We are half way through the month of September and the winter season is looming ever closer. For those of us who live in northern regions, finding ways to stay warm and save money is second nature. The Boston Globe editors came up with 10 heating alternatives you can try to get through this winter, save your wallet and the environment at the same time. This list includes tips and tricks as simple as turning down the thermostat when no one is home, to investing in a completely new way to way to heat your home such as pellet stoves or biofuels. Whatever your preference is, this list has something for a variety of budgets and resources.
There has been a lot of talk about the generating clean electricity from coal lately from current Presidential candidates. It turns out that sequestering CO2 emissions from coal plants is not a pre-existing technology. The technology exists to sequester CO2 emissions, but no plant currently exists to do this on an industrial scale. Before the Americans decide what to do with any new electricity generation method we need to know the facts surrounding clean coal. The video above helps us understand a little bit about what clean coal means and I really appreciate the interview with a Greenpeace representative. So, what are the facts surrounding clean coal?
According to the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, coal is responsible for roughly half of all electricity produced in the United States. In addition, coal is the most inexpensive source of energy in the United States. Furthermore, “America has more than 250 billion tons of recoverable coal reserves, the equivalent of 800 billion barrels of oil, more than three times Saudi Arabia’s proven oil reserves.” Lastly, “Using coal to generate electricity is less than a 1/3 of the cost of other fuels.”
Although I am not a fan of the methods used to mine coal, I am impressed by the industry’s attempt to change to meet environmental standards for the rest of the world. Furthermore, I am very excited at the prospect of clean AND inexpensive electricity. The only is that coal reserves have a finite amount of coal and America is bound to run out of it in the long term.
With an operating budget of $60 million generated almost entirely (99%) from earned-income PHS helps more than 15,000 people on the margin of society. In 2005, Pioneer’s outplacement program found livable wage jobs for 768 clients and developed 64 new employer contacts–and a full 79 percent of the people placed were successful in their new employment.
The fact that PHS appears to be as effective as its peer workforce development organizations it does so on a large scale and with no burden on society. I’m extremely partial to organizations that realize those that they are serving are assets to society rather than liabilities. This does not always mean that each individual is profitable to society, but it does mean that they can at least cover a portion of the costs, and should be working toward becoming more and more profitable - however profitability is measured.
The good folks at the Story of Stuff have put together this fantastic video that explains the problem with the materials economy; a system where people strip the world of its natural resources to consume more and more products.
Although this video lacks citations to reference material, I believe that it speaks truth on many levels. For one, the main and most important point is that this system needs to change because it is not sustainable.
Watch this video now, it will change how you see the U.S. consumer economy and its unsustainable impact on the world.
Special thanks to PosiPeople Community Member, Vascabruta, for the tip to this video.
Siebel Systems Founder and private philanthropist Tom Siebel has something to teach us about running an anti-drug campaign. Without wasting any time Mr. Siebel launched an anti-Meth media campaign in Montana in the same year that he sold Siebel Systems to Oracle. He decided that he would pay top dollar for the media rather than attempt to achieve impact with the typical non-profit shoe-string budget. He made it a point to pay for the very best and the social return on investment is evidence that higher costs can make a lot of sense.
In the past, several anti-drug campaigns have backfired, having no effect and perhaps even increasing the curiosity of youth and therefore making the problem worse. For example, the federal government’s attempt to curb teenage drug use with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign dramatizing the perils of marijuana has backfired spectacularly. (ref.) Many other examples, including for hard core drugs, can be found elsewhere. Clearly Tom Siebel didn’t want to repeat these results. And although, he openly admits achieving success with Meth have for a number of reasons been easier, nobody else has done what he has done on anywhere near the same scale. The Lifetime meth use by teenagers in Montana has dropped 44.6 percent since 2005. Meth-related crime increased by 21 percent from 2004 to 2005, but dropped by 62 percent in the two-year period that followed through 2007. (April 2008 report – Montana Department of Justice. It is recognized that not all these improvements can be attributed to the Montana Meth Project)
This isn’t where the story stops. The Montana Meth Project has saved Montana taxpayers millions of dollars up an above the costs of the program. Donors and governments of other states have taken note and efforts are taking hold in other states. The details of how he did are even more enlightening and recommend that readers do more research. Like all the other non-profit programs that I highlight each week (I miss some weeks) this is a top performing non-profit. I challenge readers to find other non-profits within the same class which out perform the non-profits I highlight. I want to know about them.
Here are some examples of the disturbing Print Ads and Videos that have worked well in Montana. They’re not uplifting and play on the baser motivation of fear.
