Marion Memorial Hospital, many others receive theirs from local Red Cross instructors.

In addition to citizens like Lannom who receive first aid training on the job, there are many paid and volunteer Certified First Responders working within local police, fire and ambulance services. You don’t have to be a First Responder to save lives. There is a small army of Red Cross volunteers in Southern Illinois that respond to disasters locally and throughout the nation. Their community volunteerism is part of the Ultimate Answer to serving humanity’s needs.

Each year, the American Red Cross responds immediately to more than 70,000 disasters, including house or apartment fires (the majority of disaster responses), hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hazardous materials spills, transportation accidents, explosions, and other natural and man-made disasters.

The local Little Egypt Network Chapter of the Red Cross provides an ongoing series of classes on becoming a volunteer disaster aid workers. For more information, contact arclittleegypt@clearwave.com or call 618-988-1147.

A Hunger and Thirst for Alcohol

2007-02-25T08:30:00.000-06:00

What would you rather have, fuel for your inefficient vehicle or food and water? That is the question that the ethanol fuel debate may be coming down to.

Most people acknowledge that mixing ethanol derived from corn with gasoline reduces our dependence on imported oil, but only by a small amount. Corn ethanol also raises prices for farm commodities that ultimately increase your grocery bill.

What especially concerns environmentalists is the disruption that corn-based ethanol production has on the ecology of the planet. Ethanol does nothing to reduce global warming. And the energy required to extract the ethanol from corn is almost a zero sum game. At best, scientists expect that improvements in refinery technology and genetics may make the energy out/in ratio to be 1.3 to 1. Gasoline from crude oil enjoys a ratio of about 10:1.

Alternatives to Corn
Efforts are underway to find alternatives to corn for alcohol production. Ethanol can be made from cellulosic feedstocks such as switchgrass (see picture), corn stover, sugar cane, bagasse, miscanthus, sugar beet, sorghum, grain sorghum, barley, hemp, kenaf, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, sunflower, fruit, molasses, whey or skim milk, grain, wheat, wood, paper, straw, cotton, and other biomass materials. Using them efficiently would provide large, new sources of raw materials for the production of renewable fuel.

Economically feasible cellulosic ethanol production would enable ethanol to displace much more imported crude oil than relying on corn-based ethanol alone. In addition, production of the biomass for cellulosic ethanol production would create economic opportunities for many farmers in diverse geographic regions across the United States. (USDA 2007 Farm Bill proposal)

Hello Ethanol, Goodbye Wildlife!
This opportunity for farmers comes at an enormous loss to everyone else because it will most likely mean the loss of millions of rural acres now set aside for wildlife conservation, erosion control, and flood mitigation. About 40 million farm acres are currently protected in the Agriculture Department's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and related security programs. The CRP encourages farmers to convert highly erodible cropland or other environmentally sensitive acreage to resource-conserving vegetative cover, such as tame or native grasses, wildlife plantings, trees, filterstrips or riparian buffers.

Farmers receive payments based on the agriculture rental value of the land and funds participant investments in approved conservation practices. Hunters have worked hard to increase the development of CRP habitat for migratory waterfowl. Ducks Unlimited offers their position on CRP here. For the official line on CRP by the USDA, visit here.

Environmentalists favor CRP because it helps remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and reduces soil erosion and nutrient runoff into waterways and aquifers. The fear is that farmers may be induced to eliminate woodlots and convert farmable CRP areas for production of switchgrass and other crops. This will lead to increased erosion, loss of habitat, and increased use of fertilizers and pesticides in sensitive areas.

A Final Toast to Thirst
Go ahead and lift your glass to the opportunities of ethanol. Just don’t ask for a clean water chaser. Ethanol production facilities consume enormous quantities of water. With the proliferation of ethanol plants in the Midwest (Map of US bioethanol refinery locations), communities are being threatened with the loss of surface and well water because of the enormous drawdown of water supplies that ethanol production requires. According to Cornell researcher, David Pimentel, producing one gallon of corn ethanol requires about 1,700 gallons of water to irrigate the corn and process the fuel. That is but one reason why communities are increasingly rejecting proposals to allow ethanol plants to be built in their communities.

Illinois requires extensive permitting to build an ethanol plant and offers incentives to do so. This is all explained in the State of Illinois' Guide to Permit Requirements, Funding Opportunities, and Other Consideration. Illinois does not regulate the rate of aquifer withdrawal. Communities facing droughts like those experienced in the Midwest in recent years have reason to fear the impacts of ethanol plants that might dry up their wells and nearby rivers. The Illinois legislature needs water withdrawal legislation to protect communities from water depletion from both ethanol and coal plants.

Ethanol plants are coming to a town near you!
One new ethanol plant (NABR – formerly known as Renewable Fuels) has already been permitted for construction in Carbondale. It is likely to produce 50 million gallons of product per year and will use, surprisingly, not local coal, but natural gas for fuel. Fifty-three other plants have been proposed in Illinois, including plants in nearby Waltonville (Rend Lake), Alton, and Salem. The dangerous ethanol rush is on!

Electric Rate Hike Reversal to be Debated

2007-02-24T21:54:00.000-06:00

The Illinois legislature will enter into a special Committee of the Whole session on Tuesday, 2/27/2007 to consider legislation that would roll electricity prices back to 2006 levels. Under discussion will be House Bill 1750 cosponsored by Rep. John E. Bradley. Supporters include downstate Reps. Brandon Phelps, and Dan Reitz. The bill "extends the life of the electric rate freeze that expired last month by rolling prices back to their previous levels and requiring utility companies to refund with interest the difference between the old and new rates that they collect from consumers during the period the higher rates are in effect."

Legislative Bill Synopsis
Amends the Electric Service Customer Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997 in the Public Utilities Act. Changes the definition of "mandatory transition period" to include the period from the effective date through the date on which the Illinois Commerce Commission has approved declarations of competitive service for all classes of service offered in the service areas of all electric utilities that, on December 31, 2005, served at least 100,000 customers in Illinois. Requires the Commission to order certain utilities to file and implement tariffs to reinstate all rates charged to the electric utilities' customers on December 31, 2006, within 10 days after the effective date. Requires the Commission to order the electric utilities to refund to the utilities' residential customers any amounts charged to such residential customers, from January 1, 2007 until 10 days after the effective date that exceed the rates charged to the electric utilities' residential customers on December 31, 2006. Provides that the refund must be issued within 30 days after the effective date and shall include interest on the full amount of the refund, at the same interest rate the Commission requires utilities to pay on customer deposits. Prohibits the Commission from taking certain actions prior to 2010 with respect to (i) initiating, authorizing, or ordering any change by way of increase or (ii) in approving an application for a merger, imposing a condition requiring any filing for an increase, decrease, or change in or other review of a utility's rates or enforcing such a condition. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

The full text of the bill is available online. The Committee hearing will be video streamed on the General Assembly Web site: www.ilga.gov/house/audvid.asp starting at 1 PM.

Moonshine Madness

2007-02-24T08:30:00.000-06:00

Political expediency in Illinois says you support farmers by supporting corn-to-ethanol proposals wherever they crop-up. Advocates argue that growing corn for ethanol production creates jobs in Illinois, brings higher farm income, liquid fuel energy independence, and cleaner air. According to the President Bush, ethanol is the magical elixir that will potentially solve every economic, environmental and foreign policy problem we have.

Just north of my home is the southern border of the Great Corn Desert. Within it sits the chemical giant, Archer Daniel Midlands, one of the largest agricultural processors in the world. It has offices and facilities on six continents and in 60 countries and supplies a large proportion of the ethanol used as additives for America’sgasoline stocks.

The company’s ethanol competition is increasing. There are currently 109 ethanol refineries operating in the United States, with capacity to produce over 5.2 billion gallons per year. Seven other plants are expanding and 70 new refineries are being constructed to produce over 5.8 billion gallons a year – all with financial subsidies from government. New ethanol plants are being proposed all over the state and you can be sure legislators will line up to pledge their support, however misguided.

Like it or not, there are actually certain limits to growth. US farmers are now using about 8.6 million acres of farmland to grow corn for ethanol. The percentage devoted to ethanol has already grown from 3% five years ago to 20% today. President Bush, always the math wiz and strategic planner, has set a target of 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels by 2017. To achieve that with corn would require the entire U.S. corn harvest, unless yields miraculously increased and space aliens added more sustainable farm land to North America.

Say good bye to corn flakes, tortillas, and mama’s corn bread!
In the not too distant future, will you even be able to afford a corn dog at the DuQuoin State Fair? What will happen to food prices? In Mexico, the price of corn tortillas - the nutrition foundation of its poorest citizens - has recently risen about 30%, leading to consumer protests and government price controls. America’s cattle, poultry and hog farmers are already struggling to adjust to higher feed corn prices. What will happen when more corn is diverted to fuel production? At the grocery check-out counter, consumers can expect to be paying more for all corn and corn-fed meat products.

Some ethanol proponents say switching to ethanol should at least reduce our dependence on unstable foreign oil supplies, right? Hardly. If all the corn produced in America last year were dedicated to ethanol production, U.S. gasoline consumption would drop by only 12 percent.

Is it worth all this trauma to forego development of more efficient automobiles or curtailment of Saturday teen night cruising around the town square? An article in the January 2007 issue of Scientific American concludes that

"Relying on ethanol from corn is an unsustainable strategy: agriculture will never be able to supply nearly enough crop, converting it does not combat global warming, and socially it can be seen as taking food off people's plates.”

I can only conclude that finding a replacement liquid fuel for transportation use without implementing significant energy conservation measures in both the production and demand side of energy use is not possible. Are we waiting for a miracle or has moonshine madness overtaken our elected officials?

