Ed Ring

The world needs environmentalists; everybody knows that. But implementing environmentalist ideals has a price. Across a gamut of fundamental areas including energy, transportation and housing, environmentalist-influenced policies have slowed economic growth. Replanting the World's Forests Read "Reforesting Central America" Eliminating pollution and protecting wildlife habitats are important goals, worthy of measured economic trade-offs, but many environmentalists have become extreme. The following Environmentalist Myths, in which far too many environmentalists blindly believe, have, for non-environmentalists, stigmatized the very idea of environmentalism. Any environmentalist, whether they are...

The next generation of products in the world will be green. But what is "green?" Green can mean earth-friendly, green can mean a political movement, but for lack of a better term, green can also be the label given to the most significant economic transformation in the history of humanity; the transition from a civilization that contends with nature in a struggle for survival, to a civilization that nurtures the environment, and creates technologies that exist in harmony with nature. In the year 2001 we sit poised on the brink of this momentus shift, and already the staggering economic opportunities are being identified and invested. Sacramento California's role in this worldwide...

WildAid Warriors gather to be honored by the city of San Francisco. According to Interpol, the illegal trade in wildlife is worth $6 billion per year. Only the illegal drugs trade and arms trade are more profitable. WildAid focuses on fighting wildlife crime. Its three-pronged approach includes providing financial assistance, training and equipment to rangers in national parks and marine reserves in developing countries; exposing middlemen to reduce illegal smuggling and trade; and raising awareness among consumers of the need to stop buying wildlife products. San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown had proclaimed August 2nd, 2001, "WildAid Day." All four of WildAid's...

Bickford Ranch The Sunny Future of Home Developments? By Ed "Redwood" Ring July 24, 2001 With California's population increasing by 500,000 per year, land development is inevitable. It isn't a question of whether or not to build new homes, new streets, new industrial parks, new water & power infrastructure. It is only a question of where and how. A case in point is the "Bickford Ranch" a luxurious new community planned in California's Sierra foothill country, one that will sprawl across nearly four square miles of grazing land. But along with mega-sprawl comes mega-watts; Bickford's homes will generate more power than they consume during...

John Gavitt: WildAid's Newest Warrior Interviewed by Ed "Redwood" Ring July 19th, 2001 When one considers the size and scope of the environmental movement, the organizations, the institutions, involving hundreds of thousands of people and hundreds of millions of dollars, it can come as a shock to realize only a handful of groups actually operate on the front lines. One of these groups, WildAid (www.WildAid.org), headquartered in San Francisco, has distinguished itself for years as a group not afraid to get into the thick of the fight to save endangered species. (see EcoWorld's "WildAid...") They are responsible for funding and training anti-poaching patrols in the...

Saving the Family Farm: Steve Schwartz & California Farmlink by Ed "Redwood" Ring July 16, 2001 How do you save the family farm? The question is not new, for over a century the American family farm has been a dying breed. And it is more than a sentimental question. It is also a question of preserving cultural identity, preserving open space, and preserving biodiversity. In the latter case, the many small family farms guarantee an output of pioneering high-quality foods, the special strains and breeds of organic produce, for example, that out-nutrient and out-variety the best that consolidated corporate agribusiness has to offer. It is...

Global Energy Overview: BTU CO2 GNP POP Comparisons Country Rankings By: Total BTUs Consumed Total CO2 Emissions Total Population Total GNP BTUs per Capita CO2 per Capita GNP per Capita BTUs per $1 GNP CO2 per $1 GNP CO2 per Million BTUs Other 15k+ refers to the 27 nations beside the USA with Per Capita GDP greater than $15,000. data source: World Bank...

First Solar: Production Line PVs "Model T" of Photovoltaics By Ed "Redwood" Ring June 27, 2001 In our continuing search for the company that will provide breakthrough price reductions in Photovoltaic cells, EcoWorld has discovered First Solar, (www.FirstSolar.com) based in Toledo, Ohio. If they live up to the rumors about them, First Solar Inc. may become the Ford Motor Company of photovoltaics. First Solar Inc., based in Toledo, may be the first company to actually mass produce photovoltaic panels. According to Pamela Ryan, First Solar's Director of Communications, "First Solar has developed a high volume, low cost process for manufacturing photovoltaic modules that...

To speak exclusively of conservation," said U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in early 2001, "is to duck tough issues." It's hard to argue with that statement, whether or not you agree with anything else Cheney may have to say about energy. The tough issue is that energy production must increase, and conservation will only slow that increase but can't stop it. Energy production is a global issue, and in a world where populations are increasing and economies are industrializing, the idea that global energy usage can remain flat through conservation is ridiculous. Here's why: Using 1995 figures provided by the World Bank, in that year, the world's energy consumption totaled 316...

Power generating capacity in California may be inadequate during peak daytime loads, but in the dead of night it's a different story altogether. Using rough numbers, California possesses about 50,000 megawatts of generating capacity, and over half comes from power plants that aren't turned off at night, but we only use about 15,000 megawatts at night. What should we do with the extra power? How about use it to charge up Electric Vehicles. If the charging electricity comes off the power grid in the wee hours of the morning when there is excess power with no place to go, then we're using energy that might have been wasted. This is the logic that brought the...