Disappearing Frogs - KQED QUEST

As I have written in the first posts of this blog, frogs are sort of my totem or spirit animal. I have been ruminating how to do my part in saving them. You see, they are in danger all over the world. Their permeable skins and their amphibious lifestyle makes them vulnerable and a literal "canary in a coalmine". Everything we do to change the chemistry of our water and earth weakens them and makes them more likely to catch diseases.
In our neck of the woods, we have the red legged frog which is beautiful (well, all frogs are beautiful to me).

April 29th, 2011 is Save The Frogs Day. What will you do to save the frogs?

God Won't Let Global Warming Happen

I love reading the Liberal Values blog, because Ron likes to cover the amazing things the Republicans do and say. It turns out that according to Rep. John Shimkus, we don't have to worry about Global Warming since the Bible said that God told Noah that,
“Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though all inclinations of his heart are evil from childhood and never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
“As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never cease.”

Yes, it is absurd to use the Bible in place of a scientific argument. Ron also writes about the growing mainstreaming of replacing science and reason, with biblical belief. The Republican Party has become the supreme water-carrier  for the interests who want to undermine science for their business plan or religious alignment. Adding to the absurdity, Rep. Shimkus wants to be the chairman of the Energy Committee which makes policy on the energy and the environment. This midterm election makes his appointment more likely.
 
Sir, if God controls what happens on Earth, him letting 230,000 people die around the Indian Ocean is a big message that life is cheap and there is no escaping the consequences of Global Warming. Personally, I do not think there is a God controlling what happens to our planet. We just happen to live on a planet with tectonic plates floating and crashing and gnashing against each other from time to time. We have tons of recorded history that proves God doesn't deliver us from ground cursing or life destructing events. People, animals, crops, homes, waters, nature gets wiped out all over the world. God did not sweep up and save people from the scourge of the Black Death in the Middle Ages, so God isn't going to deliver us from the effects of Global Warming.

Another thing to consider is that Global Warming won't necessarily destroy the planet, just make the planet drastically unable to maintain life on earth. Once the consequences wipe out the planet of humans, the earth will bounce back beautifully without us.

Our Craptastic Climate!

"It turns out that global warming critics were right when they said that global climate models did not do a good job at predicting climate change, but what has been wrong recently is that the climate is changing even faster than the models said. In fact, Arctic sea ice is melting much faster than any models predicted, and sea level is rising much faster than IPCC previously predicted." - Alan Robock, associate director of the Center for Environmental Prediction at Rutgers University

Holy crap.

Where the heck is my old conservative republican friend, Charles Winslow, who would mock me abut my alarm about global warming way back in 1990? He said we didn't have enough proof to do anything about global warming, if it existed at all. I responded back then that by the time we had enough proof to convince him, it would be too late to do anything. I wish I could find him so I could tell him, I told him so. Last time I heard from him he was working for Forbes at the republican convention in 1996 in San Diego.

British researchers have found that the oceans are not soaking up as much carbon dioxide as they used to and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) growth has increased 35 percent faster than expected since 2000. The Southern Atlantic oceanic CO2 sink is weakening. Then

Greenland's ice sheet melts as temperatures rise. It seems that Greenland's ice melt area increased 30% in 30 years and is losing more ice each year than it gains from new snow. More melting means that sea levels can rise around the world and low lying coastal areas can become flooded. Two or three warm consecutive years in the polar region can result in the Greenland ice cap will face complete collapse, raising ocean levels 23 feet. 23 feet is about 7 meters, so I plugged 7m on the old google flood maps and it looks like the Golden Gate Bridge will be underwater and so will access to the closest shopping mall from where I live.

Holy crap.

No wonder Guyana may consider moving its capitol to higher ground.

There is now a topical coffee mug that will show you what the world map will look like when the sea levels rise every time you "warm it" by hot coffee. Check it out at everythingart.com. Check out the higher res version. Every morning you can be reminded of our future. Hurray for us!

Daydreaming a Better Way of Living

If I could, I would love to start over with our ouse and build in its place a green modular house. Pre-fabricated modular homes like livinghomes and Michelle Kaufmann Designs cut the construction time and costs by having pieces of the home pre-made offsite.

The first picture is a Michelle Kaufmann Design that comes solar ready and uses various passive systems to cool and heat the home. It is the The Sunset® Breezehouse. I also like the Sidebreeze. Her website says costs excluding fees $250/sf and $275/sf for MKD pre-designed homes, and- $400/sf and up Custom Projects. Surfaces that come standard on these homes are extra on Livinghome houses, but have a great customizing tool that will allow you to pick and choose various options and calculate the total cost to you.

My custom home is Model: rk5.1 that has a base price of $585,200. This model has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2090 sq. ft, 75 sq ft of decking, 40 ft width and 72 ft length. I selected $95,100 worth of options: Solar Hot Water Collector and radiant heating system, a Gray Water system, a Rain Water Harvesting, and a Photovoltaic Panel system that adds 80% capacity. There are other fees that one has to factor in like getting permits that end up totally approximately $905,157 or $433/sq ft.

