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Triple Pundit
TriplePundit is a tripod of resources surrounding the Environment, Society and Business. You can't have a successful economy without a healthy environment and a healthy society, and vice versa. That concept is called the triple bottom line, which is where the triple part of the name comes from. It's a new and broader way of looking at business and the world.
The model of the site is to be a digest. Triple Pundit is not offering heaps of editorial commentary, just talking about things they've found valuable and interesting.
Website: http://www.triplepundit.com/
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Nick Aster
Hydrogen is Not The Miracle Fuel of the Future
February 9, 2010 06:54 AM - Steve Puma, Triple Pundit
BoingBoing.net is reporting today on a tabletop "hydrogen power station" that produces hydrogen from water using a standard power outlet and costs around $200. While this may sound wonderful on the surface, it merely illustrates how the notion of a “hydrogen economy”¯ is really a myth. Let's get one thing perfectly clear: hydrogen is not a energy resource. Hydrogen does not exist naturally in any sufficient quantities to make it a viable energy source, at least on this planet. To get hydrogen in any useful quantities, it must be extracted from natural gas, water or biomass, and all of these result in a net loss of energy. It is more efficient to use these fuels in their original forms.
Deloitte: Best Practices for Going Green
February 1, 2010 02:03 PM - Deborah Fleischer, Triple Pundit
What do you think of when you hear Deloitte? You might think of a professional services firm or Big Four auditor. Today, the company has also put a big green stake in the ground, both looking internally to green its operations and as an offering in its consulting practice. Two aspects of this work are worth noting: Deloitte’s internal green team, working to engage employees in sustainability, and its Green Syncā„¢ tool. I had the chance to have an e-mail exchange with Thomas Dekar, vice chairman of Deloitte LLP, regional managing principal of the North Central Region and corporate responsibility officer for the Deloitte U.S. Firms. He shed some light on the origins of Deloitte’s programs and offerings. Read on to learn about Deloitte’s best green business practices for engaging employees in sustainability.
Cape Wind Controversy Hits New Low, Illustrates Cost of NIMBYism
January 8, 2010 07:01 AM - Nick Aster, Triple Pundit
I have immense respect for Robert F Kennedy Jr, and have been frequently moved by his outstanding speeches on big-picture environmental topics. I'm not alone, however, in continuing to be surprised and baffled at the Kennedy tradition of steadfastly opposing the Cape Wind turbine project, the first major offshore wind energy project in the US, slated for Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts. But this post isn’t about the Kennedy family opposition, it's about another surprising and confusing source of opposition to the project. According to the New York Times, a Native American group has now raised its voice over the potential project on the grounds that the massive turbine farm "would thwart their spiritual ritual of greeting the sunrise, which requires unobstructed views across the sound, and disturb ancestral burial grounds".
Slow Sales of Honda Insight Give Insight into Hybrid Market
December 25, 2009 11:15 AM - BC Upham, Triple Pundit
Are hybrid cars still considered niche, or even — dare we say — "luxury" purchases? The failure of the lower-cost Honda Insight hybrid to dent the market for the Prius has some in the auto industry answering yes. Business Week reports that the Insight, which was introduced this year with a base MSRP of $19,800, over $2,000 less than the Prius, is still being outsold by Toyota's car 6 to 1.
The Copenhagen Communique: An Entrepreneur’s Perspective
December 20, 2009 09:55 AM - Bill Roth, Triple Pundit
What does the Copenhagen Communique mean to an entrepreneur? Am I being too blunt to suggest the answer is "nothing"? Entrepreneurs are focused upon their customers as the source of inspiration and profits. Laws passed by politicians receive entrepreneurial attention only when they impact their customers' ability to buy or their cost of operations. The Copenhagen Communique is a non-event to entrepreneurs except that it creates uncertainty on what rules governments might change in the future.
Are Smart Meters Really Smart?
December 18, 2009 01:43 PM - BC Upham, Triple Pundit
A class action lawsuit in Bakersfield, California claims newly installed smart meters inflate customers electricity and gas use, resulting in steep hikes in utility bills. The plaintiffs, a group of about 200 residents, are suing Pacific Gas & Electric, their utility company, and Wellington Energy, the company that installed the meters. In some cases, customers reported very high discrepancies in their bills. The New York Times reports that one PG&E customer testified “that the new meter logged the consumption of his two-bedroom townhouse at 791 kilowatt-hours in July, up from 236 a year earlier.”¯
World’s Largest Wind Farm to Be Built in the US
December 15, 2009 09:46 AM - BC Upham, Triple Pundit
The United States has steadily outsourced record-breaking feats of engineering over the years, or stood by as other countries have eagerly grasped trophies for the world’s tallest building, biggest dam, longest bridge, or what have you. Which is why it is comforting to learn a World’s [ ]est is staying in America: Caithness Energy will begin construction next year in Oregon on the world’s biggest wind farm, with 845 MW of capacity.
Why "ClimateGate" Is Irrelevant to Business
December 7, 2009 07:20 AM - Nick Aster , Triple Pundit
In case you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve no doubt been aware of a fiasco which emerged in the last few weeks from the University of East Anglia in the UK concerning unprofessional bickering between climate scientists exposed by an apparent email hacker. The FOXNews crowd is calling it proof that climate change (at least the human induced kind) is a hoax perpetrated by a grand conspiracy among corrupt scientists bent on installing a global uber-government and so on and so forth”¦ It’s therefore not the least bit coincidental that the conspiracy has emerged immediately before the COP15 talks in Copenhagen.
Far From Trashy: Atayne Athletic Apparel Made from Used Materials
December 4, 2009 10:00 AM - Jace Shoemaker-Galloway , Triple Pundit
Inspiring positive social and environmental change through the power of active lifestyles, Atayne takes people’s trash — old garments, footwear, race numbers and plastic bottles — and recycles them into high performance athletic and outdoor gear. The company does not use harmful chemicals or treatments to enhance the materials.
Green Car Rally: The Chevy Volt Versus the Toyota Prius
November 25, 2009 09:49 AM - Cory Vanderpool , Triple Pundit
General Motors has been inundated in recent years with nothing but bad news. After filing for bankruptcy and receiving a controversial government bailout, the ailing car maker is trying to revolutionize the auto industry and breathe life back into its deflated sails with the introduction of the Chevy Volt.