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Check out Common Science on Chapelboro.com

With permission from Ruby I thought I'd let you know that in addition to my local politics blog here on the OP, I've been publishing a weekly science blog on chapelboro.com called Common Science. It's been a fun project so far and I have been mixing both global and local topics. For example, for those with stamina I'm part of the way through a 10 part series on petroleum which has been formulating my head for a few years. On more local issues I've posted an appeal to consider solar water heaters and also why the cicadas evolved to have 13 and 17 year life cycles.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Comments

Good job

Submitted by rexmercer on July 11, 2011 - 4:18pm

Jeff, Good job debunking Michelle Bachmann's idea about shale oil in your latest chapelboro.com blog post. I had never heard of shale oil until I read her quote. I've enjoyed your whole series on oil. You stated in a early column that "the coming scarcity of oil ... will be the predominant science story in the world for the next 20 to 30 years." Maybe, but I'll go out on a limb and predict that the science involved in radical life extension (preventing aging, etc.) will be a bigger story in the coming decades. Think of the implications.

Local Implications

Submitted by Jeff Danner on July 12, 2011 - 9:33am

Thanks Rex. I read an interesting article recently suggesting that the goal of getting everyone to live to be 95 is not the correct way to allocate our health care resources. It was rather compelling, though I may feel differently at age 92.So far on my Chapelboro blog I have been addressing some larger science and societal issues, but am starting to move into addressing some more local content. Once you believe as I do that the future will bring a trend towards relocalization it impacts your views on zoning, development, and investment decisions.As we enter this election season what I want to hear about is: bike lanes, regional transit, support for local food production, etc. I also think we need to give consideration to how we leverage the infrastructure we have put in place to faciliate housing in a way that can also support business and light manufacturing. In order for us, as a community, to take proactive action to prepare for the future we need to come to some sort of a consensus on what the future holds. Maybe a good question for our town council candidates is "what do you think Chapel Hill will look like in 2021 and what should we be doing now to prepare for that?"

Local blogging

Submitted by Ruby Sinreich on July 12, 2011 - 2:23pm

Jeff, that's great to hear you'll be focusing more on local issues on your Chapelboro blog. I'd like to see more of that there.Rememeber that you are always welcome to cross-post your entries here on OP as well, just in case you want to reach a different audience.

Jeff, that is the question

Submitted by Mark Marcoplos on July 13, 2011 - 5:51pm

We know that large forces are at work and there are many citizens that have their eye on those balls. Of course, it's a stretch for most people to ponder the uncertainties that these forces represent. We absolutely should be publicly addressing the local implications of climate change, a permanent U.S. war economy, the fact that multi-national corporations have more power than the U.S. government, the totally predictable coming increases in fuel costs (and the resultant effects on our food systems), the pressures to homogenize and link our water supplies across wathersheds in order to serve the corporate economy that does not realize restraint, etc. Orange County is uniquely positioned to be a resilient and self-reliant island of sustainability and survivability in the coming years. Yet there is little indication that the Orange County leadership understands these issues. Policy discussions seem to arise in a bubble, as if things are as they were twenty years ago.

Local Leadership and Unique Positioning

Submitted by Jeff Danner on July 14, 2011 - 7:58am

Mark,You and I share the view the Orange County is well positioned to prosper in the future if we can maintain a sustained vision. As a county we are never all going to agree on everything, but if we can keep a steady conversation going, on the OP, in the newspapers, during our election cycles, I think we can have a really successful county in 2021.I should note that my comment from above: As we enter this election season what I want to hear about is: bike lanes, regional transit, support for local food production, etc. I also think we need to give consideration to how we leverage the infrastructure we have put in place to faciliate housing in a way that can also support business and light manufacturing.reads at though I am saying that no elected leaders discuss and support these items. That is not correct no more intent, I was trying to state that I am looking for more discussion of these types of issues as opposed to less consequential matters like whether or not East 54 is too close to the road or not.In particular I give Ed Harrison credit for advocating for these issues.

Yes - there are certainly local leaders on this

Submitted by Mark Marcoplos on July 14, 2011 - 10:46am

You are right - there are several town leaders that take a longer, more visionary view.

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