1/18/09: The Environment is the focus once again

The importance of the financial bailout will show its self in the near future. The point of the financial bail out is to ensure cheap credit to everyone, cheap credit is the driving force of our economy. This article from the NY-Times talks about the future of many businesses that are looking at a future that demands payment on loans of which companies do not have money for. This issue is going to rear the rest of its head in the next year as many companies fall out of the market.

Environmentalism used to be so simple: find the bad guys and make them stop. Well, we are finding that environmentalism is effective when it is practical not just reactive. The EU is very progressive and loves all out bans like its ban on GMO. The EU is trying to decrease production and use of synthetic pesticides but it will be at a price. It will mean increased pests, increased instances of infection from things like malaria, and a higher cost of producing some agricultural products. Everything comes at a price, and when it comes to "banning bad things" a comprehensive approach is needed.

Bush has made some last minute envrionmental decisions, some good, some not so good. This is a really good coverage of the changes and some commentaries on their effects and circumstances. It is from National Geographic.

The Detroit Auto Show revealed plenty new cars mild changes to the combusion engine model. The chevy Volt is the star thus far, it is an electric car with a regular engine, it goes 40miles on the electric then if uncharged starts running the oil burning engine. The electric car seems to be the favorite and it makes sense when you consider that electric cars depend on electric energy generation that at this point depends on hydroelectric dams and coal fired power plants. The great thing about electric cars is that the more energy we generate from renewable sources the more the electric car is environmentally friendly.

While buying one of these new cars from Detroit seems like the environmental thing to do, it may be more environmental to just use an old well preserved car that gets fairly good mileage. Or, vehicular conversions to biodiesel or other renewable systems could be more environmental. This article from the ChristianScienceMonitor gives some commentary.

Democrats from the House of Representatives in the American Congress are pushing for more than $80 billion to be spent on "the environment." If you want really good details on this current issue the Scientific American provides a great news article that lays it all out.