Comments on: Five reasons Pickens is now as tiresome as Madonna and Britney http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/ The Latest on Climate Science, Solutions, and Politics Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:55:04 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Nick http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-35337 Nick Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:12:09 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-35337 For some reason the point that is being missed about switching to a natural gas is Not every vehicle should do this. The one's that he is suggesting is 18 wheelers, trash trucks, and government cars example: police cars, and other city vehicles. They refuel in a city area that would be much easer to convert from gasoline to natural gas. I'm all for using battery power cars for the common person. This want work however for the three types of vehicles that is being discussed. Battery power wont pull an 18 wheeler nor a trash truck. It is simply to much weight. Plus I can't imagine that a police officer could get in a high speed pursuit in "The Volt" which is a good battery powered car but not fast enough! So we need to switch these over, and focus the electric cars on the person that drives their car back an forth to work. They can recharge using the wind power that is mostly generated at night from wind turbines. For some reason the point that is being missed about switching to a natural gas is Not every vehicle should do this. The one’s that he is suggesting is 18 wheelers, trash trucks, and government cars example: police cars, and other city vehicles. They refuel in a city area that would be much easer to convert from gasoline to natural gas. I’m all for using battery power cars for the common person. This want work however for the three types of vehicles that is being discussed. Battery power wont pull an 18 wheeler nor a trash truck. It is simply to much weight. Plus I can’t imagine that a police officer could get in a high speed pursuit in “The Volt” which is a good battery powered car but not fast enough! So we need to switch these over, and focus the electric cars on the person that drives their car back an forth to work. They can recharge using the wind power that is mostly generated at night from wind turbines.

]]> By: Shelly http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-32204 Shelly Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:57:11 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-32204 C Mann said, "A so-called patriot who never served in the military and yet attacked the honorable service of a Vietnam War hero. That is the character of the person we’re dealing with." Exactly -- so why are progressives falling all over this guy? Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi especially. C Mann said, “A so-called patriot who never served in the military and yet attacked the honorable service of a Vietnam War hero. That is the character of the person we’re dealing with.”

Exactly — so why are progressives falling all over this guy? Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi especially.

]]> By: Shelly http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-32203 Shelly Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:52:32 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-32203 Now that Pickens has publicly insulted him, Gore should take the gloves off and tell everyone what is fundamentally wrong with Pickens's approach with natural gas. The more Pickens pushes natural gas for vehicles, the longer it will take to actually address the problem of fossil fuels being used for transportation vs. something actually clean. Gore has been restrained when it comes to Pickens so far, trying not to hurt his wind power cause, probably, but it's time he probably said something about the natural gas side of it that is more forceful. Pickens is deceptive about natural gas and his followers just repeat everything he says. I"m worried about the long term effects of his PR campaign. He is drilling this idea that natural gas is so great into everyone's heads, and hardly anyone even questions him. I can't figure that out. You'd think after the last 8 years people would be more skeptical of what rich old men are telling them. Now that Pickens has publicly insulted him, Gore should take the gloves off and tell everyone what is fundamentally wrong with Pickens’s approach with natural gas. The more Pickens pushes natural gas for vehicles, the longer it will take to actually address the problem of fossil fuels being used for transportation vs. something actually clean.

Gore has been restrained when it comes to Pickens so far, trying not to hurt his wind power cause, probably, but it’s time he probably said something about the natural gas side of it that is more forceful.

Pickens is deceptive about natural gas and his followers just repeat everything he says. I”m worried about the long term effects of his PR campaign. He is drilling this idea that natural gas is so great into everyone’s heads, and hardly anyone even questions him. I can’t figure that out. You’d think after the last 8 years people would be more skeptical of what rich old men are telling them.

]]> By: John Hollenberg http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16624 John Hollenberg Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:44:27 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16624 Thanks. I somehow missed that part. Unfortunately, the links to individual cars never load--they just time out. Thanks. I somehow missed that part. Unfortunately, the links to individual cars never load–they just time out.

]]> By: John Mashey http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16603 John Mashey Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:53:45 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16603 John: If you go to <a href="http://www.google.org/recharge/dashboard#methodology" rel="nofollow">methodology</a>, and rummage a bit, they have the data records by day by car. Maybe you can find a usage pattern that fits. John:
If you go to methodology, and rummage a bit, they have the data records by day by car. Maybe you can find a usage pattern that fits.

]]> By: Jim O'Rourke http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16595 Jim O'Rourke Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:37:18 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16595 OK, OK, Joe, I was thinking that you were entirely too harsh on T-Bone until I read that Joe Lieberman (ie America's Greatest Traitor) agreed with him, now I'm not so sure. What I would say about Mr. Pickens is this: his ads help get the American People's attention and break through the nonsense that alternatives like wind are pie in the sky. Thats good and important. We all know that only Nixon could go to China and TBP has street cred as a billionaire oil man and arch capitalist. What worries me is this: T-Boone's focus on the liquid fuels problem leads me to fear that he has information that oil scarcity brought on by the peaking of global production is closer at hand than the rest of us think it is, and, really, other than blind faith, optimism and wishful thinking - what do we know? OK, OK, Joe, I was thinking that you were entirely too harsh on T-Bone until I read that Joe Lieberman (ie America’s Greatest Traitor) agreed with him, now I’m not so sure.

