matt's blog

Thu, 07/29/2010

Regardless of your politics, if you own an American passport, you need to care about what our elected officials are doing to force our foot-dragging free markets to assist the creation of a cleantech industry (we'll leave the malignant bloviator, Jim Inhofe, out of this discussion - too irritating). For the past 7 months they have been doing NOTHING! And this make you angry. If you don't believe in global warming, you are probably someone I would rather not meet in person. Nonetheless, you should still demand that government policy work effectively to grow the next big industry - the industry that will protect America's military and treasury (and environment), create jobs and enable your children to visit Yosemite without a protective suit. You really need to do nothing but read Thomas Friedman's piece in the New York Times to fully grasp the enormity of our challenge. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/opinion/21friedman.html?src=me&ref=hom.... As I have said before, if we cede the cleantech space to China and end up giving all of our dollars to governments who either implicitly or explicitly oppose everything for which we stand, "I told you so" seems like a highly unsatisfactory "win". Especially as those who purposely endangered us, through misinformation, lobbyist-led policies and just general apathetic ignorance, will traipse into our vastly inferior future, sidestepping blame and [likely] whining for government assistance. Read Friedman's piece and clamor for change on US energy policy. It's worth the effort.

Mon, 07/26/2010

Springboard Biodiesel, manufacturer of the award-winning BioProT line of biodiesel processors, has been receiving a lot of positive feedback and interest at their exhibition space inside The California State Fair in Sacramento over the last two weeks. Both Governor Shwartzenegger, a well-known biodiesel enthusiast, and Lieutenant Governor Maldonado expressed interest in the equipment on two separate visits. The Springboard group has, likewise, been fielding a lot of questions at the fair, from farmers, and diesel fleet managers, many of whom are starting to take real interest for the first time, in an alternative fuel that is "better for your wallet, better for you planet and better for your engine". Springboard's VP of Marketing, Matt Roberts, explains that though a much needed biodiesel tax credit has not yet been renewed, and has caused the commercial biodiesel industry significant damage - operating at less than 15% capacity with over 20,000 jobs lost - "the small scale biodiesel producer is in a great position to capitalize on available vegetable oil and high quality equipment in this country right now." Roberts added, "While I've been here at the fair, I've rediscovered that the more people find out about biodiesel in general, the more excited they become."

Thu, 06/18/2009

What if we lived in a world that depended on the use of a finite, costly fuel source buried in the ground in places that were governed by people who thought we were bad people?Read more