A Quick Note

Mr. Friedman and all-
First, thank you for the conversation and the leadership. when you first proclaimed that the "world was flat," it changed the nature of the game and now we're flatter, hotter and more crowded as you continue to point out, and now the discussion is more urgent.
We need to support a green economy as consumers. High gas prices have caused Toyota to suspend operations in their truck plant in San Antonio; other auto makers to begin importing their tiny Euro cars here; hundreds, maybe thousands of big SUVs are for sale in used car lots and front yards and even in Texas, more and more Smart cars are seen sidling up to the big duelies at stoplights (kind of funny actually). The point is when it hurts the pocketbook the American consumer is quick to respond. The paradigm shift in energy thinking needs a "point of purchase" product that is affordable and accessible to the WalMart shoppers of this country. It may be T. Boone's wind farms and CNG (plus his ad campaign!), it may be some better conceived mass transportation connecting rural America with the jobs and opportunities in our cities and/or it may be affordable, sustainable, green housing for young, first time home buyers in new subdivisions that use solar energy to light the streets and landscapes, recycle (as a community) rainwater and gray water, pervious paving on roads and driveways and provide unstructured green areas for kids to play.
Mr Friedman, again thanks for providing the forum and the energy efficient light for seeing the path.

Bottom line.
We as American's are Fat! (me included)
Let's rethink the whole work thing.
Let's try to have everyone work within walking distance.
Ok, sounds crazy...But most American's are fat and if they had to walk 1-2 miles everyday, back and forth from work, they would lose weight, get healthy and save on gas. Now, I dont want to take away freedoms away, most people may not want to live closer to work or even walk to work. I think we should create incentives for anyone who walks to work. These individuals will probably be healthier and cut our healthcare expenses in the future. This tax break should be progressive. If you use public transportation then it's a little less tax break. If you use a bike it's another level of tax break. Infact we should be giving people cheap bikes if they are willing to ride the bike. You are right, we are all addictive to Gas. We need to look at alternative's but the most cost effective and healthy would be walking or biking to work.
"A real conservative, conserves!"

Greetings,
I've heard of you before(my uncle sent me your site so I can add an idea) and like your passion so I will pass on an idea. I personally believe Human Energy is the path to locally pursue. For instance, there are sustainable dance clubs that use foot contact vibration to generate power for the club. There is a train station in Stockholm,Sweden using heat from its 250,000 visitors a day to warm water pipes at the top of the ceiling ( it's arched to condense the rising heat). There are human-powered gyms and bike machines. We could use stadiums- sport and music to use the same types of technology. The reason why I think this is the best is because it is putting personal faces to saving energy. Each person can "be" somewhere and receive the gratitude of making a difference. We are after all the highest electrical conductors! I seriously advise you to study these options to get them more known, thanks.

Let's start with something EVERYONE can do today to take a first step, to show the world and your neighbor, you care about the world. Turn off the TV, get off the couch, grab a plastic bag, and go fill it with trash on the highway. Spend the time thinking of what you can do next.

To: Thomas L Friedman
Re: Chapter 18 Project, Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Please read the book, Alcohol Can Be a Gas, by David Blume and check out the website:
http://www.alcoholcanbeagas.com/

The “Two-Minute Summary” link, http://www.alcoholcanbeagas.com/node/518 , gives an overview of the points made in the book. Among the points: all cars now on the road can run on 50/50 ethanol/gasoline without modification; no new fancy-schmancy technology is needed; crops used as feedstocks for ethanol production absorb CO2 while growing, cutting down on greenhouse gases, there are many feedstocks to use such as sugar beets, fruit waste, even cattails - anything with enough sugar or starch can be used, etc.

I have just gotten the book, so I haven’t read it all, but the overall focus on small business production and adding ethanol production to family farms seems to me to be a faster way to get ethanol production going. The smaller scale facilities would be faster to build, cheaper to fund, and would spread the risk of individual failures over a greater number of enterprises. Blume also makes the point that small-scale facilities can more easily switch between a variety of feedstocks, whereas the large-scale facilities need to specialize in one crop to be profitable.

Here’s the full info on the book:

Alcohol Can Be a Gas: Fueling an Ethanol Revolution for the 21st Century
by: David Blume
pub: The International Institute for Ecological Agriculture, 2007
ISBN: 978-0979043772, paperback, $47.00
The book can be ordered from the website listed above.

The author was interviewed on NPR’s Talk of the Nation Science Friday program on August 15, 2008. Program link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?...

