Envy – To Love Me

 

Reflection can definitely be telling – as this Howard Schatz photograph clearly reveals.

A $1.85 at the pump!!  What is not to love?   The gouging that has had the consumer bent over at the pump  for at least five years has been broken.  The message in the oil markets today is “lower demand compounded with over supply is garnering lower oil prices.”

While politics is at play, the consumer has partially changed.  The consumer can spend or save  elsewhere with more in our pocket – especially if one has a hybrid.   The potential for our government though is to slack off on formulating a diversified, domestic focused energy plan.

Unlike 10 years ago, vehicles are more capable – lighter, stronger and energy efficient.   Habits in America and elsewhere have drastically changed the current energy landscape to the point that foreign energy does not have to be America’s main import.   Boone Pickens continues the right message for first a diversified energy plan in America and, with his self interest in mind, a focus on Natural Gas.  As has been the stance since the first post here,  love yourself by buying the most reliable, alternatives that are available.  Your action will be rewarded by admiration and of course self-respect.   The ripple effect will be a consumption driven message to politicians demanding further action.

Hybrid Ready – Why Wait?

Hybrids are no longer ugly beasts thanks to Tesla and Lexus.

It is a September to remember. Apparently the demand for Hybrid cars and trucks is stuck. Elon Musk has opened up his intellectual property for Tesla. Now, anyone with an interest or desire to change the world of transportation can do so off his hard work, know-how and success to date.

Making a change in your consumption is a fast and proven means to impacting change. Unlike a few years ago, even when Lubie Love – The Movie, was released in 2009, today we have the ability to own lighter, more fuel efficient vehicles. Today we have the ability to impact our environment positively when we travel. We also have the complete option to stay in one place and have most items that we need or could want delivered directly to our doors.

I have recently completed a 10 year personal study on the impact of going carless. Yes I did this while living in a major metropolitan areas (New York City and Denver, Colorado).

During this time, fracking has solidified itself as a “viable” alternative to traditional oil exploration. While few consumer vehicles are powered by Natural Gas in America, the major oil companies are sure making an economic bet that it is a sustainable energy source. The outcome is dirty water in places where water is already a scarce resource. States like Colorado are benefiting economically from the fracked economy. It is a current natural resource that farmers and land owners are now able to sell besides their crops and livestock. And being able to feed a family is not something to sneeze about.

What anti-Frackers can do to stem the tide is change their consumption habits. They can buy a hybrid car to start. They can buy an electric car. Each reduces directly the demand for Fracking.

Yet the energy required to power the grid will likely need to be supplemented in the short-term by “dirty fuels.” I classify natural gas as a dirty alternative because its byproducts are not chemically free solutions. I get that Governor John Hickenlooper enjoyed his glass of frack fluid (CleanStim) to prove a point on safety. However, not even an oil executive would serve such a solution to his family and friends as a party favor.

In Denver, the city has an excellent Light Rail system. It is excellent because you can get to some key areas of the city by rail – in many situations faster than if stuck in a car. Private industry – mainly car2go and Uber, enable the rail traveler to complete a trip easier than what existed 10 years ago. That is if time is not a factor. Being constantly connected to the internet with mobile technology enables the traveling public by rail to be extremely productive today. And this reason alone makes not owning a vehicle in a suburban centric place like Denver feasible.

The choice though needs to be viable, feasible, affordable and convenient.

Last week, rather than wait for a car dealer special in December, I found a comfortable hybrid vehicle. It gets, according to the sticker, 42 miles to the gallon. Comparing that to the 2007 Nissan Murano featured in Lubie Love, the choice for a Lexus was a no brainer.

 

 

Am I disappointed that Elon Musk’s production of a mass consumer electric vehicle has yet to roll off his production line in California. Of course. Yet the pathway to electric is now a viable reality. Technological advancements will enable so many more consumers to buy and rely on a far better vehicle than what was once, only 5 years ago, possible.