Elected officials that succumb to the political expediency of further subsidizing corn-to-ethanol ventures are delaying other smart investments in energy conservation and renewable energy production that can form the basis of a stable and sustainable future for Illinois citizens.

From Pies to Prison

2007-02-23T10:33:00.000-06:00

Since the 1800’s the Fourth Estate has been identified with the public press. At first the fourth estate was just writers in the print media. Then came radio broadcasters, television, and most recently, the information managers of the Internet, in particular bloggers.

Bloggers bother politicians. Apparently words are even more dangerous than tossing pies in your face. When former Governor Ryan was smacked with a protest pie, at least he had the grace to say "Everyone gets to vent themselves a little bit; that's what it's all about, I guess." That opinion about protest methods is not shared across the world especially when it comes to some bloggers.

Bloggers are going to prison for the crime of simply talking about politics. Consider the fates of Hanif Mazroui in Iran, and Abel Kareem Nabil in Egypt. Nabil was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison for insulting Islam and Egypt's president. This is not exactly good news for free and open journalism.

Nabil’s conviction has garnered condemnations from human rights groups and others throughout the blogosphere. The international organization, Reporters without Borders, says “This sentence is a disgrace,” the press freedom organization said. “Almost three years ago to the day, President Mubarak promised to abolish prison sentences for press offences. Suleiman’s conviction and sentence is a message of intimidation to the rest of the Egyptian blogosphere, which had emerged in recent years as an effective bulwark against the regime’s authoritarian excesses.”

Read more about Nabil at FREEKAREEM!

In 2007 there are at least 140 journalists in jail, 60 cyberjournalists in prison. 14 media persons have been killed reporting the news.

Ameren Turns the Screw

2007-02-21T22:54:00.000-06:00

See the cartoon.

Carbondale Mayoral Primary Primer

2007-02-21T22:08:00.000-06:00

Of the four candidates running for mayor in Carbondale’s primary, only two truly have much of a real chance of making it to the general election: incumbent Mayor Brad Cole and challenger Sheila Simon, daughter of former US Senator Paul Simon. The other two candidates with underfunded campaigns are succeeding in bring to the forefront issues that the community needs to address, but their tactics and message have been weak and amateur.

To understand this campaign you need to, as always, follow the money! According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, with less than a week to go before the primary, the Cole campaign (Team Brad) has raised $23,450 in contributions and the Simon campaign (Sheila Simon for Mayor) has raised $10,048. Challenger Jessica Davis has raised zero dollars and challenger Pepper Holder has apparently not even filed the required financial disclosure reports. Clearly, there are only two serious candidates. Too bad. A campaign among fiscal and intellectual equals would have been invigorating.

Despite the fundraising disparities of the top two fundraisers, the race is shaping up as a hedge bet by the state party war chests. The Republican Party, despite its lukewarm relationship with Cole, doesn’t want to lose a recognizable name and voting puppet for when it comes time to find a replacement for either State Representative Mike Bost or State Senator David Luechtefeld. You can bet that the IL Republicans will soon start filling Cole’s campaign coffers by hosting expensive plate dinners in Springfield to help further distance the downstate wunderkind from the opposition. I estimate that this election will set a new record for election spending for a small town mayoral election. And don't forget, its supposed to be a non-partisan election.

Currently contributing the most money ($2000) to Cole’s campaign is Pepsi MidAmerica. The next biggest contributor ($1500) is Jackson Hewitt Tax Service whose principals own the usually empty two buildings on Main Street (Clark Gas Station and former Jin’s Barbeque). More importantly, they also own the adjoining large property - CCHS athletic football and tennis court. This property is the last, large development parcel remaining in NW Carbondale. The third largest contributor ($1000) is another large commercial real estate developer, Sun Valley Estates LLC. Oh, and Volunteers for (US Senator) Shimkus has primed the media pump by giving Cole another thousand dollars.

Illinois Democrats aren’t stupid. They recognize the importance of the downstate mayoral race and are encouraging support for Simon from throughout the state. Where Simon lacks individual fat cat contributors because of a pledge to limit personal campaign contributions to $50, she has instead acquired the endorsement boost of Democratic Party luminaries such as presidential candidate, Barack Obama, US Senator Dick Durbin, and Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan. Expect more of the same and maybe some other ‘star power.’

The election is shaping up to be the all too familiar downstate spitting contest between the ‘Fat Cat’, conservative, right wing, Chamber of Commerce, landlord/developer against the left/moderate-wing Democrat, academic, neighborhood oriented, home owning soccer moms and dads. – only without the spit – unless you count the drool from one local blogger. At least so far. Let us hope it stays that way.

We could benefit from a nice, clean battle of ideas for the voters hearts and minds.

Having followed some of the money, in my next blog entry I will compare the campaign styles and platforms of the both Cole and Simon. And don't worry, "following the money" will continue as more information arrives.

Incumbency über Alles

2007-02-21T16:25:00.000-06:00

Determining which candidate to vote for in an election can be a difficult process. Being a responsible voter typically requires devoting time to assessing both the tangible and intangible attributes of the candidate, as well as, the issues of the campaigns.

The incumbent usually has a distinct advantage in any election since the person may be more of a “known quantity.” Incumbents usually run on their record unless, of course, its really, really bad. However, they still need be seen as not resting on their laurels. The expression refers to “someone relying on their past success to cover up their current shoddy efforts.” Most elected local government positions are for short terms. This gives the electorate a chance to “throw the bum out” is they are dissatisfied. As such, the election is often "fundamentally a referendum on the incumbent." When the candidate is popular, voter turnout is often low. Over the last 40 years, voter turnout has been steadily declining. When the incumbent is bad, turnout increases.

There is a tendency of some voters to always vote for the incumbent because they believe it unfair for someone in office to be "fired". They say that unless the official is mentally unfit, guilty of a serious crime, or dead “ya oughta stand by your man.” Then again, criminals, the mentally unfit and the dead have all been reelected to office in this country. Thus, as the saying goes “the electorate gets what it deserves.”

The Carbondale primary will occur on February 27th and the general election is March 17th.

Cementing a Pollution-free Future

2007-02-21T12:45:00.000-06:00

This week Illinois and eight other states filed suit against the Bush administration for its alleged failure to regulate mercury and other pollutants from cement plants. Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that is particularly harmful to young children and pregnant mothers. Mercury pollution has poisoned every lake, river, and stream in Illinois to the point that there is a statewide advisory against eating fish.

State officials from Illinois, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania contend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule regarding Portland cement plants violates the federal Clean Air Act. The lawsuits are good news for southern Illinoisans since they can expect to live downwind from the Holcim cement plant being constructed just across the river in St. Genevieve, Missouri.

Unless the law changes, St. Louis and Illinois will experience increased mercury contamination, as well as, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and high particulate matter. These are all contributors to asthma. The American Lung Association has given St. Louis-area counties failing grades for high ground ozone levels, and the EPA has declared eight St. Louis area counties to be in non-attainment under more stringent 8-hour ozone standards. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America ranks St. Louis third worst in the nation for asthma.

The EPA estimates the nation's 118 cement plants already discharge a combined 12,000 pounds of mercury a year, although some state regulators say the actual amount is actually higher. The sources of cement plant mercury are the raw materials used to make cement -- limestone, clay, sand and iron ore -- and coal which burns in the kilns at very high temperatures. Cement manufacturing contributes about 5% of global man-made CO2 emissions.

The plant will be the second largest cement manufacturing plant in the US producing approximately 4,000,000 metric tons per year. It is nearly double the size of the largest cement plant in the United States. The plant’s construction began in March of 2006 and is due to be completed in 2009. Carbondale is only 60 miles east of this pollution source. St. Louis is only 45 miles north.

The Greening of Carbondale Candidates

2007-02-20T22:48:00.000-06:00

The Daily Egyptian newspaper ran its second installment Monday about the Carbondale mayoral race and included comments from an interview I provided last month regarding Carbondale's energy future and past. Except for the glaring error stating that I am an “active member with the local Green Party chapter” (I have never had an affiliation with the Greens), I thought the story was fair and balanced in describing the four mayoral candidate’s attitudes about environmental issues.

1) Brad Cole said he is addressing environmental needs by having signed without the City Council's consent the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and taping down light switches so they won’t get used. The Shawnee Green Party say he supports (in principle) the Urban Environmental Accords which prescribe 21 steps city governments can take to help the environment. For this election, he is emphasizing spending funds on cleanup of Piles Fork Creek.

2) Sheila Simon’s priorities are to “reduce the city's energy use by encouraging bike riding, investing in solar panels and better utilizing the city forester.” Her campaign platform describes several other specific actions the city government should undertake including energy audits of city operations.

3) Candidate Jessica Davis wants the city to take a more aggressive role in creating a more bicycle-and-pedestrian-friendly town and either talk about or study to “moderate city usage should aggressively explore alternatives to moderate the utility rate increases for each of our residents.”

4) Candidate Pepper Holder wants to focus his environmental attention on the Koppers Wood Treatment Plant. He appears to have no position on other environmental issues or the global problems that a municipality can address locally. He has no website.

Later this week I will release a more detailed assessment of the candidate’s positions, or lack thereof, on environmental issues and discuss their potential to lead Carbondale into a sustainable future. I’ll examine their record and critique their approaches. You can then decide who has the vision, leadership ability, and wisdom to be the next mayor of Carbondale. You may be surprised.

