May 11 2011
After watching Who Killed the Electric Car (2006), we took a look at some of the new plug-in electric cars from Chevy, Ford, Nissan, and Tesla now on the market. Are electric cars really the answer for ending our dependence on foreign crude oil? Could it be that simple? This Daily Show clip (8 minutes) [...]
Apr 15 2011
On Monday, we learned primarily about smog, or “smoky fog”, which is the dark, sooty pollution one can typically see over heavily populated industrial areas such as Pittsburgh or Mexico City. There are two main types of smog: “grey” smog and “brown” smog, which are obviously named as such due to their color. Grey smog, [...]
Mar 23 2011
We didn’t have time to discuss some “new” sources of fossil fuels, namely oil (tar) sands and oil shale. Your book briefly mentions these resources. Our neighbor to the north happens to rich in oil sands, which contains oil in a semi-solid state known as bitumen. This substance must be heated before the liquid crude [...]
Mar 09 2011
In class yesterday we learned about the worst oil spill in the United States until last summer, the Exxon Valdez. History: In 1989 Mr. Hazelwood was drunk driving a huge ship in Alaska named the Valdez, which was carrying oil for the company Exxon. The ship collided with some coral and since it was only single hulled, [...]
Sep 02 2010
Did you guys hear this yet? It’s true….check out the developing story: Boston.com: Oil Sheen Spreading from Gulf Oil Platform NPR.com: Production Platform on Fire South of Louisiana, Coast Guard Reports