Should you be in the market for a Lexus Hybrid, please visit the Denver dealers at Kuni or Stevenson Lexus.   Ask for Mike P at Kuni and Bob O at Stevenson in Lakewood.  And if you need a way to conserve water when washing your car, head over to the folks at Waterway.

State of The Eco Economy

Since 2009, Lubie Love, the blog, has been a place to learn about alternatives specifically as it relates to energy consumption and vehicles. Simply put – there is no excuse for any individual or company to miss the opportunity to positively consume today – should they have an income.   This was not the case prior to 2009.

Positive consumption is the outcome of buying a good that reduces or eliminates negative effects or “externalities” for both the individual and the environment.

The auto industry, with leaders like Alan Mulally, Elon Musk, Akio Toyoda, Norbert Reithofer and Carlos Ghosn, have met consumer demand for alternative vehicles.  Each major automaker has options to allow for positive consumption.  Consumers have to respond by continuing to buy the vehicles.

Of course the choice does not end there.   Each delivery that you receive for e-commerce can and should be made with a fuel efficient vehicle.  Whether a plane, train or truck, companies have alternatives that positively enhance their profits today.

In 2010, GASLAND – The Movie, by Josh Fox, focused the counter debate on energy exploration and the luring incentives that land owners had to consider from natural gas.  Today companies like Encana, EOG, Chesapeake and Clean Energy Fuels Corp (CLNE) have used technology to expand America’s energy independence by developing natural gas.  They have also put individuals to work who otherwise may not have a job.   And for this the companies might be able to claim that they are “positively” consuming – as they are buyers of skilled labor.

 

At both ends of the spectrum Consumers guide the equation.  We have a obligation to buy what we like.  And as such we, as consumers, have to do so according to our financial interests.   It is not ideal to restrict either the opportunities that consumers can have  nor jeopardize our health because of failed government policy.  Fracking can be done correctly.   Yet Fracking has to be monitored to ensure that consumers and the environment are preserving our future opportunities with the land that we live and work.

As they say:  “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  

As it relates to Earth Day – If there are no longer fish, what did modern men and women learn?

The key to the energy debate is how advanced do consumers want to be to obtain their goals.   Unlike 2009, modern technology allows consumers to connect with other friends and family virtually.   When the time does come to meet in person, taking a vehicle – train, car, bike or plane is your choice.  Fortunately, America allows each one of us to pick our own journey – which can proactively stimulate our economy.

 

 

 

 

 

Top cities to move to – on Nat Gas

So how’s y0ur neighborhood growing?   When America gentrifies it has a few options to do so.   Call the mover or DIY. Those over at Yahoo, Business Insider and the like, have found the perfect graphic courtesy of ===.   Since you may be human vs. a computer, take a look at this visual.

The 2014 Top Yellow States.    Courtesy Penske via Business Insider

The evidence in the past 4 years ranks 10 cities with the most migration.   What the Penske 2014 graphic shows is where those driving themselves are moving.   The 2014 top 10 cities with Penske moves – the competitive nature of things allows Budget and U-Haul to have their own rankings – are:

1. Atlanta
2. Tampa
3. Dallas
4. Orlando
5. Phoenix
6. Houston
7. Seattle
8. Chicago
9. Denver
10. Las Vegas

What would be interesting to know from all those who flocked to Atlanta:  “Did you get 9 miles to the gallon of gas or were you finally able to choose an alternative like Natural Gas?”

For those who can not or are not buying Natural Gas: “Did you move because the water in your back yard was on fire?”  Or more important, “Was your new home built with a pristine water supply?”

For those not in the “Green” camp: “Did you have the ability to move from a Cold state to a Warm state because the increase in US energy production has afforded you new opportunities that will better your family’s future?”

What ever your answer, ensure that you have the energy to fuel another day.  The best option for your neighborhood depends on your neighborhood’s natural resources.

Click to own or rent Lubie Love.

Plan for 123 Million Users by 2014

A glimps into the future or past at Meteor Crator Arizona (just off the old-Route 66). Copyright © 2013 Mason Hayutin

The energy debate America is having is surely making a difference.   The latest technology in exploration from Space to abandoned oil fields and vast non-productive Prairies is allowing each of us to answer the questions:

At what price are we willing to trade one way of life for another?