Watch Out For... Disappearing Jobs

2007-02-20T13:07:00.000-06:00

Last week, before the Illinois Citizens Utility Board (CUB) released its new study, I forecast the negative economic impact of the Ameren electric rate hike will have upon Carbondale. Based on the new study, over 20,000 jobs are expected to be lost statewide from the hike. Based on the report's formula, Carbondale could expect to lose at least 34 jobs and all the positive multiplier effects those jobs have on the local economy. The region may lose more than a thousand jobs at a time when unemployment rates are already among the highest in the state and poverty rates are rising.

“These rate hikes are transferring money out of the hands of working families, who spend money at Illinois businesses, and putting it in the pockets of utility shareholders,” said CUB Executive Director David Kolata. “Everyone loses but the big utilities.”

Based on 2005 US Census Bureau data, I estimate Jackson County could lose 143 jobs and Williamson County could lose 150. Others: Franklin County - 85, Saline - 66, Randolph - 62, Perry - 50, Union - 42, and Gallatin - 16.

CUB has launched the Don’t Get Shocked Action Campaign to rally support for the rate freeze. The campaign is asking consumers to contact their state legislatures and oppose the rate hikes and to attend a new round of public hearings being held across the state by the Illinois Senate.

Local units of government can do much more. By implementing Cool Cities strategies, government can create jobs from wise energy investments that lead to long-term sustainability.

According to the companies’ own data, the combined rate hikes will drain $2.3 billion out of the Illinois economy.

The CUB study, conducted in conjunction with Synapse Energy Economics Inc., of Cambridge, MA, uses the results of a state-of-the-art economic model to calculate the effects of such a massive transfer of wealth on state employment

Watch Out For Falling... Prosperity

2007-02-19T16:37:00.000-06:00

The 2007 Report on Illinois Poverty further contributes to the understanding of our regional poverty that I wrote about recently.

I’ll cite a few statistics from the report:

1) 12% of population lives in poverty.
2) One in four young Illinois adults lack health insurance.
3) Nearly 700,000 Illinoisans struggle in extreme poverty.
4) 85% of Illinois counties had increases in poverty in the last year.
5) 27 counties have no county-wide public transit service.
6) Illinois ranks as the worst state in the Midwest on:

Earnings and job quality performance.

Overall rate of uninsured people.

Rate of poverty of uninsured residents.

Most expensive rent for a 2-bedroom apartment.

Wage needed to afford a 2-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent.

Rate of children in households where the head did not finish high school.

Reading and math achievement between poor and non-poor 4th & 8th graders.

Per pupil spending gap between rich and poor districts. (The gap is the 2nd largest in the nation)

Gender Fact

Illinois women make only 70% of what their male counterparts make.

Regional Facts

8 of the 10 poorest counties are in southern Illinois.

18 of the state’s 25 counties on the Poverty Watch List are in southern Illinois.

Jackson County Facts

10,723 people living in poverty.

Unemployment rate equals state average.

10.8% teen birth rate vs. 9.9% statewide.

Poverty rate of 20.2% (and rising) vs. 11.9% statewide.

Average wage per job of $27,268 vs. $43,135 statewide.

47% of households rent vs. 33% statewide.

73.8% high school graduation rate vs. 76.5% statewide.

48.4% of children eligible for free or reduced-price lunches vs. 45.5% statewide.

Read the Report for Policy recommendations or comment here with your ultimate answer to the problems.

Ink By The Case

2007-02-19T13:57:00.000-06:00

In the heyday of print journalism it was not uncommon to hear the phrase “You don’t want to argue with people that buy ink by the case!” -- especially if it was someone like William Randolph Hearst. While the admonition still applies, it needs an update to the modern world of electronic citizen journalism.

Almost anyone can operate a free blog or get a free website, although the latter often requires acceptance of sponsorship advertising. And even that is not much different than writing a Letter to the Editor of a newspaper that subsists on classified ads. However, an author also needs some education and conceptual skills for navigating the Internet and its assorted user interfaces. Experiments like Google Docs and Spreadsheets, Wikipedia, some social networking sites, and online collaboration workspaces are helping people experience the potential that the future Internet foretells.

In the blogging world, the author has access to unlimited supplies of electronic ink. The author can say darn near anything they want without serious repercussions. Anyone can be a pundit. Yet, Joe Citizen faces barriers and likely lacks experience, time and skills to build a dialogue with others. Until the technology improves, this is simply the way the world works. The technology will, of course, change.

The younger generation is always adopting and adapting to the new paradigm. Someday we may achieve media transparency when having a voice in the marketplace of ideas is universal and unencumbered by technology and external controls. Until and after the transparency is achieved our civilization needs to deal with the social aspects of communication: the digital divide, objectivity, as well as, ethics and standards.

How Big is Your Footprint?

2007-02-19T02:57:00.000-06:00

You don't have to travel to the moon to leave your footprint to know that your lifestyle requires consuming Earth's resources. Have you ever wondered how much "nature" your lifestyle actually requires?

An 'Ecological Footprint' is an estimate of how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. By answering 15 easy questions you can estimate your Ecological Footprint and compare it to those of others and to what resources are available on this planet for you.

What is your Ecological Footprint? Take the quiz.

A New Definition of Democratic Media

2007-02-18T23:45:00.000-06:00

iFOCUS and pollster John Zogby have released a national survey of adults pertaining to American journalism. 72% said they were dissatisfied with the quality. 61% said they believed traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news.

Most respondents (53%) said the rise of free Internet-based media pose the greatest opportunity to the future of professional journalism and 76% said the Internet has had a positive impact on the overall quality of journalism. But they added that trustworthiness will be important to the future of the industry. 90% said trust will be key.

Despite concerns about its quality, 72% of those in the national survey said journalism is important to their community. More respondents (81%) said Web sites are important as a source of news, although television ranked nearly as high (78%), followed by radio (73%). Newspapers and magazines trailed – 69% said newspapers and 38% said magazines were important. While blogs were rated as important sources of news by 30% of the online respondents, they were not considered as good a news source as the backyard fence – 39% said their friends and neighbors are an important source of information.

Nearly nine out of 10 media insiders (86%) said they believe bloggers will play an important part in journalism’s future. “We’ve arrived at a tipping point. A new definition of democratic media is emerging in our society.”

The survey of 5,384 adults nationwide was conducted Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2007, and carries a margin of error of +/- 1.4 percentage points.

I'm wondering about the ethics ...

2007-02-18T23:00:00.000-06:00

I'm wondering about the ethics of writing a blog.

Gordon Peterson of WUSA-TV tells the story about how writing has its risks. He described his first job application in the writing business. “In my long talk with the editor, he asked, "Why do you want to do this, kid?" "Because I want to show how decent the American people are," I said, "I want to show them both sides of the coin; I want to give the people a sense of the ultimate goodness of their community." He answered, "That’s all right, kid, but remember one thing: serenity’s not news."

Gregorian Rants, a year-old blog coming out of Carbondale, Illinois, has succumbed like so may in-your-face talk shows and attack blogs to the allure of rhetoric over substance, derision over analysis, and insult over discourse. This is a sad development for Carbondale - a university community that has a history of fairly civil political discourse supported by candidates for office that avoid dirty campaigns, and civic organizations such as the League of Women Voters that foster public debates rather than let ad hominem attacks rule the civic conversation. As much as I like citizen journalism that blogging supports, I disdain the decline of civil discourse that some bloggers encourage by their name calling and vitriol – often with the seeming purpose of recruiting voyeuristic readers with similar attack mentality. I’m certainly no journalist, but I know muckraking when I see it.

Recent posts of Gregorian Rants help substantiate the fact that “traditional journalists view citizen journalism with some skepticism, believing that only trained journalists can understand the exactitude and ethics involved in reporting news.”

You may be asking ‘Hey, what’s the problem? Who needs serenity? ’ Well, it all comes down to the blog's constant use of questionable logic, hyperbole, insults, innuendo and exaggeration that results in turning away his audience. For example, Peter arrogantly writes about Carbondale politics saying:

The Greens (the political party) like being poor as church mice, it make them more righteous or something.

The (mayoral candidate Sheila Simon) is a Senator's daughter after all, bigger and more expensive government is the family business.

If Sheila had been mayor or if Maggie (a former councilwoman) had won the last election, the drug addicts would still be shooting up in the American Tap.

I surmise that Peter relies upon hyperbole for so many arguments because it is titillating to read… oooooh, ahhh...ahhh, snicker, snicker.
Integrity and accusing candidates of illegal or unethical acts.
The blog favors using a variety of attack mechanisms including the classic ‘straw man argument’. To use the technique, one first sets-up an easily refutable distortion of an opposing viewpoint or action, and then attacks distortion rather than the person. Here are two examples.

(The Distortion): Since Sheila isn't clearly calling for a pro-business city hall, I assume she doesn't want one.
(The Attack): At the end of his term, Brad is going to have the best business development record of any Carbondale mayor in my lifetime. Sheila is going to stink in comparison if she is elected.

(The Distortion) Sheila thinks that employers are going to get their employees to live in Carbondale? (The Attack): What a stupid idea.

He also just loves to complain about the very behavior he uses in his own blog:

I notice that in addition to the $50 shell game that the platform and campaign tactics are going to be based on accusing of illegal or unethical acts. This is a pretty standard political tactic when you have no accomplishments and your opponent does. You use attack, innuendo and deception to get ahead. If your primary campaign tactics are the standard Illinois rough house BS, does that give you the high ground on having integrity?
Another. (The Distortion): Guess it would be impossible for her to win on merit.(The Attack): Daddy's name and mud are her game.

