An article in today's Washington Post explores the constant feedback that Prius drivers get about their fuel consumption -- and how that may be one of the main reasons that Prii* get lower gas mileage than other vehicles. I've noted this phenomenon before, so I thought I'd pass along a link to the article.

* "Prii" = plural of "Prius," at least in my world.

Labels: action, environmental, oil, prius, tech

In an article in Newsweek, the hosts of NPR's "Car Talk" talk about the car of the future.

Turns out that the Tappet Brothers, one of whom doesn't even own a car (!), are lobbying Congress for increased automobile fuel efficiency. They're also starring in a new episode of the PBS series Nova. And they have some advice for you, the consumer: "Get a Prius."

FYI, since we're talking about it -- a quick update on my "Pious" seems in order. Its current fuel efficiency (running average since I bought the car in December) is:

Labels: action, climate change, global warming, oil, petroleum, prius, tech, tv

Later this month, I'm leading a tour for "Walkingtown, DC" a twice-annual event sponsored by Cultural Tourism DC, a nonprofit organization. My tour is called "History Before History: the geologic saga of Washington, DC." I'll be leading the tour on both Saturday, April 26, and Sunday, April 27, from 1-4pm. If you're in the area, consider coming along. We'll be discussing the deposition of sediments in the Iapetus Ocean, generation of an accretionary wedge, the Taconian Orogeny, the Rock Creek Shear Zone, emplacement of the Georgetown Intrusive suite, and finally the erosion of the young Appalachian mountains and the deposition of dinosaur-fossil-bearing river gravels atop the unconformity: the Potomac Group. As a bonus, we'll even visit a thrust fault which ruptures the unconformity at the intersection of Adams Mill Road and Clydesdale Place, NW. It's a nice little jaunt through prehistory. However, this hike was extremely popular last year: we had ~300 people show up! So I've asked Cultural Tourism DC to institute a reservation system this time around: I'm limiting participation to 30 people per day. Act now to reserve your place by calling or e-mailing Cultural Tourism DC.

Here's two pictures of the mad crowds last spring. I get the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it:

Labels: action, dc, dinosaurs, geology, granite, metamorphism, sediment

Here's a few photos from last Friday's Climate Change Symposium here at Northern Virginia Community College's Annandale campus:


Panelist Scott Sklar answers an audience question.
(Also pictured, left to right, are Jill Caporale, me, Ken Rasmussen, Daria Amato,
Steve Fetter, Craig Jensen, Ralph Eckerlin, and Paul Burman.)


NOVA biologist Jill Caporale delivers a climate change 'call to action.'


Here's one of me, discussing changes to Arctic sea ice cover.


NOVA geologist Ken Rasmussen discusses the geologic record of ancient climate change.

Fellow geoblogger Tuff Cookie (not her given name) gave us a thumbs-up in her recent report on attending the symposium. I'm glad she was able to attend, and glad it was thought-provoking!

Labels: action, climate change, global warming, nova

In today's issue of the Washington Post, an article by David Fahrenthold reviews the mixed bag of results that the House of Representatives has achieved in making their half of Capitol Hill carbon neutral. In November, they spent about $89,000 to offset their unavoidable carbon emissions by paying for agricultural acts that sequestered an equal amount of carbon elsewhere. All well and good, at least in theory, but carbon offsetting is a new and weird commodity. It doesn't always work that well. Some of the money went to farmers in North Dakota, to pay them to practice a certain soil conservation technique they were already doing. Some other funds went to a power plant in Iowa that was supposed to produce cleaner energy -- during a trial run that ended a year before the money got there.

Driving around town, I see a decent minority of cars sporting a bumper sticker that says "This car's CO2 offset by TerraPass" or something similar. Despite my strong concern over climate change and the clear connection between CO2 emissions and global warming, I have yet to invest in one of these balancing schemes. I think it's just that it's an unproven system. Mainly through my own ignorance of their practices, I'm not convinced that companies like TerraPass aren't just taking people for a ride. I think that if the U.S. government had some sort of verification procedure whereby carbon offsetting companies could be certified, then I would be more inclined to trust them and get on board. But, as the Post article elucidates, we don't really regulate this business yet in America. They regulate the heck out of it in Europe, but also with mixed results.

