Tuesday, September 13, 2011

For Nascar, Going Green Is Good Business - NYTimes.com

For Nascar, Going Green Is Good Business - NYTimes.com

Whoa, more change, in (somewhat) surprising places. Nice! And for some of the right reasons... including buying solar parts built in the U.S....

"...Despite the scale of these efforts, Lynch does not disagree with environmentalists who call these recycling measures low-hanging fruit. So he has supported other projects like the installation last year of 40,000 solar panels over 25 acres at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. The track operator, which spent about $15 million to build the three-megawatt solar farm, now saves about $500,000 a year in energy costs and has produced electricity equal to 324,000 gallons of gasoline.

We gained a lot of fans because of it,” said Brandon Igdalsky, the raceway’s president. “Our generation is trying to clean up the things that our grandparents and great-grandparents did.”

Igdalsky said that he paid more for his solar power system because he bought parts made in the United States. Indeed, many businesses at Nascar, perhaps playing to the sports’ fans, which skew toward the South and the Midwest, view their green initiatives almost as a patriotic duty. Generating electricity from the sun is not just about saving money, but also a way to wean the country off imported oil...."

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Sunset, Venice 12/20/2012

Sunset, Venice 12/20/2012
I've been thinking some about the Winter Solstice, the Mayan end of the 30,000-year-cycle on 12/21/12.

What if in fact the world did end? Even though this probably will not happen, to live consciously it is honest for us to take a bit of an inventory.

Am I happy with how I've lived my life? (Yesterday, I thought mostly yes, with some areas for improvement, as below.) Are there changes I would make?
Would I have tried to forgive those that were hostile or disappointing to me?
Would I spend more time with those I loved the most, telling them that, feeling that more?
Would I be happier, grateful for what I have, what I've experienced, the joy, the beauty in this world?

Maybe the answer is yes to all of the above.
So this time can serve as a point of rebirth for all of us. If we think about it.

Because somewhere along the line I realized I think maybe mankind deserves it. !
The way we are killing each other, killing the planet.
How selfish we are, and snotty to those around us. Petty, competitive. Why is this? Do we have to behave this way? (I say no, it greatly detracts and misdirects energy from the full-time celebration in which we could engage, the great multi-cultural, multi-rhythmic dance we can sustain here.)

Maybe God or the Great Universe is fed up, and will pull the rug out from under us.
Don't think I can say we could blame Him/Her/It.

But it probably won't happen. (Probably not! This time.)

Still we are finite on this ride.

It is a time to think, am I happy with how I've lived my life?
Hopefully most of us can say yes.

For the part of us that have a little worry, a little sadness....
This is the time to be present.
This is the time to be the person you want to be, that can die at peace, that can hope to every day be able to look yourself and the Universe in the eye and say, how beautiful, smiling, and thank you. Let's do that.

Antidotes to Violence, a.k.a., Take Charge of Where Your Head's At - here

Tell Congress to Strengthen Gun Control Laws NOW - here

Good News & Brain Food News -
Christians & Muslims Gather, for Peace here
Good News - Top RIO+20 Summit Posts here
The 'Busy' Trap - NYTimes.com
here