I’m tired of getting notices from my host that I’m running an older, less secure version of blogging software.
No doubt that is true, but I don’t care to mess around with uploading new versions every few weeks.
Instead, I’ve decided to move the blog to Blogspot and make it a bit more personal.
With any luck that will increase the number of posts.
You can visit the new location at Mark What You Leave.
Thanks for visiting.
I’ve argued elsewhere that Daylight Savings Time is really about maximizing the number of available golf tee times. I still believe that, and have always chuckled knowingly when told that DST was about saving energy.
But now comes a new study from the folks at the National Bureau of Economic Research that shows, based on data from Indiana (the most recent convert to DST) that observing daylight savings time actually results in greater energy consumption.
Of course, this fact-based finding will have no effect on public policy. That’s simply not the way we do things in this country.
Still, as I explained before, I remain optimistic. Now that Indiana has adopted DST, that reason alone will make it blindingly obvious to the rest of the country that there’s something fundamentally archaic and wrong about the whole notion of trying to save daylight. Other states will abandon the practice post-haste.
Perhaps we can begin to accept changing seasons and day lengths instead of fighting against them. Or more realistically, maybe we can just come out and admit that golf is the real reason for DST.
Then again, maybe I just need to accept that neither of these approaches is in any way acceptable to the body politic, and get on with other aspects of my life.
Fore!
Industry sources describe natural gas as one of the cleanest energy sources around. Perhaps that’s true, at least when compared to the other hydrocarbon fuels we use.
But a recent NPR story suggests that natural gas isn’t all crisp and clean. (Here’s the Podcast if you prefer that format)
Giant compressor stations needed to move natural gas from source to users have their own set of problems, and those problems don’t respect property boundaries.
It’s yet another example of unintended consequences and costs borne disproportionately by folks who don’t necessarily reap the benefits.
Not long ago, an embankment holding back a vast lagoon of coal ash sludge gave way, flooding hundreds of acres near a Tennessee power plant. Estimates of the cost to clean up that spill range as high as a billion dollars. The spill highlights the need to responsibly address coal ash disposal, and EPA has indicated that one part of that process may include classification of coal ash as hazardous waste.
Not surprisingly, industry is opposed:
Industry officials have argued against a hazardous waste classification, saying it would greatly increase the costs of disposal to companies and customers and place a stigma on growing efforts to find commercial uses for ash, such as in concrete.
I confess I don’t get this. Why shouldn’t coal and electric companies and their customers assume the full cost of proper waste disposal? And if they don’t, who should?
I would argue that consumers of coal-based power should pay the full costs of that use - including the cost of proper waste disposal as well as mitigation of the air pollution (and CO2 emissions) that arise from coal-fired power plants. Anything else constitutes a perverse subsidy that encourages waste and mis-allocation of investment and resources.
My guess is that elimination of these subsidies would go a long way to leveling the financial playing field between different forms of energy, and make wind and solar that much more attractive.
It also seems appropriate to encourage caution when considering the incorporation of carcinogens and other poisons into everyday products. Concrete? In driveways and sidewalks? Hmmm… Table tops? Not so sure. And who knows what else is on the way.
Here’s hoping coal ash stays out of toys.
Someone sent me a link regarding a new phenomenon, or at least something I’d never heard of before - Curb Day. I thought I’d share. Here’s an excerpt:
On Saturday, May 16, 2009, people all over will participate in “Curb Day” by bringing unwanted (but still valuable) items to their curbs for others to cart away for free.
We all own “stuff” we don’t need – things that have value, but not to us. Overall, there are millions of items out there – good stuff, just wasting away, cluttering households. Many people could really use some of this stuff, especially in today’s economy.
Of course, selling or donating these items are options. But most of us don’t bother. We just keep packing it in, don’t we?
On May 16 (or the night of the 15th), please bring your unwanted valuables to your curb. By doing so, you’re donating them to others. And if you need something, take a walk in your neighborhood – you might just find it for free.
Please use care in selecting your donations. Don’t put your loaded 12-guage shotgun out there. No weapons of any kind. No chemicals, and nothing dangerous at all. Nothing illegal either. No food or alcohol either, please.
Do NOT put garbage out on Curb Day. If you’re not sure if something is valuable or truly junk, ask for some opinions, or don’t put it out.
Finally, extra care will be required when driving about that weekend. Be alert for vehicles stopping quickly. Stay in the left lane if available.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact Mike Morone at mike@curbday.com, (585) 749-5107.
Just a quick post to note an article in the New York Times about emerging digital field guide technology.
As of yet, this technology is not available in stores. It’s not even available as part of an exclusive TV offer!
The basic idea is that users can use their cell phone camera to collect an image of a tree leaf (for example), then have a computer match that image against files contained in the computer’s memory. The user then receives the name of the species and perhaps related information.
Will it work? I don’t know, but I’ll hazard a guess that it will work at least as well as thumbing through a set of printed field guides and trying to do the match with eyes and brain.
I doubt these systems will be able to capture every variation we can observe in nature, but then neither can field guides. For that matter, taxonomic experts don’t even always agree on how certain plants and animals should be classified into species; it seems unfair to criticize a computer for similar failings.
