Obama and the EPA have got a lot going for them in their Clean Power Plan. The agency has estimated many things that will come with this bill. Lets cover some of their predictions and expectations.

The first bold statement they come out and say is that this bill will cut carbon pollution from the power sector by 30 percent by 2030. Another idea they propose which will come as a side effect is that electricity bills will drop by 8 percent by 2030, due to increased efficiency. It is clear from their analysis of the bill on their website they are trying to cut down on emissions, but keep the economy growing. This bill probably uses the smartest way to accomplish both, increasing efficiency, and at the same time, places much of the power and responsibility on individual states over the federal government.

Their idea of having states come up with their own plans and ways to cut their carbon emissions allows for states to handle their own matters appropriately. States that relies more on nuclear power, such as Mississippi or New Jersey, may not have to take as drastic measures as coal heavy states like Wyoming or West Virginia. Perhaps appropriate actions in states that use mostly nuclear power for electricity would be working on more efficiently predicting the amount of electricity to produce as to not waste as much, while heavy coal users should look into ways to more efficiently burn and maybe even re-burn coal to reduce emissions. The fact that this bill leaves the power to the states may also be a downside as well.

While the EPA is expecting and pursuing the goals mentioned above, the leniency of what states will do could affect their estimates. The most curious thing should be where the numbers they came up with actually came from. How exactly is the entire country going to decrease electricity prices or reduce carbon emissions if every state isn’t doing the same thing? Of course each state is responsible for different amounts of carbon, but so much freedom seems like the estimations are more of a sugar-free lollipop they are trying to entice us with to get us on board, only to be disappointed when the results aren’t so sweet.
While the estimations would be great, the bill needs to be more clear as to where the results come from, what they require of the states to gain more popularity from educated people. They need to publish the numbers, and let people check their work and join the cause to reduce climate change, rather than give promises that seem blind to try to gain popularity among the uneducated public.

On of the most exciting and interesting things we have done in class so far has been working with the lego robotics in the Intro to Lego Mindstorm activity. While it didn’t quite bring back the nostalgic feel of playing with legos as a little kid, this stuff is cool! The options in the computer program seem almost limitless, especially with a more advanced or expanded kit. This activity gave a great feel for what being a scientist is like. Using the robots almost almost like part of a lab or experiment, but we got to mess around with them more and have some fun exploring what we could do with the program

The actual assignment was challenging; this was the first time I had really worked with this stuff. Making the car was rather difficult at first but if we work with this stuff in the future I think I will have a much better understanding.

Probably the most interesting part of the assignment was that the NXT on the car was able to measure things during the trials, with great accuracy too. I would assume that the differences in data from what we recorded and what the nxt recorded were from our inaccuracies in measuring with the ruler, not that of the NXT

I am definitely happy we had this activity in class, and it may be very valuable to me if we use this stuff later on in class or maybe even in other classes down the road. This is the kind of toy I want to play with.

Everyone can benefit from increased fuel efficiency, whether from the personal costs of gas prices or addressing carbon emissions, and the nations biggest push in its history aims to drastically change how much fuel our vehicles consume. A federal mandate requiring 54.5 MPG on all cars released by 2025 puts the fire under automakers to increase fuel economy. The answers come from ideas as simple as aerodynamics and weight, but range to the complexity of variable timing valves and more. Lets explore some of the practical science being used here.

Aerodynamics and weight is a great place to start for increasing efficiency. we are developing technologies now give us lighter and stronger materials to make cars with. Advances in technologies with carbon fiber materials are close, and maybe the most simple efficiency measure to incorporate into cars. Lighter cars equals less energy to power them. The same goes for aerodynamics; less opposing force yields better gas milage. Automakers have tested many different shapes to make the body of cars to find the ones with the least drag coefficient, but also kept in mind that they want to keep these new ideas looking like the standard idea of a car. The simple outlook on aerodynamics is to keep the car body streamlined, but automakers have gotten a bit more creative than simply playing with shapes. Certain brands have tried out many options; replacing mirrors with cameras, using skinnier tires that have less drag, and perhaps the most creative, a grill on the front of a car that automatically closes when the engine doesn’t need cooling. The distant future of autonomous cars is certainly further away than 2025, but this idea with the grill and other features give an interesting look into what that may be like while working on efficiency.

