Tag: the future

Leave the world better than you found it.

On By StevoIn anthropology, climate change, COVID-19, critical thinking, earth, electric vehicles, energy, Environment, EV, NASA, nature, nature vs. nurture, renewable energy, Science, seekers, space, Uncategorized, wildlife conservationLeave a comment

When I was a kid I would go outside and play and later ask my parents and doctors why I would cough and why my eyes, nose, throat, and lungs would burn and feel raw.

My parents and doctors would answer: it is air pollution from the burning of dirty fossil fuels that power our energy and transportation systems.

This is when I first learned what air pollution is – and how it impacts our health.

Then I would ask the adults this: if using these dirty fuels to run our society also harms our health – then why do we keep using these fuels?

They would answer with things like “It’s the smell of progress, the smell of money!” “It is just the way things are, accept it, move on, go outside, and play – oh, and stop thinking too much.”

WTF!

At the same time, I was spending around 1.5 hours a day riding to and from school on a school bus. The diesel exhaust was an everpresent aroma inside the bus. At the time I had no idea that I was inhaling concentrated toxic microscopic particulate matter originating from the combustion of the diesel fuel that powered the bus – and neither did all the other children. At the time, all I was concerned with while on the bus was staying away from all the toxic bullies I was trapped in the bus with – little did I know I was also inhaling toxic particles that were harming my health.

During this era my adoptive dad was also smoking himself to death. I said to him on many occasions – isn’t smoking just putting air pollution into your body? He said yes. He also said he knew that it was bad for his health, made him cough, poisoned and hurt his lungs, shortened his life, and cost our family loads of money. He often strongly told us kids to never ever do this terrible thing that he was doing all the time because it was harmful, dangerous, and expensive.

WTF! What was all this, all these conflicting signals? They were so very confusing to the mind of a child – and they are still confusing to the mind of an adult. (BTW: All this early exposure to air pollution during my developmental years later became allergies, asthma, and countless sinus infections.

Dad kept smoking and he died in his early 50s.

WTF! WHY?

I was dumbstruck by these apparent deep, dark, dirty problems that nobody seemed to want to change. They just kept up with the intentional, self-harming practices as if there were no tomorrow.

Again – WTF! WHY?

I then learned about all the anthropogenic pollution, global warming/climate change, the ozone hole, acid rain, species extinctions, desertification, sea level rise, etc, and the fact that all these things were tied to the uncontrolled rate at which our species was (and still is) burning fossil fuels.

During this time I also learned about addiction. I put 2 and 2 together and I realized that just as my dad had been addicted to tobacco and it had killed him, our society was addicted to fossil fuels and if we did not change – we were on the same path as my dad had been – a path that leads at best to misery and suffering and at worst – to our own extinction.

Yet again – WTF!

WTF was wrong with people???

Aren’t we Homo sapiens supposed to be the thinking apes???

If so, something is greatly wrong with our thinkers.

In middle school, high school, and later university, I learned that a great many everyday heroes were slowly and methodically working to end our toxic addiction to toxic fuels. They were inventing and putting into place new technologies and new laws that cleaned up our fuels, the atmosphere, and the waters and therefore our health and our shared futures.

Their efforts paid off and sometime in my early twenties my eyes, nose, and throat stopped burning and tingling when I would go outside in the summer – this was a direct result of the policies and technological advancements that limit and mitigate pollution from factories and power plants as well as require all fossil fuel-powered vehicles to have pollution reduction and control devices installed on their engines.

At the same time, others were inventing better energy sources based on renewable, non-polluting fuel sources that use the infinite clean energies of nature – the sun, wind, water, geothermal (and now even gravity energy) to make much cleaner energy that has far less of an impact on our health and shared future. A few years later others built modern vehicles powered by electricity – electricity that can be generated by the before-mentioned, domestically-sourced, energy-secure, renewable energy sources thereby starting the transition to a cleaner, more sustainable energy and transportation future.

Unfortunately for all of us there were and are powerful factions in government, religion, and the corporate sector teaming up and working together to spread Fear Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) about these new developments in a well-funded attempt to keep these technologies, innovations, and laws from being adopted by the masses. Why are they doing this? The answer is very simple – dirty money – and lots of it. These forces are more concerned with money than the future of all life on planet Earth. They are greedy, selfish humans whose only concern is the acquisition of as much wealth as possible at the expense of the environment and all the life it supports.

Today, and even with the greedy FUD manufacturing factions, I have even more hope for the future with renewable energy sources – especially rooftop solar – at prices, almost anyone can afford, fleets of quick, reliable electric vehicles hitting the roads, technological breakthroughs in clean energy happening almost daily, and so many great and forward-thinking people following the evidence and the science and making great and positive choices that will lead us into the future – all great reasons to continue forward and not just crawl into a hole somewhere and die.

This is why I follow the path of science and engineering – not narrow, self-serving politics, religions, and false prophets following only the profits.

