Pat Murphy
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Food, Health, and Survival
The application of fossil fuels to our food system has affected not only how we grow food but also what we grow, with disastrous results for the planet. Our major grain and oil crops, along with hay, are transformed into foods high in fat and artificial sweeteners and low in nutrients. Fresh, diverse whole foods that were the basis of our pre-industrial diet are sparse in today’s highly processed foods.
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A Radical Approach to the Climate Crisis
A Personal CO2 BudgetPlan Curtail is intended to provide information for an alternative approach to the climate change crisis. It is different from the popular view that “efficiency” and “renewables,” if fully implemented, provide a complete solution. This view implies that the current standard-of-living of developed countries need not be reduced. It also implies that other countries can also achieve the first-world living standard. Our view is that efficiency and renewables are basic to human survival but that …
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Part 1: Introduction to Plug-In Folly – The Misrepresentation of the Electric Car
The vision of non-polluting electric cars has been pursued in the US since 1990 – for 25 years. There were two efforts to develop and market electric cars; the first began in 1990 and the second in 2005. During the same time period, Japanese carmakers focused on the development of conventional hybrid technology, producing the first generation Toyota Prius and Honda Insight This presentation provides both a development history and a review of performance measurements …
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Part 2: The Battery Electric Car
The Birth of the Modern Electric Car, often called an EV or a plug-in began 25 years ago.
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Part 3: A Look at MPGe Metrics
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) use different methods of computing and displaying Miles Per Gallon equivalent (MPGe). Despite the high plugin MPGe numbers, CO2 emissions from the most popular electric cars are about the same as those from a Prius.
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Part 4: The Plug-In Hybrid Car
The first plug-in hybrid car in the US was shipped in December 2010. Because this new type of car used both gas and electricity, both needed to be included in MPG and CO2 Emissions calculations.
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Part 5: Conclusion
A 2012 Congressional Budget Office report on plug-ins says that the lifetime costs to consumers of an electric vehicle are generally higher than those of a hybrid vehicle of similar size and performance.
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Thoughts on COP 21 (Climate Talks)
The international political response to climate change began officially in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, where the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted. The Convention’s objective was to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to avoid anthropogenic interference with the climate. The UNFCCC has a membership of 195 parties. The main objective of the annual Conference of Parties (COP) is to review the UNFCCC’s implementation. At the third COP …
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It’s Time to Wake Up!
On September 24, 2015, Pope Francis addressed a joint session of Congress about the state of the world. His concerns relative to climate, poverty and violence were well received. As he opened his talk he said “Today I would like not only to address you, but through you the entire people of the United States.” I had read his encyclical “ Laudato Si’ “ and was pleased by his directness. There were 246 number points …
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Revisiting the Green Tragedy
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