Thanks,
Diane Hoffman

A Vice Presidential contender that doesn't believe human beings are escalating the global green house crisis when large chunks of the Arctic that are closer to her than Russia (not to mention Greenland, and Antartic melting) are thawing and breaking off scares the HELL out of me. The only thing that worries me more is the number of Americans that are buying into this diatribe. The "good Governor" of Alaska can mock Al Gore as Mr. Doom and Gloom but where's HER Nobel Prize? Where's her plan to capture the methane freely entering our atmosphere from the melting of the permafrost in her state when in fact we could be capturing it for using to power up commercial plants?

Tom, I've read your books, your articles and have been a long time supporter of you given your incredible wisdom and world view. You've been an incredible advocate for understanding the real geopolitics of oil, the shift of Hegemony away from American Imperialism that has held the control of oil as your fellow author Noam Chomsky points out tightly in the middle East. A defined Energy plan that diminishes carbon fuels as rapidly as possible is so necessary if in fact we aren't too late! We may have to simply make plans to deal with the misdeeds of our past and try to minimize the impacts if possible by new and to some, very exaggerated approachs (capturing and transferring storm run off in the SouthEast by long distance pipe lines to potentially the future Southwest "deserts" of Las Vegas, LA, San Diego, San Joaquin valley etc., government take over of large open areas for solar generation, home systems that create a "closed loop usage system" for water to grey water to black water to filtrations that reclean remaining water, home wind systems for power generation and for powering the local transportation grid - the one that we'll have to use for future POD cars.) You're right we have to act NOW. I can not in good conscience 55 days from now vote for a ticket that pays lip service (with or without lipstick) and denies the obvious. No one knows when the "Rapture" is coming but at the rate things are going we might well be able to predict Armageddon and our own demise if we don't act quickly.

Yes, your interview w/ Charlie was excellent. I thought your contrast of the state of our infrastructure vs the SWAT teams was perfect -- a concrete and compelling soundbyte that conveys the absurdity of the current path we are on. And indeed, it all started with 9/11 . . .

Here in California, the public indeed recognizes the need for renewables. A Proposition (7) to double the RPS targets and force the utilities to comply, funded by an AZ billionaire, has been placed on the ballot for November that appears to be a solution . . .

Unfortunately, upon closer examination one finds that the devil is in the details and the "solution" is actually a worse scenario. We were so frustrated by this that we began to analyze it and then created a website to expose the facts behind the rhetoric.

Proposition 7 is an excellent example of the potholes that need to be understood and avoided by any state to move to renewables in a sensible way, not in a way designed mainly for huge corporations to profit off concentrating the renewables market into the hands of the few.

Our website is here:

http://californiaphoton.com/policy/propositio...

Thanks for the excellent work you are doing.

Thank you for your comments on Charley Rose last night. It will take "Silver Buckshot," not a Silver Bullet to solve our energy problems. One major solution that is virtually unknown by the business sector of green technology is Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). It is the only source of constant renewable energy that is large enough to replace fossil fuels with virtually no carbon imprint or greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time creating energy, pure drinking water and liquid hydrogen. The technology has other clean capabilities as well. My father and his partner have been working on OTEC for over 25 years and have patents in the field and for construction of the facility. Both men are the world's leading authorities in their respective industries . Please contact me at my email for more information.

I also saw your interview last night on Charlie Rose and am compelled to write to both you and Senator Obama.

27 yrs ago I looked into wind and solar power as possible energy sources for my home but found them to be cost prohibitive. We desperately need the cost volume curve and tax incentives you talked about last night.

Our Government MUST take a leadership role not only at home but in the world with regard to Energy Technology. We have lost that 'eye of the tiger' and have become complacent, thinking we are the biggest and the best at most everything. We aren't anymore. We've lost the respect of the world in many areas and are stepping into quick sand in others; education, world cooperation as well as the sciences and technology.

For too long America has been a country of immediate gratification - not ever thinking of how our actions or consumption might impact our future generations, not only financially but economically and environmentally. No less than the planet's future, in all of these areas is now at stake. We cannot afford for another generation to pretend there is not a problem.

The United States needs to see Energy Technology as one of the most important issues of our time. If you haven't already, I urge you to reach out to the Senator and convince him to make this an important part of his campaign.

There is no reason we cannot pull together as a nation, much as we did during and just after WWII to do what was best for not only our country, but the world. Back then the President took the leadership role he should have and explained what it is we needed to do and why - gave incentives and made things happen. We as a nation pulled together to produce the aircraft and ships we needed in record time.

Great interview, I 'm glad I came across it. I totally agree, the United States of America must take a leadership role in Energy Technology. Again, I urge you to contact Senator Obama, to convince him to bring this issue, with a plan, to the general public in a big way.

It would be interesting to read any research on which is the driving force behind the petropolitics law. Do you find that the more democracy would force oil prices down or does the lower price of oil naturally allow democracy to flourish. Should the US foreign policy effort be balanced towards reducing the dependancy on oil and spreading democracy or does one drive the other?