This is why I let evidence, logic, and common sense be my guide to making the big decisions in my life.

This is why I am who I am.

This is why I fight for nature.

This is why I fight for the future.

This is why I teach.

Fight for change.

Be the change.

Do only good things.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to change, it’s not.” – The Lorax

Are you a thinking being?

On By StevoIn anthropology, conspiracy, critical thinking, Environment, nature vs. nurture, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I often get the feeling/impression that when some humans speak, they are not speaking from a place of conscious, mindful, thought, but from a sort of pre-recorded, instinctual, canned,  emotional response/outburst to an external input trigger.

This makes me ponder in real time, how many of us are actually using our amazing brains for actual critical thought based on the input of new evidence…or as simply a reflector on endless repeat for out-of-date and even toxic information absorbed during an earlier programming phase in our short existence.

Only you have the power to delete and rewrite your earlier programming with new and improved updates.

Upgrade your thoughts.

Use your brain.

Think before you speak.

Do Good and Pretti things.

One Love.

Peace.

Follow Through

On By StevoIn anthropology, critical thinking, earth, nature, religion, seek, seekers, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Something I have learned by living so long:

If you always follow through and do what you say you will do, if you do good things that support others, animals, and nature, and if you do those things above and beyond what is required – more good things will come back to you in great and helpful quantities.

The Universe, Gaia, God/Ja/Allah, The Great Spirit, Karma…something far larger than we little apelike creatures, notices our good actions and supports them with even more good things.

Do only good things.

Do what you say you will do.

Follow through.

Leave things better than you found them.

One Love.

Peace.

*photo of a Monarch chrysalis on a Milkweed in my garden as an attention grabber.

What do you perceive?

On By StevoIn anthropology, climate change, conspiracy, critical thinking, earth, energy, Environment, nature, nature vs. nurture, religion, Science, seek, space, UncategorizedLeave a comment

“The freedom we seek is to use our own mind and body, to live our own life, instead of the life of the belief system.”

“Everything you perceive is being filtered through your entire belief system. And the result of interpreting everything you perceive by using everything you believe is your personal dream, an entire virtual reality in your mind. Perhaps you can see how easy it is for humans to distort what we perceive. Light reproduces a perfect image of what is real, but we distort the image by creating a story with all those opinions and beliefs that we learned. We dream about it with our imagination, and by agreement we think that our dream is the absolute truth when the real truth is that our dream is a relative truth, a reflection of the truth that is always going to be distorted by all the knowledge we have stored in our memory.”

“The dream of life is really an illusion, and everybody lives in the reality he or she creates – a virtual reality that is only true for the one who creates it.”

“The truth is that beliefs and ideas only exist in one place: the human mind. They are not “out there” in the world, but rather the filter by which everything we perceive gets sorted.”

“Life as you perceive it is a reflection of your perceptions and beliefs. It is not real, but rather a dream. To some this may sound negative, but in fact it is positive because if your life is a dream, and you become aware of the fact that you are the dreamer, then you can consciously create the dream you want to see and live the life you want to live.”

“The dream you are living is your creation. It is your perception of reality that you can change at any time.
You have the power to create hell, and you have the power to create heaven. Why not dream a different dream? Why not use your mind, your imagination, and your emotions to dream heaven?”

~Don Jose Ruiz

(Art by ‘Felipe Posada’)

There are no rules other than those we create that say we must follow a belief system, be it religious or political or any other, in order to live on this planet in this time.  

True freedom is found only by freeing your mind from the ancient control systems devised by those who want to control you, your time, your energy, your money, and your consious.  Free your mind and use your finite amount of uptime to think for yourself and do good things for others, and for our planetray life support system.

Fossil Fuel Fools – revisited.

On By StevoIn climate change, conspiracy, critical thinking, earth, electric vehicles, elon musk, energy, Environment, EV, nature, renewable energy, Science, Uncategorized, wildlife conservationLeave a comment

In logical response to all the recent, and increasing negatively pitched “reports” and mud and FUD slinging being manufactured (by organizations funded by big oil) and spread all over the mainstream and social media about electric vehicles…and the ensuing wave of negative/emotional/thoughtless comments from oponents and haters in regards to the technology…I offer just the facts on EV’s from the point of view of an EV owner and educator of over a decade.

FACT: In 2013 I purchased a one year old 2012 Nissan Leaf (100% electric car) with 1,200 miles on the odometer. I drove the Leaf for over 6 years and 75,000 gas-free miles.

In 2019, I traded up to a new 2019 Chevy Bolt EV which i have driven over 80,000 miles and i am still driving today.

In 2025 I moved up yet again into a new, 2026 Chevy Silverado EV (CSEV) pickup that currently has clocked over 7000 miles on it odometer.

