Occupy Phoenixville/Phoenixville Films for Action joins Occupy Norristown and Ursinus We CAN (Care About the Nation) for a free screening of Gasland, an award-winning documentary about the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing used by the natural gas industry.
In the digital age, half our electricity still comes from coal. Dirty Business reveals the true social and environmental costs of coal power and tells the stories of innovators who are pointing the way to an alternative energy future. Guided by Rolling Stone reporter Jeff Goodell, the film examines what it means to remain dependent on a 19th century technology that is the largest single source of...
As of last Monday, the Kansas Governor, Mark Parkinson, traded a 900MW coal fired plant for a tepid state energy policy, and the Legislature went along. The agreement first of all forces the Secretary of KDHE to issue Sunflower Electric an air quality permit, and it also limits his authority to issue air quality regulations beyond the Federal EPA guidelines. In return, it creates a...
It's always disheartening (for all parties) when political expediency determines policy rather than ethics, science, or conviction. But that said, the deal that Governor Parkinson made with Sunflower Electric has quite a few up-sides to counteract the construction of the one coal plant he agreed to.
Though Citicorp is deemed too big to fail, it's hardly reassuring to know that it's been allowed to sink its fangs into the Mother Zombie that the US Treasury has become and sucked out a multi-billion dollar dose of embalming fluid so it can go on pretending to be a bank for a while longer. I employ this somewhat clunky metaphor to point out that the US Government is no more solvent than the...
Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims...
Time to buy a bike: Gasoline prices in North America will soar over the next four years to $7.00, causing a massive jolt to the continent's manufacturing base not seen since the oil shocks of the 1970s, a leading economist is warning. Jeff Rubin of CIBC World Markets was laughed at three years ago when he predicted $100 per barrel oil, and now thinks it will climb to $225 in four years. (Houston...
A documentary film screening presented by Films for Action7pm. Liberty Hall 644 Mass St. $3CRUDE IMPACT is a powerful and timely story that deftly explores the interconnection between human domination of the planet and the discovery and use of oil. This documentary film exposes our deep-rooted dependency on the availability of fossil fuel energy and examines the future implications of peak oil —...
[While this article was written a couple years ago, the solution it presents for our coming energy crisis is truly visionary. All of our past fuel sources have come indirectly from the sun - from trees that grew in the sun’s rays, to the lush foliage of the prehistoric era which decomposed and was compressed over millions of years into coal and oil. But it all starts with the sun...
A local energy system will be more resilient in the face of fossil fuel energy uncertainty, and it will look different for different places. A careful consideration of the qualities of a place -- including what people do there or have done there -- can result in surprising sources of energy.
Growing demand for meat has become a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening humanity's future, maintains the World Watch Institute, Washington, D.C. Total meat consumption has increased fivefold in the past half-century, putting extreme pressure on Earth's limited resources, including water, land, feed, and fuel.
Solve Climate: A Silicon Valley start-up called Nanosolar shipped its first solar panels -- priced at $1 a watt. That's the price at which solar energy gets cheaper than coal. Curious that this story is not on every front page.Still, to commemorate the achievement, Nanosolar CEO Martin Roscheisen (pictured) is reserving the first three commercially-viable panels. One is staying on display at...
If you live in Lawrence, unfortunately the answer is yes. In fact I'm using electricity taken from blown up mountains to write this blog. Damn it! Westar Energy and Kansas City Power Light Co both purchase coal from companies who engage in mountain top removal. If you want to find out the hidden connections - and costs - of your electricity source, you can find out at www.iLoveMountains.org. The...
The film is truly inspirational. Let's make it happen here in the states. - Tim