Wednesday, March 14, 2012
David Wolman talks about "The End of Money"
David Wolman, author of "The End of Money," talks about his book, recorded from Portland, Oregon, on March 14, 2012.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Palo Alto Adopts Solar Feed-in Tariff, with 4 MW planned for 2012
Jon Abendschein is the Resource Planner in the Resource Management Division of the City of Palo Alto Utilities. He spoke this afternoon with Etopia News about that Silicon Valley city’s adoption of a CLEAN (Clean Local Energy Accessible Now) program, under which city residents and businesses will be able to sell renewably-generated electricity to the municipally-owned utility under standard contracts for a set period of time.
According to the City of Palo Alto website:
“Palo Alto CLEAN (Clean Local Energy Accessible Now) is a program to purchase electricity generated by solar electric systems located in CPAU’s service territory, which coincides with the city boundaries. Programs like this, known in the industry as "feed-in tariff" programs, involve a utility paying a fixed price (tariff) for the power that is "fed into" their electric grid from local generation systems.
"Description of Palo Alto's Program
"The program will unfold over multiple years, but in the first year, 2012, it will involve the purchase of up to 4 MW of capacity from solar resources located in Palo Alto. In this first year there will be a minimum project size of 100 kW. The purchase prices the City will pay are as follows:
o 20-year contract: 14.003 ¢/kWh
o 15-year contract: 13.216 ¢/kWh
o 10-year contract: 12.360 ¢/kWh
“The City will begin accepting applications on April 2, 2012 and will award contracts at the end of each month, with the first contracts awarded on May 1, 2012.”
Mr. Abendschein said that the adoption of this CLEAN/FIT program was the result of “a lot of interest over the last few years.” The annual goal of 4MW set for 2012 will be reviewed at the end of the year, and new goals will then be set for subsequent years, according to the utility official.
The City of Palo Alto has adopted a municipal RPS (renewable portfolio standard) of 33% renewables by 2015. The State of California has a similar 33% standard, but won’t require it to be in place until 2020.
Abendschein mentioned that the CLEAN Coalition had kept close track of the program, had provided a lot of feedback, and had spoken to staff and policymakers about it.
Eight members of the nine-person Palo Alto City Council were in attendance on March 5th when the measure was adopted by a unanimous vote, he said.
Because the cost of the CLEAN program will be about “equal to the utility’s ‘avoided cost,’ there will be little or no ratepayer impact” from the adoption of this new arrangement, according to Abendschein.
He concluded by saying that “We’re trying to be creative and see to what extent we can get some of our energy from our own rooftops here in Palo Alto. That’s something we can all get excited about.”
According to the City of Palo Alto website:
“Palo Alto CLEAN (Clean Local Energy Accessible Now) is a program to purchase electricity generated by solar electric systems located in CPAU’s service territory, which coincides with the city boundaries. Programs like this, known in the industry as "feed-in tariff" programs, involve a utility paying a fixed price (tariff) for the power that is "fed into" their electric grid from local generation systems.
"Description of Palo Alto's Program
"The program will unfold over multiple years, but in the first year, 2012, it will involve the purchase of up to 4 MW of capacity from solar resources located in Palo Alto. In this first year there will be a minimum project size of 100 kW. The purchase prices the City will pay are as follows:
o 20-year contract: 14.003 ¢/kWh
o 15-year contract: 13.216 ¢/kWh
o 10-year contract: 12.360 ¢/kWh
“The City will begin accepting applications on April 2, 2012 and will award contracts at the end of each month, with the first contracts awarded on May 1, 2012.”
Mr. Abendschein said that the adoption of this CLEAN/FIT program was the result of “a lot of interest over the last few years.” The annual goal of 4MW set for 2012 will be reviewed at the end of the year, and new goals will then be set for subsequent years, according to the utility official.
The City of Palo Alto has adopted a municipal RPS (renewable portfolio standard) of 33% renewables by 2015. The State of California has a similar 33% standard, but won’t require it to be in place until 2020.
Abendschein mentioned that the CLEAN Coalition had kept close track of the program, had provided a lot of feedback, and had spoken to staff and policymakers about it.
Eight members of the nine-person Palo Alto City Council were in attendance on March 5th when the measure was adopted by a unanimous vote, he said.
Because the cost of the CLEAN program will be about “equal to the utility’s ‘avoided cost,’ there will be little or no ratepayer impact” from the adoption of this new arrangement, according to Abendschein.
