Hillary and Obama want 80% reductions in US greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and McCain wants a 60% reduction. How easy will that be? Steve Hayward explains here in this WSJ article and in the video below (short answer: it only requires the lower per capita carbon dioxide emissions than during the 1700 or 1800s):
Archive for April, 2008
Achieving 80% Reductions in Greenhouse Gases
April 30th, 2008It’s official: Guillermo del Toro to direct ‘The Hobbit’ and sequel
April 25th, 2008Today’s Surprise
April 25th, 2008Yesterday was Travis’ birthday. Today we sends me to this video. As he writes, “I started out thinking this video was ridiculous and ended up liking it a lot.” I agree. It’s weird, but strangely cool.
Happy Birthday Lenin!
April 22nd, 2008April 22nd is the birthday of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov.
It is a coincidence that today is also Earth Day? I don’t know, but it’s curious since most of the environmentalists proposals rely on coersive, heavy handed, top-down regulation to try to accomplish their goals.
Netflix profits surge, so what do they announce? Higher prices for to rent Blu-Ray discs.
April 21st, 2008Netflix’s profits are up 36%, so what do they announce? Higher prices for subscribers who want Blu-Ray discs.
I’ve been a fan of Netflix for a long time. And I’ve put my money where my mouth is–I’ve been a subscriber since 2001. But Netflix is now trying hard to get me to dislike them.
First, Netflix prematurely quit carrying HD-DVD discs in February. I believe this announcement greatly sped up the downfall of HD-DVD. There were a lot of people like me that purchased an inexpensive HD-DVD players, safe in the knowledge that while it didn’t make sense to buy many HD-DVD discs (there was a format war underway after all), there would always be Netflix renting HD-DVDs. Wrong. Netflix ditched HD-DVD, and a couple days later HD-DVD was dead. Some complained that the only way this made sense was if Netflix had been bought off by Sony.
When Netflix killed HD-DVD some people argued that HD-DVD was a cheaper format and deserved to survive. Looking back, that was a good argument because Netflix has now discovered that Blu-Ray discs are expensive and wants to charge us Blu-Ray subscribers more for the privilege of renting Blu-Ray discs.
I wouldn’t necessarily have a problem with Netflix charging more for high definition discs, if it had done this when HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs came out. It would have been sense at the time. But you have to wonder if Netflix dumped the cheaper HD-DVD to help make the case that it needs to increase subscription prices for those of us who want to rent Blu-Ray discs.
If this ticks you off, you can let Netflix know at
SI’s Hottest Teams of All Time
April 21st, 2008
Sports Illustrated lists the 25 Hottest Teams of All Time, complete with SI’s trademark photography.
Where in the world is my wife?
April 19th, 2008
Today, she’s in Milan.
She reports that the gelato is excellent and asks, “why is it so much better than ice cream in the States?”
Barack Obama–Wrong for Pennsylvania
April 19th, 2008Stephen Fry Examines the Gutenberg Press
April 18th, 2008In this revealing documentary, Stephen Fry investigates the story of one of the most important machines ever invented – the Gutenberg Press.The printing press was the world’s first mass-production machine. Its invention in the 1450s changed the world as dramatically as splitting the atom or sending men into space, sparking a cultural revolution that shaped the modern age. It is the machine that made us who we are today.
I can’t wait until I get some time to watch it.
President Bush is Tone Deaf on Biofuel
April 17th, 2008President Bush is amazingly tone deaf on the outcome of his biofuel mandate. In an address on climate change yesterday he touted the legislation he pushed last year to require “fuel producers to supply at least 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022.” He argued that “This should provide an incentive for shifting to a new generation of fuels like cellulosic ethanol that will reduce concerns about food prices and the environment.”
But this mandate has helped drive up fuel prices today. There have been riots all of the world because of the high price of food and the UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, told German radio Monday that the production of biofuels is “a crime against humanity.”
Not only is the biofuel mandate causing people to go hungry, the environmental costs are significant. Today’s biofuel production releases more greenhouse gases than petroleum production and we are turning miles and miles of jungle into biofuel plantations.
It’s amazing that President Bush could be so tone deaf about the problems with today’s biofuel. Biofuel may work tomorrow, but with today’s technology is accomplishes little and hurts a lot of people.