Intriguing stuff.
The second weekend of May always reminds me of spring migration - a remarkable phenomenon during which millions of birds roust themselves from their tropical wintering grounds and fling their tiny bodies into the air.
With luck, and a few weeks of favorable winds, many if not most of them reach destinations that may be thousands of miles from their starting points. On arrival, the males set up territories, which they vigorously defend from others of their kind.
All of this activity requires prodigious quantities of energy, and as much of the flying happens at night, migrating birds are wont to drop from the sky at daybreak and commence a frantic search for food.
Strategies differ among species. Some skulk along the ground, rooting through last fall’s leaf litter. Others stay high in the tree tops, inviting observers to risk injured necks.
Where I live, the Indiana Audubon Society operates the Big Day in May Bird Count every second Saturday of May. On that day, birders all over the state try to see as many different species as they can.
Some rise well before dawn and begin with “owling”, the search for various species of owls. Other species are also abroad at night - nighthawks and whip-poor-wills come to mind, and skilled birders can identify some kinds from migratory flight songs heard in the darkness.
The biggest burst of avian activity usually occurs as the sun begins peaking over the horizon and migrating songbirds descend to feed. This is the part of the day that makes or breaks a count.
It’s not uncommon to hear birders lamenting around lunchtime that they haven’t yet passed a hundred different species. Afternoons are often spent searching for the species they “should” have seen earlier, but somehow missed. By late in the day, the ratio of miles driven per species spotted goes up rapidly. Around here, the best teams usually rack up 130 or more species during the course of the day.
When things are hopping, birds can be everywhere, passing rapidly through the trees in large mixed flocks. They can be very difficult to spot, and nearly impossible to find in a pair of binoculars. The instant after you get the bird in view, you’re looking at an empty branch.
The most successful birders rely on sound, identifying the passing torrent of birds by noting the distinctive calls of each species. As you might expect, this takes a great deal of practice; many birders listen to tapes of bird calls during commutes.
Sometimes the task is impossible, or at least it seemed so to me. One past president of the Society told me that two species had markedly different calls - like the difference between a B-flat clarinet and an E-flat clarinet. I’m afraid that didn’t help me very much.
Another key activity is scouting out nests and the haunts of species that linger for a while in a given spot. The more dedicated birders will know where the local purple martin colonies are, the cliff swallow colonies under bridges, where to find trees occupied by the nests of various kinds of woodpeckers, and the locations of all the local mudflats. Those who prepare carefully can rest assured of several dozen “lead pipe cinches” among the species list.
I don’t do much birding any more. Listening to bird calls during my commute would just annoy my fellow travelers, and wildflowers are a lot easier to spot and study. With time, I can even identify some of those.
But I still think about those exhausting, exhilarating, and sometimes frustrating May days and how much fun it was to try and break my previous year’s mark. Best of luck to everyone who participates this year!
This is my favorite time of year, and it always seems to be the busiest. I swear I’m going to get out more, do some hiking, some photography, maybe try to see (or at least hear) some migrating songbirds - and before I know it the spring is gone and I’m spending all of my time mowing the grass. So it was nice to get out for a short stroll this evening after dinner. We went to a nearby park, which despite being surrounded by development and roads still manages to put on an impressive spring wildflower display. We especially like the large patches of Virginia Bluebell (below) that seem to prefer the sandier soils along the creek floodplain.
Smaller areas sport their own colonies of May Apple. This plant emerges from the ground like a tightly rolled green cigar, then unfurls a highly-divided umbrella-like leaf or two (below). Only the plants with two leaves bloom, producing a white flower an inch or two across that shelters under the canopy. Eventually the blossoms form small green fruits; they’re said to be edible, though I haven’t tried any and don’t intend to. It seems best to leave them for the wild animals.
Two more favorites appear below, though around here they are already past their prime and starting to form tiny seed pods. Dutchman’s Breeches (first image) and Squirrel Corn (second image) are closely related, both belonging to the genus Dicentra. The flowers are special favorites of bees, and many other species of pollinators apparently have difficulty navigating the unusual structures. When the pods swell, then burst and cast their tiny black contents about, ants eagerly pick up the seeds and tote them around, helping to found new plants.
The new administration continues to signal new directions. Here’s an article from the New York Times detailing an announcement that “carbon dioxide and five other heat-trapping gases.. [are] …pollutants that threaten public health and welfare”.
In addition to carbon dioxide, the announcement names methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, and perfluorocarbons. [I should note that the last two entries are really classes of compounds, and not individual compounds]
It’s getting hard to keep up with the administration and the folks at EPA as eight years of bottled up science comes bursting out.
Big news today in the high speed rail arena.
President Obama announced plans for a network of routes. You can read a brief synopsis in the New York Times, view a Route Map, or take in the full plan.
The emphasis appears to be on corridors of 100-600 miles, distances where high speed trains might be able to compete with air travel.
The map has a few gaps that surprised me: Houston-Austin, Pittsburgh-Cleveland, and a connection between Jacksonville and the central/southern Florida network all seem like reasonable candidates.
Still, one thing at a time.
This is a step in the right direction.