Mercury Rising

Well, I was wondering the other day about the total environmental impact of CFLs. Here's a great link to Glenn Reynolds' Instapundit, with links of its own, talking about how CFLs, which contain small amounts of mercury, cause less mercury pollution than incandescents, which contain no mercury. Check it out:

Ironically, compact fluorescent bulbs are responsible for less mercury contamination than the incandescent bulbs they replaced, even though incandescents don't contain any mercury. The highest source of mercury in America’s air and water results from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, at utilities that supply electricity. Since a compact fluorescent bulb uses 75 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb, and lasts at least six times longer, it is responsible for far less mercury pollution in the long run. A coal-burning power plant will emit four times more mercury to produce the electricity for an incandescent bulb than for a compact fluorescent.

Sounds good to me.

A fellow Revolutionary found

I found a site touting the Energy Revolution, and here is a link to the Wall Street Journal's Energy Roundup.

If only it were easier . . .

I was looking for info about hybrid cars and came across eartheasy.com. They've got all sorts of tips for energy conservation, from natural cooling to recycling to, of course, hybrid cars. Its great to see how you can use technology (or refrain from using it, by turning off lights you aren't using, for instance) in so many different ways to be more energy efficient. What strikes me is that many of the easiest methods to cut back on energy use also cut into the energy inefficient lifestyles so many people, myself included, take for granted. This leads to the hypocrisy problem--"Green" advocates who appear to be more about appearances and less about action. (Here's what I've come across lately: Teresa Heinz, Laurie David (producer of An Inconvenient Truth) and this.) But the Green Tech Revolution moves on.

Bright Idea

Compact fluorescent bulbs are an easy and (over the long term) economical way to cut back on electricity use. Look here for a review by Popular Mechanics showing the best-in-class of the 8 bulbs they tested. I just bought my first four bulbs. I'm curious about the environmental impacts caused in manufacturing and disposing CFLs (as compared to incandescents), but the energy efficiency gains make CFLs the kind of "green tech" that anyone can implement.

A New Blog is Born

Green Tech Revolution (GTR) focuses on environmental awareness and energy efficiency. GTR lives at the intersection of Walden and The World is Flat: a place where individuals can make an international difference in the natural and human environments.

Long Live the Revolution!