Bumper Sticker Politics

I'm posting these pictures taken on a recent bike trip through North Arlington. The only question I would ask the owner of this vehicle is whether he or she is a U.S. Senator because that bumper sticker is awfully suspicious. For the record: Obama is not a socialist and global warming is not a hoax. 

Going Green: Rosslyn's Solar Compactors

I was biking through the Arlington neighborhood of Rosslyn today and took a picture of one of their new solar-powered trash compactors. The Rosslyn Business Improvement District (BID) installed thirty Big Belly solar compactors recently. Click here for the press release.

Metro's Growing Pains

Out-of-service escalator at Bethesda Red Line station.

It seems as if D.C.'s once vaunted subway system has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately.

Metro has taken a real beating. The punches just keep coming: The NTSB's scathing report on Metro's lack of a safety culture following the deadly Silver Spring crash; the numerous escalators out of service for repairs; the confusing and problematic fare increases; and another black eye recently from a big brawl between a group of teenagers that spilled into the Metro system.

And I can tell you first-hand from riding the rails in the D.C. area after living in California for nine years that the atmosphere amongst commuters and Metro staff is demoralizing and uneasy.

But from great challenges and crises should come not despair, but a renewed commitment to right the ship and make Metro again the envy of the world. That is why personally I'm optimistic about the future of Metro for a few reasons.

Firstly, there seems to be a serious commitment to changing the safety culture at Metro by Interim General Manager Richard Sarles. Here is Sarles speaking Monday night to the NTSB about how Metro is going to adhere to the safety recommendations:

 

Secondly, let's face it -- the escalator problem is huge. According to the Washington Post, Metro has 588 escalators -- the most in the Western Hemisphere. And they are showing their age by breaking down frequently and needing to be put out of service for repairs. This happens at one time or another at nearly every Metro station on the system.

But Metro is hard at work renovating their escalator system. From the Washington Post story:

"Starting in the spring, as part of a Red Line rehabilitation contract, Metro will overhaul 46 escalators, replace six escalators and rehabilitate 22 elevators at the Dupont Circle, Farragut North, Metro Center, Gallery Place, Judiciary Square, Union Station and Foggy Bottom stations, said Jeffrey Griffin, project manager for Metro's Office of Elevators and Escalators. As part of the Blue and Orange Line contract to be awarded this fall, Metro will rehabilitate 90 escalators, replace three escalators and overhaul 22 elevators."

Also from the WP story:

"Metro hired a consultant, Vertical Transportation Excellence, last month for an initial fee of $75,000 to assess escalator maintenance practices, targeting four stations where outages have been a problem: Bethesda, Woodley Park, Dupont Circle and Foggy Bottom, Kubicek said. Their report is due in two months."

Thirdly, despite its current problems Metro is saving millions of gallons of gas and preventing millions of pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere by taking commuters off the roads. As of the first quarter of 2009 the daily ridership total was 801,400. So it is important to remember that Metro is helping save the planet one passenger at a time.

Lastly, Metro is entering the second decade of the 21st century full steam ahead with the construction of the Silver Line to Tysons Corner and eventually to Dulles International Airport and the plans to order the 7000 series train cars to replace the 1000 series rail cars and eventually zip passengers from downtown to Dulles.

So while some see Metro going down:

I see a transit system on its way up towards the light at the end of that dark tunnel:

Michigan Making Progress

Michigan is ground zero of the economic recession. No state has been hit harder by previous failed economic policies and the loss of America's manufacturing sector. That is why it is crucial that The Wolverine State carry the torch of the new clean energy revolution in the United States.

At least that was the message Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm conveyed to the audience gathered at the Center for American Progress in downtown Washington, D.C. to hear her speak about the progress Michigan has made in clean energy on the one year anniversary of Vice President Joe Biden's trip to Detroit in which he announced a massive investment of Recovery Act stimulus funds into Michigan's advanced battery industry.