I drove all of these vehicles as daily drivers commuting to work daily and back in all weather, on paved and gravel roads, and up and down the mountains we call home. I drive an average of 40-45 miles/day and more on weekends. Due to the wonderful and growing EV charging network that continues to expand and open the roads to EV drivers – I can go almost anywhere with no problems. I have driven across NC, SC, TN, and several times to North central Florida without issue.

Here are a few of the most repeated myths followed by the peer-reviewed facts about EVs.

MYTH: It is very expensive to charge an EV.

FACT: Just the opposite. It costs me an average of 0 – .02 cents per mile to drive electric. I drive ~200 miles/week so for my use case I pay zero to $4/week for automotive fuel depending on where I charge my EV.
It is zero cost for fuel when I charge on solar-produced electricity (over 75% of the time). The remaining 25% of the charging is at home and rarely at community EV charging stations (level 2 and 3) where I usually pay around $2 – $12 to fully charge my EV and many of these stations are in fact – free. Many of these stations are also solar, hydroelectric, nuclear powered – so a good portion of that electric free-range fuel is renewably driven by locally produced energy sourced in the US (not half a world away in the mid east etc) and therefore, zero emissions and energy secure(no oil wars and dirty politics needed)!

FACT: Even when I account for the cost of all the electricity I have used to fuel both my EVs over the last decade – I have still saved many thousands of $$$$$ that I would have spent on single-use gas and oil had I continued to drive a toxic old fossil burner.

MYTH: EV’s have very short range, will run out of “juice” and leave you stranded.

FACT: While my LEAF did have very limited range at ~75 miles – the Bolt will travel up to 250 miles on a single charge and my CSEV will take me upwards of 475 miles on a single charge!! Like most newer Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powered vehicles they all have alert systems to let you know when your charge level is getting low. They also have sophisticated GPS navigation systems that allow you to plan your trip ahead of time taking into account stops at charging stations along the way.

While it is understandable that this lifestyle is not for everyone, advances are being made in the EV, battery, and charging infrastructure that, within a few years time, will put 500+ mile range capable EV’s on the roads from most of the world’s major auto makers.

FACT: No matter if you run out of a charge or you run out of gas – it is your fault for not planning ahead.

MYTH: “Electric Vehicles are not zero emissions, they run on coal, and are dirtier and more polluting than internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles that run on gas/diesel fuel.”

Let’s break it down.

FACT: Battery Electric Vehicles BEV’s (the focus of this report) do not run on anything but electricity and are themselves – truly and fully zero emission. That being said, depending on how that electricity is generated– the place it gets its electricity to charge its traction battery–could be “dirty” (coal) or “clean” (renewable energy) but in most places it is a combination of both so let’s dig deeper.

FACT: A small ICE car emits ~390 grams of Carbon Dioxide CO2/mile.

FACT: The average power consumed by a small EV is ~.25 KWh/mile.

FACT: ~907 grams of CO2/KWh is emitted from coal fired power plants in the dirtiest 100% coal-based electricity generation areas.

FACT: 907 (g) x .25 (KWh) = 226 grams/mile in dirtiest 100% coal-based electricity generation areas, which remains lower than the 390 grams from the small ICE car so in reality, even if your EV is charged in an area that gets all of its electricity from coal, EV’s are still cleaner than a comparable ICE powered vehicle… and FAR cleaner than these children.

MYTH: Building more EV’s will require us to build many more power plants to provide all the electricity to operate all of them.

FACT: EV’s are charged from the same utility grid that your mobile devices use. Like your devices, EV’s come with their own charging cable that plugs into a standard 120v outlet*. Like your mobile electronic devices they are most often charged at night, while you are sleeping, and when electricity generated from emissions-free wind (and no, wind turbines do not kill all the birds, feral cats, windows, pesticides and fossil fuels do), hydro, nuke power is in low demand, lower in cost, and goes mostly unused – so there is ample supply to power your EV. *In development now are inductive charging highway lanes that, when you need a charge, you will just simply drive in the lane and your car will charge while moving at speed! There are now available inductive charging pads (just like you can buy for mobile devices) but made for EV’s. This will eliminate the need to plug in your EV and one day you will be able to just park in an EV charging parking space or in your garage and your car will automatically start charging.

FACT: The US power grid is getting cleaner every day as more fossil fuel fired power plants are retired and more renewable energy power systems go online – so in these areas especially, EV’s are much cleaner.

FACT: Due to the fuel mix of the grid getting cleaner, EV’s get cleaner as they age. This is never a fact with ICE cars that constantly loose efficiency as they age due to wear and tear of all their moving parts.

Learn more here:
greencarreports.com/news/1086927_coal-makes-electric-cars-bad-no-plug-ins-show-coal-as-worse

and

ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/clean_vehicles/electric-car-global-warming-emissions-report.pdf

FACT: One parking space covered with a canopy of photovoltaic solar panels (2.5KW) in the southeast would produce around 3,292 KWh/year. This will operate an EV for around 13-16K miles of 100% emissions free driving on clean, sunshine generated electricity!

