How the Internet Gave Me a Voice: Skepticism and Poetry

Craig Newmark via Paper Camera

Today is Internet Freedom Day and Craig Newmark asks "How does the Internet give you a voice?"

When Craig asks something, I feel compelled to respond. Not because he is the founder of Craigslist or because he posts some awesome photos of birds or because Leonard Cohen is his Rabbi.

Rather, it's because he is a champion of causes like veteran's issues and Internet Freedom. (Well, maybe his bird photos do have a special appeal.)

The Internet gave me a voice --actually two voices. One for my skepticism and another for my poetry.

First, the poetry. It was the late 1990s when I first realized the power of the Internet to give voice to my poetry or, more to the point, gave me an audience.

My poems had recently won the Nebraska Review Award and Aldrich Emerging Poets Award, but you couldn't find the winning poems anywhere. The Nebraska Review had to scrap the initial printing of the issue with my winning poems because of a printing error.

Then I got an email from an undergraduate student at a small liberal arts college in Cupertino, California. She had found some of my poetry on the Internet and wanted to write about my work for her assignment. (You can read her essay here: Essay on the Poetry of Scott Edward Anderson)

A total stranger all the way across country found my writing on the Internet.

And now, all these years later, many more have read my work through online magazines and journals and my poetry blog: Seapoetry

More readers have read my poetry than ever could read it in the Nebraska Review or almost any other print publication.

And since 2004 this blog, The Green Skeptic, provided a platform to question the assumptions we make about how we conserve the earth's resources and invest in green technology.

The Internet is many things. At its best, it is a community of voices where there was formerly silence.

Like any community, to paraphrase Parker Palmer, it is where the some of the writers you least want to read do their blogging. But the community of the Internet is richer for the diversity of its voices.

Visit Craig's call to action here: Craig Connects

How does the Internet give you a voice?

Earth Day 2012: Maya Lin's "What Is Missing?"

Maya Lin and me discussing "What is Missing?" in 2008.

A few years ago, Maya Lin told me about her plans for a "last memorial," an ongoing, multimedia, multi-site project that unfolds every Earth Day. 

She calls it "What is Missing?" 

I wrote about one component, "Unchopping a Tree," back in 2009.

Another component is a global online memorial that Lin hopes will "connect us personally to what we are witnessing diminish or disappear from nature, in the hope that raising awareness about these poignant stories of loss will help spur action."

Last year, she quietly launched phase one: a Map of Memory. But, as Maya says, "to focus only on loss was too depressing, which is why we waited until this Earth Day to go public." 

The second phase is called Conservation in Action and features stories about ecological restoration and conservation around the world. 

On the site viewers can learn what is being done by conservation groups to protect what is missing before it is missing, including partners such as  Cornell Lab of Ornithology and World Wildlife Fund. 

"We are here to give people hope that so much is being done to help," says Lin.

Yesterday, Maya sent around a helpful guide for using the site:

Click on Time Travel  to go between map of past (the Map of Memory) and the present (Conservation in Action).  

Check out View in Time and View in Place  and see what happens.  

Then select Sort   to better understand the content.(On the Map of the Present, Red 's and green 's highlight conservation successes and disasters) we also allow you to see all the Core Videos we have produced. Those Core Video dots have a sound rollover. With over 600 historical entries on the Map of Memory, you can learn about what the world used to be like from an environmental standpoint.

Lin also wants this to be a truly interactive memorial, where you can add your own memory of what is missing for you -- a place that was important to you that is now paved over or a species that meant a lot to you that is no longer found where you remember it being. She also wants to know about the work you and others are doing to help save or restore a place that's important to you.

"What Is Missing?" Screenshot

Throughout her career, Maya Lin has challenged us to look at the world differently. Her art and architecture often use elements of the natural world to shake up our perception of what is around us. Her memorials have changed the way we think about memorials and how we interact with them and with our memories.


With "What is Missing?" Lin challenges us again to think differently about our relationship to the Earth and the species with which we share the planet.


This Earth Day, take stock of what is missing and spend some time on "What is Missing?" contributing your own memories.

