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sheaman42

Last seen: 4 hours ago

Shea is a 31 year old guy from Portland, Maine, USA

I cover green politics, renewable energy, and climate change for MNN.com, play a lot of Ultimate Frisbee, and love living a greener small city life in Portland, Maine.

  • Livermores Centennial Light Live Cam

    Rated 07:33am • 7 reviews • bizarre oddities, energy, light • centennialbulb.org

    This bulb has been running continuously for 105 years.
    2,204 views
    Livermores Centennial Light Live Cam

  • U.S. Military Wary About Offshore Wind Power Off Coast of...

    Rated Nov 20 • 1 review • environment, military, energy industry, energy • treehugger.com

    From the page: "Maryland Offshore Wind Development
    Martin O'Malley, the governor of Maryland, would like to see offshore wind power developed off the cost of his state, but the U.S. military has expressed fears that the turbines could "disrupt flight and weapon test ranges, as well as erroneously appear on radar as unidentifiable aircraft." Three military bases in the region are using that area in the Atlantic for training missions and flight tests.

    Politicians are also hesitant because the Navy is spending a lot of money in the area, and they're afraid of losing these investments if they do something that makes life harder for them.

    I hope that a deal can be reached and that the offshore wind turbines can be built. We need all the clean power we can get right now, and it seems like there could be a technical solution to this problem. The military probably isn't using 100% of that airspace for its trainings, and there might be a way to minimize the problems with radars; after all, it could be possible to know how fast the turbines are spinning at any given moment and to figure out - with the help of some software - what kind of radar interferences should be expected at any moment so that they can be safely ignored. This might not be something simple to do, but it would probably turn out to be useful in many other locations in the future as offshore wind becomes more popular, and it could increase the overall reliability of radar systems."
    76 views
    U.S. Military Wary About Offshore Wind Power Off Coast of Maryland : TreeHugger

  • U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry|...

    Rated Nov 19 • 1 review • environment, energy, green, laundry • reuters.com

    From the page: "PERKASIE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Carin Froehlich pegs her laundry to three clotheslines strung between trees outside her 18th-century farmhouse, knowing that her actions annoy local officials who have asked her to stop.

    Froehlich is among the growing number of people across America fighting for the right to dry their laundry outside against a rising tide of housing associations who oppose the practice despite its energy-saving green appeal.

    Although there are no formal laws in this southeast Pennsylvania town against drying laundry outside, a town official called Froehlich to ask her to stop drying clothes in the sun. And she received two anonymous notes from neighbors saying they did not want to see her underwear flapping about."
    10 views
    U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry| Green Business| Reuters

  • Is Warren Buffetts Railway Buy a Billion Dollar Bet on...

    Rated Nov 05 • 1 review • business, environment, energy • treehugger.com

    The initial reaction to news that the Oracle from Omaha was investing billions of dollars in BNSF railway was positive--Mike noted that it could lead to a number of positive developments: potentially more passenger rail lines, a higher profile for railroad transportation in general, and further investment in other rail lines from other finance big guns. But there's a downside to his purchase as well--the rail Buffett bought transports some 1/5th of America's coal. Is Buffett's investment therefore a bet that coal will need to be shipped into the foreseeable future?

    That's The New Republic's Bradford Plumer's take:

    the BNSF railway serves a lot of coal fields in the West, including Wyoming's vast Powder River Basin, and hauls enough coal on its routes to supply about 10 percent of the electricity in the United States. So Buffett's essentially betting that coal's going to remain a major part of the U.S. energy mix for quite some time, even as the country moves to cut carbon emissions.
    4 views
    Is Warren Buffetts Railway Buy a Billion Dollar Bet on Big Coal? : TreeHugger

  • Compass: The True Impact of Coal Mining

    Rated Nov 05 • 1 review • environment, energy, west virginia, mountaintop removal mining, coal • typepad.com

    We learned with sadness this week that blasting has begun on Coal River Mountain in West Virginia, site of a long battle between Massey Energy and local residents who want the mountain to be a site for 200 wind turbines instead of mountaintop removal coal mining.

    Massey has ignored these pleas, despite research showing that a wind farm would bring more jobs and economic stability to the area - and certainly less environmental destruction.