So and So's economic development plan is really, really stupid.
When Peter isn’t using phrases like the above to insult the opponent of his favored candidate, he expounds on “least government” salvation for the masses and derides civil servants:

One of my frustrations with professors, state employees and other people in the public sector in Carbondale is you guys have been on the reservation too long. The USA is a incredibly efficient capitalist machine. Capitalism isn't perfect, but it is better then all of the options. So many people in Carbondale and Illinois don't honestly look at results of this huge government machine we have made (and their trailing costs). I guess, if you are part of the system it is hard to admit there is a system wide problem. More government isn't the answer, we have plenty already.

And from that philosophical wellspring comes the Peter’s musings about state and municipal code enforcement:

If Carbondale really needed another army of inspectors there would be warning signs, for example we might see lots of fires? Lawsuits from students who have fallen through their floors or the like? Does anyone see that?

As a matter of fact, most people have seen the warning signs and worked to create laws, organizations and programs to address the health and safety problems in the region. You can drive by the local fire station every day and see the fire call board increase in numbers nearly every day. City of Carbondale fire fighters respond to about 900 emergency calls a year. In the first 50 days of this year, they have been on at least 142 calls. In addition, the small volunteer Carbondale Township Fire Department goes on about 80 emergency calls a year, a quarter of which are structure fire calls.

In the end, Peter has become just another “Kool-Aid drinking” pundit. Such pundits are so committed to a political cause, candidate, or philosophy that they senselessly ignore facts in conflict with both their political viewpoint and their reader’s notion of entertainment. Being a pundit didn’t use to have this derogatory connotation. A pundit once meant being an expert or opinion-leader who analyzes events in their area of expertise. Peter has valuable expertise in running a software business, but not in government, university management, or downtown revitalization - all topics on which he covers with passion.

Until late I’ve been regularly reading all that Peter publishes. We even agree on quite a few things the blog covers, but I will probably stop reading his rants because doing so just makes me sad. I recently came across the Biology of Mind blog that triggered my decision and summarized my melancholy about Gregorian Rants:
The real shame, though, is that the kneejerk "everyone else is an idiot" tenor is poisoning the potential the Internet once had. People used to dream of a global village, where maybe we can work out our differences, where direct communication might make us realize that we have a lot in common after all, no matter where we live or what our beliefs.“… instead of finding common ground, we're finding new ways to spit on the other guy, to push them away. The Internet is making it easier to attack, not to embrace. Maybe as the Internet becomes as predominant as air, somebody will realize that online behavior isn't just an afterthought. Maybe, along with HTML and how to gauge a Web site's credibility, schools and colleges will one day realize that there's something else to teach about the Internet: Civility 101.”

State and Municipalities Reaping Windfall from Rate Hike

2007-02-16T00:30:00.000-06:00

Everyone is screaming mad about the energy bill increases they are receiving as a result of our Illinois senators' failure to act on Ameren/CIPS outrageous rate hike. Ameren rates have soared 40 to 55 percent. The hike will cost the average Ameren customer $270 to $340 more a year.

Municipalities may not be complaining about the hike as loud as they could because, of course, they get a tasty slice of the hike pie -- all without having to lift a finger. Many municipalities levy a “municipal charge” or franchise tax on gas and electric customers' utility bills. When your utility bill rises, so does the amount of tax revenue received by the taxing authority. The state also imposes its own Gas Revenue Tax and Electricity Excise Tax. Could this revenue windfall help explain why the IL Senate failed to stop the rate increase?

Do the math with me. Examine Carbondale as an example of city benefiting from the rate increase. (Yes, I know the city is also paying the increase for their own power usage.)

Carbondale has 10, 968 housing units. If each household was hit with a $50/month gas and electric bill increase, Carbondale would pocket an extra $150,000 a year from taxes. Then add in the energy bills of all the businesses in Carbondale and I suspect the fugure will soar above $200,000. What is perhaps most disturbing about the tax increase is losing over $4,000,000 from circulating in the local economy of Carbondale. Replicate these calculations for every county in the state and total up the impacts. Then try to tell me that energy management isn't an economic development opportunity!

Imagine what could be done with those funds. 1) Find cheaper suppliers of energy, 2) Build a power infrastructure that replaces old polluting coal fired plants, 3) Implement a wide variety of programs to reduce demand through job-creating conservation programs, or 4) Rebate the funds to consumers.

Sometimes the answers are right in front of you.

Passwords For Dummies

2007-02-13T09:59:00.000-06:00

For over a decade I’ve been advising friends, customers and peers to only use strong pass-phrases to protect their computers and networks. Sadly, people just don’t get it no matter how many times they are told. Users, when able, simply tend to use no password, a simple number scheme like “12345”, or an easily remembered fact like their marriage anniversary date. (Well, maybe not the last one…) New computer users seem the most prone to use null or weak passwords. It is just too easy to break into computers using simple “dictionary attacks.” A recent study has borne this out quite clearly.

“This study provides solid statistical evidence that supports widely held beliefs about username/password vulnerability and post-compromise attacking behavior. Computer users should avoid all of the usernames and passwords identified in the research and choose longer, more difficult and less obvious passwords with combinations of upper and lowercase letters and numbers that are not open to brute-force dictionary attacks.”

In the study’s test using four target computers on the Internet, they were attacked on average, 2,244 times a day. That equates to about once every 39 seconds.

What’s the ultimate answer to the need to protect interconnected computers. Turn them off. Of course, that defeats the whole purpose of modern. Security experts advocate “defense in depth” techniques. I’ll write more about in the future. Until computer users adopt better protection for their home and business computers – and increasingly their hand-held devices including phones – perhaps we ought to just label each device “Computer for Dummies.”

Watch Out for Falling… Wal-Marts

2007-02-11T20:19:00.000-06:00

Recently, a supporter of Friends of Fair Growth announced that prospects for the ‘development’ of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter west of Murphysboro, IL may be going down the Big Muddy sewer due to the Federal Aviation Administration nixing a proposed water tower that would serve the business location.

Friends of Fair Growth is a grassroots organization that opposes construction of the Wal-Mart because of its alleged negative impacts upon small businesses, the economy and environment. Wal-Mart denies such harm. The company is trying to send a message that the retail giant a good thing for its more than 1.2 million workers and the region. “Giant” is an understatement. It is the ultimate ‘Big Box’ store. If Wal-Mart were a country, its economic output would be the 20th largest in the world. Wal-Mart already has nine stores within a one-hour drive of Carbondale, IL.

Not everyone buys the company position. Even the Jackson County Board, not known for its economic development prowess, has voted its opposition to the Murphysboro development. Nationally, pressure is mounting against many projects of the retailer from a range of social justice organizations like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) to numerous municipalities where the company seeks to build. Even the financial community is starting to feel threatened by the economic giant.

Studies by groups like Civic Economics and the Institute for Local Self Reliance have constantly shown that locally-owned retail stores provide more of an economic multiplier effect to an area than comparable chain stores. Blogs and websites such as WakeUpWalMart.com and walmartwatch.com aggressively skewer the company for its employment practices.

A 2006 survey by the Hingham, Massachusetts-based Saint Consulting Group, indicates that we have a “love-hate relationship with Wal-Mart. Even as the global company revs up a campaign to protect its reputation, and despite Wal-Mart's undeniable popularity among consumers, almost two-thirds of those surveyed (63%) said that they would oppose a Wal-Mart store if one were proposed in their community.”

As if community organizations weren’t keeping the Wal-Mart’s legal and publicity departments busy enough, last month the company earned SIX of CNN’s 101 Dumbest Moments in Business awards in 2006.

So, if Wal-Mart is not the ultimate answer to local economic prosperity in southern Illinois, what is?

Can We Still Do it?

2007-02-11T15:10:00.001-06:00

Everyone acknowledges that the job market of Southern Illinois is depressed. It is quantifiable. Employment want-ads are sparse in the print version of the regional newspaper, the Southern Illinoisan, but greater in number (189) in the online version. Large internet job boards such as Monster.com list only about 400 for the entire region, but no where near the variety and diversity found in metropolitan regions.

What is perplexing to understand is how long it seems to take to fill some of the advertised jobs. 25% of the available job listing on Monster.com are more than 5 weeks old. Some jobs on the Southern Illinoisan site are even older. For example, the Southern Illinoisan has been advertising for the same seven internal staff positions since early November 2006 – about 100 days! What gives? Don't tell me they can't find a qualified candidates? Or is it that no one wants to live and prosper in the region? Could it be that the wages offered locally are too low to attract qualified talent? Could it be that the thousands of graduates SIU turns out every year don't meet Lee Enterprises high standards? Or, maybe, its just a way to fill space in the newspaper...

The region suffers from periodic waves of significant job layoffs. First to go were coal mine jobs. Then went the manufacturing jobs. Look at the recent Whirlpool/Maytag and TUMS plant closures. Jobs are moving out of state and out of the country. Man-Tra-Con's response is to offer dislocated worker skill retraining. Is that enough?

In 1990 the Office of Economic and Regional Development at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale issued a report profiling the job market of the southernmost 20 Illinois counties. Read their conclusions and try to discern what has changed in the intervening 26 years of politicians trying to fix the problems.

Skilled labor is the biggest problem for local industry.
Sluggish population growth, which limits both the size of the work force and local markets, is reducing regional opportunities.
Job development is mostly government-sponsored: prisons and work camps, community colleges and SIU.
Educational attainment in the region is below state and national averages.
Per capita income is not providing jobs and wages on a par with the U.S. average. “None of the counties had average incomes equal to the U.S. average; over half had average per capita incomes less than 80 percent of the U.S. average; and five counties were at or below 60 percent. Because income expectations are an important factor in choosing a location to live and work it is probable that southern Illinois has lost wage earners and new entrants to the labor force based on low income expectations."

If you were an elected official what would be your ultimate answer to insufficient jobs, low wages, sub-par education levels: technology, cheaper education, better infrastructure, lower taxes, or what?