What I would say about Mr. Pickens is this: his ads help get the American People’s attention and break through the nonsense that alternatives like wind are pie in the sky. Thats good and important. We all know that only Nixon could go to China and TBP has street cred as a billionaire oil man and arch capitalist.

What worries me is this: T-Boone’s focus on the liquid fuels problem leads me to fear that he has information that oil scarcity brought on by the peaking of global production is closer at hand than the rest of us think it is, and, really, other than blind faith, optimism and wishful thinking – what do we know?

]]> By: John Hollenberg http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16571 John Hollenberg Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:27:04 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16571 I checked the RechargeIT web site. Interesting, but they lump the data in such a way that you can't really tell what kind of mileage you would be likely to get in a medium length commute. It would be much better if they plotted MPG vs length of route, ideally for each kind of route (city, mixed, highway) on a separate graph. This would make it much easier to answer the question, "What kind of mileage would I likely get on my commute?" I checked the RechargeIT web site. Interesting, but they lump the data in such a way that you can’t really tell what kind of mileage you would be likely to get in a medium length commute. It would be much better if they plotted MPG vs length of route, ideally for each kind of route (city, mixed, highway) on a separate graph. This would make it much easier to answer the question, “What kind of mileage would I likely get on my commute?”

]]> By: John Mashey http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16561 John Mashey Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:18:22 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16561 Electricity vs gas: 1) I attended the public night of <a href="http://www.pluginamerica.org/" rel="nofollow">the Plug in 2008</a> conference in San Jose, CA. Serious folks, serious companies, and the number of hybrids in the garage, regular or converted-plugin, would gladden Joe's heart. I had too many conflicts to sign up for the whole conference. Earl Killian? can you report on it if you attend the whole thing? 2) Good talks from people from Google, EPRI, PlugIn America. My favorite comment: car companies have long talked to oil companies, but they're now learning to talk to electric utilities. Google (Dan Reicher) See: <a href="http://google.org/" rel="nofollow">Google.org</a> and especially: <a href="http://google.org/recharge/" rel="nofollow">RechargeIT</a> on driving experiments, collaborators. The whole site is well worth exploring, many good resources, usage graphs, etc. Google folks are not fooling around. 3) Among the interesting exhibitors was <a href="http://www.coulombtech.com/" rel="nofollow">Coulomb Technologies</a>, which makes smart charging stations. I've worked with some of the key people and they are very good, have shipped a lot of products. Hopefully PHEVS will really start shipping in volume when the car makers say they will. [Silicon Valley has a few charging stations left from the last go-around, but hopefully, PHEVs and better BEVs will really make it fly this time. Electricity vs gas:

1) I attended the public night of the Plug in 2008 conference in San Jose, CA. Serious folks, serious companies, and the number of hybrids in the garage, regular or converted-plugin, would gladden Joe’s heart.

I had too many conflicts to sign up for the whole conference. Earl Killian? can you report on it if you attend the whole thing?

2) Good talks from people from Google, EPRI, PlugIn America.
My favorite comment:
car companies have long talked to oil companies, but they’re now learning to talk to electric utilities.

Google (Dan Reicher)
See:
Google.org and especially:

RechargeIT on driving experiments, collaborators. The whole site is well worth exploring, many good resources, usage graphs, etc. Google folks are not fooling around.

3) Among the interesting exhibitors was Coulomb Technologies, which makes smart charging stations.

I’ve worked with some of the key people and they are very good, have shipped a lot of products. Hopefully PHEVS will really start shipping in volume when the car makers say they will. [Silicon Valley has a few charging stations left from the last go-around, but hopefully, PHEVs and better BEVs will really make it fly this time.

]]> By: Eric G http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16553 Eric G Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:24:47 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16553 joyce, Methane from anaerobic digestion of organic waste is an excellent waste-to-fuel biofuel. It generally doesn't have the ethical and economic problems of food-to-fuel schemes. However, it can be used more effectively to generate electricity or heat homes than power automobiles. Combined cycle gas turbines are approaching 60% efficiency, with almost no conventional pollutants. Pikens' wind is better used shutting down coal generation. That scenario reduces GHG emissions and requires no new infrastructure at all. joyce,

Methane from anaerobic digestion of organic waste is an excellent waste-to-fuel biofuel. It generally doesn’t have the ethical and economic problems of food-to-fuel schemes. However, it can be used more effectively to generate electricity or heat homes than power automobiles. Combined cycle gas turbines are approaching 60% efficiency, with almost no conventional pollutants. Pikens’ wind is better used shutting down coal generation. That scenario reduces GHG emissions and requires no new infrastructure at all.

]]> By: C Mann http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16550 C Mann Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:43:08 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/22/five-reasons-pickens-is-now-as-tiresome-as-madonna-and-britney/#comment-16550 <blockquote>Why else release such a petty statement as this...</blockquote> Anyone who would spend $3 million of their own money to swiftboat George W. Bush's opponent for president and then offer a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_Boat_challenge" rel="nofollow">totally bogus 1 million dollar reward</a> to be disproved, would release such a petty statement. A so-called patriot who never served in the military and yet attacked the honorable service of a Vietnam War hero. That is the character of the person we're dealing with.

Why else release such a petty statement as this…

Anyone who would spend $3 million of their own money to swiftboat George W. Bush’s opponent for president and then offer a totally bogus 1 million dollar reward to be disproved, would release such a petty statement.

A so-called patriot who never served in the military and yet attacked the honorable service of a Vietnam War hero. That is the character of the person we’re dealing with.

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