The Other Dick in D.C.

"Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away." - John Prine (Paradise)

"I support the left, though I'm leaning, leaning to the right." - Cream (Politician)

Gotta love those "liberal" Democrats.

Coal?  Yes, Coal - Business Week

"Gregory H. Boyce, chief executive of the world's biggest coal company, is one of the few prominent opponents of climate regulation whose position hasn't softened one bit in recent months. Asked in March whether high levels of CO2 in the air are harmful, Boyce said: 'I think the simple answer is we don't know.'"

"Boyce has spent $5.5 million on Peabody's Washington lobbying operation in the past two years. His most recent hire: Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), former Majority Leader of the House of Representatives."

The Other Dick in D.C.

"Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away." - John Prine (Paradise)

"I support the left, though I'm leaning, leaning to the right." - Cream (Politician)

Gotta love those "liberal" Democrats.

Coal?  Yes, Coal - Business Week

"Gregory H. Boyce, chief executive of the world's biggest coal company, is one of the few prominent opponents of climate regulation whose position hasn't softened one bit in recent months. Asked in March whether high levels of CO2 in the air are harmful, Boyce said: 'I think the simple answer is we don't know.'"

"Boyce has spent $5.5 million on Peabody's Washington lobbying operation in the past two years. His most recent hire: Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), former Majority Leader of the House of Representatives."

Greening Scotland

Interesting tidbit from across the pond.  Hoping "scientific Greens" aren't like the old "scientific Socialists" however.  Greens in suits and using Blackberries?  Hands on the levers of power and not just a protest vote? 

Go We, Go Greens!  :)

Scientific Greens Find Formula for Place at the Table - Scotsman

"For the first time in British politics, the possibility of Green Cabinet ministers, or at least Greens at the bargaining table is a genuine one. While the other parties hoped to hoover up voters by 'greening up' their manifestos, the Greens have argued that votes for them would make the other parties clean up their act.

The party has been buoyed by independent assessments that their manifesto is 'scientifically' the most environmentally friendly and also better costed than some of the other parties. These Greens are in suits, use Blackberries, and have Mandelson-style campaign grids. A senior party insider said: 'Last time we aimed to be the conscience of the Parliament. This time we are aiming to get things done and have our hands on the levers of power.'"

Greening Scotland

Interesting tidbit from across the pond.  Hoping "scientific Greens" aren't like the old "scientific Socialists" however.  Greens in suits and using Blackberries?  Hands on the levers of power and not just a protest vote? 

Go We, Go Greens!  :)

Scientific Greens Find Formula for Place at the Table - Scotsman

"For the first time in British politics, the possibility of Green Cabinet ministers, or at least Greens at the bargaining table is a genuine one. While the other parties hoped to hoover up voters by 'greening up' their manifestos, the Greens have argued that votes for them would make the other parties clean up their act.

The party has been buoyed by independent assessments that their manifesto is 'scientifically' the most environmentally friendly and also better costed than some of the other parties. These Greens are in suits, use Blackberries, and have Mandelson-style campaign grids. A senior party insider said: 'Last time we aimed to be the conscience of the Parliament. This time we are aiming to get things done and have our hands on the levers of power.'"

Eco-Ice Box

The latest Treehugger.com e-mail had a link to this farm food cooling system that used the cold of well environment to keep food from spoiling.

Iceless "Ice Box" Lowered in Ground Keeps the Food Cool - Modern Mechanix (Oct. 1932)

This is nothing new to farm folks of a certain age. Our neighbors used to sell eggs and they'd store them in their storm cellar which was an underground igloo of sorts. There was an angled door at the top to enter and a stairway to the bottom. The type of door that Dorothy didn't quite make it into when the tornado came through in Kansas. They also had a little concrete ventilator structure on them so you'd get some air exchange beyond any leaks in the door.

When I was in Vermont in the late 1970s I got invited out to see Scott Nielson's home which included a similar cooling system as the Popular Mechanix design. Only without the well. Scott set up a swimming pool like structure off the side of his alpine A-frame home. This pool of water would freeze into a really large chunk of ice and they had a dumb waiter system to drop food down to the top of the huge ice cube. I'm not sure how long that lasted. Vermont isn't known for real hot summers so perhaps it made it through a whole season.

Another Vermont cooling invention was at the (in)famous Dimetrodon alternative condominium in Warren, Vermont.

Dimetrodon Cluster Housing - Warren, Vermont
The Prickly Mountain Gang - Barre Montpelier Times Argus
The Revolution That Never Quite Was - Metropolis Magazine

My architect pal and co-instructor from the Institute for Social Ecology, Bill Maclay, was one of the original builders of this funky and fun place. The original idea was to build a structure made out of a platform and huge box trusses. With that structural backbone, you could then scab in any kind of apartment you'd like. Some of them were pretty innovative.

