T. Boone Pickens Says Jump, Investors Act Like Crazed Kids on Pogo Sticks

T. Boone Pickens has gained a lot of clout lately. Let’s put aside for a moment the fact that he is one scary guy, and might become one of the people responsible for putting us into a very frightening situation with our water supply. He’s also known as being a billionaire oil tycoon and recently purchased a huge number of wind turbines. When he predicted that oil would hit $100 a barrel, investors laughed because it seemed so improbable – and then it happened. That’s why they’re now listening up to everything this guy has to say.

From Forbes:

Wall Street decided to treat T. Boone Pickens as the smartest guy in the room.

Light sweet crude prices soared 1.5%, or $1.88, to $128.93 a barrel, after the billionaire oilman said he expects it’ll hit $150 a barrel this year.

“There’s a feeling that some of these forecasts of $150 oil might be right, so why not buy it now rather than later,” Peter Beutel, president of Cameron Hanover, told Reuters.

Pickens gave more than a number though. According to TradeTheNews.com, Pickens also said that speculators have nothing to do with high energy prices, and that oil costs are not a bubble. He that he is investing long on natural gas. This kind of support from a name that holds such credibility gave other investors a renewed sense of confidence in how they played the commodity.

Pickens is positioning himself as an energy expert, and a powerful one at that (cue ‘impending doom’ music). While we’re glad that he has made some good choices in renewable energy, this guy doesn’t have the scruples to be trustworthy – it’s all about the money for him, so if he sees big bucks in an industry that could still harm the planet, he’ll likely jump on it. We’re crossing our fingers that he sticks to renewable energy and drops the creepy water privatization plans.

Link [Forbes]
Photo credit: Flickr user sfslim

Sierra Club Seeking National Online Organizer to Fight Coal Industry

Down with the coal industry! The Sierra Club has posted a job announcement seeking someone who can take over the efforts to fight the coal industry and push clean renewable energy in the U.S. Let’s help them find a good candidate for this important job! Here are the details – spread it around and email it to anyone you know who might be interested.

The Sierra Club, the nation’s largest grassroots environmental group has launched a nationwide campaign to stop the construction of new coal plants and end destructive mining practices in Appalachia. The campaign is part of the overall strategy to move the United States beyond coal and slash global warming pollution. Organizers or campaigners of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply for this full-time, paid position.

From the Sierra Club:

The National Coal Campaign online organizer will work alongside our top campaigners to stop the coal rush by fighting individual power plants, stopping mountain-top removal, and speeding up the deployment of clean and renewable energy sources across the US.

To apply, email natalie.foster -at- sierraclub =d0t= org with “Coal Online Organizer application” in the subject line. This position is geo-flex, full-time, and includes a competitive salary and full benefits.

Key skills we’re looking for:

- An organizer at heart. You should be eager to empower and engage others in the democratic process and work well with all types of people.

- Passionate about protecting the planet by building grassroots power. Saving the world is your life, not just your job.

- Calm under fire. When the Kansas legislature reverses the veto of Governor Sebelius to stop a coal-fired power plant, you quickly, strategically and coolly swing into gear.

- Leadership experience. You start projects, rally people, inspire others.

- Excellent writing skills. Your writing should be sharp, personable, and hard-hitting.

- Strong self-starter, entrepreneurial. You don’t need someone to tell you what to do.

- Willing to do what it takes to make a project come off. Low ego, high focus on getting stuff done.

- Hard worker, can do flexible hours and manage your time independently. You know that changing the country doesn’t always happen between 9 and 5.

- At ease with technology. You don’t have to know HTML, but you should know what HTML is.

Link [Sierra Club]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Old Gas Pumps Roll Over and Die as Gas Hits $4 a Gallon

Old fashioned gas pumps with rolling mechanical dials are throwing in the towel. As gas rises to $4 a gallon and beyond, these dinosaurs are admitting defeat – they only go up to $3.999 per gallon and can only count up to $99.99 for the total sale. That’s leaving owners of old gas stations out of luck, since upgrading them to new pumps isn’t an option for most of them.

