The good news is that in the 15 + years we have been publishing the Green Living Journal, we have been encouraged by the many changes that have occurred
-
-
And the Good News Is
15 + years we have been publishing the Green Living Journal, we have been encouraged by the many changes that have occurred.
-
What if—-
Climate scientists agree that if we want to prevent the catastrophic effects of climate change, we must stop burning fossil fuels.
-
A Minor Inconvenience
EV Charging Will Get Better-Really The April 23rd issue of the Los Angeles Times ran an opinion piece entitled: I’m Ready to Trade in My Electric Car. Here’s Why. Written by Mariel Garza, the Times’ Deputy Editorial Page Editor, the title caught my attention, so I read on. Although Ms. Garza loves her Kia Niro EV, she seriously considers trading it in for a gas-powered hybrid plug-in version because she has had too many lousy charging experiences as she travels throughout California. Unfortunately, she is not alone in her assessment of public charging, and sales of EVs suffer because of the charging horror stories floating around the internet. I want to point out…
-
See No Evil
Fossil fuels dominate our lives We occasionally receive letters from readers calling our attention to the fact that wind turbines are not green because they kill birds, are an eyesore, and make noise. We also had a President that claimed windmills cause cancer and destroys the value of homes. And there have been many articles written claiming electric cars (EVs) are more damaging to the environment than gas-fueled cars. The claim is that the manufacturing processes used to build EVs and their batteries produce more CO2 and other side effects than are ever offset over their lifetime of use. This same issue is used against solar panels and wind turbines,…
-
An Exercise in Futility?
We can all hope Americans will accept personal responsibility for climate change and get on board with the electrification movement.
-
Ask the Man Who Owns One: 5 Years in an EV
Rich had been concerned about greenhouse gas and was a climate change watcher for many years. Then in 2013, the average CO2 concentration in the atmosphere reached 400 parts per million for the first time ever at the Mona Loa Observatory in Hawaii.
-
Our Own Backyards
EDITOR’S PAGE Long before we began publishing the Green Living Journal, we bought a home that happened to be well insulated and heated and cooled with an efficient electric heat pump. It was the year 2000, and little did we know then that we had set the stage for our future personal journey to reduce our environmental impact. Our 3/4 acre property was nothing more than an empty field with blackberries and a few oaks, cherry, and hawthorn trees on the edges. So, over the next several years, we established our veggie garden, planted five kinds of berries, and kiwis, and added several different species of trees and shrubs. Of…
-
A Word to the Wise
The recently released draft report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) paints a grim picture of planet Earth in the days ahead. The main point is that humans have waited so long to curb emissions that a hotter future is essentially locked in, as are more droughts, more forest fires, more crippling heat waves, more sea-level rise, and more floods. Moreover, the greenhouse gases that we have already pumped into the atmosphere will stay there a long time, inflicting misery for years to come. Continuing to pour greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere will create a domino effect of changes that will have severe consequences for humanity. The report’s…
-
Cordless Electric Yard Tools
About 6 years ago, we ran an article on switching your gasoline-powered lawn and garden tools to all battery-electric versions, and since then, there have been a lot of changes—time for an update. The first change is in the number of makes and models available today. A Google search for electric yard tools will bring up more than 30 brands, and each brand can have multiple types of tools (lawnmowers, edgers, leaf blowers, etc.), as well as a selection of models for many of the different tools. For instance, walk-behind lawn mowers are available in 14-inch cut to 25-inch cut and as either push or self-propelled. This range of choices…