My Next Step on the Path: Ernst & Young's Global Cleantech Center

The author ponders his path on Block Island.

A few years ago I announced the launch of my consultancy VerdeStrategy here on The Green Skeptic.

I've enjoyed working with some great clients in a consulting and advisory capacity for marketing, capital raising, and strategic positioning. I've helped some great companies and entrepreneurs navigate often stormy waters of the past few years. 

But I missed being a part of a team, part of an entity larger than myself and a few colleagues who came together on specific projects. I missed the camaraderie that comes from an enterprise of shared vision and objectives. 

So now I'm embarking on a different path. 

This week I joined Ernst & Young's Global Cleantech Center to direct their marketing strategy. I'm becoming a part of a great team of experts and thought leaders in the cleantech space, including Gil Forer, Scott Sarazen, and John De Yonge. You can read some of their writing on the cleantech opportunity in their Global Cleantech Insights and Trends Report for 2011.

With Ernst & Young, I'm joining an even larger global team of assurance, tax, transaction, and advisory professionals that share my values -- values that have been consistent throughout my career with The Nature Conservancy, Ashoka, and VerdeStrategy.

I'm excited about this new opportunity in my life and work. And I hope to be able to continue to share my sector insights through The Green Skeptic and my commentary on FOX Business and other media.

Meanwhile, a hearty thank you to my clients and friends for your support over the past few years. And apologies to my readers for the lack of posts over the past few weeks as I sorted out this transition.

Keep in touch and stay skeptical!

The Green Skeptic on FOX Business: Is Algae the Answer?

I sat down this morning with Charles Payne of Varney & Co on FOX Business to talk aboiut algae biofuels and if such alternative fuels provide a solution to our fossil fuel constrained future.


Here is the video:




And here is a link in case your browser doesn't support the video format: The Green Skeptic on FOX Business

The Green Skeptic on FOX Business: Solar Energy, Disgruntled Environmentalists and Rising Gas Prices

I sat down with Stuart Varney this morning on FOX Business News for a lightning round on solar power competitiveness versus conventional electricity, an environmentalist's dissatisfaction with Obama's lack of leadership on environmental issues, and $5 dollar gas.

Here's the video:



And here is a link in case your browser doesn't support the player:

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1457836159001/

Always fun to do these lightning rounds with Stuart.

Have a great weekend!

The Green Skeptic on Payne Nation - Blowin' in the Wind?

Charles Payne of Payne Nation

This evening I spoke with Charles Payne at Payne Nation radio about wind power, production tax credits, and the benefits of removing subsidies for all energy. And my economy song of the day is "Mind Games" by John Lennon.

Here is the show in mp3 (I start at around 10:00):

The Green Skeptic on Payne Nation

Cleanweb Hackathon Focuses on Killer Apps Built in a Day...or Two

Hackers hacking at Cleanweb Hackathon, NYC.

What if you put a bunch of developers in the room, gave them access to datasets and APIs and set them loose on the planet's resource problems over a weekend?

Well, the folks behind Cleanweb Hackathon did just that on Saturday and Sunday in New York City.

The result may just be the start of a revolution in cleanweb solutions. The cleanweb, as defined by the hackathon's organizers, uses information technology, the Internet, and social media to address the issues of energy, transportation, and smart grid.

"Information technology is the most powerful lever we have to address resource constraints," as Sunil Paul of Spring Ventures told the audience at NYU's Tisch Center of the Arts before Sunday's project presentations.

Some of the intriguing projects from this weekend include TripWatchers, which founder Ryan Rzepecki calls the "Weight Watchers for vehicle owners," allows drivers to log their routes, track vehicle-related expenses and receive suggestions for how to reduce the impact of their travel such as potential car pooling and public transportation alternatives.

The audience choice award and best overall hack went to Econofy "E-Star," a web-based rating system of consumer products that allows for visual comparison shopping around energy efficiency.

Another cool hack was NYC BLDG, which tracks the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of city buildings in real-time and puts them into competition.

Hackers will hack for food.