From MSNBC:

As many as 8,500 of the nation’s 170,000 service stations have old-style meters that need to be fixed — about 17,000 individual pumps, said Bob Renkes, executive vice president of the Petroleum Equipment Institute of Tulsa, Okla.

At Chip Colville’s Chevron station in this eastern Washington town, where men in the family have pumped gas since 1919, three stubby, gray pumps were installed when gas was less than $1 a gallon. They top out at $3.999, only 30 cents above the price of regular gas at Colville’s station.

“In small towns, where you don’t have the volume, there’s no way you can afford to pay for the replacements for these old pumps,” Colville said. “It’s just not economically feasible.”

The problem is worse in extremely rural areas, where “this might be the only pump in town that people can access,” said Mike Rud, director of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association.

The companies that make or rebuild the parts needed to update the pumps are backlogged with orders right now from stations that have enough money to retrofit their existing pumps. New pumps cost as much as $10,000 to $15,000 each, an expense that most gas station owners can’t afford considering they barely make a profit on gas despite high gas prices.

To deal with the problem, some states are allowing gas stations to charge by the half gallon and settle up the price with a calculator. Other stations will have to temporarily close down and many will likely go out of business.

All of this just contributes to the perception (and hopefully fact) that oil is on its way out. These mechanical gas pumps represent an old way that just doesn’t work anymore. Time to move on!  It’s sad for the owners of these gas stations, though - hopefully they’ll find a way to land on their feet.

Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: Flickr user Mykl Roventine

Next thing you know ol’ Jed’s a Billionaire- Todays Oil Prices Make Clampetts Billionaires

Jed Clampett, the lovable old patriarch of the Clampett family who struck black gold one day while shootin for some food, would be an incredibly rich Hillbilly had that fortunate hunting accident happened today. You could say he’d be happier than a tornado at a trailer park.

Had Jed discovered that bubblin crude these days instead of 1962 he’d be worth a cool billion dollars. Back in ‘62 when Jed stuck oil in Bugtussel, the price per barrel was around $2.85. Kin folk told Jed move away from there, so The Clampetts loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly (Hill’s that is) with $25,000,000 in Mr. Drysdale’s bank.

Which means, if we do the math …that Jed uncovered around 8.7 million barrels of oil. At any price above $115.55/barrel Jed’s north of 10 figures (a Billionaire). A quick stop to Bloomberg Energy shows crude oil futures currently going for ~$118/barrel.

Wee Doggies!, imagine the party Jed, Granny, Jethro, Elly May, and Duke could throw with that kind of cash- the fancy vittles, moonshine and dancing out by the cee-ment pond. Which would make them all happier than cats a fish fry. Yeehaw.

ZapRoot: Deadly Quiet Hybrids, Stupid Politicians, Towel 2.0, and Swag

ZapRoot 035 in short: silent hybrids could be slightly more dangerous to a miniscule number of blind people, so of course some stupid politician wants to require carmakers to install noisemakers in their cars; Pategonia has a new site that lets you track the entire lifecycle of shirts they sell; Zaproot is looking for Green Earth Day Videos and is giving away swag to the ones they like best, some guy has created the Towel 2.0; ReadyMade is going digital (about fifty years late eh?); and Green Energy Wastebusters are saving people money off their energy biill and using cool ass tools and gadgets doing it.

Reuters Reporters Can’t Believe Billionaire Oilman Is Investing in Wind to Make Money

With a name like T. Boone Pickens, Jr., how could you not grow up to be a billionaire oilman?

80 year old T. Boone made his billions over the decades by growing his oil company through a flurry of mergers and acquisitions and is now setting his sites on the wind. His plan calls for spending $10B to build the worlds largest wind farm in Texas.

I found this news in a Reuters story, author Chris Baltimore seems blown away that someone actually expects to make money by doing something green. Check out:

But Pickens is not out to save the planet. He intends to make money.