He concluded by saying that “We’re trying to be creative and see to what extent we can get some of our energy from our own rooftops here in Palo Alto. That’s something we can all get excited about.”
Monday, March 5, 2012
Hans Jusseit at Oceansmart discusses the Smart Tuna Hook
Hans Jusseit, Managing Director of Australian start-up Oceansmart, talks about how the Smart Tuna Hook can protect seabirds and sea turtles from being hooked during long-line tuna fishing, recorded from Brisbane, Australia, on March 5/6, 2012.
Dr. Robert Chung at POP answers questions about March 23, 2012, "civil referendum" in Hong Kong
Dr. Robert Chung is the Director of the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at Hong Kong University. POP is organizing an online and offline poll/election, scheduled for March 23, 2012, to ascertain the views of more Hong Kong permanent residents than will be allowed to participate in the actual selection of that jurisdiction's Chief Executive, since that position will actually be filled by the vote of a 1,200-member Selection Committee.
Etopia News sent Dr. Chung a list of questions about this poll/election and has just received his answers, presented below:
1. Welcome to Etopia News.
2. What is the jurisdictional relationship between Hong Kong and
the People's Republic of China?
3. What is the role of the Chief Executive?
4. How is the Chief Executive chosen?
Ans. I will let you search the HKSAR Government site for standard answers to the above questions.
5. What is the background and mission of the Public Opinion
Programme at Hong Kong University? What kind of polling does it normally do?
Ans. Please visit our website at http://hkupop.hku.hk.
6. Who are the current candidates for the position of Chief
Executive of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong?
Ans. Mr CY Leung, Mr Albert Ho, and Mr Henry Tang.
7. Who will get to vote in the official election?
8. How are these voters chosen? When will they vote?
Ans. Please see the official website of the Registration and Electoral Office at http://www.reo.gov.hk.
9. Why did you decide to conduct a poll to determine the
preferences for Chief Executive of the general population of Hong Kong? What purposes do you hope it will serve?
Ans. To reflect public opinion. We see it as our duty.
10. How will you conduct this poll? When will it take place?
11. Who has created the online, Internet polling/voting system
that you will use to collect the preferences of the general population?
12. Who will be eligible to participate in this electronic poll?
Ans. I guess you are referring to our "3.23 Civil Referendum"
Project. If so please click on http://popvote.hk.
13. How will people identify themselves to the system?
Ans. HK Identity Card. If they vote off-site using the internet, they will need a UNIQUE cell phone number to send a confirmation SMS to us.
14. What are you doing to make sure that no one hacks into the
system and interferes with an accurate and fair compilation of the vote?
Ans. We can not be 100% fool-proof, but we are barring e-voting from outside Hong Kong. We will also report all irregularities to the public at the close of our e-poll.
15. Will you also allow people without computers and an Internet
connection to participate in the polling?
Ans. Yes, they can go to our PHYSICAL polling stations and vote onsite (via some computers).
16. Can people use smartphones to participate?
Ans. Yes, there will be Apps for iPhone and Androd smart phones. We are still waiting for administrative clearance from Apple and Android.
17. How much will it cost to conduct this poll?
Ans. Our target was to raise HK$0.5m, and we made it.
18. Where are you getting the money? Can you accept money from
outside of Hong Kong or China from people who support what you are doing?
Ans. They can log on our website at http://popvote.hk and pledge a donation.
19. What more will you be able to do depending on how much money you raise?
Ans. We will conduct a "3.21 Mock Civil Referendum" at schools on March 21, because we have raised more funds than needed to just kick off the project.
20. What is the "School Mock Voting" system that you mention on
your website?
Ans. Same as "3.23", only that all students would be required to vote onsite at polling stations set up inside participating schools.
21. What impact do you expect your poll will have on the voting
in the official selection process?
Ans. I don't know. Probably same as other random surveys which we conduct.
22. What reaction to your plans have you had from authorities in
Hong Kong and in Beijing?
Ans. Doesn't matter to me.
23. What reaction to your plans have you had from the media and
people of Hong Kong?
Ans. University students are very supportive. Many laymen have made donations to our project.
24. How many people do you expect to take part in this project?
Ans. Using government spending standards on "real" polls, each actual vote costs about HK$150. So if we can get 4,000 votes, we would be "up to standard". Since we are using e-voting, we would like to multiply the figure by 10, so 40,000 votes should be a big success.
Anything near 100,000 votes would be more than ideal.