    And while we frequently talk about the impact of mountaintop removal coal mining, a Sierra Club Beyond Coal activity from our northwest region last week brings to the forefront the reality of coal mining in the western U.S. as well. The northwest "Dirty Little Secret" regional tour showed residents in Washington and Oregon the tour's namesake: that the region is hooked on coal power, and its use and mining devastate many communities.

    Part of the tour included speeches from Wyoming rancher LJ Turner and Northern Cheyenne Tribe members Otto and Barbara Braided Hair from southeast Montana. All three have seen the impacts of coal mining in the Powder River Basin up close, and they shared their experiences with the crowds along the tour's stops.
    1 view
    Compass: The True Impact of Coal Mining

  • Next Generation Wind Turbine Produces 3 Times the Power |...

    Rated Nov 04 • 4 reviews • alternative energy, science, energy, gadgets, wind • greenlivingideas.com

    From the page: "A radical new design in wind turbines takes a page from the design of jet turbine technology to generate three times the amount of power as a standard wind generator using propellers. The Dragonfly Wind Turbine uses three sub chambers working in line to speed up the airflow inside the turbine, which may have far-reaching potential in the wind energy field."
    578 views
    Next Generation Wind Turbine Produces 3 Times the Power | Green Living Ideas

  • Very Promising! Zinc-Air Battery Could Hold 300% More...

    Rated Oct 28 • 4 reviews • environment, science, energy, electric cars • treehugger.com

    From the page: "Might This Be the One We've Been Waiting For?
    Not quite as impressive on paper as the lithium-air battery we wrote about (which claimed 10x more energy storage than regular lithium-ion), but it might turn out to be easier to take out of the lab and bring to market. ReVolt Technology, a company based in Staefa, Switzerland, claims that its Zinc-air battery can "store three times the energy of lithium ion batteries, by volume, while costing only half as much," and unlike other existing air batteries, this one would be rechargeable. It is planning to start by selling small ones for hearing aids and then progressively scale up to portable electronics and electric cars. "
    9,543 views
    Very Promising! Zinc-Air Battery Could Hold 300% More Energy Than Lithium-Ion : TreeHugger

  • Will a Mac Mini Pay for Itself in Power Savings? :...

    Rated Oct 27 • 6 reviews • computers, energy, green, environment, mac os • treehugger.com

    From the page: "This Guy Says Yes, But It's More Complicated Than That...
    A blogger recently claimed that his new Mac Mini would be paying for itself within two years because his power bill had been slashed by half (see the screen grab below). His headline ("Free Apple Mac Mini. No Strings Attached!") was of course sensationalistic, but there is an important truth behind it: People too often forget to look at the total cost of ownership (TCO) when they're buying computers and other electronics, and making them more aware of it is a good opportunity to encourage good green practices."
    483 views
    Will a Mac Mini Pay for Itself in Power Savings? : TreeHugger

  • Energy Citizens Commercial- Big Oil and a Pack of Lies

    Rated Oct 26 • 4 reviews • activism, politics, media, energy, oil • twilightearth.com

    From the page: "Youâ€ve seen the Energy Citizens Commercial. What you may not have noticed is that itâ€s paid for by the American Petroleum Institute.

    A new oil industry-funded program called Energy Citizens has released a TV commercial stating â€oe$4 gas; yet another unfortunate truth about congress†climate bill. Make your voice heard now. Go to EnergyCitizens.org.”

    Their website notes that â€oeThe Heritage Foundation has forecast gasoline prices could increase $1.38 per gallon by 2035. That means gasoline could easily reach, if not exceed, $4.00 a gallon.”"
    205 views
    Energy Citizens Commercial- Big Oil and a Pack of Lies

  • 10 Easy Ways to Cut Your Energy Bill This Winter | Energy...

    Rated Oct 26 • 1 review • environment, efficiency, energy, heating • greenlivingonline.com

    Finding ways to cut your electricity bill doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, it's the simple choices we make that can have a biggest impact. In Adria Vasil's new book, Ecoholic Home (being released just in time for winter!), Canada's favourite "ecoholic" reminds us that cracking down on old energy-wasting habits around the house will ease the drain on your already-suffering bank accounts. "Just ask your grandparents," she writes. "Savings energy, saving resources--saves you money." Plus, reducing your energy needs will ultimately benefit your whole community.

    So try these 10 small things before the snow flies:
    70 views
    10 Easy Ways to Cut Your Energy Bill This Winter | Energy Slideshow | Green Living