The amount of gas wasted in city driving and in bumper-to-bumper traffic isn’t outrageously substantial, but there is plenty of energy there that companies could save, and that is exactly what has been done with the 2014 Chevy Malibu. Released last fall, it showcased an interesting feature that saves the wasted gas while idling a car. The engine automatically stopped when the car was brought to a stop. Consumers worried about the feel of the car when resuming acceleration, they worried it would be noticeable and annoying , but Chevy really performed on this one. The engine restarting is not even noticeable as it restarts automatically as soon as the driver begins to lift his/her foot off the brake. Truly innovative work by Chevy!
Variable valve timing is a more complex, mechanical aspect of working on fuel efficiency. The valves inside of an engine are used in combination with the pistons to make the crankshaft move and thus the car and important part of the valves and the pistons is mixing the right combination of oxygen and fuel to allow combustion. The way the valves opened in older cars, the engine often had to work harder to get oxygen, sometimes creating a vacuum, thus wear on the internal parts of the engine and a less optimal fuel-oxygen ratio. Today, with modifications among different brands, the valves are hooked up to sensors and when the valves yield less optimal ratios, an error message is sent to a computer, which adjust things accordingly.

The most effective method of conserving fuel, especially for highway driving, can be dealt with by not producing more power than is used. With V-8 engines and some V-6 engines, not all the pistons need to be used when traveling at a near-constant speed. When not needed (as determined by a computer) pistons can be deactivated by closing the valves which traps what would be the exhaust from the cycle and stops the piston in its tracks.

Most of these modern examples of fuel efficiency science are not very significant, and more advances will need to be made to reach 54.5 MPG by 2025. For now, these are the right steps to take as we wait for the science. Whether gasoline powered cars are on their way out or not, increasing fuel efficiency is a nice way to not only encourage that, but also to start to take action against emissions. And saving our wallets is a nice perk!

Sources: http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/researchdevelopment/a/cylinderdeact.htm
http://jalopnik.com/how-variable-valve-timing-works-500056093
http://www.freep.com/article/20130707/BUSINESS0101/307070119/general-motors-chevrolet-malibu-stop-start
http://motorburn.com/2014/01/12-of-the-most-aerodynamic-cars-in-production-right-now/

The topic of genetically modified organisms, or GMO’s, is certainly a frustrating one to talk about. There are many fallacies on either side of the issue coming from both mass public opinion and giant corporate lobbying. A specific case that took place back in 2013 was loaded with this kind of blind campaigning.

Different proposals for regulations of GMO’s had been stirred up and brought into discussion without much actual legislative consideration, that is until Margaret Willie proposed her bill. Willie is a council member of the Hawaii county council, and mustered up some significant support for her bill which would stop all growth of GMO’s with the exception of two crops already vastly used among the state.

While there were many blind supporters of the bill, there was a small population that was skeptical and wanted to get to the truth of the issue. Mr. Greggor Ilagan a fellow councilmen of Willie was determined to get to the bottom of the issue and make an informed vote on the bill. In his endeavor for information, he came across many unreliable reports being published, some ranging from simple biases to downright lies. With much public support of the bill, Ilagan knew he was in for a tough battle to bring about the truth on this issue.

Willie’s side of the argument certainly contains some legitimate concerns, as to how the large biotech companies have been not so careful with producing quality, safe goods and how problems will emerge with other big companies putting profits before safety. All of these are legitimate concerns, however, banning GMO’s is not the solution to big business greed. Issues with pesticides and other health concerns will still exist without the spotlight of GMO’s being placed on these large biotech companies.

Willie’s argument has even more holes after two of the major arguing points were brushed off as purely pseudo-science, those being the cancerous tumors in rats and “superweeds.” Opponents of GMO’s claimed that genetically modified foods being inserted into rats’ diets was causing cancer in them, but come to find out, not only was the sample size too small to acquire adequate data, but the data showed that even the control group of rats were likely to get cancer anyway. The GMO’s didn’t even cause the tumors in the rats! Another point of Willie’s that was debunked was the idea of “superweeds” or weeds that increased in size and had grown resistant to weedkiller due to genetic contamination. It turns out, according to scientist Jon Suzuki of the area, that these enlarged weeds have simply developed a tolerance to herbicides and that cross species genetic contamination doesn’t even occur. These are not very convincing points in a legislative bill for which the opportunity cost would be many advances in agriculture and science if passed.

The issue of GMO’s should be about that, GMO’s. No fake science or false claims. Not to say GMO’s are right or wrong, but when it comes to finding out the truth, what is safe or not, this kind of lobbying and lying cannot be allowed. Greggor Ilagan believed this and truly stuck to his wits to find truth behind some of the lies. The scientific and agricultural prospects of this field are too great to let the argument be dictated merely by popular opinion and lobbying politicians. The way businesses may abuse GMO’s is also a legitimate concern, but a lot of brainpower goes into making money. Why not use some of these businesses money to find the truth behind GMO’s and bring forth some amazing new advancements in the field of agriculture?

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