And building on the "Occupy Rooftops" theme of its community solar day back in November, SolarMosaic created Mosaic Map, a web app that maps solar projects socially and in real-time. The idea is to allow project developers to find financing and generate leads for financiers such as, well, SolarMosaic.

The original Cleanweb Hackathon was held last September in San Francisco and another is planned for later  this year. There's even a Bay Area-based business incubator for the cleanweb called Greenstart.

Dave Graham, founder of Greenstart, said "If Y Combinator had a love child with IDEO at the intersection of energy and IT, it would be Greenstart." Greenstart has invested in nine companies so far, putting them through a 12-week intensive program. Graham noted there is a March 5th deadline for the next round of applicants.

I've long argued for more focus on the killer apps that will make a difference today in the cleantech and energy space. Cleanweb drives us closer to a more capital and energy efficient model. Events like this one may be the start of a cleanweb revolution.

The Green Skeptic on Payne Nation - Keystone XL

Charles Payne of Payne Nation

I spoke with Charles Payne of Payne Nation radio about the Keystone XL Pipeline this evening. In case you missed it, here is the show:

Here is an mp3 of the show (I'm up around 10:00):

The Green Skeptic on Payne Nation

Tar Sands, Pipelines and Nukes: The Green Skeptic on FOX Business

This morning I sat down with Charles Payne on FOX Business's Varney & Co to talk tar sands, the Keystone XL pipeline, and environmental victories.

My opinions shouldn't surprise you if you're a regular reader of The Green Skeptic.

Here's the video:



And here is a link in the event that your browser doesn't accept the format:

The Green Skeptic on FOX Business

An Email from Santa to Climate Skeptics: An Annual Green SkepticTradition

A few Christmases ago, I published this email from Santa, which arrived on the night before the night before Christmas. Readers had so much fun with it, it's become an annual tradition. Enjoy!

And have a Happy Holiday.

Scott, aka The Green Skeptic
_______________________


TO: Global Warming Skeptics
FROM: Santa Claus
DATE: A few nights before Xmas
SUBJECT: My Christmas List
_________________________

This is Santa, writing from the North Pole. Soon I'll be gathering all the toys for all the good little girls and boys and packing them in my sleigh to begin our journey, our night of nights.

The reindeer, however, are starting to complain about hoof-rot. Apparently, they've been standing around in too much slush. This has put me in a decidedly prickly mood this Christmas.

You know me; I'm not a single-issue guy. I believe that as long as you are good, and I mean good for goodness' sake, you deserve some slack on the other stuff. I'm an equal opportunity distributor. I know whether you've been bad or good or just plain evil. You also know I'm not one to discriminate against one group of people or another, believers or non-believers.

But this year is different. This year, I'm making a few changes to my list. I'm checking it twice and have decided that the naughty include any one of you out there who do not believe in global warming. All you climate change skeptics out there, you are on the naughty list this year.

Oh, you know who you are. And I've got one special gift for you: Nothing but COAL. You like the stuff so much -- and it's such a big part of what's leading to climate change -- you might as well have bags and bags of it and nothing more.

Make no mistake. Global warming is happening. You don't have to show me any scientific reports, although some nifty ones have shown up in my email box lately, sent to me from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

No, you don't have to convince me; I'm a believer. All I have to do is look out my window to my back yard, what's left of it! It's a soupy mess out there.

We usually have a good bit of ice up here at the North Pole -- and early. That's important, too; you see, every year the elves and I construct a temporary workshop up here where we make the toys and assemble the other goodies. The earlier the ice, the sooner we get started.

Although I have figured out a way to deliver the entire shipment of gifts on my list in one night, I still haven't perfected the manufacturing process. I can't speed it up. (Some of that I blame on the unions.) We need all the ice we can get up here for there is no solid ground.

But this year, the ice cover was the lowest it's been in almost 30 years. And at least one of those science groups studying this stuff tells me that, according to their models, by 2040, we'll have mostly open water up here. (They sent me this short animation clip, which sends chills up my spine: Arctic Ice Melt.)

Mrs. Claus has even started looking for Houseboats on Craig's List!