FACT: EV’s produce a portion of their own fuel via the process known as regenerative breaking – try to find an ICE powered vehicle that does that!

FACT: The average EV travels an average of 4 miles/Kilowatt hour (KWh) of electricity.

FACT: It takes 6 KWh of electricity to refine one gallon of gasoline (source US DOE).

FACT: The average EV can travel 24 miles on the power that it takes to refine just one gallon of gasoline!

FACT: It takes ~9 KWh of energy to extract and transport the crude oil that will be refined into that gasoline.

FACT: An EV could travel an additional 36 miles on this energy.

So, no new power plants are needed, especially if we do not produce the gallon of gas. So…get an EV, and drive 60 all-electric miles on the same amount of energy we are generating today to refine all that dirty gasoline…and fight all those wars to keep it flowing.

And…

Save the 44 gallons of water that it takes to refine that one gallon of gasoline! It is a no-brainer.

MYTH: It is very expensive to power an EV.

FACT: The average cost of electricity in the US is 12 cents/kWh. Therefore the average person driving an average EV 15,000 miles per year will pay about $540.00 per year to charge it. How much did you pay for gasoline/diesel last year? I bet it was much more than $540. Think about what could you have done with all that extra money you spent on gas and oil? Just think about it…or feel free to remain in denial of the facts. It is your choice, not mine – I made my choice decades ago.

FACT: Believe it or not – five 100 watt light bulbs left on continuously for a year use nearly the same amount of energy as it takes to power an electric car 15,000 miles! Here’s how: Five 100 watt light bulbs use 500 watts. In 24 hours they use 12,000 watt-hours or 12kWh. In 365 days they use 4,380kWh. A typical EV that uses 30 kWh for every 100 miles will use 4,500 kWh to drive 15,000 miles! Simply by turning unnecessary lighting off at your home, you can drastically reduce or completely eliminate your annual transportation fuel cost. Try doing that with an ICE powered vehicle! (The cost of LED lighting products has dropped recently so we have replaced almost all of our light bulbs in our house with LED’s. This has not only saved us money but we have also totally offset the cost of driving our EV just by upgrading our lights to LED!)

Learn more here: pluginamerica.org/drivers-seat/how-much-does-it-cost-charge-electric-car

Cars are not the only way you can reduce emissions by switching to EV’s

FACT: One piece of gas burning lawn equipment such as a lawn mower emits more hydrocarbon pollution into our shared atmosphere than a gasoline-guzzling crew-cab pickup truck! You would have to drive a 6.2L V8 truck almost 4000 miles to equal the emissions produced in 30 minuets of use by a gas powered 2-cycle engine such as a string trimmer (weed-eater). Why not use an all electric string trimmer or lawn mower—there are many available now and they all can even be fueled with renewable energy you can generate at home! I made the switch to all-electric lawn equipment over a decade ago and it just works. Even my two chain saws are all-electric.

MYTH: EV’s, solar, and wind power are not American because they do not create jobs or use the oil/gas that we fight deadly wars to acquire.

FACT: The Nissan Leaf is made in Smyrna Tennessee and provides good jobs to thousands of American and Tesla provides over 120,000 jobs!!

Today there are more Americans employed in solar construction/maintenance jobs than there are coal miners mining coal. The wind energy industry provides great jobs to over 50,000 Americans. And that’s just for starters…

FACT: Sourcing our energy domestically (be it solar, wind, hydro, coal—whatever the source) provides many good jobs to Americans and is much more efficient and much safer than traveling thousands of miles, dealing with governments—that are often hostile and feed money to terrorism groups—extracting it, then finally bringing it back to be refined and used only once- thats right, fossil fuels are single use and that single use comes at great cost and loss of life due to the needless wars that often must be fought to keep it flowing.

FACT: It is far more American to be self sufficient and produce your own energy at home, than it is to rely on an outside source to provide you with that energy.

FACT: You can power your home and your EV with off-the-shelf renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro, etc ) that you make at home…and even make a profit from the excess!

Maintenance

MYTH: EV’s are expensive to work on.

FACT: EV’s rarely need major servicing because they have fewer moving parts than ICE vehicles. EV’s have only a handful of moving parts in their power plant whereas the average ICE engine has thousands! Therefore, EV’s require far less maintenance to keep them “healthy” and are therefore they are much more economical to drive.

I have been driving electric for over a decade and over 160,000 miles, and my EVs have required no specialized routine maintenance by me other than the occasional washing and vacuuming, a set of new windshield wiper blades, adding a little air to the tires, and the occasional topping off of the washer fluid, changing the cabin air filters, and one set of brake pads on the LEAF – you know, the things you would need to do to any type of vehicular construct no matter its fuel source.

