Matt’s Cuppa

Oddly enough, we were just talking about energy and airports yesterday afternoon as we were driving home. Looking at the bright runway lights, I had wondered out loud what it would take to make an airport carbon neutral.

While it won’t make the airport carbon neutral, Orly’s plan to use geothermal heating is, I think, an important step closer to creating a culture of sustainability. It shows that the idea of earth stewardship is hitting the global mainstream. Companies and organizations are no longer waiting to see what everyone else will do. And they’re making changes that go beyond what is mandated by their governments.

Also important to note is the permanence of projects like the one at Orly. Dropping a shaft over 5000 feet deep and splicing it into your heating system is not something to be undertaken lightly. Companies and organizations are committing themselves to the path of sustainability by investing in projects such as this one.

Paris’ Orly Airport Will Use the Earth to Heat Itself | EcoGeek

In an exciting new departure, the owners of one of Paris’ two big airports have announced plans to meet a third of its heating needs from geothermal energy.

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League of Conservation Voters | The Heat Is On

At the end of her address, Clinton took questions from the audience and one of the questions was by a Grinnell College student who was concerned about the long-term effects of green house gases. Clinton made note that most of the questions she gets around the country about global warming come from college, high school, and middle school students that express concern about their future and the future of the planet.

It’s awesome that young people are up there asking the challenging questions when it comes to climate change. It won’t be all that long until we’re handing off this planet to them, and they have legitimate reasons to be concerned.

But why aren’t the rest of us asking those questions, too? Why aren’t reporters and talk show hosts asking these questions? And if we’re not asking the right questions, why aren’t the candidates talking more about our environment?

It’s pretty obvious that we need to make the shift from an industrial economy to an green energy economy. Some candidates have made mention of this already, but it’s not enough to wait until something good for the planet falls out of our politicians’ mouths and onto paper where it might be turned into law someday.

I’m beginning to think that we’re looking at the whole environment thing the wrong way. What we hear is nearly all negative. Which makes sense, since climate change is a huge problem. But it’s also a huge opportunity. We could very well be on the edge of the next wave of innovation. Remember how the the microprocessor literally changed the world? Could green energy be the next microprocessor? I believe that it could, if we shift our thinking from ‘problem’ to ‘opportunity’.

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Can baking soda curb global warming? | CNET News.com

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