At what price will citizens dependent on their Automobile be willing to switch from “dirty” fuels to “clean” alternatives?

My concern with these questions became formalized as I participated in the fine art documentary film, LUBIE LOVE – The Movie.  Hard to believe that the release was 4 years ago at New York’s Tribeca Cinema.   In that short amount of time, Apple and Samsung have relegated the desktop computer to a near death along with the slow-to-adapt Blackberry.   Next year, nearly 123 Million users will be watching – consuming TV and digital content on “SmartTVs.”   With just a click of the keypad, mouse, smartphone or remote, an independent film like LUBIE LOVE  can be watched and reviewed 123 Million times! (Review your copy here).

Yesterday, in my home state of Colorado, three Colorado communities voted to let more facts on Fracking be known.  They voted on extending a moratorium on hyrdrolic fracturing by as much as 5 more years.  Boulder, Layfette and Fort Collins chose to say “No” for now.   They also chose to embrace a “clean environment” where drinking water is likely to be one of the Front Range’s biggest obstacles to sustained growth.

Credit can be given to my contemporary in film, Josh Fox.   He successfully galvanized a national awareness of drinking water being so polluted  by “careless” exploration techniques that one could easily light it on fire. His first movie Gasland exposed the problem found by a Weld County, Colorado resident.  I can only wonder how much of that problem was pre-existing vs. caused by the actual fracturing of a nearby natural gas well?  Methane escaping from the ground happens naturally.

And credit can also be given to T. Boone Pickens and the Pickens Plan.   In 2009, Boone beat me to the CNBC’s Englewood Cliff’s, New Jersey studios to announce a vision for America’s energy future.  Harnessed by the wind, and a big bet on Natural Gas, Pickens thrust the political debate to be about getting off foreign oil.  Unlike the SmartTV, the Pickens Plan has approximately 2 million active users/followers.

Compare that to approximately 350 Million Americans.  At age 16, each of us – at least in Colorado, has a right to drive.  A right that fuels us forward for generations.   And when the keys are finally turned over in our elder years, we are only left with a memory of what it was like to drive.   Boone, according to the Houston Chronicle, is one elder whose memory will include being able to say he had a Natural Gas powered Cadillac in the 1990s!

Obviously driving has enabled a global community to advance.  The future though, as has already been proven, is not strapped to just one way getting from point A to point B.  The path is dependent on providing economically sustainable alternatives.  These alternatives must produce an economic base that enables each of us to live as we choose.  Today, companies like FedEx and UPS are increasing their profits by relying on natural gas powered delivery vehicles.

In the same breadth, the economic future of rural and non-rural communities is being put to test by the ethics and practices used to produce natural gas.  To frack or not!    The decision is not black and white.

Josh, like others, were faced with profiting from an “Amazing” gold rush in the form of land and mineral right sales that could allow their future to be forever financed.   As one oil industry executive conveyed to me by phone yesterday – “I’m receiving royalties from wells that were drilled in 1931.   Almost 100 years later the well is still productive.   And I am happy it is mine.”

The freedom of choice by the American consumer (compared to those by politicians) is perhaps our greatest achievement as a society.   When we wake up we can decide to earn a living so we may buy anything available in the open market.   Of course that’s where choice battles are fought and won – from harmoniously produced music to poorly made vehicles.   The definition of success for all of these goods and services are measured in one simple way – profit.

A nation on (c)Track?

As the summer driving season comes to a close, it’s easy to see how far we – as commuters – have changed.  The country is on course to two distinct paths: cheap fuel for the masses at the expense of the environment (natural gas abound); expensive alternatives for those who can breath rarefied air and preach to the masses.   The later is putting their emphasis on a frail electrical grid that currently connects their homes.  The same group tends to be highly educated, urbanites who love their elitism.   Yet the masses are those who major motor companies want to – and continue to attract to their show rooms.  Tesla vs. Ford should be the new automotive paradigm. Yet old habits die hard.