It really is hard to tell which is a better deal. Surfing around there seems to be a consensus that modular homes are in their infancy and are too pricey for average homeowners. The problem is that given the housing bubble burst it really isn't wise to make improvements that exceed what your house is worth in the market if you ever hope to sell or if you have to move and sell. It only makes sense if you know for sure that you will be living in this house the rest of your life and are planning to hand down the house to your kids and grandkids. The feeling in the eco-blogosphere is that modular homes will have to get down to $100 per square foot to really be accessible.

Our property is 7,800 sq ft with a requirement of a 20ft space from the sidewalk, but it is long and narrow, so a 40ft width is the safest dimension for any house plan. The price of the living home includes about 20k worth of landscaping, since we will have to move around some plants and install a drip system to take advantage of grey water and rainwater collection.

I selected Michelle Kaufmann since her office in Oakland is relatively local, but the modules are constructed in Washington State. Living Homes is based in Southern California in Santa Monica. It would be cool if there was a local company in Marin, that would construct their modules in Richmond or close enough that you are not burning excess fossil fuels to get them there. It would be cool to support a local economy as much as possible.

The next photo is an example of livinghomes dwelling, but it isn't the model that I am interested since this particular one is the more home than we need and the most expensive. It's base price is 868k. It has five bedrooms on two stories, 3100 square feet, 1435 square feet of decking, and is 40 feet wide and 80 feet long. The extras cost 100, 300 and include all of the extras on the other model i picked, but also include an ecosmart denatured ethonol fireplace that is flueless and clean burning. The total is approximately 1,229, 887 or $397 per square foot including 20k landscaping.


The other option is to retrofit our existing 1285 square foot house with eco-features like photovoltaic power system including a water heater system, and remodel the house to include passive solar lighting and heating. We would also have to insulate the house using recycled materials that will not give off any unhealthy gases. There is a spray insulation that is soy-based that looks interesting. A mix of passive and active solar seems to be the trick, but it is hard to get a price on this because it really depends how many panels we can put on the house and on the ground. Also, we are not DIY'ers, so we would have to pay someone to do this. We live in a mostly moderate sunny climate, but we do have occasional frosts below freezing and have very intense heat waves up to 114 degrees.

We can install a cool roof that can keep our home cooler and reduce heat islands that contribute to smog.

I am sure not all solar panels are equal, and if we are going to invest in a system, you want to get something that gets an additional 80% capacity. It would be nice to power our needs as well as sell back power to the grid. My dream is to live in a zero energy home, or where the net cost of running the home is at minum -- zero.
Another thing I would have to do is invest on replacing all our appliances to energy star models like Sun Frost and all our bathroom fixtures to be high water efficient. Counters would have to be replaced with enviroglass and any additional flooring be done with cork tiles. All lighting would need to be converted to LED technology. Another thing we can do is fit the house with skylights and tubelights that can light up dark places in our house during the day without turning on the lights.

I also found these composting toilets that can turn human waste into compost usuable in landscaping. It would be cool to be able to do this. Of course, you would have to make sure that all pathogens in the fecal matter were killed and would be able to be used without having to worry about runoff damaging the enviroment.

There is a local company based in Oakland called, Waterspout. They do systems for grey water and rainwater collection, as well as sustainable landscaping using native drought tolerant plants, edible landscape, succulant zeriscapes, subtropical and aquatic landscapes, and creative recycling of materials for hardscapes. With combination of water collection systems and drip systems we can have landscaping that can withstand the harshest droughts and can be low maintainance. When it rains, it would be nice to have a rain garden feature that will help filter run off before it goes to the bay.

Low maintanance is important to us since we are not green thumbs and are currently overwhelmed with our 20 feet by 40 feet backyard and significant front yard. I want an outdoor space that could allow kids to play, grow edible foods like our grapevines, and have people over for bbq and be protected from the elements somewhat. It would be cool to have a guilt-free fountain built with recycled materials, using grey water, and powered by solar. Right now alot of our land is underutilized because it is so difficult to get access and water our fruit trees consistently.

Some of the things we can do to make better landscapes are to reduce turf areas, use shade trees, group plants by water needs, and mulch all planting beds. Green roofs and walls are the practice of growing drought tolerant plants on the roof and climbing plants along the walls which actually insulates the home. There is a company called Greenscreen that can allow you to train plants along fences and homes.

I would also like to integrate a composting system that will be easy to maintain and avoid attracting pests or vermin that will easily create fertilizer for our landscape. Another thing I would be interested in is a permiable paving systems that filter rain water through paving stones and collect rainwater or move it safely to municiple drainage systems to the bay.

My question is: where is the money going to come from to allow every homeowner convert their home to an eco-home? I really think the answer is requiring all new housing to have water collection systems and solar and wind generating systems. We really need to focus on getting financing to allow every existing home to be retrofitted with these systems. Water and power will be our greatest crisis points in this century and will start being dire issues quickly as scientists become surprised at the rapid signs of global warming appear.