It should be noted that despite these examples of offsetting "flubs," the House achieved some real progress with some simple acts that conserve energy: they switched to compact fluorescent light bulbs and ordered the Capitol Power Plant to burn natural gas instead of coal.

Labels: action, global warming, politics

Plans are coming together for the big NOVA Climate Change Teach-In, scheduled for the week after next. Each of the six different campuses of Northern Virginia Community College are participating in one form or another. Starting on Wednesday night (Jan. 30), there are opportunities to learn about climate change and its implications for our society. Webcasts, lectures, and in-class teach-ins on Thursday the 31st will lead up to the biggest event, held at my own Annandale campus. This will take the form of a series of short lectures and a panel discussion from 12pm to 3pm on Friday, February 1. Plus we're going to serve cookies! Under the leadership of the College-wide Green Committee, on which I serve, NOVA's events are part of a larger nation-wide teach-in involving over 1400 schools.

More information about the multiple events can be found at the Green Committee's website.

If you're in the DC Metro area, you are invited to attend any of these events. They are free and open to the public. Also, for the Manassas lectures and the big Annandale event, surface parking regulations will be waived. There's no excuse not to attend. Of course, if you're one of my students, then I expect to see you there!

Labels: action, global warming, nova

An update on my Prius: I've driven about 250 miles since I got it last week, and over that period I'm getting an average of 46.7 miles per gallon. I am pleased. Merry Christmas!

Labels: action, global warming, prius

So... I've been talking to my students for years about the science of climate change. I've stated as plainly as I can that I'm convinced that emissions of greenhouse gases, in particular CO2, are warming up our planet. To my long-term, whole-planet style of thinking, this is a MUCH bigger issue than something like the war in Iraq. Iraq is "merely" a conflict between two (or a half-dozen) countries. On the other hand, climate change is BIG -- it affects all of the planet's surface (albeit to differing degrees) and it's going to last an unimaginably long time (if all continues along the present trend). The rates at which geologic processes extract CO2 from the atmosphere are way too slow to compensate for the breakneck pace we're generating atmospheric CO2 through the burning of fossil fuels (and forest biomass).

But besides educating students, what am I doing about it? Two days ago, I took a big step towards putting my money where my mouth is. I bought a Toyota Prius, one of the current generation of hybrid vehicles that are much more fuel efficient and produce less greenhouse gases. The Prius is ranked by the EPA as getting 45 miles per gallon in the city and 48 m.p.g. on the highway. It's classified as a partial-zero emissions vehicle.

Here's a comparison for several cars from the EPA's data. Hopefully you can see why I opted for the Prius. Maybe in another five years, there will be a mass-market electric vehicle. That's what I really want for Christmas!

Make and model	Engine	Fuel	Drive	Air pollution score	Fuel-economy (MPG) City/Highway	Greenhouse gas emissions score
Toyota Prius	1.5L 4 cyl	Gasoline	2WD		48 / 45
Honda Civic Hybrid	1.3L 4 cyl	Gasoline	2WD		40 / 45
Honda Insight	1.3L 4 cyl	Gasoline	2WD		45 / 49
Mazda Tribute Hybrid	2.3L 4 cyl	Gasoline	2WD		29 / 27
Lexus LS 600 HL	5L 8 cyl	Gasoline	4WD		20 / 22
Jeep Grand Cherokee	3L 6 cyl	Diesel	4WD		17 / 22
Jeep Grand Cherokee ("flex-fuel")	4.7L 8 cyl	Ethanol Gasoline	4WD		9 / 12 ethanol 14 / 19 gasoline
Hummer H3	3.7L 5 cyl	Gasoline	4WD		14 / 18
Bentley Continental GTC	6L 12 cyl	Gasoline	4WD		10 / 17

Labels: action, global warming, prius, teaching