Disqus - Latest Comments for BenRay

Re: Going Green Goes Upscale: The Furman Cliffs Cottage

BenRay — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:05:51 -0000

Yeah--that did jump out at me, but then again, the point of this was to be a demo home, showcasing every environmental technology that it possibly could. In that respect, it's understandable that it's large. I am kind of afraid that it'll inspire a boom of green McMansions.

Then again, that's still far better than non-green McMansions =)

Re: Going Green Goes Upscale: The Furman Cliffs Cottage

Mr. Sustainable — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 13:43:13 -0000

With friends like Duke Energy, who needs enemies? I'm right there with you. However, as you so rightly put it, this battle won't be won by crushing the utilities, no matter how tempting (from an environmental perspective) such a proposition may be.

Through my work in the Sierra Club, I've become friends with two executives in the Florida division of Progress Energy, an equal opportunity coal and nuclear proponent. These friends of mine are good people trying to turn the titanic with an oar. We must work from the inside out, which is why I accepted Progress Energy's offer to install extra energy monitoring equipment in my home after the installation of my solar water heater. My energy profile is quite different from that of my neighbors but every day I'm contributing a tiny bit to the solution. Who can argue with that?

Re: Going Green Goes Upscale: The Furman Cliffs Cottage

BenRay — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:22:26 -0000

I don't know if I'd call Duke Energy completely won over yet--their Ohio-Kentucky chair recently told a conference that their "cathedral strategy" here was all nukes and clean coal--but this is definitely the sort of progress that is most encouraging. The fight won't be won by crushing the energy giants, it'll be won by co-opting them.

Not that I don't WANT to crush them, of course. But this seems like a much better solution.

Re: Airbus Promises Green Aircraft By 2020

BenRay — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:31:24 -0000

Wow. That sounds incredible--and of course, something that the airlines would jump on, if it doesn't require them to buy new aircraft, a very real possibility as fuel costs skyrocket. I suspect that no amount of $15 bags and $2 waters will bail them out, and a technology that didn't take a massive taxpayer subsidy (as the airliners do) would be nice.

Re: Introducing Enhanced Commenting and Search

BenRay — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:49:40 -0000

Yay! New commenting features!