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Even if growth in global demand was at zero for the next 22 years, in order to compensate the decline in the existing fields, we need to increase the production by around 45 million barrels per day (bpd), which is the equivalent to bringing four new Saudi Arabias to the markets.
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Fatih Birol, author of the IEA’s World Energy Outlook which published today. (via dihard)

Most of our foreign oil goes straight into our cars.  So weatherizing our homes and commercial spaces, building a new electric grid, and developing massive-scale renewable energy farms (all good, necessary, economy-boosting actions) won’t quite cut it.  They will reduce our energy use, yes, but that will be mostly coal and natural gas.  If we’re going to tackle our addiction to oil, we need to tackle transportation (and as this 22-year projection makes clear, we have no other choice).

If I were drafting the legistation I would ensure that the bailout of American automakers has a clear price attached: you must produce sustainable cars that go far beyond the 40ish MPG of the Prius.

And then there is our mass transit systems, which have been undermined by legislators for decades.  A federal investment in public transport — perhaps bringing it to the level that the government is currently funding highways, which is four times as much as mass transit — would do a great deal to slash our dependence on oil.

Van Jones writes that as a result of chronic underinvestment in public transport,

fewer than 3 percent of trips are made by public transport. If we increased that number to 10 percent of all trips (to the European level), we could reduce our dependence on oil by more than 40 percent, which is nearly as much oil as we import from Saudia Arabia every year.

November 12, 2008

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…Senator Barack Obama has come out in the past week saying that this clean energy revolution is going to be his main priority. You’re going to see something very interesting happen in American politics. We’ll call it the rise of the green Keynesians, the idea that the government is going to have to play a role in the economy, we’re going to have even more deficit spending to kind of stimulate the economy, to move us through. And when you look at, you know, what should you spend that money on, last time we had a stimulus, we gave out a bunch of checks to people who ran out to Wal-Mart and bought flat-screen TVs, so we stimulated the economy—it was just the Chinese economy, not this one. The smart way to do a stimulus is to invest in infrastructure. And the smart infrastructure that we need right now is infrastructure that gets the price of energy down, that gets us more energy independent.
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Van Jones (via azspot)

As Josh Dorfman said, “Van is the man.”

October 28, 2008

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photo Van Jones’ book is out today. I’ve written about him here and here. Al Gore said: This book illustrates the link between the struggle to restore the environment and the need to revive the US economy. Van Jones demonstrates conclusively that the best solutions for the survivability of our planet are also the best solutions for everyday Americans.

Van Jones’ book is out today. I’ve written about him here and here.

Al Gore said:

This book illustrates the link between the struggle to restore the environment and the need to revive the US economy. Van Jones demonstrates conclusively that the best solutions for the survivability of our planet are also the best solutions for everyday Americans.

October 7, 2008

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3Qs with Josh Dorfman, The Lazy Environmentalist

Josh Dorfman is an environmental renaissance man: he’s taking action on climate change through paths that range from business to book-writing to biking.

“It can be a pain in the butt to go green,” Dorfman said.  His philosophy is that people want to make changes for the good of the planet but they won’t want to deal with inconveniences and expenses.  And they don’t have to, as he explains in The Lazy Environmentalist, and its sequel, The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget, to be published next year.  His philosophy extends to his company, Vivavi, which sells stylish, sustainable furniture and accessories for the home.

Last week, Dorfman participated in the Climate Ride, a bike trip from New York City to Washington DC, to raise awareness and funds for climate change.  Dorfman rode as spokesperson for the FilterForGood campaign.  He says he agreed to support the campaign because its environmental goal — to reduce plastic bottle waste — is a non-negotiable step to reducing our carbon footprint.  Moreover, as a self-proclaimed Lazy Environmentalist, he appreciates that the campaign asks for a change from ordinary people that is easy and cheap: filling reusable bottles with filtered water.

“Most Americans are not in this environmental dialogue,” Dorfman said, “but campaigns like FilterForGood bring them in.  It’s a simple step to make a difference.  It can be integrated into daily life.  That’s the Lazy Environmentalist point of view.”

1. What was your environmental epiphany?

It was 1995, the year after I graduated from college.  I was living in China, teaching English, and thinking about a career in diplomacy.  I worked part-time at a Kryptonite bike lock manufacturing facility in Nanjing.  In a call back to Kryptonite headquarters in Boston, I said, “Guys, there’s 10 million bikes in the US and 1 billion in China.  We should be selling the locks here.”  They ended up opening a factory in southern China.  In the parking lot of the Chinese headquarters, there were all these Mercedes and expensive cars.  I realized that, although they were Communists, they had a lot of pride in their cars, and it wasn’t about bikes — it was about cars.  With the economic boom, there would be millions more of them on the road.

I thought, What in the world are we going to do?  I’m not an environmentalist — but you don’t need to be one to see what’s going to happen. Whether I believe in global warming or not, this is going to be bad.

I returned to the US, got an MBA, and my focus shifted to this post-globalized world, where business anywhere is going to effect the world.  I thought about it for 5 to 6 years.  Frankly, I was scared, freaked out, and angry.  There was a lot of resistance to taking steps to deal with the environmental crisis.  Six years after coming back from China, I was tired of being angry.  I decided I was going to try to make the green lifestyle attractive so that it’s not about guilt and not about values.  My message was simple: “Why don’t you check it out?”

2. Who or what are you inspired by right now in the green movement?

I experience ups and downs.  Sometimes I’m inspired and then I’m tired and nervous because I’m not seeing change happen fast enough.  But in my research for The Lazy Environmentalist books I found thousands of innovators and entrepreneurs working to develop solutions.  In the newspapers, environmental news is doom and gloom.  But I’ve discovered so many people who are involved in making green awesome.

I’m also very inspired by Van Jones.  I saw him speak in March.  Van is the man.

3. What are three ways you actively reduce your carbon footprint and one way you don’t?

My apartment runs on wind energy, which I buy through Con Ed.  So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.

I use low-flow shower heads.  Everyone should have one.  Best bang for your buck, man.  Reduces heat, energy, and water bills.  I also use a low-flow faucet aerator.

I don’t own a car.  And I don’t really consume much — hey, I’m a lazy guy.

And the way I don’t?  I love cheeseburgers.  Yeah, I eat meat.

September 30, 2008

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