According to CAP Vice President Sarah Rosen Wartell, who provided introductory remarks before the governor took the podium, of the $2.4 billion in advanced battery funds, over half went to Michigan. She also noted that the state is now home to sixteen battery companies representing nearly $6 billion in public and private investment, creating almost 62,000 jobs.

Perhaps it was the fact that Granholm was born in Vancouver, Canada and her grandfather immigrated from Sweden and her grandmother came from Norway -- all three countries being on the cutting edge of the transition to clean energy -- but she was about as animated and excited about clean energy as any public official I've ever seen.

Granholm sadly pointed out that Michigan has lost jobs every single year of the first decade of the 21st century -- over 800,000 jobs lost out of a population of ten million. That staggering figure is due to Michigan being at one time the automotive capital of the world and having seven times more manufacturing employment than other states, so they were hit seven times as hard.

"We are the poster child for this global shift in manufacturing jobs," said Granholm. "So I’m obsessed about creating jobs for everyday citizens in America and that’s why this clean energy opportunity is so huge."

She told a devastating story that took place when she first took office in 2003. A town called Greenville had just found out that the Electrolux-owned refrigerator factory was threatening to go to Mexico and bring the 2,700 jobs with it. The governor held a meeting with representatives from the town of 8,000 and the company management. After offering amazing incentives like zero taxes for twenty years and building them a new factory, the management told Granholm that it was more than they expected, but that they can pay $1.57 an hour in Juarez, Mexico so there was nothing they could do to overcome that.

Afterwards Granholm attended what employers call the "last supper" where the hundreds of recently jobless people gather one last time to say goodbye and ask each other what they are going to be doing next. She said a 48-year old man who was with his two daughters walked up to her and told her that he had worked for the company for 30 years and that his father and grandfather worked for the company and that he went from high school to factory and it was all he knew how to do. With his children on each side of him he asked the Governor point blank: "I'm too young to retire. Who's going to hire me?"

"That question has been asked in communities all across the industrial Midwest as we have seen this manufacturing base hollowed out in America," said Granholm. "We don’t make things in the United States. We are a weak nation. And that’s why this energy bill gives us such an opportunity."

But things have changed in Michigan since the state signed an energy package into law in 2008. Since then there has been somewhat of a mini renaissance, although the unemployment is still at 13.2%, second only to Nevada.

Granholm threw out these numbers since the state's energy bill came into law and the national Recovery Act passed:

• Solar: 6 companies; $3 billion invested; 20,993 jobs
• Wind: 10 companies; $173.5 million invested; 4,965 jobs
• Advanced Batteries: 16 companies; $1.3 billion invested; 62,000 jobs

Granholm stressed how important it is to pass a national clean energy and climate bill because states can only go so far in pushing clean energy jobs through legislation. She said that nations that have feed-in tariffs like Canada and Germany are stealing jobs that could be here in the U.S.A. She also mentioned that Sweden -- a country of similar size to Michigan -- has created 400,000 jobs through clean energy and that there is no reason Michigan can't do the same with the right policy in place.

"We are missing out if we don't adopt smart policy," Granholm said. "The Federal Government must play a role by passing an energy bill. With the right policy in place it will send market signals and will bring jobs."

And regarding that town that lost all the refrigerator factory jobs back in 2003? Well, Granholm was happy to report that Greenville plans to go completely off the grid by powering every school and city building with solar energy.

The Dirty Truth About Big Oil: British Petroleum

What is there to say about the most despised company on earth at the moment? Well, actually there is plenty to write about concerning BP's long history of negligent behavior in their oil drilling operations.

Enough ink has been spilled over the Deepwater Horizon well explosion, so I'll focus on previous BP-initiated disasters.

• In 1965 the BP oil rig Sea Gem collapsed and capsized, killing thirteen crew members.
  
• In 2005 BP's Texas City, Texas oil refinery exploded causing 15 deaths, 180 injuries and forcing thousands of residents to stay in their homes.
  