Presidential Candidates: Who Will Protect the Planet?

2007-02-10T20:58:00.000-06:00

The League of Conservation Voters has compiled candidate statements from 19 Presidential candidates and posted them at this site. Visit it and return with your comments. Who would you vote for and why?

This blog is soliciting similar answers from the spring election candidates in Carbondale, IL and will post them here when available.

We Can Recycle Better

2007-02-10T14:06:00.000-06:00

Jackson County adopted a solid waste management plan nearly ten years ago. The Health Department manages a county-wide recycling program that has achieved a 23% recycling rate. This is a significant improvement since that days of everything going into open dumps. However, the average national recycling rate for municipal discards has reached 30%.

Is 25% a reasonable goal or can we do better? The answer is clearly yes. Eighteen communities, ranging from large to small, have achieved recycling rates of 50% or better – some exceeding 60% rate! Falls Church, VA has achieved a whopping 65% rate.

A few communities have even endorsed zero waste goals. The first U.S. city to adopt a zero waste management plan is Del Norte, California. Seattle is not only one of the growing number of Cool Cities, but it has set a goal of zero waste as a guiding principle. San Francisco plans to achieve a 75% rate by the year 2010 and a long-term goal of zero waste.

Rural counties in southern Illinois have special problems in achieving high recycling rates, but to not establish any goal is inexcusable. Making no further efforts to improve on recycling rates already above 25% is also not acceptable.

Get Outdoors

2007-02-09T10:42:00.000-06:00

At the core of some environmental groups is the belief that in order to protect natural resources, people need to experience them first hand. Only through direct experience can one learn to fully appreciate the quote from Henry David Thoreau: “In wilderness is preservation of the world.”

That is the reason that organizations such as the Sierra Club sponsor over 20,000 “outings” every year to local, regional and international destinations of importance and beauty. In Illinois, outings leaders guide trips every week. The public is invited to hike, bike, ski, canoe and kayak, watch birds, and many other activities. Leaders also conduct service projects to repair damage to nature and support the conservation efforts of local, state and federal governments saving these organizations lots of money.

I am honored to serve as the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club’s Outings Chair. In that volunteer role I oversee the outings programs across the state of Illinois. To find an outing adventure anywhere in Illinois visit here.

The Sierra Club is especially well known for the quality of its 350 “national outings” held every year since 1901 at locations from Tennessee to Tibet. These trips introduce people, some of which have never experienced wilderness, to the miracles of nature. I also chair the Midwest section of the Sierra Club's national outings program and have the opportunity to lead 2-3 week-long trips a year. There will be one national trip in the Shawnee National Forest of southern Illinois this year. I will be leading three others elsewhere:

Get off the couch. Explore the planet, enjoy and protect it. Get outdoors!

It Takes the Whole Village to Sustain Itself

2007-02-09T09:32:00.000-06:00

All levels of government in Illinois have a responsibility to save its taxpayers money through wise energy use and production. The federal government cannot be looked to for local leadership in community sustainability. Everyone has a role.

Practical solutions to high energy costs exist for libraries, park districts, K-12 schools and universities, and child care facilities. Since these entities are typically exempt from state and federal taxes they cannot take advantage of tax incentive programs that exist for for-profit business and home owners. They can, however, apply for targeted grants and loans that further improve the financial merit of energy-related investments.

The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation offers innovation grants to organization. For example, K-12 schools, chi ld care centers, public libraries and park districts are eligible for grants to pay for energy-saving upgrades to the lamps, ballasts, fixtures and/or controls in existing indoor lighting systems. This is the last year for some of these programs and organizations need to apply before April 30, 2007.

Municipalities can benefit from the foundations efforts now, but must apply for funds immediately. The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation provides grants to support the replacement of incandescent traffic signal bulbs with energy efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs). They use solid state electronics to produce colored light. Manufacturers package clusters of individual LEDs into traffic signal units, which produce highly visible light and can be easily installed into existing traffic signal heads.

LED traffic signal upgrades offer many benefits:

LEDs use up to 85% less energy, leading to less pollution
LEDs last longer, reducing operating and maintenance expenses
LEDs enhance safety through better light quality and visibility
LEDs improve reliability, including the ability to run on batteries during utility power outages

Organizations without assigned staff to both monitor energy use and identify grant opportunities lose out on money saving opportunities. Smart leaders will assign energy issues a high priority in their organization if the planet is going to successfully address climate change.

Learn to Take Control of Your Electric Bill

2007-02-06T21:00:00.000-06:00

Presented by the
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ENERGY CONSULTANTS
Southern Illinois Chapter

When: Wednesday, February 7th, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Where: Carbondale Civic Center, 200 S. Illinois Ave.
Cost: Free

Understanding Your AmerenCIPS Electric Bill
• How we got here – a brief history of electric deregulation in Illinois
• Where we are now – an overview of the current electric rate structure
• How to read your bill – understanding the line item charges
Ameren’s Customer Assistance Programs
• Customer Elect Plan
• Dollar More
• Warm Neighbors
• Budget Billing
Low-Income Assistance from Western Egyptian Economic Opportunity Council
• Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
• Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program (IHWAP)
• Home Inspection and Home Energy Audits
Illinois DCEO Programs
• Keep Warm Illinois
• Small Business $mart Energy (SB$E)
• Illinois Energy Conservation Code for Commercial Buildings
• Federal Tax Incentives for Energy Efficiency – Residential & Commercial
• Energy Efficiency Tips – Learn ways to cut your bills down to size.

The first 35 people to sign in will receive a FREE Compact Fluorescent Light bulb (CFL) from BLI Lighting and Murdale True Value. Limit one CFL per household.

They Can’t Do That…

2007-02-05T17:21:00.000-06:00

It was a cold and beautiful day in Minnesota in the winter of ‘73 when I clipped on my cross-country skis to explore the northern woods with some friends.

We set out upon an abandoned logging trail that few creatures regularly saw, except for the plentiful deer and other woodland critters. The leader sliced a clean set of tracks in the freshly fallen powder as we glided behind with little effort. After our initial chatting back and forth about the joy of just being outdoors, we settled into silence disturbed only by the rhythmic swoosh of skis on snow.

After a while, we started to hear a low buzzing sound. Assured that it wasn’t the Minnesota state bird, culex pipiens, we grew disturbed as the sound gradually grew louder and louder until it was an incessant, ear splitting, and grinding roar thousands of times (How loud is loud?) louder than the long absent mosquitoes.

As we approached a fork in the path, coming down one of the trails sped a roaring and hissing machine that glided to a stop before us. The jovial young man got up off his snowmobile, cut the engine and struck up a conversation. “Say, what are you doing out here so far from civilization?” he said. “Trying to find some tranquility away from civilization,” we replied. The conversation went downhill from there.

He was a local boy, of course, but so were many of us. We chatted about some things in common and then the conversation shifted to talking about his snowmobile, its decibel level, and gasoline and, of course, the 1973 Energy Crisis that was affecting us all.

“Aren’t you a little concerned about riding that “gas hog” right now given the fuel shortage and lines at the gas pump? Don’t you think that someday we’ll run out of gas or it will be so expensive that you won’t be able to ride these machines simply for recreation?” Without a moment’s hesitation, the man declared with certitude “Nope. They can’t do that…there’s just too much demand!”

Each of us, not wanting to become entrapped in a long and futile economics debate, quickly ended the conversation and we parted our ways. He went down one path. We took the one less traveled. “I doubt if I should ever come back.”

20 Simple Steps to Reduce Global Warming

2007-02-04T09:10:00.000-06:00

It is easy for the average person to say that they can’t do much about global climate change. Everybody can have an small impact and when multiplied by millions of individual actions, big change occurs. Whenever you save energy – or use it more efficiently – you reduce the demand for gasoline, oil, coal, and natural gas. Less burning of these fossil fuels means lower emissions of carbon dioxide, the major contributor to global warming. Every U.S. citizens releases on average about 40,000 pounds of CO2 per person each year. If we can reduce energy use enough to lower greenhouse gas emissions by about 2% a year, in ten years we will "lose" about 7,000 pounds of CO2 emissions per person.

Here are 20 simple steps that can help cut an individual’s annual emissions of CO2 by thousands of pounds. The CO2 reduction shown for each action is an average saving.

HOME APPLIANCES

Run your dishwasher only with a full load. Use the energy-saving setting to dry the dishes. Don't use heat when drying. CO2 reduction: 200 pounds a year.

Wash clothes in warm or cold water, not hot. CO2 reduction: (for two loads a week): up to 500 pounds a year.

Turn down your water heater thermostat; 120 degrees is usually hot enough. CO2 reduction: (for each 10- degree adjustment): 500 pounds a year.

HOME HEATING AND COOLING

Don't overheat or overcool rooms. Adjust your thermostat (lower in winter, higher in summer). CO2 reduction: (for each 2-degree adjustment): about 500 pounds a year.

Clean or replace air filters as recommended. Cleaning a dirty air conditioner filter can save 5% of the energy used. CO2 reduction: About 175 pounds a year.

SMALL INVESTMENTS THAT PAY OFF

Buy energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs for your most-used lights. CO2 reduction (by replacing one frequently used bulb): about 500 pounds a year.

Wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket (but only if the water heater is over 5 years old and has no internal insulation). CO2 reduction: Up to 1000 pounds a year.
Install low-flow shower heads to use less hot water. CO2 reduction: Up to 300 pounds a year.

Caulk and weatherstrip around doors and windows to plug air leaks. CO2 reduction: Up to 1,000 pounds a year.