Bill hired me to help him do some carpentry work on it and that was a fun adventure. Replaced some carpenter ant infested wood and also replaced some of the roofing with a rubber sheet material. Lots of rubber cement on that last bit. You could definitely get high without leaving the dinosaur on that one. I spent the night there once. Got to sleep in the tower segment. The bed had a half-dome of Plexiglas at the end of it. You could stick your head in there and get a fantastic view of the valley below. Extremely cool detail.

At any rate, Bill had a home-made refrigerator that had not only the usual cooling technology but also included a vent to the great outdoors. The system used a fan to bring in cold air from the outdoors when it was cool enough to do that. In Vermont, that was a goodly part of the year. Seems like something that could still be used to reduce energy demands.

One final cross-link that comes to mind here is that of R. Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller. Bucky used to say that buildings should act like "valves" especially with regard to energy. Seems like this is a perfect example of that concept at work.

I had the good fortune to hear Bucky speak three different times. Twice at UN-L and once at the Stowe School, an alternative high school, in Vermont. I probably still have pictures of this last event somewhere. I'll post them later if I can find them. Here are some videos of him doing his thing. Two short clips and a long one. [It can all be done by1985.][Send politicians on a trip around the sun.][Everything I Know]

He was a trip to listen to. He'd just start in and keep going for hours at a time. Very stream of consciousness but with common talking points of course.

Eco-Ice Box

The latest Treehugger.com e-mail had a link to this farm food cooling system that used the cold of well environment to keep food from spoiling.

Iceless "Ice Box" Lowered in Ground Keeps the Food Cool - Modern Mechanix (Oct. 1932)

This is nothing new to farm folks of a certain age. Our neighbors used to sell eggs and they'd store them in their storm cellar which was an underground igloo of sorts. There was an angled door at the top to enter and a stairway to the bottom. The type of door that Dorothy didn't quite make it into when the tornado came through in Kansas. They also had a little concrete ventilator structure on them so you'd get some air exchange beyond any leaks in the door.

When I was in Vermont in the late 1970s I got invited out to see Scott Nielson's home which included a similar cooling system as the Popular Mechanix design. Only without the well. Scott set up a swimming pool like structure off the side of his alpine A-frame home. This pool of water would freeze into a really large chunk of ice and they had a dumb waiter system to drop food down to the top of the huge ice cube. I'm not sure how long that lasted. Vermont isn't known for real hot summers so perhaps it made it through a whole season.

Another Vermont cooling invention was at the (in)famous Dimetrodon alternative condominium in Warren, Vermont.

Dimetrodon Cluster Housing - Warren, Vermont
The Prickly Mountain Gang - Barre Montpelier Times Argus
The Revolution That Never Quite Was - Metropolis Magazine

My architect pal and co-instructor from the Institute for Social Ecology, Bill Maclay, was one of the original builders of this funky and fun place. The original idea was to build a structure made out of a platform and huge box trusses. With that structural backbone, you could then scab in any kind of apartment you'd like. Some of them were pretty innovative.

Bill hired me to help him do some carpentry work on it and that was a fun adventure. Replaced some carpenter ant infested wood and also replaced some of the roofing with a rubber sheet material. Lots of rubber cement on that last bit. You could definitely get high without leaving the dinosaur on that one. I spent the night there once. Got to sleep in the tower segment. The bed had a half-dome of Plexiglas at the end of it. You could stick your head in there and get a fantastic view of the valley below. Extremely cool detail.

At any rate, Bill had a home-made refrigerator that had not only the usual cooling technology but also included a vent to the great outdoors. The system used a fan to bring in cold air from the outdoors when it was cool enough to do that. In Vermont, that was a goodly part of the year. Seems like something that could still be used to reduce energy demands.

One final cross-link that comes to mind here is that of R. Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller. Bucky used to say that buildings should act like "valves" especially with regard to energy. Seems like this is a perfect example of that concept at work.

I had the good fortune to hear Bucky speak three different times. Twice at UN-L and once at the Stowe School, an alternative high school, in Vermont. I probably still have pictures of this last event somewhere. I'll post them later if I can find them. Here are some videos of him doing his thing. Two short clips and a long one. [It can all be done by1985.][Send politicians on a trip around the sun.][Everything I Know]

He was a trip to listen to. He'd just start in and keep going for hours at a time. Very stream of consciousness but with common talking points of course.