So, dear boys and girls, you better not pout or cry or whine or deny climate change any longer. And I'm telling you why: because climate change is coming to town. Time's a wasting. We need to do something about this now, before it's too late. Or before I have to move all of my operations to the South Pole!

Here's wishing a carbon-neutral Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

S. Claus, North Pole

Related articles

• The war on Santa Claus (and Superman) (climateprogress.org)
• "Wikileaks releases alleged US Candid Assessment of Santa Claus, North Pole" and related posts (lifeafterjerusalem.blogspot.com)
• Santa Claus: All children will be rated by flying robots (guardian.co.uk)
• Texts, Web really do allow Santa to be everywhere (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Air Van Moving Company Confirms its Ties to the North Pole this Holiday Season (prweb.com)
• 9 Books About The 'Real' Santa Claus And The History of Christmas (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)
• 10 YouTube Videos That Prove That Santa Exists (socialtimes.com)

Wind Industry Just Hot Air? The Green Skeptic on FOX Business

On Tuesday I sat down with Stuart Varney & Company on FOX Business to talk about wind power and the relative merits of distributed generation versus big wind farms, including the need for transmission and grid infrastructure improvements to make big wind viable.

Here's the video:



And here's a link in case the player doesn't work in your browser: Green Skeptic on FOX Business

My Interview with Ingrid Vanderveldt, Dell's Entrepreneur-in-Residence

While speaking at SXSW ECO back in early October, I was interviewed by Ingrid Vanderveldt, Dell's Entreprenuer-in-Residence. We talked about being a skeptic in a green-enthusiast world and about looking for the killer apps in cleantech that are here today rather than waiting for the game-changing platforms of tomorrow.

Here is the interview:



And here is a link to the interview on YouTube, in case the player doesn't work in your browser: Green Skeptic on EIR at DELL

A Tale of Two Cleantech Companies: My Presentation from IMPACT 2011

Today I presented "A Tale of Two Cleantech Companies: A case study of what leads to a successful exit or a stunning failure" at the IMPACT 2011 Venture Summit Mid-Atlantic in Philadelphia, PA.

I told the stories of Solyndra and CPower and how they failed and succeeded, respectively.

Here are my slides from the presentation:

Scott Edward Anderson A Tale of Two Cleantech Companies

View more presentations from Scott Edward Anderson.

And here is a transcript of my notes/talking points on Scribd: A Tale of Two Cleantech Companies

7th Inning Stretch: A Note of Thanks from The Green Skeptic

One of my favorite quotes about the writer-reader relationship is from Walter Lowenfels. I keep it at the top of my poetry blog as a reminder. Lowenfels wrote,

"One reader is a miracle; two, a mass movement."

I try to keep those words in mind every day as a writer.

On this the seventh anniversary of The Green Skeptic, I want to thank you, dear readers. I am grateful for your support, your comments, and your readership. I hope you are finding some sustenance here.

Seven years ago I wrote in the first post for this blog,

"As 'The Green Skeptic' I propose to create a web voice that is at once environmentally concerned, while remaining skeptical about our methods of communication and action. My blog will explore current environmental issues in a pragmatic fashion, debunking environmental myths, while supporting market-based solutions that compliment actions taken both locally and globally."

While this blog is about "challenging assumptions about how we live on the earth and protect our environment," it is also about the practice of writing.

Two bloggers I read regularly wrote eloquently about writing this week, Fred Wilson and Joshua Brown.

Fred wrote on A VC that through blogging

"I have learned to love writing. It's creative. It's a puzzle. How do I tell the story? How do I get my point across? How do I do it crisply and clearly? How do I end it on a strong note?"

Joshua, who writes the excellent blog, The Reformed Broker, suggested,

"It is in the writing that I discover what I actually think.  It is in the writing and the communicating of ideas and concepts that they truly become mine.  This is a cognitive learning thing that is very widely understood in the education world.  When I'm blogging there are two things that are happening - you, the reader, are being exposed to something I think might be important and I, the writer, am crystallizing my own beliefs and understanding of the topic at hand."

Writing is important to me. As I've written elsewhere on this blog,

"I have always been a writer -- it's all I've really ever wanted to be. Sure, I do a lot of other things, always have, much of which I've stopped doing over the years. But I'll never stop writing. It's who I am. I'm a writer."

