Schreiner’s Media Landscape

August 15, 2010

Solar Power Growth in Utah Finally Paying Off? Major Developments Prove The Sun is Too Big to Fail

Filed under: Earth, Environment, Legislature, Obama, Power Grid, Salt Lake, Schreiner Productions, Solar, Utah, coal, conservation, mining, politics, renewable, video — Ken Schreiner @ 9:48 am

It’s been four years since we went solar. It started with Solarius Precarious (pic left), our 2 kWh, sun-tracking array in November 2006 (it went on-line in March 2007). We expanded our commitment in January 2010 with the installation of our solar hot water system (video below). During this time, we’ve felt strangely alone. Not only do the vast majority of people not share our beliefs, commitment, and investment. Many of them still consider us stupid, crazy, and perhaps even dangerous.

After a couple of years endlessly talking about and promoting solar energy- part of my role as director for the Utah Solar Energy Association which I left in 2009 after three years- I’ve pretty much stopped. In conversation or at parties, I still get the blank disinterested looks, the angry eco-terrorist-in-our-midst reactions, and more than anything, the I-just-don’t-get-it capitulation. It’s at that point I cease my ramblings and return to the subjects of other people’s kids, movies, celebrity scandals, and the other stuff most people seem to care about.

Throw in the lousy economy and a president who seems to have abandoned his commitment to clean energy and solar appears to be a dead issue. But a couple of developments the past few days have me encouraged again. First,

the Salt Lake Tribune ran this article today about the growth of Utah’s solar industry. There are woefully few articles about the subject here despite the fact that we are one of the best places in the world to have solar. FYI: I

was featured in one of the few in the Deseret News last year (pic from the article at right). Things have definitely improved in Utah from when I got here in 2006. But the change has been glacial, mostly because of the ruling

Republican Party’s blind allegiance to coal, the fossil fuel lobby, the bad economy, and lack of effective renewable energy industry lobbyists.

Second, my commitment, promotion, and knowledge of solar power may have scored my biggest renewable energy video gig. I can’t give out details yet. I’ll know more this week and report it here. All I can tell you is it’s big- really big. That’s why I’m so excited about solar again. Not just for me but for the entire planet. Things are indeed changing for the better. And it makes me want to talk about it again- even if I still get the blank looks and have to talk about other people’s kids first.

July 21, 2010

Andrew Breitbart, Fox News, Lies and Videotape; How to Destroy Innocent People in 30 Seconds or Less

Filed under: America, Internet, dualism, journalism, media, politics, television, video — Ken Schreiner @ 8:49 pm

Like we need the Shirley Sherrod disaster to prove Fox News, Andrew Breitbart, Sarah Palin and America’s Christian right-wing goon squads are out of control while being firmly in control. Haven’t Republicans learned anything in the past 200 years other than how to use hate and fear as their most valuable weapons?

July 20, 2010

Sarah Palin’s “Language” Proves the Only People More Stupid are Her Supporters; Searching for the Rover Back

Filed under: Bush, Cheney, Education, Internet, journalism, politics, sports, television — Ken Schreiner @ 8:02 am

English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!

- Sarah Palin

The impossible-yet-probable standard bearer of the Republican Party continues to astound the world by being even more ignorant than her predecessor, George W. I-thought-I’d-forgotten-but-keeps-coming-back-to-haunt-me. By inventing then defending fake words like “refudiate” in a recent series of inane Tweets, Palin not only shows us her Bush-like disrespect for reality. She keeps showing us why she’s not even qualified to be an elementary school principal much less president of anything. I wouldn’t have hired her to be a TV sportscaster- her original career path- though her vocabulary appears to qualify her for the job.

However, as we saw with Bush and even Ronald Reagan, Republicans prefer their presidents to be idiots so the REAL smart people- the Ed Meeses, Karl Roves, and other puppet-mastering Rasputins- can do their handiwork without any interference from the “boss” or public scrutiny. It’s about time the American corporate news media woke up to the repetition of history going on with the Palin “campaign for something” and look behind the scenes to find out who her Rove is.