Ask your utility company for a home energy audit to find out where your home is poorly insulated or energy-inefficient. CO2 reduction: Potentially, thousands of pounds a year.

GETTING AROUND

Whenever possible, walk, bike, carpool or use mass transit. CO2 reduction (for every gallon of gasoline you save): 20 pounds.

When you buy a car, choose one that gets good gas mileage. CO2 reduction (if your new car gets 10 mpg more than your old one): about 2,500 pounds a year.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

Reduce waste: Buy minimally packaged goods; choose reusable products over disposable ones; recycle. CO2 reduction (if you cut down your garbage by 25%): 1,000 pounds a year.

If your car has an air conditioner, make sure its coolant is recycled whenever you have it serviced. Equivalent CO2 reduction: Thousands of pounds.

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

Insulate your walls and ceilings; this can save about 25% of home heating bills. CO2 reduction: Up to 2000 pounds a year.

If you need to replace your windows, install the best energy-saving models. CO2 reduction: Up to 10,000 pounds a year.

Plant trees next to your home and paint your home a light color if you live in a warm climate, or a dark color in a cold climate. CO2 reduction: About 5000 pounds a year.

As you replace home appliances, select the most energy-efficient models. CO2 reduction (if you replace your old refrigerator with an efficient model): 3000 pounds a year.

SCHOOLS, BUSINESS, AND COMMUNITIES

Reduce waste and promote energy-efficient measures at your school or workplace. Work in your community to set up recycling programs. CO2 reduction (for every pound of office paper recycled): 4 pounds.

Be informed about environmental issues. Keep track of candidates' voting records and write or call to express concerns. CO2 reduction (if we vote to raise U.S. auto fuel efficiency): Billions of pounds!

Adapted from the Global and Regional Air and Energy Program, Environmental Defense Source

Carbondale Signs US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement

2007-02-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole has joined other mayors across the US that have signed the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (MCPA). As of February 1, 2007, 393 communities that have signed the agreement have pledged to:

Strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities, through actions ranging from anti-sprawl land-use policies to urban forest restoration projects to public information campaigns;

Urge their state governments, and the federal government, to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol -- 7% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012; and

Urge the U.S. Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation, which would establish a national emission trading system

The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the professional membership organization representing the interests of thousands of US cities. On June 13, 2005, the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement was passed unanimously by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The following are some of the downstate members of the USCM: Carbondale, Marion, Cahokia, Centralia, DuQuoin, Edwardsville, Herrin, Mt. Vernon, and Swansea.

The USCM has established their own Mayors Climate Protection Web Site with information for government officials that compliments the primary site sponsored by the City of Seattle. The USCM has also passed the following resolutions calling upon their members to take decisive action to protect the environment.

None of the downstate communities listed above, excepting Carbondale, have signed onto the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement. Carbondale has not joined the Cool Cities Campaign, a complementary program to implement action plans to achieve the goals of the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement.

The night the lights went out in ...

2007-02-02T11:13:00.000-06:00

...the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome and the Greek parliament in Athens.

No, it's not a bad remake of the 1973 song sung by Vicki Lawrence. It was local governments of these European communities voluntarily turned the lights out to express their concern for climate change across the European continent. The events were scheduled to coincide with the release of a major climate change report that says humans are "very likely" responsible for global warming.

Other European cities took similar publicity oriented actions. Meanwhile, in the USA they didn't go out in Georgia, Carbondale, or anywhere else on the North American continent. More likely, we turned-up our thermostats to counter the increasingly cold winter weather.

Sometimes leaders lead by example. Admitedly the lights-out acts were just token gestures, but they serve as a reminder of what the future could portend and how dependent society has become on centralized power distribution services such as electricity.

The City of Carbondale once taught energy conservation by example. It funded a demonstration house on the SIU campus that showed how either passive or active solar energy systems andcost-effective energy conservation measures could significantly reduce energy consumption and high utility bills. The house was part of a larger municipal program called "The Other Utility" -- a pointed reminder of the difference between supply-side energy solutions like building more polluting coal and nuclear power plants and demand side energy solutions that reduce climate degrading greenhouse gas emissions, rising sea levels, killer heat waves, worsening droughts and stronger hurricanes. The city did a lot of other things about energy back in the 1980s. They don't do it any more since apparently "the energy crisis went away."

Could southern Illinois communities do more by example to affect the environment. Of course, the answer is yes! Two solutions have been proposed downstate. Simply buying into some new brokered power purchase plan, as is being explored by state Senator John Bradley, is setting the wrong example. Sure, its a quick political fix to counter citizen complaints about rising utility bills due to the failure of the state legislature to do anything creative or effective about rising Ameren electric and gas rates. Neither does Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole's proposal to use eminent domain to acquire Ameren's utility assets within the city. Both non-solutions do nothing to reduce our region's dependence upon imported energy or the far larger problem of global climate disruption.

Once again, it all comes down to leadership or the lack of it.

Ouroboros

2007-02-01T10:40:00.000-06:00

Back in my college days I edited an environmental column in the Augsburg College student newspaper entitled Ouroboros (pronounced as or-oh-bor-us). The name in Greek is οὐροβóρος and translates to "tail-devourer". The concept of this self-consuming creature is found in numerous secular and religious traditions and is a part of Aztec, Chinese and Viking cultures. Plato described it as the first living thing in the universe - a self-eating, circular and immortal being.

Becoming aquainted with the metaphorical implications of the creature undoubtedly shaped my world views during those impressionable college years that included the first Earth Day. Whenever I think about how the planet should work I think about this cyclical, self-renewing symbol for sustainable nature and rebirth.

Ouroboros is woven into North American culture in interesting ways. Examples include having X-Files' Dana Scully getting the tattoo of the Ouroboros put on her back, dialogue about ouroboros in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith references it, and the image is part of the Phi Alpha Theta honor society emblem.

Treat Mother Nature badly, and she bites back.

Junk Appointments

2007-01-31T17:26:00.000-06:00

Is global warming nothing more than "Junk Science" as Fox News and conservative pundits such as Rush Limbaugh are noted for saying?

Not according to Representative Henry Waxman (Democrat) who stated that "we need to get the facts and rely on federal scientists and agencies to give Congress and the public the true facts about this global threat. Yet the preliminary evidence we're seeing from the White House suggests that the administration may have taken a very different approach. If the documents we have seen so far are representative, it appears that the White House installed a former oil industry lobbyist as the chief of staff for the Council on Environmental Quality and then systematically sought to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from reporting on dangers to health, the environment and the economy."

What's this all about? It seems that the Bush White House appointed Philip Cooney to the position of chief of staff of the Council on Environmental Quality. Cooney has been altering environmental reports to suit the Bush administration's tortured view of the environment.

Joining other scientists complaining about improper edits of their reports, NASA climatologist Drew Shindell, testifying on 1/30/2007 before the Committee on House Oversight and Government Reform Committee cited improper edits by Cooney of his work prior to release to the public. For example, the scientist report said "Changes observed over the last several decades are likely mostly the result of human activities.”

Cooney altered the report to say: “A causal link between the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the observed climate changes during the 20th century cannot be unequivocally established.”

Ah yes, more Newspeak wisdom from the Ministry of Truth:

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

~ George Orwell, 1984

Sierra Club Radio

2007-01-30T16:30:00.000-06:00

Did you know the Sierra Club has a weekly radio show?

Hosted by Orli Cotel, Sierra Club Radio broadcasts for a half hour every Saturday at 3:30 pm on the Quake Radio (960 am) in San Francisco. But of course, it's 2007, and you can listen to the show anytime from anywhere -- on your computer, your iPod, maybe even your phone.

Highlights of last week's show included an interview with author Bill McKibben on his walk across Vermont to draw attention to global warming, tips on green house-cleaning, commentary of Bush's State of the Union speech from the Club's Executive Director Carl Pope, and the impacts of tourism on Antarctica.

There's a new podcast every week, and you can download or listen to it at http://www.sierraclub.org/radio.

Enabling Death

2007-01-30T13:57:00.000-06:00

I don’t smoke. Never have, never will -- intentionally that is. Yet, I did last night, and not by choice. I spent two hours at the Hanger 9 bar in Carbondale in conjunction with the ‘Hangin’ with the Candidates” gathering. I was fortunate to talk with old friends I haven’t seem for some time, as well as, meet any candidates that took the effort to talk to this grey-haired, old guy.

The small crowd was thinning about 9 PM and I felt compelled to also leave because the cigarette smoke was making me sick. Interestingly, throughout the event, others without any prompting by me, others commented to me about the dismal air quality. When I got home, I immediately took a shower because I reeked of smoke. The next morning I could still smell cigarettes on my hands, in my hair, and the objects I brought with me to the event. Stupid me. I should have known better.

I don’t think the event was attended by two candidates championing an anti-smoking ordinance for the city: Mary Pohlmann and Paulette "Will" Sherwood. Makes perfect sense to me to not attend a medically harmful event since the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that adult male smokers shorten their lives by an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers lose 14.5 years of life because of smoking. Despite those grim statistics, 44.5 million US adults were smokers in 2004. That equates to 20.9% of all adults, 23.4% for men, and 18.5% for women.

It turns out that Monday's smoke-filled candidate event was held the same day as European Union announced plans for a total smoking ban across 27 countries.

The anti-smoking ban movement is quite active in Europe where “passive smoking still kills 79,000 people in the EU every year, and adults who are in daily contact with a smoker increase their mortality rate by 15 per cent, even if they have never smoked themselves.” In the US, secondhand smoke is estimated to cause 35,000 to 45,000 deaths each year from heart disease and 3,000 more deaths from lung cancer among nonsmokers.

