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The Spokesman Review
May 9, 2007
Cascadia
1

Fueling Inertia

The Spokesman Review
May 9, 2007
Cascadia
1
Today's battery technology would allow drivers to travel 20 to 30 miles before burning any fuel, if they could plug in their cars overnight. That would cover many people's daily commutes. But because it is uncertain how long the batteries would last under those conditions, the government has insisted on long-term warranties. In turn, auto companies point to that obstacle in explaining why PHEVs are taking so long to produce....Car companies and politicians like to hide behind public opinion when it comes to justifying inaction. They note that the public wants a car that can zoom up to 120 miles per hour (even though that's illegal) and deliver power on demand...Would a maximum of 90 mph be acceptable if it were coupled with 80 to 100 mpg? If so, tell your automaker. Tell Congress. Read More ›
Doug Huntington
May 9, 2007
Intelligent Design
1

‘Design’ Proponents Accuse Wikipedia of Bias, Hypocrisy

Doug Huntington
May 9, 2007
Intelligent Design
1

This article, published by The Christian Post, refers to Discovery Institute: Discovery Institute, an organization that promotes the field of intelligent design (ID), has posted a series of comments on its website accusing Wikipedia moderators of being unfairly biased against their view. The rest of the article can be found here. The Discovery Institute article that the article above quotes Read More ›

David Brewster
May 9, 2007
Cascadia
1

Could Plug-in Cars End The Age Of Oil?

David Brewster
May 9, 2007
Cascadia
1
....The wonky term for them is Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles....The key is two-way electricity. These cars recharge their batteries at times when our power plants are off-peak, especially at night, or when clean but intermittent sources of new power (solar, wind, tidal) are making electricity and need some place to store it for peak demands. Car owners may pay more for these new vehicles, but they actually make some money by selling some power back to the utilities during their times of high demand. That's a pretty fine trifecta. You win the war on terror, avoid catastrophic climate change, and reward a nation addicted to autos with rebates that never stop giving....I sensed at this remarkable burst of brainpower and political optimism about solving big problems something of that good old Boeing spirit in the region. Engineers with sliderules in their pockets, tackling great big integrated problems. If there were ghosts of WPPSS's amateur nuke-builders walking around the halls, so too there were ex-Microsoft entrepreneurs with a dauntingly brilliant grasp of the whole network of interconnected forces, virtually vibrating with a desire to "deploy." So maybe we can't build a monorail. That doesn't mean we can't end the age of oil. Read More ›
Hal Bernton
May 8, 2007
Cascadia
1

Fans Of Plug-in Cars Build Their Power Base

Hal Bernton
May 8, 2007
Cascadia
1
Sometime in the future, your car may make your round-trip commute with electricity generated from rooftop solar cells. When you want to venture east of the Cascades for a weekend winery tour, an internal-combustion engine — powered by biofuels — would kick into action. This vision has helped propel plug-in hybrid cars from a footnote in automotive technology into a serious alternative that car manufacturers are working to bring to market within the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, a grass-roots network of plug-in converts — professors, students, garage mechanics and others — is already fashioning the first generation of these vehicles in hopes of prodding the industry into faster action. They say these cars can get more than 100 miles per gallon for some travel. Read More ›
Robert McClure
May 7, 2007
Cascadia
1

Visions Of A Northwest Hybrid Car Future Abound

Robert McClure
May 7, 2007
Cascadia
1
Imagine at first hundreds of Northwesterners -- but later thousands, and ultimately tens of thousands or even millions -- plugging in their electric hybrid cars every night. Then they all commute the next day without dipping into their fuel tanks. Imagine that the other cars on the road, still using fuel systems more like today's, get around on the byproducts of cow poop or wheat stubble. Imagine further that this new fleet of cars carries devices to signal the traffic-light system, reducing congestion by half at rush hour. And imagine these same devices prevent cars from running into one another no matter what their idiot drivers do. The same devices could offer drivers a choice between the fastest route, the cheapest route (because many roads will have tolls) and the "greenest" route. These were some of the visions that emerged Monday at a broad-ranging conference of Seattle-area businesspeople, utility executives, public officials, environmentalists and others titled "Jump Start to a Secure, Clean Energy Future" at Microsoft Corp.'s Redmond campus. Read More ›
Patricia Cohen
May 5, 2007
Intelligent Design
1

A Split Emerges as Conservatives Discuss Darwin

Patricia Cohen
May 5, 2007
Intelligent Design
1

The New York Times ran a front page story on an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) debate earlier this week about whether Darwinism can be aligned with conservatism. It is currently the most popular blogged article, and the third most e-mailed. It mentions Discovery Institute Senior Fellows John G. West and George Gilder: There Mr. Arnhart was grouped with John Derbyshire, Read More ›

David Limbaugh
May 4, 2007
Intelligent Design
1

Leftist Thought Control

David Limbaugh
May 4, 2007
Intelligent Design
1

This article, published by Townhall, mentions Discovery Institute Senior Fellows Stephen C. Meyer: Bethell tells of the publication by the peer-reviewed “Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington” of an article on the Cambrian Explosion by the Discovery Institute’s Steven Meyer. The rest of the article can be found here.

Hance Haney
May 4, 2007
Technology
9

How To Reform Cable Franchising

Hance Haney
May 4, 2007
Technology
9

Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of Implementation of Section 621(a)(1) of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 MB Docket No. 05-311 By adopting pro-competitive, pro-consumer restraints on local franchise authorities with respect to new entrants in the market for multichannel Read More ›

Wesley J. Smith
May 2, 2007
Human Exceptionalism
8

A Not-So-Divine Intervention

Wesley J. Smith
May 2, 2007
Human Exceptionalism
8

What if hospitals could put a sign over their doors stating, “We reserve the right to refuse life-sustaining care?” People would be outraged. Yet that is precisely what Texas law explicitly grants to hospitals — namely, to say no to wanted life-sustaining treatment, on the basis of subjective judgments about the quality of the patient’s life. It is an example of a Read More ›