Golly gee, a businessman invests in a green business and isn’t doing it to make the world a happier and shinier place? He actually will make money? Stop the presses, 1999 wants it’s storyline back.

Link [Reuters]

Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Thinks Seven Generations Out, Will Leave Newly Discovered Oil Fields Untapped For Now

You’ve gotta give it to Saudi King Abdullah- he’s thinking about the children, well his children at least. He recently ordered some of his country’s latest discovered oil fields set aside for future generations.

Business 24|7 has it:

“I keep no secret from you that when there were some new finds, I told them, ‘no, leave it in the ground, with grace from god, our children need it’,” King Abdullah said in remarks made late on Saturday.

US President George W Bush in January urged the Saudi King to help tame soaring prices by encouraging Opec to pump more oil. On separate trips to Saudi Arabia this year, the US Energy Secretary also asked for more oil, while the Vice-President discussed high prices with the king.

I don’t think I really need to point out the ironic absurdity of this and will leave this one for you to work out. Happy Monday, it’s going to be a great week.

Link [Business 24|7]

Home Refrigeration 2.0- The Oceania Refrigerator Brings The Sexy Green Noise

OK, I admit it- I hate my refrigerator. I hate it because I know just how inefficient of a design it is. Every time I open the door to get something the reservoir of cold air that had built up tumbles out into your kitchen. When you close the door the refrigerator has to re-cool the air, only to lose it the next time you need mayonnaise or Parmesan cheese. Open the freezer for some ice cream and you’ll get the same, only with colder air.

Seriously, try this sometime- lay down on the floor about 6-8 feet from your fridge and face towards it with your head at ground level. Have someone open the refrigerator door and wait a second- you’ll feel a wave of cold air puff at your face, a river of chill being dumped out of the fridge. That air is your money, and the health of the planet, being wasted away. If it’s winter time and you’re heating your house you’ll get hit with a double whammy of having to warm that air back up.

In short, we need a completely reimagined refrigerator.

Yanko Design points to such a thing- the Oceania Refrigerator, designed by Tez Patel.

Check out some of it’s VERY cool and green features:

• three tiers of compartments cooled by magnetic refrigeration and individually controlled with a digital interface.
• a fourth bottom compartment passively cooled with water and ceramic materials that is good for storing veggies, fruit, and bread.
• multiple sections means you don’t expose the entire unit to the air when you get something, and using pull out drawers reduces the cascade of cold air that happens with a traditional fridge.
• a clear drawer lets you browse before you open and it has the capability of tracking food in the fridge using RFID.
• all materials are biodegradable or recyclable.

Swing over to Yanko and check out the other photos, the thing is one sexy piece of machinery.

I want one.

Link [Tez Patel] via [Yanko Design]

Pranking on The Coal Industry: NRDC Spoofs “America’s Power”

The good folks over at NRDC have taken America’s Power website (Coal Industry Front) and added a varnish of truth to it for today’s Prankstivities.

Before:

After:

Coal is the Enemy of Mankind. Anyone who rips on the purveyors of humanity’s destruction is good in my book. Nice Work NRDC! Swing over and check out their spin.

Thanks to Michael for sending this one over.

Links [Evil Coal Baron Fronted Shill Group] & [Fun Loving Green Pranksters Spoof Page]

Electric Feedback: Use Too Much Energy and This Light Switch May Shock You

Oh, how I wish this were true. From Gizmodo:

The Consumption Feedback Switch is a device that monitors your electricity usage. If it feels you’re within your light quota when you flip on the lights, you’ll see a small, harmless spark. But if you’ve been one of those dolphin-unsafe villains from Captain Planet, reading a few minutes too long at night, a gigantic stream of deadly electricity will mend your ways pending you not die.

Alright, we’re actually not sure that you feel a shock at all since the word “spark” may have been the choice of a liberal Google translation denoting “small glow.”

Damn, I would LOVE to do a product review on a light switch that actually gave you a shock if you were using too much energy. Eco-evil. I with there was an Etsy Alchemy for green tech products.