As a technologist, I want to believe that there ought to be some effective technical answer to prevent damage from second-hand (passive) smoke. Yet, I am convinced that it just isn’t going to happen! Which brings us to Carbondale government’s enabling of death.

When talking about addition, psychologists refer to people who “enable” addicts. Enabling refers to behavior by someone other than the addict that contributes to the continuation of addiction. Enabling can be either intentional or unintentional. An example of enabling behavior a local government that publicly encourages smoking cessation while facilitating citizen and city employee smoking. Lots of well intentioned folk do it. Take Southern Illinois Regional Social Services (SIRSS), for example. It’s a Southern Illinois mental health agency that counsels smoking cessation, yet the agency finances a designated, sheltered smoking area for its clients and staff.

For Carbondale City government, enabling is licensing businesses that permit smoking on their premises because they are "afraid" of what will happen if they don't: business owners angered at losing business from addicts, irate smoking addicts who want unfettered rights to smoke in public spaces, and, of course, possibly lowered cigarette sales tax revenue. Enabling is permitting smoking in public places. Enabling is setting aside special smoking zones for those with addictions. Enabling is promoting events where smoking is expected to occur. Enabling is making excuses for addicts and other enablers of dangerous behavior to continue with the status quo.

I remember about 25 years ago when I, as an employee of the City of Carbondale, brought a small American Cancer Society display to the lobby of city hall. I was directed to remove it because it was deemed offensive to city employees that smoked freely throughout in the building. Now, 20 years after the definitive 1986 US Surgeon General’s Report showed that secondhand smoke can cause lung cancer, we still have government and health care agencies enabling death. Since the report was published over 12 million premature deaths are being attributed to smoking. (1)

Can a city ban smoking? Of course it can! Pueblo, Colorado implemented a smoke-free law in July 2003, heart attack rates fell by 27%, from a rate of 257 per 100,000 people per year to 187 per 100,000. In comparison, researchers found no decrease in heart attacks in nearby counties without smoke-free laws. (2)

What is the ultimate answer to the smoking problem in our community? Maybe citizens need to elect leaders who aren’t enablers?

Rock Island is a Cool City

2007-01-29T23:06:00.000-06:00

The Quad Cities of Illinois consist of Rock Island and Moline on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River and Bettendorf and Davenport on the Iowa side. Historically the area is known best as the headquarters of the John Deere Corporation and the location of Arsenal Island, the 946-acre island that served as a prisoner of war camp for nearly 13,000 prisoners during the Civil War. Today it is home to the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the western world.

Rock Island acquired new significance this week by becoming the latest Illinois city to join the national Cool Cities Campaign. Mayor Mark Schwiebert showed his leadership skills by being the first Quad City mayor pledging to reduce global warming emissions citywide to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012!

To begin its Cool Cities efforts Rock Island intends to:

Buy and operating White Hydropower Company dam on the Rock River to generate electricity for the city.
Rehab a downtown warehouse into first floor offices and retail space with loft apartments on the upper floors. The building will be fitted with a green roof - often a key component of an autonomous buildings.
Build a bike lane system throughout the city and promote safe and energy efficient bicycling.

Let's hear it for the Mayor Schwiebert! Leadership does make a difference.

Think Globally, Act Locally

2007-01-29T14:51:00.000-06:00

How does a city impact global warming? It could just proceed with the status quo and witness the sustainability of the local economy decline, the environment become degraded, and its citizens become impoverished. Alternatively, the community leaders could bravely embrace the challenge to “think globally, act locally.”

As a splendid example of local government initiative, one need only look to Springfield, Illinois for a daring plan to create smart energy solutions.

When you drive into Springfield, one can’t help but notice the two giant smokestacks owned by the municipal utility, City Water Light and Power, belching soot, smog, and mercury pollution into the city and surround region.

As a part of an agreement that the Sierra Club brokered with the EPA, Illinois Governor’s office and the City, the utility will close its oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plant and replace it with a new coal plant subject to the most stringent soot, smog, and mercury pollution limits in the nation. The new plant will emit 99 percent less sulfur dioxide than the existing power plant.

The new plant coupled with investments in wind power and an ambitious energy efficiency program constitutes the first enforceable agreement in the nation by any city or utility to significantly reduce its global warming pollution. The part of the agreement that is most likely to turn heads around the country, however, are the measures addressing global warming - the most ambitious in the nation for a utility.

The plan calls for the City to cut its global warming pollution by 25 percent below its 2005 levels by 2012, the equivalent of removing 103,000 automobiles off of our highways. Towards that end, Springfield plans tap into wind power and providing investments in new infrastructure that will double the wind energy capacity of Illinois. "This deal is a huge step forward for smart energy solutions and a first in the effort to curb global warming," said Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club. "Not only do Springfield residents benefit from cleaner air and water and new ways to save money on their energy bills, but other communities can use this agreement as a model for their own energy and global warming strategies," added Pope.“

As part of the plan, Springfield will also conduct a comprehensive energy efficiency audit and invest $4 million over the next decade - a tenfold increase - in efficiency programs and incentives for ratepayers. The agreement also formalizes a role for local citizens to help the City direct investments in additional conservation and energy efficiency measures, including a special program targeted to help low-income and elderly residents. Overall, the landmark energy agreement would do the following:

* Replace the City’s Lakeside coal plant, one of the dirtiest coal plants in the nation, with the cleanest coal-fired power plant in the nation.

* Cut mercury emissions from its existing and new coal plants by 90 percent by 2009 (the most stringent requirement in the nation).

* Cut overall sulfur dioxide emissions from its existing and new coal plants by 75 percent by 2012 (the lowest SO2 pollution limit in the Midwest).

* Meet the goals of the Kyoto Protocol by cutting the City’s global warming pollution by 25 percent (600,000 tons annually) below its 2005 levels by 2012, the most stringent global warming reduction commitment by any utility in the U.S. It's the equivalent of removing 103,000 automobiles off of our highways.

* Double Illinois’ installed wind capacity by adding a record 120 megawatt of new wind turbines. This includes 60 MW to power the State’s Springfield office buildings, including the State Capitol -- this represents one of the largest investments by any state in clean energy.

* Boost the City’s investment in energy efficiency funding ten-fold to a record $4 million over the next decade.

* Establish an internship program for college students to work on clean energy projects.

What did it take to accomplish this turn about in Springfield’s future? Local leadership.

Where will that leadership come from in southern Illinois?

Digesting the Digital Divide

2007-01-28T23:14:00.000-06:00

My recent blog about the 2007 election primary in Carbondale dealt with the election candidates (8 out of 11) deliberately not using of the Internet for voter communications. I intentionally listed the candidate’s age along with one web address providing information about either their campaign, background, or other presence on the web.

One reader questioned if publishing the age of the candidate had any significance. The answer is simple. Age has always had an influence of technology adoption, as have other factors, particularly race, income, and geography.

The issue of consumer technology adoption has historically been couched in the context of the so-called “digital divide.” Wikipedia defines it as the gap between those with regular, effective access to digital technologies and those without. The term digital divide refers to those who can benefit from it, and those who don't, as opposed to just talking about who has direct access to technology, and those who don't.”

The Web began its explosive growth in about 1993 – the same year I founded southern Illinois’ only non-profit ISP, the Shawnee Free-Net. Its early mission was to help close the digital divide in this region. We pioneered wireless WAN use to connect schools to the Internet and hosted over a hundred websites for community non-profits. This was done to empower the non-profit community and their constituents because they were among those that could especially benefit from better access to information resources more available to wealthier, better-educated, higher income, younger, and significantly Caucasian citizens.

Fourteen years ago, few schools had Internet access. Very few senior citizens had access. While university students did have access, they certainly did not have the ease of access and range of providers and technologies available today. To place the situation in context, one should recall the history of the predominate PC desktop operating systems (OS). In 1993 it was Windows 3.x – hardly the most robust, secure and user-friendly software!

Age remains a factor in Internet use today. One study shows significant productivity differences in performing online tasks by users of varying ages.” Age is negatively associated with one's level of Internet skill, and experience with the technology is positively related to online skill, and differences in gender do little to explain the variance in the ability of different people to find content online.”

Today the divide in the USA is still significantly racial and is linked to broader issues such as black and Latino community poverty and even a cultural reluctance to use the Internet. Every day I see a lot of that reluctance in the workplace.

The most disheartening aspect about all the effort put into closing the digital divide is that the divide is “widening, not narrowing, and at an ever-increasing rate.”

DigitalDivide.org postulates nine truths about the digital divide that act as a guide for what we still have to accomplish in this depressed region of southern Illinois. I encourage reading the nine truths in the context of of the claim by some that southern Illinois is similar to a small, third-world nation. Illinois has "the highest poverty rate for adults and children of eight Midwestern states, (where) 12.5 percent of Illinois residents - more than 1.5 million in all - live below the federal poverty level and nearly 30 percent of all state residents live at what the report calls "near poverty."” (Source) Southern Illinois continues to have the highest poverty rates in the state.

1. The Divide is widening, not narrowing, and at an ever-increasing rate.
2. Closing the Digital Divide may be the only way to make globalization work for the poor.
3. The consequence of not closing the Divide is terrorism.
4. Closing the Digital Divide is fundamentally about empowerment, that is, it is about using new technologies to empower the poor just as they now empower the rich.
5. Closing the Digital Divide is the only way to sustain the growth of world markets.
6. World leaders from every sector -- business, government, academia, NGOs -- can benefit from closing the Divide. Yet no one sector has the incentives to lead the effort to close the Divide.
7. Closing the Digital Divide requires building an "enterprise ecosystem" that offers "end to end solutions" for the poor.
8. The midlevel countries in relatively advanced emerging markets, not the poorest countries, are the best settings for experimental efforts to close the Digital Divide.
9. Closing the digital divide involves using new technologies to formalize the "informal economy," thereby bringing the poor into established markets.