As we mark this seventh year of The Green Skeptic together, I want to thank you again for reading. I hope to keep up my end of the bargain moving forward with good, informed writing about the issues, a healthy skepticism about both hyperbole and hysteria and, most of all, a respect for you, my readers.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Beacon Power and Other Gov't VC Bets: The Green Skeptic on FOX Business

I sat down yesterday with Stuart Varney, Elizabeth MacDonald and company to talk about Beacon Power's bankruptcy and what the government should and should not be doing in clean energy.  Hint: It's not playing venture capitalist.

Here's the video:



And here is a link if the player doesn't work in your browser: Green Skeptic on FOX Business

The Green Skeptic on FOX Business: EU Emissions Permits Won't Fly

I sat down with Stuart Varney & Company in the FOX Business Studios this morning to talk about the EU proposal to require airlines to pay to offset carbon through its carbon credit scheme.

This flies in the face a long-standing global effort, which would have more consistent impact.

In other words, this permit scheme won't fly, in my humble opinion.

Here is is the video:




And here is a link if the player doesn't work in your browser: The Green Skeptic on FOX Business

The Trouble With Air-Conditioners | The Energy Collective

Image by takomabibelot via Flickr
Con Edison has been promoting green initiatives for some time now, but certain problems impede their progress: dense urban environments are ill-suited to the promise of smart meter technologies, consumer behaviors are hard to change, and there are those pesky window air conditioners.

Yes, window air conditioners.

Read my post in The Energy Collective

Cheaper Solar Energy Through Leasing: The Green Skeptic on LunchBreak

I sat down today with Wendy Bounds of WSJ.com's new LunchBreak program to talk about solar leasing and two companies, SolarCity and SunRun, making solar energy generation more affordable for homeowners.

Here is the video:



And her is a link to the program: The Green Skeptic on WSJ.com's LunchBreak

Green Jobs, Gore's Gaff & Government Getting Out of the Way: The Green Skeptic on FOX

This morning I talked with Stuart Varney about green jobs, Al Gore's bizarre statement equating climate skeptics with racists, and getting the government out of the way of private sector job creation.

Here's the video:




And here's a link in case the player doesn't work in your browser: The Green Skeptic on FOX

Ray Anderson, Self-styled "Radical Industrialist," 1934-2011

You have to marvel at someone who styled himself a "radical industrialist."

That's what Ray Anderson called himself in title of his book, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist, which I reviewed here.  An entreprenuer, company builder, and visionary, Anderson founded Interface in 1973 to produce the first free-laying carpet tiles in America.

Ray Anderson lost his battle with cancer yesterday at the age of 77.

His company revolutionized the commercial floor-covering industry and became the world's largest manufacturer of modular carpet, which such brands as InterfaceFLOR, FLOR, Heuga, and Bentley Prince Street.

In 1994, Anderson had an epiphany that set his company on a new course, trying to prove -- some say successfully -- that an industrial manufacturing company can embrace sustainability and profitability. Their goal was to make Interface and its individual carpet brands use no new raw materials.

It all started with what he called, as he titled his 1998 book, a "Mid-Course Correction":

"In 1994, at age sixty and in my company’s twenty-second year, I steered Interface on a new course—one designed to reduce our environmental footprint while increasing our profits. I wanted Interface, a company so oil-intensive you could think of it as an extension of the petrochemical industry, to be the first enterprise in history to become truly sustainable—to shut down the smokestacks, close off its effluent pipes, to do no harm to the environment and take nothing not easily renewed by the earth. Believe me when I say the goal is one enormous challenge."

Through his books, many talks, and his daily life, Anderson made the business case for sustainability.  His was a brand of environmentalism, as he put it, "with good old capitalist self-interest firmly in mind."

The one word that describes Ray Anderson best is authentic.

He was an inspiration -- a hero, really -- to those of us who believe that profit and purpose are not mutually exclusive and, in fact, are necessary to the success of any business.

Here is Ray Anderson speaking at the TED conference in 2009: