Author: bobhiggins

A Legacy: The Eternal Nuclear Dump

13 years ago bobhiggins 3 Comments

We are a civilization that ignores or glosses over its past mistakes, the horrors of its history and seems blissfully oblivious to all the terrible dangers that surround us in the present. With all the conflict and war, rapid population growth, dwindling supplies of resources, from water, to food, to energy, and the steadily warming temperature of the atmospheric stew we’re all simmering in, I’m amazed that anyone believes we will have descendents at all beyond a century or two.

Disappointing Policy, a Half Mile Short of Inspiration (New CAFE Standards)

13 years ago bobhiggins 11 Comments

I’ve just been notified by one of my senators, I have two, that the administration has announced a hike in CAFE standards to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. I heard the news several day ago but most of us have better sources than the Senate. I had to sit down for a minute to let that shocking information sink in. I wondered for a second or two why they went for the fraction, what was it about the last 2640 feet per gallon that so tested their courage or was so beyond the range of their vision that they didn’t simply roll all the way to 55 mpg.

Population? Stack’em Up, The More The Merrier

13 years ago bobhiggins 1 Comment

If we have learned nothing from the mayhem of the last century with its constant conflict over resources, its terrible wars, droughts, famines, epidemics and economic depressions we should have learned that more people at the party will not reduce the noise level and no amount of religious or ideological wishful thinking will make it so.

Here Comes the Sun, There Goes the Cat

13 years ago bobhiggins 2 Comments

In a few minutes, the ancient maple tree across the street from my open window will explode with light as the sun rises behind it. A few minutes later, I’ll have to adjust the blinds to keep zillions of crazy excited photons out of my eyes and, in an hour or so, the cat, who loves to sleep in the window at the back of my desk, will find it uncomfortably warm. He’ll get up, stretch, toss me a disdainful look and move lazily to the bed to continue his nap, allowing me to shut the window against the onset of July’s heat.