Is there a relationship between election candidates’ non-use of the Internet, local poverty and the growing digital divide in southern Illinois? I think so. Is there an ultimate answer? Talk about it.

Carbondale Candidates Online - NOT!

2007-01-28T15:00:00.000-06:00

According to Internet Usage and Population website there are over 210 million people in the Unites States that use the Internet. That is a 120% increase since 2000.

So, why is it so difficult to locate the e-mail address of local candidates for public office? If the candidates are running on a platform, why isn't it on a public website for everyone to see?

Read more about the candidate "web presence" in the 2007 Carbondale, IL election at: Bytelife

Crosswords for Carbondale

2007-01-26T22:41:00.000-06:00

Take the 2007 Carbondale Election
Campaign Crossword Puzzle!
(Click cartoon or puzzle to enlarge and print)

ACROSS
3 Seven candidates pursue
4 Climate treaty
6 Renewable power
10 Librarian’s daughter
11 Froze utility rate
13 Mayor Hans
14 Candidates for mayor
15 Raising rates
19 Carbondale form of government
21 Before the general
23 Slaw
24 Top Manager
25 Pepper

DOWN
1 Carbondale could become a (___) city
2 Formerly Ameren
3 Energy Advisory
5 Youngest daughter of seven
6 Burning issue
7 Cole Gang
8 Determines outcome
9 Carbondale provided these audits
12 Wired power
16 The mayor wants to use this domain
17 Annual threat to city reputation
18 Carbondale men’s club
20 Surrounding government
21 Sheila wants one on Eurma Hayes
22 Carbondale utility

Puzzle solution will be found in the comments on 1/28/07. Good luck!
"Rustle The Leaf" Comics characters courtesy of Go Natur'L Studios, LLC, 2005. The "Rustle The Leaf Comics" properties copyright and trademark of Go Natur'L Studios, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Cheaper Gas

2007-01-25T16:56:00.000-06:00

We all get excited when we see falling prices at the gas station. At their core many citizens think oil pricing is just one big conspiracy. They see stories in the news of crude oil process dropping and grow skeptical when the retail price doesn’t immediately follow the trend.

Unfortunately, gasoline is a commodity subject to supply and demand. High demand usually results in lower supplies and higher prices This is particularly the case during summer when driving tends to increase.

Gas prices are also subject to other factors such as shipping (tanker, pipeline and semi-truck) costs, distance from refineries or terminals, dealer competition and pricing strategies of the big name gas marketers. The price of crude oil affects only about 50% of the retail price. Refining contributes about 15% of the cost. State and local taxes vary widely but on average contribute about 25% of the price at the pump. The rest is marketing, distribution, and pure profit. Source

So where do find the cheapest gas? Online, of course! There are two types of sources for timely gas pricing. One collects real data from volunteer consumers like you, and the other aggregates data from credit card transactions from many tens of thousands of gas stations across the country where fleets purchase gasoline for business use. And, boy, do we have a lot of gas stations. I count more than 40 along the Highway 13 corridor between Murphysboro and Marion

Motor Trend gas data

A free railroad pass changed the planet

2007-01-25T15:05:00.000-06:00

Around 1854 accounts tell of an unemployed railroad conductor and express agent named Edwin Drake who happened to be staying at the same hotel in Connecticut as an attorney looking to make a buck off so called “Seneca Oil”, a crude oil-based patent medicine being sold by hawkers since as early as 1792. The Seneca's are native americans that have occupied Pennsylvania since long before european settler occupation.

The attorney hired Drake in 1857 to visit Titusville, PA, a town on Oil Creek where people collected free flowing crude oil by damming the local creek. Apparently, Drake’s only qualification for this assignment was a free railroad pass remaining from his previous job.

When he got there his oil company boss gave him the phony title of Colonel despite having never being in the military so as to lend him more prestige in their nascent marketing efforts at selling the distilled oil. Apparently this trick works.

When Drake got frustrated with the inefficiency of being only able to skim about six gallons of oil a day off the dammed creek, he hired a salt well driller to help locate pockets of trapped oil. At a depth of 69½ feet they found their first black gold.

The rest is history. In 1859, Drake struck the first commercially productive oil well in the USA. It wasn’t a gusher, but it began the first great oil boom.

I suspect the residents of Titusville, thought they had found The Ultimate Answer to their dreams. Their answer was a non-renewable natural resource that took many millions of years to form that will be totally depleted in a geological blink of an eye.

The Seneca's had offerred a different answer to The Ultimate Question. The Senecas were perhaps the most sophisticated in all of the North-American Native cultures. With the exception of one tribe, they had adopted a democratic form of government after years of questionable leadership by Chiefs who had come into their positions out of lineage rather than virtue. "The Seneca women were in charge of elections, and decided who was to become tribal leader, Leaders usually held their posts for life, but could be removed if they became corrupt or proved to be incompetent; the Seneca political system also included a constitution, which is believed to have been the model for the American constitution." More.

Wadda Ya Mean, Ya Sez Ya Can’t Sell Me $1.00 of Gasoline!

2007-01-25T12:36:00.001-06:00

Ever tried to buy only ONE dollar of gasoline? You can’t do it! You can buy 99.9 cents worth, but never an even dollar's worth, or $2.00, or $3.00 for that matter.

Why is that? Several reasons. Foremost, we are quite befuddled by fractional math. Sure, 4 divided by 2 = 2, but exactly how many gallons of gasoline can you buy for $10 at $2.04 and 9/10ths a gallon? The addition of 9/10 cent to the price of a gallon of gasoline makes impossible the purchase of one gallon of gasoline at the advertised price. And it makes our mathematically challenged brains crash into a state of befuddlement. For some reason, consumers have just accepted the fact of fractional gas pricing. Imagine if all groceries, postage stamps and tuition were sold like that?

So why do you think we do it with gasoline? Well, some research says that a difference of two-tenths of a cent (about 30¢ for an average fill-up) may be enough to sway consumers' buying decisions. “Because of this, service stations quickly react to the price posted on the street corner by their competition and adjust their price accordingly. If not, they risk the possibility of losing their customers.”

Don’t lose a lot of sleep over this issue. What you ought to be worried about is why paying for a gallon of gas will likely always result in getting more or less than what you should. Did you know that gasoline volume changes approximately 0.058% for every 1ºF change in temperature. Hey, its just Boyles Law at work. “The energy content of a gallon of gasoline purchased by a motorist in Nome, Alaska in January could, theoretically, be as much as 8-10% greater that that of a gallon of gasoline purchased by a motorist in Marion, IL (center of the universe, I’m told) in July.” So 10 gallons in Alaska might be 11 gallons Illinois. But, they still have the identical energy content. You pay for 11, but really only get the value of 10.

Robbery you say? Fraud and conspiracy? Maybe. As this website describes, only a few places have adopted the readily available technology that automatically adjusts the price of gasoline as it exits the fuel pump nozzle: Canada and Hawaii. Iowa had the technology in place "from 1985 to 1989 before special interests reinstated the deceptive pricing practice. "

Is temperature compensated gasoline sales the ultimate answer to high prices. Of course not, but wouldn't be nice to end a system that is inherently confusing and misleading? Even most local communities could require the changes if the people wanted it.

Is Carbondale Cool?

2007-01-20T14:52:00.000-06:00

Isn't it time that the City of Carbondale became a Cool City?

A Cool City has made a commitment to stopping global warming by signing the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. The Cool Cities campaign helps cities turn their commitments into action by pushing for smart energy solutions.

Did you know that from 1979 to 1985 the City of Carbondale had its own Energy Division with a mission to promote energy conservation, wise energy use, and use of renewable energy from sources such as solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal? With a staff of four professionals plus interns and community volunteers, Carbondale led the Midwest in attacking the long-term problems of declining energy supplies, high utility prices and pollution. Then Mayor Hans Fischer took a leadership role in saving city government, homeowners and businesses money through sound energy efficiency investments. He and I even took Carbondale's message of hope to the City of Seattle and said look what we can do! Twenty-five years later Seattle has sent the message back saying every city can now be a cool city. Every city can address the larger problems of climate disruption, dependence upon foreign oil, and energy waste.

What happened to Carbondale's innovative energy program? It was shut down when the "energy crisis" was no longer deemed a priority. Gas prices dropped, long lines at the gas pump disappeared, and the Republicans took office with a far different agenda for the future.

While Carbondale has sat on its aged and forgotten laurels, ten cities in Illinois have made the pledge to join the growing ranks of Cool Cities: Alton, Carol Stream, Chicago, Edwardsville, Highland Park, Lombard, Oak lawn, Rock Island, Schaumberg, and Waukeegan. These ten join the ranks of more than 319 mayors representing over 51 million Americans in 46 states and the District of Columbia (as of October 2006). These mayors have pledged to reduce global warming carbon dioxide pollution in their cities to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012 (the same reductions and target date called for under the Kyoto Protocol Global Warming Treaty).

These communities are "moving forward with innovative energy solutions that curb global warming, save taxpayer dollars, and create healthier cities. At a time when the federal government is failing to act, when the Illinois state legislature is failing to stem massive gas and electric rate increases, these local leaders are moving America toward a safer and more secure future."

Where are Carbondale's city Council candidates on this issue? Why has Carbondale stopped being a leader in energy issues? Shouldn't Carbondale reenergize its commitment to a safer future?

Should Carbondale be a Cool City? Read about Cool Cities and then take the poll on this page to send your message to the leaders of Carbondale.