• From 2006-2008 three workers were killed at the same Texas City refinery in separate accidents.
  
• From 2007-2010 the Texas City and Toledo, Ohio refineries were cited for safety violations 829 times by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. BP was responsible for 97% of oil refiner safety violations during that time period.
  
• In 2009 a helicopter taking home workers from BP's platform in the Miller oil field crashed 11 miles off the coast of Scotland in the North Sea, killing all 16 on board.

So it is no surprise that a company with such a spotty safety record would eventually be a part of the worst environmental disaster in United States history. It will take years, possibly decades, before the full environmental impact of the Gulf Coast oil disaster is realized. 

It is not all doom and gloom with BP however. There is a small bright spot in BP's investments in solar energy that will hopefully become a bigger part of the company's profile in the coming years as petroleum becomes out of favor with politicians and the public. 

BP Solar is the third largest producer of solar panels in the world and the company has also heavily invested in wind power as well. And while it is discouraging to see BP Solar close its Frederick, Maryland solar plant for the rapidly expanding Chinese market, it is at the same time encouraging to find out that BP is working with Wal-Mart on a pilot project to install solar panels on rooftops. If BP and Wal-Mart can get together on a massive solar power project then maybe there is hope after all.

The Dirty Truth About Big Oil: Royal Dutch Shell

What is it about Big Oil and the Nazis? In my last blog post I wrote about Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil) and its nefarious ties with Hitler's Germany. In this post I'll try to uncover the sinister roots of Royal Dutch Shell while painting a brighter picture of their modern-day move towards renewable energy.

The Anglo-Dutch petroleum company was created in 1907 from a merger between Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and the Shell Transport and Trading Company. The alliance would help compete with John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil.

The Nazi connection stems from Royal Dutch co-founder/chairman and later Royal Dutch/Shell chairman Sir Henri Deterding. Called the "Napoleon of Oil," Deterding admired Hitler and was a fervent supporter of the Nazi party. Here is an excerpt from the 1975 book "The Seven Sisters" by Anthony Sampson courtesy of the website Royal Dutch Shell PLC:

"His influence on the company was erratic and as one Shell veteran recalls: ‘Deterding’s interventions were like thunderstorms; suddenly flattening a field of wheat, while leaving other fields un-scathed.’ The stately managers of Shell began to have the worrying impression that their Director-General was going mad, and still worse, going pro-Nazi. His anti-Communism, spurred on by his Russian second wife, had already made him sympathetic to the Nazis. But in 1936, just after he had celebrated his seventieth birthday and his fortieth year with Shell, he married a third time, to a German girl, Charlotte Knaack, who had been his secretary. He was now convinced that the Nazis were the only solution to the Communist menace.

He died six months before the outbreak of war: memorial services were held in all Shell offices in Germany and Hitler and Goering both sent wreaths to the funeral on his estate."

And here is an excerpt from the website Shell News about the petro company's Nazi ties:

"Approximately 1,385 forced laborers worked at oil refineries and petrochemical plants owned and operated by the Royal/Dutch Shell Group during the Second World War. These workers, largely civilians from Eastern Europe and the Low Countries of Western Europe, were compelled to work on the grounds of Shell's German and Austrian subsidiaries, Rhenania GmbH and Shell Austria AG, respectively. At these locations, the forced laborers toiled long hours under the watchful (and often brutal) guard of Hitler's S.S. men. Deported from their home countries by force, these workers were housed in filthy barracks, and were denied freedom of movement and proper nutrition. For their work, which was contracted from the S.S., the laborers received no pay from Shell or the German Government.

Shell's ties with the Third Reich, however, were not limited to the use of forced labor. It was also a founding partner in Deutsche Gasoline (25%), the national German petroleum company explicitly crafted to give the Reich greater control over domestic gasoline production - for both military and civilian purposes. Shell additionally held the dubious distinction not only of having collaborated with the Nazi Regime to bring Deutsche Gasoline into fruition, but also of sharing control over the company with I.G. Farben Industrie - the infamous producer of Zyklon B poison gas."

