We want change. Innovation. We want to overturn the old energy order

[txlibdem]

California Governor Arnold Scharzenegger, speaking at the United States Department of Energy's ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in National Harbor, Md., had this to say about the old energy order:

Schwarzenegger, of course, made climate change and green energy cornerstones of his administration. But in his speech Tuesday before policymakers and politicians gathered at the ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy) he offered a full-throated call to move beyond the tired climate change debate and get on with the job of building a renewable energy economy.

Echoing the themes of last year's successful campaign to crush Proposition 23, a ballot measure that would have derailed California's landmark global warming law, Schwarzenegger linked green technology to the creation of jobs, a healthier environment, and international competitiveness.

"We have about 100,000 premature deaths in the U.S. each year from petroleum-related air pollution, and we have 6.5 million annual hospital visits by people with respiratory illnesses caused by the same thing," Schwarzenegger said. "These deaths are far greater in number than the combined deaths from car accidents, drunk drivers, gang wars, suicides or Iraq and Afghanistan."

"The suffering and expense of these petro-deaths needs to be recognized," he added. "Think what it means when in the Central Valley of California one in six children use an inhaler. People need to think about that."


http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-01-schwarzenegger-calls-for-tunisian-style-green-revolution

Give 'em hell, Arnie!

[txlibdem]

1. Study: Freeway proximity can put you on the road to heart health issues

"Freeway proximity can put you on the road to heart health issues

Living near a freeway can help commuters get where they're going faster, but new research suggests that it's also likely to put people on the fast track toward heart disease. A new study by scientists at USC, UC Berkeley and research centers in Spain and Switzerland is the first to link exposure to car and truck exhaust with increased public health risk of atherosclerosis, a condition that causes artery walls to grow thick and hard. The results "suggest that air pollution may contribute to the acceleration of cardiovascular disease development - the main causes of morbidity and mortality in many countries."

The study was performed in the Los Angeles area, where the scientists recorded the correlation between subjects' proximity to traffic-related pollution, and the progression of common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT). Ultrasounds were used to measure artery wall thickness in almost 1,500 people living within 100 meters of L.A. Freeways, every six months for three years. The progression of the participants' arterial wall hardening was found to happen at about double the average rate.

In addition to possibly causing heart disease and stroke, Southern California freeways and traffic have long been thought to be responsible for high rates of asthma and respiratory diseases. According to the California Department of Public Health, "Over five million Californians have been diagnosed with asthma in their lifetime and more than half of them have an asthma attack each year. Asthma reduces the quality of life for millions of people and causes considerable economic costs for California.""

http://www.justmeans.com/Freeway-proximity-can-put-you-on-road-heart-health-issues/8925.html

[diane in sf]

2. There are also cancer clusters within 1500 feet of those freeways. Sorry no citation.

[txlibdem]

3. I've read about asthma and other lung disorders clustered on freeways

I hadn't heard about the increased cancer risk but it makes sense. Vehicle exhaust puts out carcinogens; that is undisputed. Even pumping your own gas puts you in direct contact with the vapors, which contain toxic and carcinogenic chemicals.

This is why I have a Nissan Leaf on reserve (paid for it when they first started taking reserve payments). Electric cars do not need to even go to the gas station (unless you want to check the windshield washer fluid or get a day-old hot dog or something :-) ).

[wtmusic]

7. Have they given you a delivery date yet?

Just got an email mine is coming the week of 3/25. Can't wait.

:toast:

[txlibdem]

9. That's a long story

I became disabled in '09 and expected to be back to work long before now... so I put the Leaf on reserve. They've sent a request for me to get my electrical system inspected (and then the 240 volt charger installed) but I'm not going to do that till I'm able to work. I'm holding off on things right now because of my situation. But I'm hopeful that I can get things back on track, seeing a new specialist, we'll see how that works out...

[wtmusic]

10. Good luck.

That's the problem with this reservation stuff, I was more able to buy a car when I made the reservation than I am now.

Oh well...I am looking forward to not spending $4/gallon.

[txlibdem]

11. How much did the charger install cost?

Just wondering...

[madokie]

12. Hell I thought this was all caused by coal power plants

Damn moving the goal posts on me again.
How do you expect anyone to keep up

:rofl:
What a laugh it is some of the shit you read around these places
I mean wtf over

[CRH]

4. +1 for Arnie on this one, ...

... also what he says about growing a new clean energy economy, seems the only solution to evolve into a balanced less consumptive and conserving future. It won't cure all future employment needs, but it is a positive start.

I need to duck when I say this, but what is needed is a few state owned (tax payer subsidized) alternative energy factories putting out at cost solar equipment, to promote applications for individual generation. Then let the capitalist system take care of installation and maintenance providing jobs for several years in retrofitting and new construction. Won't totally cure the problem, but is a good transitional step.

[txlibdem]

5. That sounds like a good idea

The wingers won't like the sound of it... so I find it a perfect solution!

[CRH]

6. What the wingers don't like, is sure to be a step in the correct direction, n/t

[txlibdem]

8. Amen to that

The wingers have done everything in their power to bring this country to its knees and pollute every square inch of land, every drop of water. Their ideas bring death and destruction (plus huge profits to the few at the very top). Hooray for the Pukes! They're killing us all!