Whoever it is, I bet they know refudiate isn’t a word and Sarah Palin is nothing but a meal ticket.

July 19, 2010

China Now World’s Biggest Energy Hog; Is America Losing- or Learning?

Filed under: America, China, Climate Change, Earth, Environment, Oil, Power Grid, Solar, air, coal, conservation, geothermal, nuclear, politics, pollution, renewable, sprawl, water, wind — Ken Schreiner @ 8:02 am

The U.S. is still by far the biggest energy consumer per capita, with the average American burning five times as much energy annually as the average Chinese citizen…”

- Fatih Birol, chief economist, International Energy Agency

There was a time a hundred years ago when being the biggest consumer of energy was considered good. No, not just good. The best. That’s when the United States surpassed England as the preeminent world economic power. Now China has done it to the USA. It was only a matter of time.

Energy for manufacturing and commerce has previously been more important than energy for simply living. China is now the leading manufacturing nation so it stands to reason it would use more energy. But with humans having more spare time on their hands, and manufacturing becoming more efficient, it follows that China- the most populous nation on the planet- would surpass everybody in energy use because they simply have more people. Computers, TVs, video games, iPhones, cars, lawn mowers, air conditioners and furnaces. All these things require using utility-provided energy. And in case you hadn’t noticed, gas is not 29 cents a gallon anymore.

However, statistics from the International Energy Agency show Americans use FIVE TIMES as much energy as the average Chinese citizen. With China’s hard times still visible in the rearview mirror, their people have not become as lazy, stupid, and wasteful as Americans are. Hey, it took us 100 years to get that way. Given China’s rapid growth, you’d think they’d catch up to us pretty soon. But as consumer products become more and more energy efficient, the chances of that happening look pretty dim- kind of like the lights of New York City on a hot, summer day.

Does this spell doom for the USA as the world’s leading country, as it did with Great Britain at the turn of the 20th century? Happily, no. Conservation has always been an evasive characteristic of a powerful nation. Wealth leads to waste. Luxury largesse. Now, because of dwindling resources and a poor economy, Americans are being forced to conserve as we did  during World War 2. The Chinese will soon find out after exhausting their seemingly inexhaustible supplies of fossil fuels, they must make hard choices. Hopefully, they will learn from America’s bad example and choose conservation now to avert the energy crisis the USA is now in the grips of.

America’s energy crisis has resulted in more conservation. But it has not spurred competitive development of renewable energy resources as it has in China, Germany, Japan, Spain and virtually every other country. The good news is America is finally stopping the insane, profligate use of fossil fuels to power and pollute our country and planet. But the new champions of insane, profligate energy use- China, India, Brazil- have already put in place industry and residential incentives for renewable energy development and use anticipating the problem that has crippled America due to its continuing dependence on oil and coal, failure to plan for the ultimate exhaustion of those supplies, and the damage they ironically cause its economy and inhabitants.

That puts China and the rest even farther ahead of the USA. And that- as they say in Beijing- is the bad news.

July 16, 2010

Raleigh-Durham Airport’s Ban on Newspapers Loses in Court; What Were They Thinking? Obviously Not About Taxpayers

Filed under: America, Hollywood, dualism, journalism, media, politics, religion — Ken Schreiner @ 11:59 am

“I have the greatest respect for the Airport Authority’s desire to provide an array of amenities to travelers, but there does come a point when public restriction of political speech should not take a complete backseat to lemonade and motorcycles.”

J. Harvie Wilkinson III,  judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

Typical Raleigh-Durham resident

I was just walking through the Raleigh-Durham “International” Airport (“International” as in House of Pancakes) last weekend. It seemed normal and I didn’t even notice there were no newspaper racks. I didn’t know that the RDU Airport Authority’s “leaders” had banned newspaper racks since 2004 and that the whole issue had been tied up in court this long at a cost to taxpayers of $503,000.