And while Shell is currently joining the likes of ExxonMobil in focusing on R&D of next-generation biofuels such as the promising area of algae oil, last year the company cut back on investments in other renewable energy such as solar and wind (Shell owns 11 wind farms in the U.S.). And even with biofuels only about one percent of Shell's investments go towards clean energy -- that leaves the other 99% for dirty, polluting fossil fuels.

If there is any silver lining in this story, it is that earlier this year Shell announced plans for a $12 billion venture with Brazilian sugar producer and ethanol developer Cosan to create sustainable biofuels. But with its spotty history of reducing renewable energy funding and pulling back on projects like the world's biggest planned offshore wind farm in Britain, there is no guarantee that Shell will maintain its commitment to biofuels. For the sake of the planet I hope they do.

The Dirty Truth About Big Oil: ExxonMobil

While the Gulf Coast region is soaking in oil, the American public is being fed a steady diet of clever and deceptive marketing and advertising from Big Oil to keep us addicted and away from alternative energy sources.

These fossil fuel companies are also spending millions of dollars to lobby against climate and clean energy legislation on every level.

All of these efforts have been well-documented. But many in the American public don't know about the controversial history of these companies and their manipulative tactics to cover up their true purpose -- making record profits off the American consumer at the expense of the environment and our health.

This series of blog posts will examine the Supermajors -- ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Total S.A. Also, smaller companies such as Citgo will be investigated.

ExxonMobil

This company is the legacy of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil. In 1909 the Department of Justice sued Standard under the Sherman Antitrust Act for monopolistic practices and restraining interstate commerce. In 1911 the Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil must be dissolved and split into 34 companies. Ironically, two of those companies -- Exxon and Mobil -- later merged to become today's dirty energy powerhouse.

But even more sinister is Standard Oil's support of pre-war Nazi Germany. This is an excerpt from the book "Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler," written in 2000 by Anthony C. Sutton.

"The Standard Oil group of companies, in which the Rockefeller family owned a one-quarter (and controlling) interest, was of critical assistance in helping Nazi Germany prepare for World War II. This assistance in military preparation came about because Germany's relatively insignificant supplies of crude petroleum were quite insufficient for modern mechanized warfare; in 1934 for instance about 85 percent of German finished petroleum products were imported. The solution adopted by Nazi Germany was to manufacture synthetic gasoline from its plentiful domestic coal supplies. It was the hydrogenation process of producing synthetic gasoline and iso-octane properties in gasoline that enabled Germany to go to war in 1940 — and this hydrogenation process was developed and financed by the Standard Oil laboratories in the United States in partnership with I.G. Farben."

And in case you don't know about I.G. Farben, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

"IG Farben built a factory (named Buna Chemical Plant) that produced synthetic oil and rubber (from coal) at Auschwitz, which was the beginning of SS activity and camps in this location during the Holocaust. At its peak in 1944, this factory made use of 83,000 slave laborers and prisoners. The pesticide Zyklon B (infamous for its use in gas chambers during the Holocaust), for which IG Farben held the patent, was manufactured by Degesch (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung), which IG Farben owned 42.2 percent of (in shares) and which had IG Farben managers in its Managing Committee."

ExxonMobil would like us to believe it is "taking on the world's toughest energy challenges." Really? According to a 2008 ABC report, the company only spends one percent of their profits on alternative energy sources. But there is some encouraging news as the petroleum company recently announced a new $600 million collaboration with Synthetic Genomics Inc (SGI) on research and development of the next generation of algae-based biofuels. I hope this will be a serious commitment to transition the company from primarily petroleum to algae oil.

I hope ExxonMobil sees the writing on the wall and understands that Peak Oil is coming and Global Warming is real and is caused by human-made greenhouse gas emissions. If so then this might be a chance to start to repair its ignoble past and present for a bright future with algae oil.