Had I been driving a legacy vehicle I would have had to spend far more time and money over the same time-frame. For example, to keep my 2013 Honda Pilot 4×4, (the last ICE vehicle that I owned) running in an efficient as possible manner (for a machine with so many miles – 120+k – and so many moving parts that can and will wear out due to constant use thereby lowering the fuel economy of the vehicle and lowering the amount of money in my bank account) I used a bio-based fully synthetic American made motor oil, and I change the oil filter when I change the oil. Just the oil/filter change and new spark plugs for the Honda cost us ~ $230** over its last 30k miles! Operational costs for user replaceable parts and non warranty covered parts for the Bolt EV during this same period of time = $55 (wiper blades and cabin air filter)!

The simple fact that EV’s do not have as many moving parts as petroleum powered vehicles makes them much more reliable and cost effective to operate than their fossil fuel powered counterparts. The do not have or need any of the parts that commonly wear out in gas/diesel vehicles such as: belts, chains, hoses, air/fuel filters, water pump, spark plugs, glow plugs, oil, filter, clutch, transmission, muffler, catalytic converter, exhaust pipe…they do not even have an engine.

MYTH: EV’s are new…scary…future technology.

FACT: Electric vehicles are anything but scary and nothing new. The electric motor that moves them has only a few long lived moving parts and is a proven technology that has been used to make our lives easier since the mid-late 19 century.
They pre-date ICE powered vehicles and were hitting the roads of the world in the late 1800’s – see the timeline here: energy.gov/articles/history-electric-car!

FACT: Most of our houses/businesses are totally electric. Washer, dryer, refrigerator, heating and cooling, lighting, entertainment systems, power tools…all electric…with many electric motors and systems that quietly work in the background keeping our lives comfortable. Why is it then that we continue to use outdated petroleum powered transportation systems to get around?

MYTH: “EV’s are slow, like golf carts, dangerous, and I heard that they catch on fire and burn to the ground all the time.”

FACT: EV’s are anything but slow. The little Nissan Leaf EV will go 0-60 in around 10 seconds. The Bolt EV 0-60 in 6ish, and the CSEV – 5 seconds. The Tesla Model S Plaid 100% electric car has the world record for the fastest accelerating production four-door car ever! It accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in a brain melting 1.8 seconds!

Dangerous, totally the opposite – the Tesla Model S was rated by the NHTSA as the safest car ever tested…in history! And each new Tesla product is safer than the last.

Fires, there have been around 287,000 vehicle fires per year since 2003…less than a dozen of those involved electric cars…ALL of the others were ICE powered vehicles.

News agencies just love to manufacture drama and the fact that gas powered cars burn all the time is not anything new, its not dramatic anymore…but let an EV catch fire and it is all over the headlines because sensationalist drama centered around anything new feeds the weak minded. (Note: I am not saying anyone reading this is weak minded because if you have read this far you obviously are interested in the facts and not the manufactured drama :-))

Think of it like this: if everyone had been driving clean, fast, safe, low maintenance electric vehicles for the last century, and someone tried to get you to drive or even ride in a vehicle powered by an incredibly toxic, flammable, explosive liquid fuel—what would you do? Personally, I would R.U.N.N.O.F.T!

MYTH: Electric vehicles are expensive.

FACT: While it is true that a new top of the crop EV will set you back over 100K, you can get a new EV such as a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt for less than $40k and a used one for much less. You must also remember to factor in that you will NEVER pay for gas and oil again and that in itself adds up to thousands of dollars/year…even when you account for the cost of the electricity used to fuel your EV! Then, when then you factor in all the money spent on tune-ups and engine/transmission/exhaust system repairs for most ICE powered vehicles – all the savings add up to reveal that most EV’s are much more economical to own and drive than your average ICE powered vehicle. Oh and since EVs don’t have catalytic converters to steal, you won’t have to worry about that issue…ever.

MYTH: When the battery wears out a new battery will cost more than the car is worth.

FACT: When an EV’s battery degrades to the point where it is no longer able to store enough energy to propel you in your daily commute, the battery can be easily replaced with a new one-it is as plug and play as the one in your mobile device…only larger. After the battery is replaced you essentially have a new car. Note: all EV manufactures have excellent battery warranties/leasing options that serve to help new EV drivers “ease into” a better way to drive and are great incentives for adopting a this technology.

MYTH: A used EV battery cannot be used for anything and is toxic waste and must be tossed in the landfill.

FACT: Used batteries can be recycled just like any battery but before that time comes they can be used in stationary power storage facilities, as back up generators connected to homes and businesses and off-grid power stations especially when connected to renewable energy power systems. Learn more here: nytimes.com/2015/06/17/business/gm-and-nissan-reusing-old-electric-car-batteries.html?_r=0

and here

greencarreports.com/news/1093810_electric-car-batteries-what-happens-to-them-after-coming-out-of-the-car

It is illegal in most places to toss out a 12volt car battery and it is the same with a used EV traction battery – and since they are fully recyclable, they can be remanufactured into new EV batteries over and over without needing to continually mine the earth for raw materials.
Check out https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/

MYTH: There is nowhere to charge an EV?

