Has it been a year already??

I guess it has—a whole year since I last posted here. Wow, that was some bender!

Actually, in the time I've been away from sponsible I've gotten in involved in other projects that have required as much of my time as sponsible once did. Let me tell you about them...

Physical Edison was an idea I first had about three years ago as I considered alternative energy sources. As a lifelong fitness devotee and someone involved in the industry, exercise is always near the forefront of my mind, so it was natural that my passion for the environment and my interest in fitness would inevitably merge. Physical Edison was the result.

The idea was to convert human energy on a grand scale into electricity. You see, we people expend enormous amounts of energy each day (measured in kilocalories), some of which goes to use; a lot of which is wasted. While converting human energy into electricity is by no means an original idea on my part, doing something substantial with the concept, as in human-powered gyms, was an idea whose time had come.

Along with my business partner Joe, I worked on PE for the better part of two years, along with input from the amazing Ed Begley, Jr., among others. I pitched the idea at consecutive Milken Global Conferences to people like Jerry Brown, Grey Davis, T. Boone Pickens and other movers and shakers. All were intrigued, none wanted to help me get the ball rolling.

The Physical Edison website was beautiful. It was built on a Joomla! framework and included our business plan and lots of supporting data. I was pround of our creation and despite the fact that I couldn't seem to be able to raise the funds to get the project started, hope sprung eternal... until I got hacked.

Last Fall I returned home from work to edit the site but couldn't log in to the back end. Then when I typed the URL into my browser I got a black screen with an ominous digital tune playing and the words "You've been hacked by Black Death" scrolling across the screen and an image of the Turkish flag waving. Great.

Long story short, it was beyond salvaging and so I took my misfortune as a sign that it was time to close the door on the project and open one to another. But that's a story for another post...

We're Baaack...

It's been a few months, I know. Fact is, after keeping two blogs for the better part of a year, both focused on changing the environment, both literally and figuratively, I saw the election of Barack Obama as a chance for blessed respite.

I, like so many others, could be accused for placing too many hopes and dreams, too many expectations, upon a single man. Certainly Barack Obama is an incalculable improvement over the person he replaced, and yet, he's still just a man, with human frailties and a divided and oftentimes ineffectual Congress.

Still, it's clear that of anyone to serve as President since John F. Kennedy, Barrack Hussein Obama looks to be the guy who can push the kind of agendas that make progressives like me especially proud to be a part of the American fabric.

So as the great Thom Hartmann always says, getting Obama elected was only the beginning. Now it is up to us to push him to greatness. Sponsible. org aims to do just that.

-Shawn

A NEW DAWN

It's hard at this point to write something that hasn't already been written, express a thought or emotion that hasn't been more eloquently stated by scores of others. Suffice to say that with Barack Obama's win this past Tuesday night the world was forever changed for the better.

In the two days since this magnificently historical event global ebullience is still high. We seem to collectively understand the implications of a man of color rising to fill the top job in America. As a country founded on principle rather than persuasion, we have only recently attempted to truly manifest the potent words of our Declaration of Independence, "All men are created equal." On Tuesday night we finally realized this prophesy.

President-Elect Obama's win was both a valediction to a terrible, terrible period in our history and a coming-out party for one that at long last gives depth of meaning to another famous phrase from the Declaration, "We, the people."

As of Tuesday night a black child could also dream of becoming President, a privilege formerly reserved only for white boys. And thanks to the spirited campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton, now girls, both black and white, can share this lofty reverie.

Internationally, we've pulled ourselves up from the depths to which the Bush administration had sunk us. Whereas we were just recently perceived as callow bullies, insensitive to the global brotherhood the European Union has begun to build, our tarnished image has now been shined as we put our fears and prejudices aside to do the right thing.

In electing Barack Hussein Obama as President of these United States we didn't elect a black man or a man of mixed heritage or a man with a different name or a man whose father was born in Kenya. In electing Senator Obama we chose the best man for the job, because of and in spite of all of these things. It's not so amazing that we picked a black man to be our next President. What is amazing is that we picked the right man to be our next President, and he just so happens to be black. That is true equality.

God Bless America and God Bless our 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama.

Bring International Attention to Malnourished Ethiopian Children

Sponsored by: UNICEF

The effect of drought and rising food prices in some parts of Ethiopia is headline news, yet few people know the truth of the situation.