Link [Consumption Feedback Switch] via [Gizmodo] via [dvice]

Guess What I’ve Done? I Invented a Light That Plugs Into the Sun

I found this one via my buddy Hank Green.

From Muggle Sam:

Wouldn’t it be cool if we all changed our light bulbs to energy saving ones?

A compact fluorescent light bulb uses 1/4 of the electricity and lasts 10 times longer than standard light bulbs. Something everyone can do to help reduce the amount of C02 emissions.

Poem by my favorite Poet, Shel Silverstein

Performed by Sophia Age 4

Made in iMovie

We are so excited to be part of the 11th Hour Action Film’s YouTube channel! Big fans of what you are all doing at LeonardoDicaprio.org !!

March 29th- Live Blogging Earth Hour: Because Someone Had To

We’re live blogging Earth Hour.

8:10 pm- Ahh…. It’s nice to have the Green Blogosphere all to myself. Treehugger, EcoGeek, GroovyGreen, and WorldChanging are all dark and abandoned ghost towns. I’m sitting in the ol’ living room with all the lights in the house on watching an hour long marathon of Cops. I’m warming my feet with a plug in heater and have a few pieces of toast in the toaster. I’ll make some hot chocolate in the microwave in a bit.

8:18- A good Cops so far, they just took out a guy running from them. Looks like it’s time to bust some crack heads. Stupid cops.

8:22- Nice- only four and a half minutes on high in the microwave to heat up a big ass mug of half and half hot chocolate.

8:25- I just turned up the radio downstairs real loud, every kilowatt helps. You can barely hear it with the door shut.

8:27- Just noticed an outside light that I had missed. Flicked it on.

8:30- First Cops is over, one more to go.

8:32- Plugging in the Foreman Grill, it’s grilled cheese and Fluff time!

8:34- Nice, a good looking lady cop in Sacramento. She’s got the taser!

8:35- We’ve got a chase on our hands!

8:36- Oh yeah, I’ve seen this one on Hulu. The guy had a good hiding spot (in the recycling bin), but the damn dog tracked him down.

8:40- Awesome! I found a big ass light and disco ball in the basement from back in the college days. I wonder how much juice that sucker pulls. I hope everyone in the dark is having a good break away from the grid. I’m thinking of you and doing my part to use the extra energy now flooding the system. I’m helping to stabilize the load- I’m a damn hero.

8:43- Now is a good time to plug in all my rechargeable batteries.

8:44- I love seeing rich white guys get busted on Cops. I also love warm clothes right out of the dryer. Popped in another load to wash and dry.

8:48- The floodlights I plugged in outside is melting down into the snow. I can’t stand how cops just slime their way into searching you and your car. Everyone should see Busted: A Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Police Encounters.

8:50- It’ll be nice when the rest of the world plugs back in. It’s lonely in here.

8:53- Blender is out- mmmm…. super thick milkshake.

8:54- Suspicious Vehicle in Broward County. The guy isn’t getting off the cell phone or rolling down the window.

8:56- Well it’s was a great hour live blogging Earth Hour. Going to make some coffee to ice up for tomorrow in the last few minutes.

8:59- That’s it for me tonight, shutting down and going to sleep. I’ve got to wake up early to go to my second job at Wal-Mart. How else do you think I’m going to be able to pay the power bill from today?

9:01 pm- Welcome back everyone.

Catch Us After You Plug Back In: EarthFirst is Liveblogging Earth Hour Tonight 8-9pm

I’ll be liveblogging tonight from 8-9pm to help celebrate Earth Hour, the 60 minute span when the world is being asked to turn off all lights and electricity. I will be camped out at EarthFirst HQ East (my living room) with all my lights on watching the TV set to something good and trashy while warming my hands over my plugin heater. My posts will cover what I’m watching on TV, any snacks I happen to make, and the general atmosphere in the room as we suck up all the excess energy left on the power grid by the rest of you do-gooders.

If you’re a good little greenie you’ll have to catch up on things after you plug back into the system at 9pm. Woot.

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