Diamond-Cut Life

I have another thought or two on the proposed bailout of the American auto industry. Then later this week I’ll be reporting on desalination, the increasingly popular, carbon-intensive transformation of ocean water into drinking water.
While acknowledging that job loss in the auto industry (or anywhere) is extremely painful, let’s take a step back and ask [...]

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My carpool has naturally been discussing whether the government should bail out the Detroit automakers. The bailout question reminds me of the short story “The Lady Or The Tiger” in which a woman decides which door to send her lover to, i.e. death or a new life with a new lady.
Carpool opinions may be influenced [...]

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Exactly four years ago on the first Tuesday in November I was on the #15 bus here on Belmont in Southeast Portland — going nowhere. Traffic was standing still. And we never have traffic jams on SE Belmont. I was late to my breakfast meeting at Zells Cafe, but at least my bus driver was [...]

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Governor Kulongoski of Oregon, my home state, has stated a vision of combating global warming with both a state economy and general Oregon lifestyle that is cleaner and greener than the rest of the nation.
“Climate change is the most important environmental and economic issue of our time,” Governor Kulongoski said (the added emphasis is mine). [...]

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We’ve got lots of blame, anger and flat-out fear flying around in reaction to the collapse of giants like Merrill Lynch — and also the government/taxpayers bailing them out.  I’m feeling calm this morning, myself, which makes it a good time to write.  What does it mean that all these profitable companies, these diamonds, are [...]

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Living here in Portland, Oregon, I’ve become aware that we have the highest percentage of hybrid cars of any city in the nation. I’ve also observed that Portland General Electric (PGE) has the largest renewable power program in the country. (Disclosure: I’m married to Thor Hinckley, the manager of that renewables program.)
The new piece is [...]

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The way we drive has a huge impact on our fuel consumption. The cool thing about saving money on gas by using less of it, from the diamond-cut perspective, is that we reduce our carbon emissions at the same time. And all of us would prefer to subsidize our own bank accounts rather than the [...]

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My friend from Santa Cruz, concerned about global warming as I am, asked for advice yesterday about the car purchase she needs to make.
It happens my husband Thor did lots of research recently about whether to buy a Prius or a Honda Civic hybrid. We chose the Honda, for reasons given here, but we use [...]

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I’m reading about the pain of high gas prices, and the auto industry shrinking, and Americans actually driving a bit less. While I care about people’s pain, I’m not experiencing it, myself. My husband Thor commutes via TriMet (the public transit here in Portland, Oregon), and I carpool with five other people to get to [...]

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We researched ad nauseam what fuel-efficient, low-emissions car we should buy. We finally chose the Honda Civic hybrid for its great ratings all around, plus its state AND federal tax credits. We waited and waited for it to arrive at the dealership. Last night we finally brought it home.

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