One of the things government can do is not add property taxation for remodeling existing homes to be eco-efficient even if they add square footage to their homes. If homeowners can submit a design that achieves water conservation, storage, and reuse and incorporates passive and active renewable energies -- I think local and state governments should reduce the cost of fees and permits and the overall cost of making these things happen.

I also think that what is needed is local companies to be supported who design, build, and maintain these eco-features. All residential and commercial buildings should have all these features all over the world. We need to retool our global economy as well as national and regional economies to provide these services accessible to everyone.

Green Transport

(Photo By Rat Phlegm) I ran across this bike that has been turned into a Sports Utility Bike that can carry a child and 4 bags of groceries. It is from a company called Xtracycle and you can either by a new Sports Utility Bike for around 900 bucks, or add on a kit to create one from an existing bike for 400 bucks. The childseat costs 200 dollars. For 50 bucks you can add footsies so you can have older passengers safely. Then for about 1350.00 you can turn your S.U.B into a human-electric hybrid drive. You can get electric charger and extra batteries to keep the bike going longer. Unfortunately, the human-electric system is not currently able to be ordered right now.

I would love to get this system and be able to get groceries without getting into my car, but one concern is that I live near a freeway with lots of cars and safety from being hit by these clueless drivers on their cellphones is a real concern.

Gore for 2008

Despite the qualifications and positive attributes of the current Democratic candidates for President, there is only one American alive today who deserves to be president -- Al Gore.

Al Gore has won the presidency before in 2000, and would be our president if the Supreme Court hadn't betrayed their state's rights agenda to halt a fair count in Florida. Our country would have had the benefit of a man of intellect and good judgment to handle all of the challenges in the past 8 years and our country would have been in a better place. We would have found a better way to deal with Iraq and wouldn't have gotten trapped in this endless quagmire.

Al Gore has just won a Nobel Peace Prize and is internationally respected around the world. His top priorities are where they should be -- toward dealing with Global Warming. When the sea levels rise, Islamofacist terrorist cells will be the least of our problems. When the climate fundamentally changes where agriculture can take place or where water supplies are, the lack of democracy in the Middle East or the presence of Gay Marriage will seem petty. I want a president who believes that global warming is the most important thing to deal with, and Gore has proved that he is willing to go the extra mile to make change to prevent or at least soften the effects of global warming.

We need a president who has the respect and good will of the entire world to motivate other countries to help our country to solve problems. Gore is uniquely placed to completely turn our global reputation around. We need a president that can argue persuasively that all humanity must drop what they are doing and address global warming which will profoundly effect every political party, religion, and every socio-economic level on this planet.

I would love to see every democratic candidate to realize that Al Gore is the best person to be president and turn over their campaign war chests to help him get elected. It would require a miracle for this to happen.

Given the current line up of republicans, I will be voting for anyone who gets the democratic nomination. The only candidate that I would get excited by and actually work for is Al Gore. I would support a Gore-Obama, Gore-Clinton, Gore-Edwards, or Gore-Kucinich ticket.


http://www.algore.org/
http://www.draftgore.com/
http://www.electgore2008.com/
http://www.myspace.com/algore08

Lose-Lose

Despite what Bush says, there were no winners in the Hezbollah v. Isreali conflict. How many people were displaced? 1.5 Million. How many people were injured and killed? How much infrastructure and commerce was destroyed. All for what? Isreal still didn't get their soldiers back, nor did they render Hezbollah impotent. All it accomplished is another generation of righteous anger and hatred on both sides that will only fuel the next generation of conflicts. The world should of stepped in and kept both sides from escalating a conflict -- and have them take a deep breath.

Diplomacy is the tool of the strong and violence and military action the tool of the weak and inarticulate. Real strength is the courage to wage peace when it is the toughest -- when real harm has come to you. Diplomacy requires the strength to absorb blows and the intelligence to navigate through the nuances and complexities of geo-political relationships and strike the right deals that will undermine the extremists in the world.

It is the reality of modern military conflict that state militaries cannot really deal a decisive victories anymore. That was lost in the nuclear age and the emergence of the concept of war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was lost in the electronic age where the planet has a front seat in any conflict. States need to worry that a conflict can spiral out of control into a nuclear exchange or have the world community hold us accountable for crimes against humanity.

Instead all we have is low intensity but nasty guerilla wars that fester and cause human misery and grudges with no satisfying conclusion and no winners.

Bush's declaration of victory shows how ignorant and how a negative influence he is in world politics. A fragile peace has been created, we do not need someone making this into favoring one side or another. It helps no one and it is absurd thought to think anyone won. It is why the Middle East doesn't see us as an honest broker in their region. Bush would have been wise to just shut up or at least acknowledge the human suffering that has occured on both sides and welcoming the halt in that suffering. This is the unhelpful and unstatesmanlike behavior of this President that swaggers and blunders that makes me embarrassed for our country.