Telsa has the possibility of producing more cars a year that are clean, fast and furious than most of it’s competitors.   Ford simply has the embedded driver locked into a belief that independence only can come through gas.  The hinterlanders – many who love their country and live in a hood very close to you and me – are blinded by failed back to work promises and pride rather than pure self reliance.  There is no question that a truck loving commuter can haul their load in a 9 mile to the gallon rig.  But have they actually tried an electric powered truck to do the same commuter job?  Likely not – as few are on the road to date.

Certainly, four years from now, like the four that have just past, consumers will see advances in their automobile options.   SUVs will certainly be electric and possibly less than $80,000.  And pollution controls on the worst offending vehicles will have been reduced because trucks will continue to be made from lighter, stronger materials.

American’s deserve to drive the best their dollar can afford.  It still remains up to the consumer to purchase the right vehicle today to influence change.  And once that connection occurs, the electric game will be fully charged.

Promised Land

With America and other countries, most notably, Venezuela heading to the polls, voters have to be informed.  The cornerstone of the first American debate between “Big Bird” and “The Fumbler” in Denver was the economy.  It’s obvious that no matter who ends up in office, they will be unable to drive America into a better economic environment.  Corporations – made of folks concerned about their own jobs and family fortunes are less prone to put their jobs at risk to make the community, cities, and country a better place.  For Coloradan’s a new movie set to hit the screens in December will hit home.  “Promised Land”, featuring Matt Damon and a blockbuster cast and director (Yes Matt has reconnected wtih his Good Will Hunting Director Gus Van Sant), are expanding on Josh Foxes’ HBO film GASLAND.    For those in Longmont, Colorado choosing correctly on Question 300 will likely be played out twice – once in the voter booth and then on the big screen.

While Fox was first driven to choose between selling out his family’s land for mineral riches when natural gas companies came knocking, his documentary in 2009 set the stage on the natural gas fracking debate.   Promises of riches are what farmers, rural land owners and states are faced with daily.   Communities that once flourished, from countless towns in Pennsylvania to Louisiana, Florida to Washington, have to decide – feast or famine.

What is most interesting about “Promised Land – The Movie” is it poses Damon’s character in the role faced by a big company employee.  Like other major films, The Social Network comes to mind, will Van Sant be able to accurately deliver in a major drama? Will corporate positions reflect what the countless energy documentaries have not been able to visually show?

The position of this director and film maker is: choice over policy.  Consumers not voters continue to vote with their dollars and consume cheap oil and gas – for supposed lack of viable alternatives.   The unfortunate problem is that gaining the right information for the choice is cluttered with commercial advertising.   If a community can somehow collectively come together unanimously to say “Yes to drilling” and “it’s ok to eat processed gmo food and nourish their minds with contaminated well and ground water so they can drive 12 mile to the gallon trucks and cars with our new found wealth”  by all means do it.   And when the costs of caring for these short term thoughts and actions play out, let the corporations not the state care for their new found assets – community and all.

In an ideal world, it should simply not be expected that the rest of us to pay for your missing teeth, deformed limbs and cry for you as you drive 45 miles for a new job – you know the one that you will need when your land is forever ruined and the wells run dry.  Of course you too are benefiting from Obamacare and ad hoc anything goes energy plans.

How We Got Here

A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of running into a friend from Sundance.  He and I share a passion for awesome skiing and snowboarding.  What we both understand is that when the weather isn’t cutting it, the glorious Rocky Mountains yield not just poor powder conditions but a miserable water supply.

Since 1980, the snow level in Colorado – my home state – has consistently been lacking.  By the early 90s, almost all of the major resorts sub-combed to “Cloud Seeding” or most obvious – massive snow making efforts.  The state not only recognized that without international travelers or locals ready to pile into their cars for 4 hours of average drive time to and from the slopes, a major economic resource would be lost.  Snow making and other technologies were allowed and skier visits blossomed.  Real estate development flourished and jobs became plentiful.