Now, a federal court has rescinded the ban and verbally reprimanded the airport authority for blatantly violating (not to mention mocking) the First Amendment of the U.S. Constititution- and right in the heart of Constitution-Defendoland. While the reason for the ban has been cleverly disguised as “economic and security concerns”, it’s safe to say the authority didn’t want people reading all that left-wing, liberal hogwash that America’s (and certainly not North Carolina’s) newspapers pretty much NEVER engaged in, though right-wingers seem genetically deluded into believing.

If the taxpayers of the Raleigh-Durham area think this foolish, fiscally-irresponsible, politically-motivated, and legally-doomed expenditure of their hard-earned money is justified, there are fewer smart people and more rich people in North Carolina than I thought. And if this is another example of “conservatives” looking out for the little guy, then the people of North Carolina are also much bigger than they appear. Try Na’vi.

June 19, 2010

Father’s Day 2010: Right-Wing Family Values- NOT

Filed under: America, Children, Obama, dualism, politics, religion — Ken Schreiner @ 8:28 am

Colbert King’s excellent column in today’s Washington Post is a delightful skewering of Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich and the rest of the “family values” folks leading the pompous parade of moral know-it-alls while hypocritcally romping and closeting their own dirty laundry when the cameras are off. If America’s right-wingers hadn’t lost their senses of humor decades ago, they’d probably enjoy King’s column too. But to get the full effect you must know how to read.

June 18, 2010

Arrogance Reaches New Heights in BP’s Hayward, Republican Barton Performances at Oil Spill Hearings

Filed under: Congress, Environment, Nature, Oil, Sierra Club, dualism, politics, pollution, water — Ken Schreiner @ 7:57 am

I would’ve been more surprised if BP honcho Tony Hayward and Republican Rep. Joe Barton R-TX came out of yesterday’s oil rig disaster hearings looking intelligent, sympathetic and thorough. Alas, both these giants of political and corporate incompetence came off pretty much as we thought they would: uncaring, morally corrupt, and utterly divorced from a sense of reality or responsibility.

Despite their repeated “apologies” for this and that and even Barton’s crazy apology for apologizing, it’s more than clear that the Gulf oil disaster was not as much a product of poor maintenance and bad judgement but more of calculated disregard, stupidity, and greed. Why anyone would buy gas from BP or vote for Joe Barton is beyond me. But then again, in this age of groupthink and newspeak, a lot of things that just don’t make sense are considered not only acceptable- but preferable.

And that’s even scarier than the Tony Haywards and Joe Bartons of the world.

June 17, 2010

Feds Should Seize BP as Collateral; Hey- We Already Own a Car Company

Filed under: America, Environment, Obama, Oil, politics, pollution, water — Ken Schreiner @ 1:44 pm

With BP head Tony Hayward walking and talking more like a bankrupt Wall Street broker or American car company exec, Washington better act fast: Seize BP, take their money and give it to the “small people” of the Gulf region whom BP thinks are not quite big enough for them to help. It’s either that or BP files for bankruptcy and leaves the federal government and us, the taxpayers, holding the cleanup bill just like all the other bailed-out, loser corporations. Socialism not looking so bad now, is it?

June 15, 2010

Breaking Irony: Eco-Terrorism, Green Conspiracy Theorists Help Environmentalists in BP Gulf, Chevron Red Butte Oil Disasters

Filed under: America, Bush, Cheney, Environment, Obama, Oil, Salt Lake, Utah, conservation, dualism, politics, pollution, renewable, water, wind — Ken Schreiner @ 8:17 am

When Rush Limbaugh vomited his “speculation” that eco-terrorists were responsible for the BP Deepwater oil rig nightmare, I was amused yet annoyed. First of all, Rush has NO CREDIBILITY on any subject (he is, like Glenn Beck, an “entertainer” by his own description). I find his rants and those of the paranoiac groupthink sect known nominally only as “conservatives” comical and often pathetic. But in spectacularly ironic fashion, what Rush and other green conspiracy theorists have done during the BP mess is give new strength, credibility and urgency to the environmental movement, particularly renewable energy.