FACT: Most EV drivers charge their cars at home but when out on the road there are thousands of EV charging stations (EVSE) in the USA alone and the number is growing every day. To find out how many are near you just take a look at Plugshare.com.

FACT: Most EV owners love their cars so much that they have become “crusaders” of the technology and promote them every chance they get because they know from experience that that they are a much better way to drive.

MYTH: “EVs are “woke” democrat cars.” Yes, I have heard that bizarre comment from some people. Really, you are going there…why, and what productive purpose does it serve?

FACT: EVs are a transportation technology. Thay are the next most logical step in the story of transportation. Get over your attempt to politicize…everything. If you want to live in the past, go ahead. The only direction any of us can move in life is forward.

FACT based OPINION: Driving ICE powered vehicles is like purchasing a subscription to dependency on a highly toxic, highly addictive drug that shortens your life while constantly draining your bank account and damaging everything it comes in contact with.

OPINION supported by SCIENCE, RESEARCH, and EXPERIENCE: All of these reasons and more are why EV’s are superior to everything else on the road and one day in the near future gas/diesel will go the way of the dinosaurs.

Be the change you wish to see in the world and the world will change.

Special Thanks to Bob Harris of Black Bear Solar Institute for compiling some of the facts in this document! Learn more at: blackbearsolarinstitute.org

Special Thanks to the members of the Blue Ridge Electric Vehicle Club for supporting the future of transportation and renewable energy technologies.

I will never go back to gas.

All that being said, here is another take on this subject from the land down under:

“Alright, strap in because the dummies need infinite education.

Every time you clowns think you’ve kicked a goal with the “ahhh but wind turbines need oil, batteries need mining, steel needs coking coal” routine, I can practically hear the last two brain cells high-fiving. No shit, Sherlock. Nobody is disputing oil is useful. Oil is insanely useful. That is exactly the fucking point.

Oil takes millions of years to form. Millions. You don’t just whip that up in a factory between smoko and lunch. It is essential for medicine, agriculture, plastics, lubricants, fertilisers, cosmetics, clothing, electronics, about 98% of modern life. Nobody serious is saying “no oil ever”. What we are saying is maybe, just maybe, lighting the stuff on fire and huffing the fumes inside your air sacks like idiots isn’t the smartest use of it.

We should be stockpiling oil for this generation and future generations, not pissing it away by turning it into exhaust fumes so Dave can rev his Hilux at the lights. You want to know how dumb that is? Go stick your face behind a tailpipe and inhale for a few minutes. Let me know how that goes for your lungs, champ. That shit is carcinogenic. It is literally poison. That is why asthma rates are up, lung disease is up, and lung cancer is up. Burning petrochemicals and breathing them in turns cities into rolling chemistry experiments.

And don’t give me the “but we’ve always done it” crap. We also used to shit in holes and die of infected paper cuts. Progress happened.

Using oil without burning it, in products that last decades, medicines that save lives, fertilisers that grow food, plastics that actually make modern healthcare possible, that is smart. Wasting it by setting it on fire for transport when we have cheaper, cleaner alternatives is fucking moronic.

Electric transport and renewables are not about pretending oil doesn’t exist. They are about not being dumb enough to burn a finite, irreplaceable resource into the atmosphere like cavemen discovering fire for the first time. We don’t want to drag the planet back to the Carboniferous era where it was basically a Turkish sauna with ferns the size of buildings.

And here is the real punchline. While you’re pounding your chest defending fossil fuels, you’re donating your money straight to petrochemical giants and oil states. Congratulations. You are sending your hard-earned cash overseas so Saudi princes can buy another gold-plated toilet while you scream about freedom.

You don’t need to be Albert fucking Einstein to see this. Oil is too valuable to burn. Clean air is better than poison. And if you’re still clinging to this nonsense, it’s probably because you’re emotionally attached to the idea of setting ancient dinosaur juice on fire and calling it masculinity.

Do us all a favour. Stop confusing “oil is useful” with “burn everything forever”. One is intelligent. The other is fucking stupid.”
Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Dj38Q2y4D/

Do not feed an idle mind

On By StevoIn climate change, conspiracy, critical thinking, Environment, nature, Science, UncategorizedLeave a comment

True story.


I recently visited the local recycling station to drop off some items. While there, I noticed several vehicles just sitting, idling, air conditioning on, doors open – while their owners made several trips back and forth from their cars to the bins to drop off their recycling/garbage.
I suppose I could understand it if your juvenile offspring, canine, feline, or elderly family member were in the car…but no, all your cars were empty.