Children are the most vulnerable to nutritional deficits and the first to succumb when there is not enough food to go around. The Government of Ethiopia estimates that 75,000 children under the age of five live with severe acute malnutrition. And 25 to 50 percent of children with severe acute malnutrition are likely to die if they don't receive proper treatment.

But there is hope for the children of Ethiopia. UNICEF-supported therapeutic feeding programs have been set up around Ethiopia following the establishment of a national protocol for severe acute malnutrition. This approach has revolutionized the treatment of malnutrition in Ethiopia, leading to a significant drop in mortality rates for malnourished children of all ages.

Bringing international attention to the plight of these children and the benefits of the therapeutic feeding programs can help save lives!

To add your name to the petition to help raise awareness about this terrible situation please go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/209965929?z00m=17735456

VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE......... Please.

This is Really Inspiring

I love these kids!

VOTE

Hooray for Hartmann!

On Friday evening I attended a speaking engagement with author/humanitarian/historian/entrepreneur/educator/economist/radio host Thom Hartmann at the San Fernando Valley Democratic Headquarters in Van Nuys, CA.

If you don't know Thom, you need to. Thom is, to me at least, a modern-day version of another significant Thomas – Jefferson – in that he's worldly and erudite yet an everyman. He is a true believer in a "we society" as opposed to a "me society", and yet he has the capacity to be the one to speak out for "we."

On Friday night he waxed philosophical on a number of topics – from Hobbsian vs. Lockean views (he sides more with Locke) on society to a particularly formative night he spent making peace with members of a tribe inside an Iroquois teepee.

He mentioned being especially impressed with the way Barack Obama handled himself during the last debate – how he refused to take the bait McCain put out for him. In spite of the fact that even the cool and collected Hartmann found himself creaming at the TV for Barack to retaliate to the lies, he did in the end see the greater wisdom of Obama's strategy. It is a more peaceful, controlled, self-assured leader we Americans are seeking today. The more McCain played the role of bully, and the more Barack responded with calm rather than anger, the greater his approval rose. In the end, most polls had Obama winning the debate by a huge margin, despite the initial concerns of some, like Hartmann and myself.

Thom admitted to not agreeing 100% with Barack on all the issues, but that the important thing right now is to get him into office, at which time our real work will begin – to push him to become a great reformer in the mold of Lincoln and FDR. He pointed out that neither man started their political careers with great change in mind. Lincoln only decided to give slaves freedom when he saw the divided nation before him. FDR's first act as President was to cut welfare to widows and orphans of WWI soldiers. It was when the People expressed their displeasure, and then their needs, that he began to change into the FDR we appreciate today.

Thom also addressed the (gulp) possibility that the Conservatives steal the election. While he isn't in favor of a Bolshevik-style revolution, he would become actively involved in a nationwide sit-in, a la Gandhi. Let's hope he never has to dirty up his trousers.

I encourage everyone reading this to get to know Thom. He's really a remarkable, inspiring man, and best of all, he can be heard every morning from 9-12 on Air America Radio. Also, check out his site here, where you can buy his many books and even catch podcasts of his show.

Friday marked my third time seeing Thom Hartmann speak live. I look forward to many more.

MC Yogi raps about Barack

This is really great – great song, great message:

Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

Do They Make Cow Mints?

Here's a "Why didn't I think of that?" story: Researchers in the Netherlands have begun feeding garlic to cows as a means of reducing global carbon emissions. 

Cows produce some 17% of the world's carbon output, by way of... um... flatulence, and this neat trick has been shown to reduce their gaseous effluence by 15%. I don't really want to know how the researchers measured the stuff, but there you have it. 

Now, to figure a way to get garlic into the diets of a couple of guys at the gym...

Get Positive

We've written a petition hosted on the Care2 Petition site requesting of Senator John McCain that he stop the negative campaigning . It sets a bad tone and creates a dangerous environment, one that's destructive to the democratic process.

Please sign the petition within the next week and we'll send it off to the McCain campaign. We'll let you know if we get a response.

Petition powered by ThePetitionSite.com

Oops...

So, just four days into my month of buying only American-made goods I did a little shopping at Trader Joes, a place where I figured I could let my domestic product radar down. My bad. When I got home I came to find that I purchased a little plastic container of cherry tomatoes picked in Mexico.

Damn.

Now, I'm not nearly as upset as I would be if they had been grown in China or Taiwan or a place where we have a massive import to export disparity (in favor of import). In fact, Mexico is an amicable trade partner (except for the drug thing, which is a whole other story) and I suppose in a way, by supporting Mexican farm workers we lower their desire to come here illegally, where they take jobs from American (taxpaying) workers and get abused by a system hostile toward illegals.