Similarly, the recent oil pipeline leak on Red Butte Creek in Salt Lake City caused speculation here in the reddest of the red states that bands of long-haired, hippie hooligans were spending their Friday night driving spikes into Chevron’s hardware. But alas, it appears a tree branch blown off during a wind storm caused a power line to contact a metal fence that caused an arc that blew a hole in the pipe. The only consolation for the Republinoids is that it was an act of God.

The radical Gaia worship theorists were also radically wrong about the BP oil rig too. BP’s own incompetence, greed and arrogance led to the accident. Worse than the accident itself, BP obviously had no idea what to do if and when their operations caused trouble and still doesn’t. But again, there is consolation for the Right. Despite BP’s obvious responsibility, they blame the Obama administration for not reacting fast enough, though one of their mantras is less government involvement in anything.

So I’d like to personally thank Rush Limbaugh, BP, Chevron, the Tea Party, the Republican Party, and the rest of the wacky gang for hanging themselves from the wreckage of the Deepwater rig. If America’s real conservatives were smart, they’d stop pointing fingers and start looking at themselves as the source of the “trouble” our country’s in and even come up with a few constructive ideas for getting us out of it. But that’s probably too much to ask. What recent history shows us is America’s right-wing is interested in only talking- and blaming anyone who’s actually trying to do something.

June 11, 2010

Blackhawks, BP Oil Spill, Tea Party, Video Business: Change is Only As Good As How We Handle It

Filed under: Environment, Nature, Oil, Salt Lake, Schreiner Productions, dualism, media, politics, pollution, television, video, water — Ken Schreiner @ 8:34 am

This is probably the longest time between posts since I started Landscape in 2005. Simply put: I’ve been busy. And that’s good. One of the reasons I began blogging five years ago was because I wasn’t busy. I’d just created Schreiner Productions in Champaign, Illinois and things were slow after two years. Champaign turned out to be too small and too conservative for my vision. The blog kept my writing, reading and thinking skills honed but, more than anything, it drew attention to my struggling entrepreneurial venture. Looking at where I am today, I’d have to say it worked. Salt Lake City turned out to be even better for my business than I thought it would be. Change was very good.

It’s proof that change is good but not necessarily in and of itself. It depends on how people receive and react to it. The fact that my childhood sports heroes the Chicago Blackhawks just won the Stanley Cup for the first time since I was seven is a major change. They can no longer be called the “Ice Cubs” at least for a couple of seasons. While this relieves pressure on the Hawks to live up to their formerly desperate fans’ high expectations, this major development creates a new problem- for the Chicago Cubs, the city’s only sports team who hasn’t won anything in more than 100 years and one that has clearly not handled change well. The local sports news spotlight will soon shift to them with even more pressure and higher expectations. The results may be good. But I’m inclined to agree with comedian Lewis Black’s assessment when he told a cheering audience as he took the stage, “You people have obviously come here with some sort of expectation and I don’t respond well to pressure.”

Similarly, BP is not responding well to the change its recklessness and arrogance created in what can now be called the Gulf of Mexico Open Air Refinery. Every day the pressure mounts for them to do something they either have no intention of doing or are utterly incapable of doing. My belief is they will declare bankruptcy under the mountain of lawsuits that grows every day they do nothing and leave American taxpayers holding the bill again. Why the Tea Party movement, and the Republican Party who also doesn’t handle change very well, support the concept of corporate piracy behind unbridled capitalism eludes me. But then again, the Republican/Tea Party has successfully eluded common sense themselves.

What it all means is change is not all good nor all bad. It is unavoidable, unpredictable and often irreversible. The challenge is how we handle the changes: the things in and out of our control and somewhere on the border between the two. This thin line accurately represents the tenuousness of life itself and constantly challenges us to deal with it or simply give up and spend the rest of our days nailed to the couch watching “Two and a Half Men”. TV, laughter, love, sex, drugs, music, alcohol, video games and other ointments merely soothe our symptoms of confusion, fear and despair. Ultimately, we must face our continuously evolving realities: recognize, learn, adjust, and change ourselves- or die.

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