This New Year’s I had the fortune of being up in Aspen.  A five day ski vacation became, while enjoyable, a 2 day “avoid rocks on skis and snowboards fest” and 3 days of Apres recovery.  For those who do not know, January should be well packed with a rock free snow base – not bushes piercing through the ski’s base.

The technology innovation that was meant to solve a lack of snow base somehow didn’t matter.  No amount of technology was going to yield a snowfall that was going to justify enticing mother nature to comply with my vacation – or that of the eager high net worth travelers to Colorado’s slopes let alone Aspen’s.   This post was actually kindled by the fact that on a different visit to the western slope, as I drove back from Aspen to Denver, Lake Dillon was barer than I have ever witnessed.  This is one of Denver’s main water reservoirs.  And it is like this across the West.

And there lies the problem.  Americans pursuit for the holy grail on energy is not going to come soon enough to meet the domestic supply needs for our unwavering demand for energy.  Domestically we do have natural resources to fuel not just us but a large part of the world for some time.   And the marvels of technology will constantly improve our ability to stretch one last ounce, btu or kwh out of our resources.  When they are gone though, when they are corrupted by overzealous and foolish short term steps to maximize returns today, we are left to be dependent on the unknown.  Water not gas is the element life depends on.  Wasting water for oil, for scrubbing, fracking, or filtering in the livestocks and neighbors backyards is a foolish use of a resource.  In economics it is referred to as “A MISALLOCATION OF RESOURCES.”

Where we go from here:

Quite simply – we have to change habits not just resources.  American’s can quickly adjust to floods.  It’s as easy to stop consuming something that corrupts your way of life for an efficient alternative.  Electricity generated from renewables is utopian today but not in 10 years.  As we wait for over-subsidized industries – yes big oil is one – we can shift our buying habits now.   And this can happen with just a quick snap of our fingers.  This can happen without America’s politburo called Congress.

Take the online grocery store, gallery, or perhaps best known shoe stores as a lead example.  When ordering from Zappos.com, you have the ability to pick a group of shoes (and now clothes) in your size and within 2 days have your newest shoes on with the clothes that you otherwise would have had to guess about.  While you waited in the comfort of your home, you cut out: the approximate 20 minute commute, the possible insurance claim for the bumper bending accident in the mall’s parking lot, the blinking gas empty fuel gauge light on your dashboard and the possibility that you couldn’t find what you were looking for in the first place.  True you would not have purchased or needed to rely on insurance, gas, a public traffic infrastructure or the autobody repair by not stepping into your car.  You would have jogged to the gym, walked to the grocery store, read this or other inspiring articles or even simply have driven to meet some friends for a better social experience.

Your contribution to the economy would have been consuming from an efficient, market oriented source rather than wasting a precious resource – time.  America should not tolerate politicians – red or blue – who waste your time.  Citizens have a moral duty to become educated about how best to optimize their efforts.  For those who do not – your choices were yours and yours alone.   Those who find that applying money to employing the supply chain of FedEx, UPS, Nike, Coach, Hugo Boss, or even To Boot New York, should equally revel in the fact that their way of life will become simplified.   This is not an argument to do without – on the contrary.  Consume wisely and markets will lead politicians into choices that are irrefutable.

When water is ignitable, when the sky is black (or pink) and farm land is barren from over farming and drought, pork belly projects like Ethanol will easily find their way to the landfill near your congressional leaders biggest foe’s district – a fight that too could have been avoided by simply pressing send vs. print.

Tributes start at Home

Truckers honor 911 in Lubie Love – The Movie. Photo Credit:Copyright © Mason Hayutin, 2005

Have we learned anything over the past 11 years regarding energy.  O’ Yah!  It’s the central force behind a global posturing in both business and politics.  The auto bailout brought us not only saved jobs that should have disappeared Adam Smith style.  It brought us a greatly improved CAFE average.  We are now able to select a host of automobiles which on average can hit 35 MPG.   Yet the top 1% revel in the fact that their average MPG in luxury models maybe, just maybe yields 20 MPG for Yukons, Range Rovers, Beamers and Maybachs.