Anyway, I'll be more careful from now on. Tasty tomatoes though!

Buy American... Like Me

I made a decision today, a decision that, if everyone in this country also made, would go a long way towards solving our current financial dilemma. I decided, for the next 30 days, to buy only American-made products. No Sony or Sanyo, no GAP or Nike, no off brands imported from China or Pakistan. If it doesn't say "Made in USA" I ain't buying it.

Unless it's second hand. I decided that I will check out thrift stores as I'm stocking my new apartment because buying second hand means not pulling something new from the production chain, whether it's a foreign or domestic one.

You see, part of the problem that resulted in our economic meltdown – a big part – is the fact that whereas up until the mid-70's we had a trade surplus, the largest in history. Simply put, we produced and sol more than we bought.

But all of that began to shift in the late-70's. We flipped over from having a surplus to a deficit, and we've never looked back. Today it's nearly $800 billion, or 7% of our GDP. That's a lot of buying and very little selling internationally. For a nice fable on the mechanics of how this all came to be check out this Warren Buffet-penned article from 2003: America's Growing Trade Deficit...

The point of this is twofold: For one, by buying foreign we are sinking our own ship. As our deficit grows out of control the dollar is increasingly devalued, inflation rises, people can't afford to pay for the things we import cheaply but sell high.

The second half of this equation is that by buying American we protect the atmosphere on a global scale. When products are produced here they don't have to be shipped halfway around the world, saving tons of carbon (literally) from entering the atmosphere. We are essentially shopping locally, with the whole of the United States counting for "local."

So, I am pledging here and now to buy only U.S. produced goods for the next 30 days, longer if possible. It won't be easy – lots of label reading required – and probably more expensive too. But the goal is a worthy one. If I can ween myself off foreign-made goods maybe others will be inspired to as well, and with an increased demand for Made in the USA stuff local production will increase, jobs created and the environment protected.

Hey, it's worth a shot...


––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Some links to help you shop American-made:
http://www.madeinusa.org/
http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/
http://www.madeinusa.com/

http://www.buyamericanmart.com/

Windy State

We'd like to give props to the entire state of New Jersey today for agreeing to build a huge offshore wind farm in the southern part of the state to Garden State Offshore Energy, a joint venture that includes P.S.E.G. Renewable Generation, a subsidiary of P.S.E.G. Global, a sister company of the state’s largest utility.

The decision, which includes access of up to $19 million in state grants, is part of New Jersey’s Energy Master Plan, which calls for 20 percent of the state’s energy to come from renewable sources by 2020.

The proposal by Garden State Offshore Energy includes installing 96 turbines to produce as much as 346 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about ten thousand houses. The turbines would be arranged in a rectangle about a half-mile long by one-third of a mile wide. The project, which would cost more than $1 billion, would not start producing electricity until 2013.

The turbines would be between 16 and 20 miles off the coast of New Jersey’s Atlantic and Ocean counties, and thus in much deeper water than other proposed projects. Deepwater Wind, which will work with P.S.E.G to build the wind farm, said it can affordably build turbines in 100 feet of water with the same technology used to build oil and gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and other locations.

This plan follows ones already approved in Delaware and Rhode Island  and hopes are high that New York will soon follow suit. Can Florida be far behind?

For more on this story check out the NY Times article that broke it: Huge Offshore Wind Farm Wins Approval

Trash That Can

By now we should all be separating our garbage from our recylables from our compostables. So what's the next step in cradle-to-grave ethos? How about compostable garbage cans?

UMBRA has come out with a line of cans they say will degrade under natural conditions – the kind found in composting heaps. It's kind of hard to believe, seeing how sturdy and plasticy they look, but we purchased a tall grey can with a swivel top for the kitchen.

We're going to check into just how they degrade, and as to how organic their materials are. Upon seeing the can in the store however, we were compelled to buy it, if for no other reason than to make a statement with our "disposable" income. For now we can report that the can works up to our standards...

SOLAR ENERGY NOW!

Just read this compelling, and heartening, piece on Andrew Sullivan's excellent blog. I'm seriously psyched over this one folks!

"This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon."

Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a

postdoctoral fellow in Nocera's lab, have developed an unprecedented process that will allow the sun's energy to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power your house or your electric car, day or night. The key component in Nocera and Kanan's new process is a new catalyst that produces oxygen gas from water; another catalyst produces valuable hydrogen gas.