About an hour later I find myself sitting in my silent, solar-charged, electric vehicle (a 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV) in a bank drive-through teller line – again listening to the idling internal combustion engines all around me. I could not help but wonder if the drivers of all those legacy vehicles, at the recycle station and now at the bank, were aware of or even cared one little bit about how much fuel and money their highly inefficient vehicles were wasting while sitting there just idling…just burning up so much fuel and wasting their hard-earned money while blowing copious clouds of toxic life and climate harming exhaust effluent into our shared atmosphere…all while the fat fossil fuel pushers laugh all the way to the bank.

The biggest fact about idling that many are probably not aware of: When idling, your vehicle is getting ZERO miles per gallon. If that is not enough to make you rethink idling then check this out:

Now, please consider the following.

I have questions – lots of them:

Do the people who let their vehicles idle for extended periods care at all about the air they breathe? I’m sure most of them do, but maybe they are not in a place where they are able to upgrade to an electric vehicle. OK, I can understand that – I have been in that place.

Answer: Turn off your engine while you wait.

Do they want their children and grandchildren to breathe polluted air – the same air they are polluting by their inefficient transportation choices? I would say no, they do not want their kids to breathe toxic air.

Answer: See the previous answer.

Do they want to send their kids and grandkids off to fight wars over finite, polluting, resources? I sure hope not, what a waste of lives, resources, time, and money.

Answer: See the previous answer.

Are they at all concerned about all the money they are wasting by using such an inefficient fuel source? Many people are not aware of how much fuel/money is wasted by idling.

Answer: See the embedded video.

Are they hot so they need to run the air conditioning to be comfortable. In today’s ever-warming climate change-impacted world – yes, they may be hot. They may have children, pets, elderly/infirm people, and/or ice cream in the vehicle with them. Heat could harm these individuals/frozen confections.

Answer: Get an EV. They do not need to idle an engine to keep the AC/heat on. Their HVAC system runs off the traction battery and is far more efficient than idling an internal combustion engine just to run the HVAC system – and it does not pollute the air.

Have they ever thought about what they will do when the finite fuel source that powers their vehicle becomes harder to find* and eventually runs out? Will their legacy vehicle become a yard ornament, a monument to the energy sources of the past?..or will they sell it before its value bottoms out and it becomes a stranded asset. *When this happens these finite fuel sources will become far more expensive thereby creating even more environmental destruction and even more wars to acquire them.

Answer: They will either pridefully pay a premium to continue driving/idling their legacy vehicle – or they will upgrade to electric.

I do not fault most* of them because they are products of the culture we live in. Many are just living day to day, blissfully unaware that many things in their comfortable, predictable, comfort zone are not exactly what they seem.

They are complacent in their societal and self-imposed little boxes and they do not and will not step outside because their fear of change stops them. They are not bad people – just everyday good people who have not or can not try thinking about what their life would be like if they took the needed steps to make it better and made a change. Many of us find it very hard to change, and to think about tomorrow, even though change is the way of nature and tomorrow is all we have.

*The ones I fault for these problems are not the ones who created these technologies – they did what needed to be done with what they had, and without their ingenuity and resourcefulness, we would not be where we are today. The ones I find the most at fault are the ones who are intentionally trying to stop positive progress from happening, the ones who have loads of money and resources tied up in the toxic energy and transportation choices of the past, and those who promote the continued use of these toxic products that are harming all of us and all our shared futures.

Answer: Step up and step outside of your comfort zone. Change is the way of nature. Change is good.

All these things are most concerning to me.

These are only a few of the reasons why, a decade ago this month, my wife and I chose to make the switch to driving fully electric vehicles powered by locally sourced renewable energy whenever possible.

Electric vehicles use almost no energy when sitting still therefore: Driving electric = no idling = no wasted fuel, no wasted money, no polluted air, no degraded future.

Think about it.

Sadly, many still refuse to think about it or accept it so this is still many of us…

…but there is hope on the horizon.

Only you can prevent the next generation from becoming addicted to the finite and highly expensive* subscription to dependency that the big oil pushers keep pushing. *Expensive in out-of-pocket costs, environmental costs, health costs, energy security, and national security costs.

It is time to fight for our independence from fossil fuels. It is time to fight for a cleaner, healthier environment for our kids, and grandkids, for all our futures.

It is time to go electric and go distributed domestic renewable energy sources. It is time to kick the dirty old fossils to the curb and vote with your money by investing in companies and technologies that work to make a better future for us all.

These changes may take time, but as long as we are all moving in the right direction we are all doing good things.

Kill the idling.

Kill your idle mind.

Think.

Do good things.

Be the change.

Leave the world better than you found it.

Improvise, adapt, overcome, evolve, survive, thrive.

Ponder it.

On By StevoIn climate change, critical thinking, earth, Environment, NASA, nature, religion, Science, space, wildlife conservationLeave a comment

This photo was taken on 11/16/2022 by a camera on the Artemis 1/Orion spacecraft on its way to the moon.


