As we watch the US slip further and further behind as we continue in our pattern of aggressive over consumption, we find inspiration from Japan, Germany, and France. Great article, I only hope some of these inventions make it over to these shores--and that they might even become standardized marks of quality-- a MINIMUM efficiency barrier.
Japan Squeezes to Get the Most of Costly Fuel - New York Times: "Even though Japan is already among the most frugal countries in the world, the government recently introduced a national campaign, urging the Japanese to replace their older appliances and buy hybrid vehicles, all part of a patriotic effort to save energy and fight global warming. And big companies are jumping on the bandwagon, counting on the moves to increase sales of their latest models."
1 year ago
2 comments:
Congratulations for being the last person alive who hasn't caught on that everything the NY Times prints is biased. Your prize is a set of rose colored glasses.
Mr. Anonymous,
Will you be giving him your own rose colored glasses? It's somewhat difficult to find a news source totally without bias. One would be quite naive to argue otherwise. Sure, some sources showcase their bias more than others (cough...Fox, BBC), but no one is completely unbiased, even if the bias is only omitting or misconstruing a detail.
What bias do you detect in the article? My thoughts are that this article, by pointing out that another country is doing something better tahn America is, can be construed as somewhat anti-American. In turn, the reader might think from this article that we are growing more and more out of step with the world. Well, we are.
The author does omit a few things, as exemplified by this paragraph:
At JFE Holdings, Japan's second-largest steel company, plastic pellets made from recycled bottles now account for 10 percent of fuel in the main blast furnaces, reducing reliance on imported coal. Japanese paper mills are investing heavily in boilers that can be fueled by waste paper, wood and plastic. Within two years, half of the electricity used in the nation's paper mills is to come from burning waste.
The article's writers did not include anything on how the carbon emissions from waste paper or wood compare with those from the coal that otherwise would have been burned. More importantly, there's no mention of the chemicals being released via combustion of those recycled plastic pellets (carcinogenic dioxins, etc).
So not everything Japan is doing is completely environmentally benign. They are making efforts far above what the U.S. is willing to do. It is possible for this nation to achieve far greater energy efficiency, without actualizing new sources of both renewable and non-renewable energy. Not that we won't have to move away from a fossil fuel based energy system over time - we do. But instead of pursuing any sort of conservation of what fossil fuels we have and encouraging the development of alternative sources, we sit, playing with our thumbs and debate whether we can get 6 weeks or 6 months supply of oil from ANWR. This, instead of an energy policy that recognizes the challenges of the 21st century.
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