The new catalyst consists of cobalt metal, phosphate and an electrode, placed in water. When electricity -- whether from a photovoltaic cell, a wind turbine or any other source -- runs through the electrode, the cobalt and phosphate form a thin film on the electrode, and oxygen gas is produced.

Combined with another catalyst, such as platinum, that can produce hydrogen gas from water, the system can duplicate the water splitting reaction that occurs during photosynthesis.

The new catalyst works at room temperature, in neutral pH water, and it's easy to set up, Nocera said. "That's why I know this is going to work. It's so easy to implement," he said.

Sponsible Challenge: TAMPA

Just returned from a weekend jaunt to the Tampa-Clearwater area of Florida and have to say that I was disappointed by a seeming lack of indifference to our environment. Be it at Tampa Int'l Airport, the Tampa Performing Arts Center, or my grandparents' community center, I saw nary a recycling bin. While I'll slap myself on the wrist later for not bringing my SIGG bottle on this trip, I winced several times as I was forced to throw plastic bottles in the trash. C'mon Tampa! Let's get with the program!!

Now, I'm sure southwestern FL is chock full of environmentally conscious types far more frustrated over the situation than I. So, I encourage any of you reading this to contact me. Let's put our heads together and come up with a gameplan for getting your city and its outlying towns on the right track. There's a lot of lush greenery in semi-tropical Florida. What say we make the state even greener, together?

GO SOLAR!

When I was a kid I was fascinated by the concept of being able to cook food with the sun. My sisters had their EZ Bake oven – I wanted to harness the power of the cosmos!

I remember seeing various solar cookers – from cigarette lighters to big-ass ovens – in the 1970 Whole Earth catalog and feeling envious of those who had the money to actually buy these things. Then I saw instructions for making your own solar cooker. All I needed was cardboard, tinfoil, and something to adhere everything together.

I never got my makeshift oven to work (although I may have inadvertently reflected radio waves to an alien society), but never gave up the thought that, in theory at least, I could cook with the sun.

Fast forward about 30 years and the do-it-yourself bug has struck me again. Wouldn't it be coo, I thought, to finally get that solar cooker cooking? Indeed. Enter instructables.com.

This site has detailed instructions on making an incredible array of cool useful things, including a solar hotdog cooker. Now, I'm not a fan of dogs, but I may have to try to build on eof these things and itch that self-sustaining scratch I've had lo the past three decades. I'll let you know if it works...

Check out the directions here.

BABY STEPS

Sometimes, in our rush to make big change, we get discouraged when we see that the sum total of our best efforts may not amount to much at all in the grand scheme. Nevertheless, it's important not to lose the faith, for we know not what grand result our tiny action may reap.

Right now I'm working on getting the company I work for (who shall remain nameless) on board with paper recycling. About a year ago I enrolled us in a bottle & can recycling program, simply by googling "recycling los angeles". As it turned out, There was a place within blocks of our office. We received a free corrugated plastic box with a lid for depositing bottles and cans.

Now, here's the cool part: Yes, we now push our plastic, glass and metal recyclables back into the system, rather than a landfill. But maybe the bigger imapact is the response of my fellow employees, many of whom were inspired by my small act, and who have since "confessed" to me about their own recycling deeds. Love it.

Today I lunched into Part II of my personal recycling campaign: Paper. I met with the owner of a recycling company who is willing to come pick up the reams of paper we toss each month, and give us money to do so. That's what I call a win-win-win situation: us-them-Earth.

Let's see what more may come of this. To be continued...

Freecycle!

Ever find yourself with a bunch of packing boxes you just used for moving and no idea what to do with them? Throwing them in the dumpster would be way wasteful. Recycling them is a hassle. You figure someone could probably use them for a move of their own, but who? And if so, would they even pay you for used boxes?

Enter freecycle.org, a brilliant networking idea that may be in a town near you. The idea behind freecycle is to keep used stuff for which you have no room out of the landfill. By simply posting it on the Yahoo! group in your area you can more than likely find it a home, freeing up space for you and filling a need for another. Usually you can just say that you're leaving a pile of _______ outside, propped up against the big sycamore tree at 6pm, and before you can say "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle," it will magically disappear.

Of course you can also score that ratty old mattress you've been searching for or the 5lb. bag of used coffee grounds for your compost worms. A little give, a little take is not just green- it's good karma.