This is the first view of our pale blue dot of a water-soaked rock of a planet from this distance (~58,000 miles at this point) from a human-rated spacecraft since the Apollo 17 mission of 1972.


From this view, we see…

everything that gives us life and a future, everything we hold dear to us, everything that truly matters…

there are no countries, no dividing lines on maps, no walls, no human-created barriers, no labels, no division other than that imposed by nature.

All the things that divide us were created by us to divide us…all these divisions exist only within our minds.

These things we have fought over for so long, killed countless people over, claimed as ours – they just do not exist in reality.


In reality, what you see is what you get: a single, shining, incredibly fragile oasis of life in the ice-cold wastelands of space…a pale blue water-soaked marble giving all of us – the entire human family and all our animal, plant, and fungal friends – a place to share and call home.


Now is the time we stop fighting over what we should be sharing.

Now is the time for us to stop harming our only life support system.

Imagine.

Imagine what we could do if we all just worked together toward the common goal of a better future for us all.


Dare mighty things.

Do only good things.

Ponder it.

WTF happened???

On By StevoIn climate change, conspiracy, critical thinking, earth, Environment, NASA, nature, religion, Science, space, UncategorizedLeave a comment

It is 2022.

By now we were supposed to have flying cars, starships and space stations full of people, outposts on the moon and Mars, thinking robots living among us, renewable and fusion energy sources powering our lives, unlimited low-cost resources from a 100% recycling-based economy, equality, coexistence, and freedom for everyone and all creatures.

WTF happened?

A small number of greedy, wealth and power-mad, crusty old white men who fear change – choose to focus on outdated ancient dogma and toxically-tribal, control-focused, anti-progress, knuckle-dragging fear, and warmongering tactics – are hell-bent on stopping anything and anyone who wants evidence-supported progress, positivity, and coexistence.

These twisted, small-minded, hateful, heavy-handed, charlatans, are plotting and scheming to destroy any chance the majority of us have at a better future by undermining anything that works to better our lives.

The question is why?

Why are they so focused on destroying the future?

I am not targeting one specific political or religious “team” – I despise the competitive “team” approach because it was designed from the get-go to divide us from each other. I am calling out all of those – whomever they are – who constantly and consciously choose to ignore the evidence, ignore reality, ignore the voices of the people and instead choose to do all in their power to – out of greed, control, and possibly even out of spite – choose to do exactly the opposite of what should be done. It is as if they are choosing to intentionally screw things up for future generations.

Maybe I am giving them too much credit. Maybe they are just idiots who do not have the capacity to think ahead and see the consequences of their decisions. Maybe their minds are dumb from breathing leaded gasoline most of their lives, and/or numb and blinded by so many years of conditioning and programming from whatever cult of personality they choose to worship telling them their way is the only way no matter what the evidence, common sense, science, or their rotten, putrid little shriveled stone of a heart my try to say to them – if they even have a heart.

It seems that these toxic individuals may be working to infiltrate the very framework of our society and are trying to divide all of us from each other.

Why? What is their goal?

Why would anyone willingly choose to put their own greedy self-interests over any chance at a healthy, happy, future for all…hmmm…I wonder why?

I suppose the answer comes down to the fact that genetically we are still so very young in the evolution of our species.

It was not that long ago that we were living in caves eking out our existence with only rock, stick, and fire as tools. We were terrified of anything outside of our very limited frame of reference. Anything different than what we or our tribe knew in our daily existence would be labeled a threat and destroyed – out of fear and self-protection.

Therefore, since not enough time has passed to rid us of these ancient ways of thinking it seems that even though we have technologically evolved to turn our rocks, sticks, and fire into cement, steel, electricity, and rockets – some of us still have strong genetic traces of our ancient tribal tendencies and for some it seems that these fear-based tendencies are absolutely impossible to overcome.

We still often fear differences in others.

We still often attack that which is unknown to us.

We still often deny reality in favor of myth and legend.

We still often harm those we love for false feelings of power.

We still often seek comfort in what we know – not in what could be.

Even with all our amazing accomplishments – many of us still will often choose the path of fear, hate, greed, ancient comfortable dogma, and today, over the much better options of acceptance, love, generosity, peer-reviewed evidence, and tomorrow.

The big question is this: will we ever evolve past our infantile, child-like, me-first, bully-like, natures – before we kill ourselves off?

Maybe, maybe not.

Maybe one day we will overcome the natural odds and evolve to transcend our short-lived primate bodies and the physical world to become one with the energy flow of the universe.

Or maybe we are just a failed evolutionary experiment destined to become only a plasticized blip in the rock-recorded fossil record of deep time.

Only time will tell.

Strive to rise above the status quo.

Strive to find only the positive in life each day and to extinct the negative.

Do only good things.

Be the change.

Improvise, adapt, overcome, evolve, survive, thrive.