Clarkson Energy Homes

The U.S. has 4% of the world’s population and consumes 25% of the world’s power.

This time I heard it on the NBC Evening news. The reporter never bothered to ask why the speaker made this comparison. What the Bleep do these two things have in common?

Okay. At first glance this statement seems to hold some substance. What could only 4% of the world’s people be doing that accounts for so much power usage? Hmm. I wonder if production might tell us something?

Gross Domestic Product provides of the best measures to compare countries or populations. According to the International Monetary Fund the 2006 World GDP was $48,245,198,000,000 and the U.S. GDP is $13,194,700,000,000. Isn’t it a coincidence that the U.S. GDP is about 27% of the World GDP and the U.S. power consumption is 25% of world power consumption?

Daniel Botkin was featured on the EconTalk podcast for November 26, 2007. In the interview he says some really neat things about nature.

Most species have evolved and adapted to change and depend on change, so assuming steady state goes against their needs.

He’s referring to more than just climate change. In some forests the vegetation has adapted to fires. When we stop allowing fires to control wilderness, we actually destroy nature. Daniel illustrates that our perception of what nature should be often influences what we do to nature. (more…)

I ran across this argument in a political thread about libertarians.

… the fact that your lap top just went up in flames and distorted a years work product is of little concern. You will get your check for $1000 to replace the Lap Top. You talk to a lawyer You are told it will cost at least $35,000 and maybe 5 years to make a claim for the work product you lost. a work product might have a worth in the Millions but do you have the time and the money to recover the loss …

In your scenario the idiot consumer placed millions of dollars worth of information on a single device with no backups. Even if the battery was well made, the potential for loss of the information is too great to warrant such a risk. I wouldn’t leave that kind of information on any single device. (more…)

Perpetual: 1. Continuing forever, 2. Occurring continually. Indefinitely long-continued. I found this argument on a political forum about energy and oil.

Don’t atoms, the solar system, and the galaxy itself perpetually move?

Yes. They move, but not perpetually. Anything that has a definite end is not perpetual. The motion of an electron, a planet or a star will end eventually. They are not perpetual. (more…)