Energy experts including Boone have lost millions on alternatives.  The push for domestic only energy is a rock solid idea.  Unfortunately the propensity of employees and employers is to disregard safety for short term gains.  Natural gas, discovered and extracted poorly will quickly turn communities and ultimately the country into an environmental wasteland.  Big rigs – like the those featured in Lubie Love – The Movie should be on Natural Gas today.  Only if NG can be delivered guaranteed clean.

Having a job that has no future is not what American’s need.  Digging ditches just to fill them right back up might be work – but definitely the policy doesn’t advance the worker or society.  Educating and retooling does.  Knowledge accurately shared, benefits us all.  As we honor the fallen, as we stand together, we should advance the debate on energy in the simplest most direct process possible: consume only products that work and politics will shift very quickly.  The need to wait two or four years to throw the bums out will follow your vote at the register expeditiously, accurately and fast!

A Bridge to No Where

Rolling Blackouts, “nimby” protests, smog from the tail pipes, smelly water, corporate action – these are the answers society has come up with by operating rudderless energy plans.  A few weeks back, a new Madone 4.7 came into my life.  It’s an ancient Chinese secret borrowed from the Japanese who borrowed the concept from the French and styled impeccably by the Italians – a bicycle.  Today, New York City has shifted traffic patterns for the bicycle and pedestrians out there.  Laws were passed to make this possible.  The internet has enabled you to order shoes and fine art without having to step into your car or break a sweat by Trekking to a local retailer.

Structural economic shifts are abound; human nature is not though.

The cheapest, healthiest option is what our national energy plan needs to be.  The answer needs to employ those interested in earning a competitive wage.  Global mineral scarcity paired with technology remains at the heart of the debate – as is the proper pricing of Carbon – mono and di (co2).

One of the main characters in the energy debate is T. Boone Pickens.  His statesmanship is founded on an enlightened moment – premised on making a sound investment in his future.  What Boone has achieved is a lobbying track record for his interests and fortunately for most of us slightly less well off.  Boone diversified.  Boone invested.  Boone lost – and he gained.  Boone stoked the debate because of patriotism and finances.  Boone’s answer is short – term and like so many in his age short sighted.  The wisdom is that America has unlocked a mountain of natural gas to be captured and used.  It will run out.  Technology can advance our needs but not when something is gone.

The RAV, PRIUS, TESLA and, oh yah, Mason

Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and one of the new titans of industry captivated by space flight, shares the podium for an alternative energy future.   Like T. Boone Pickens, Musk has ponied up and invested in future technologies.  His Tesla Motors is now a public company, SolarCity is actively expanding by paying for your panels for your home or business, and when the planet runs out of clean air, you will have to be transported to another earth like planet via Musk’s Space-X flight services.

For Boone, a mission to Mars is not realistic – nor is it feasible for most of us either.  What we can do today is change our consumption habits.  We can opt to buy an electric vehicle if our vehicle reflects our personality.  We can opt to acquire the sexiest, most styled and comfortable rides of our choice – which can now be electric or natural gas.  We can keep antiques in pristine condition like we might our best suit or cherished wines.   But the plan of the future is to plan to choose wisely now.  Positively consume and markets will turn faster than any politburo politician found in most state and federal seats.  Influence laws with every purchase you make.  The more you spend in a capitalist-democratic society is the means to causing structural change faster than lobbying and jockeying for pet projects.

Of course, the bicycle is part of the solution.    It has evolved over time.  It has suffered from dumping like solar and steel.  A bicycle is feasible for singles who have life tethered to the net or families willing to abandon other modern comforts.    Cities like Denver have found popularity in adding “public” bike sharing programs.  Combined with mass transit may seem compelling.  Yet the likely answer is the bicycle with a cleanly fueled vehicle.  As world citizens we should simply commit ourselves to a smog free lifestyle that avoids unnecessary use of natural resources.  America has the will – does she have the power?