MEET IN THE MIDDLE

Step-by-Step (“Easy to Follow”) Instructions on How to Use the Rational Middle

By Rational Middle, August 14, 2012 9:08 pm |
Bike-parts.-007

So you’ve found the Rational Middle and you’re wondering what you’re supposed to do. Well, I’m here to help you use our film series to start a rational, productive conversation about the energy future and, if all goes well, to play an essential role in the creation of the clean energy future. Think of your present view of the Rational Middle as a box of mail-order bike parts. Right now, it might look like a box of gears and a metal frame but, with some guidance and a good book of instructions, you’re well on the way to building the mountain bike of your dreams.

STEP 1: See the films.

As I’ve often said, this project was born out of the idea that we don’t think a lot of about energy. It’s not our fault. For Americans, energy is an “automatic”. We flip a light switch, and the lights go on. We turn on our stoves, and our food gets hot. But our access to energy is a great privilege, and its creation (through drilling, mining, capturing the wind or the sun) isn’t without disruption or some semblance of a sacrifice. I wanted to put those costs and benefits, risks and rewards of energy in front of us. This led to the creation of the first season of this series of short films. Our idea is to build an educational foundation and then democratize this information, making it free for you to see and to share. View our films online; send them to your friends; or, if you are inspired, download the films from HERE (they’re available in HD), and show them in the classroom, at a community event, in a boardroom or at a policy meeting.

STEP 2: Start the Discussion

I believe that the true power of the Rational Middle rests in your hands. With these films as a catalyst, a productive conversation about the current state of our energy and the development of a clean energy future can take place. We believe that the discussion about our energy future has to start now, and that it has to start with you. We’ve worked hard to create films with compelling (awesomely smart) energy experts, snazzy graphics and an original soundtrack. These films are created to be cinematic conversational icebreakers to get us talking about the bigger issues. Our hope is that you’ll see the films and join the discussion online or start a conversation of your own with a friend, colleague or policy maker.

STEP 3: Start Being a Part of the Energy Future

In a world that seems to relish the idea of polarizing almost everything, it’s hard to imagine a place where people (anyone and everyone) can come together and present their ideas, discuss solutions, and execute on creating the path to the clean energy future. Wonderfully enough, this is the place. The Rational Middle welcomes everyone who is willing to turn off the unproductive screaming, chest thumping and name-calling. Because, in the end, except for the very few who don’t want change, we are all the Rational Middle. All it takes is a desire for change and the ability to consider where we are as an energy nation and to begin the deep thinking on how to achieve a clean energy future. So, how do we start being a part of the energy future? We start with the building of this movement. We start by beginning this discussion. We start by building the mountain bike of our dreams.

  • http://twitter.com/AkashaKaurEngr Akasha Kaur Khalsa

    Find worthwhile info on energy use at UC Davis Energy Efficiency Centereec.ucdavis.edu/

    • therationalmiddle

      It’s on our radar, Akasha. One of the experts in the series, Amy Myers Jaffe, has recently moved to UC Davis.

  • Ken Ricci

    In 2004 Pacala and Socolow published in the journal SCIENCE a landmark article in which they identified 15 technologies that already exist and could feasibly scale up sufficiently to displace 1 or several terawatts of fossil fuel energy use over the next 50 years. (As Professor Ernest Moniz of MIT puts it, “if your proposed energy source does not scale up globally to at least a terawatt = 1,000,000,000,000 watts, then you aren’t addressing the right scale to make a difference in this issue). These 15 technologies are, briefly,
    1. Higher Vehicle fuel efficiency
    2. Mass transit with high-density urban design
    3. More Efficient buildings
    4. More Efficient baseload coal plants
    5. Substitute natural Gas baseload power for coal
    6. Capture CO2 at baseload power plant
    7. Capture CO2 at a Hydrogen fuels production plant
    8. Capture CO2 at a coal-to-synfuels plant
    9. Substitute Nuclear power for coal power
    10. Substitute Wind power for coal power
    11. Substitute PhotoVoltaic power for coal power
    12. Use Wind power to produce Hydrogen fuels for vehicles
    13. Substitute Biomass fuels for fossil fuels
    14. Reduced deforestation, and reforestation
    15. Conservation tillage (carbon-capturing agriculture) on croplands worldwide

    Since that paper was written, only #1, #3, #5, and #10 have been implemented on any significant scale, and those four are progressing far slower than necessary to achieve anything approaching terawatt scale in 50 years, except for #5 (natural gas, thanks to “fracking” is actually making a difference). The most cost-effective solutions on the list include 3,4,5, 9, and 10: efficient buildings, higher efficiency coal plants, natural gas power, nuclear fission, and wind power. It is interesting to note that the major energy players in the world are mostly ignoring nuclear fission as likely the most effective tool in this toolbox, with the exception of China and India who still understand– nuclear energy is at least as likely as wind and solar to be the main post-fossil-fuels energy source. If Western nations had remained rational about how they regulate the nuclear energy industry, instead of over-regulating to the point of intentionally strangling it, we would be in a MUCH better position now to slow anthropogenic climate change. 30 years of possibly improvements in nuclear energy safety and cost-effectiveness have been lost… and perhaps those 30 years of ignorance will eventually be blamed for most of the large animal extinctions on the planet in the next two centuries.

    • therationalmiddle

      We are big on efficiency and conservation too. They are a virtual source of energy and can be implemented without major infrastructure change. However, to be the most efficient, we need a new grid system – one that takes advantage of technologies available today and allows personal management from a distance. The Leaf Effect is undeniable and we think that should apply to businesses and personal life too, not just the car.

  • http://www.facebook.com/DayemGood Cliff Boyer

    A company on the way to making a difference right now is one I am involved with and you can too if you live in the U.S. http://cliffboyer.cleannation.biz and I am so proud of their efforts and what they are bringing to the table. Thanks for your website, I am enjoying it !!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/sid.abma.1 Sid Abma

    The incredible thing about natural gas is that it can be consumed to near 100% energy efficiency. Natural gas is America’s Clean Energy source that when consumed efficiently, COOL exhaust will be vented into the atmosphere.
    With the technology of Condensing Flue Gas Heat Recovery the WATER can be recovered out of the combusted exhaust gases.
    Have you ever seen combusted natural gas irrigate the lawns and flower beds?