25. Thank you for talking to us today on Etopia News.
Ans. Thanks for asking the questions.
Etopia News sent Dr. Chung a list of questions about this poll/election and has just received his answers, presented below:
1. Welcome to Etopia News.
2. What is the jurisdictional relationship between Hong Kong and
the People's Republic of China?
3. What is the role of the Chief Executive?
4. How is the Chief Executive chosen?
Ans. I will let you search the HKSAR Government site for standard answers to the above questions.
5. What is the background and mission of the Public Opinion
Programme at Hong Kong University? What kind of polling does it normally do?
Ans. Please visit our website at http://hkupop.hku.hk.
6. Who are the current candidates for the position of Chief
Executive of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong?
Ans. Mr CY Leung, Mr Albert Ho, and Mr Henry Tang.
7. Who will get to vote in the official election?
8. How are these voters chosen? When will they vote?
Ans. Please see the official website of the Registration and Electoral Office at http://www.reo.gov.hk.
9. Why did you decide to conduct a poll to determine the
preferences for Chief Executive of the general population of Hong Kong? What purposes do you hope it will serve?
Ans. To reflect public opinion. We see it as our duty.
10. How will you conduct this poll? When will it take place?
11. Who has created the online, Internet polling/voting system
that you will use to collect the preferences of the general population?
12. Who will be eligible to participate in this electronic poll?
Ans. I guess you are referring to our "3.23 Civil Referendum"
Project. If so please click on http://popvote.hk.
13. How will people identify themselves to the system?
Ans. HK Identity Card. If they vote off-site using the internet, they will need a UNIQUE cell phone number to send a confirmation SMS to us.
14. What are you doing to make sure that no one hacks into the
system and interferes with an accurate and fair compilation of the vote?
Ans. We can not be 100% fool-proof, but we are barring e-voting from outside Hong Kong. We will also report all irregularities to the public at the close of our e-poll.
15. Will you also allow people without computers and an Internet
connection to participate in the polling?
Ans. Yes, they can go to our PHYSICAL polling stations and vote onsite (via some computers).
16. Can people use smartphones to participate?
Ans. Yes, there will be Apps for iPhone and Androd smart phones. We are still waiting for administrative clearance from Apple and Android.
17. How much will it cost to conduct this poll?
Ans. Our target was to raise HK$0.5m, and we made it.
18. Where are you getting the money? Can you accept money from
outside of Hong Kong or China from people who support what you are doing?
Ans. They can log on our website at http://popvote.hk and pledge a donation.
19. What more will you be able to do depending on how much money you raise?
Ans. We will conduct a "3.21 Mock Civil Referendum" at schools on March 21, because we have raised more funds than needed to just kick off the project.
20. What is the "School Mock Voting" system that you mention on
your website?
Ans. Same as "3.23", only that all students would be required to vote onsite at polling stations set up inside participating schools.
21. What impact do you expect your poll will have on the voting
in the official selection process?
Ans. I don't know. Probably same as other random surveys which we conduct.
22. What reaction to your plans have you had from authorities in
Hong Kong and in Beijing?
Ans. Doesn't matter to me.
23. What reaction to your plans have you had from the media and
people of Hong Kong?
Ans. University students are very supportive. Many laymen have made donations to our project.
24. How many people do you expect to take part in this project?
Ans. Using government spending standards on "real" polls, each actual vote costs about HK$150. So if we can get 4,000 votes, we would be "up to standard". Since we are using e-voting, we would like to multiply the figure by 10, so 40,000 votes should be a big success.
Anything near 100,000 votes would be more than ideal.
25. Thank you for talking to us today on Etopia News.
Ans. Thanks for asking the questions.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Jane Foody's change.org petition to AT&T asks them to stop throttling data
Jane Foody, who signed up for an "unlimited" data plan with AT&T, talks about her petition on change.org, which asks AT&T to give her the unlimited data usage she's paying for, recorded from Yonkers, NY, on March 2, 2012.
Monday, February 27, 2012
How does the U.S. Government feel about the upcoming Internet vote for Chief Executive in Hong Kong?
U.S. State Department “does not have a statement on” the March 23rd Internet poll in Hong Kong to ascertain the public’s preference for Chief Executive, but it did say that “this is an internal decision for the people of Hong Kong.”
In an e-mail sent to Etopia News, a State Department spokesperson wrote:
“In response to your inquiry, the Department does not have a statement on this since this is an internal decision for the people of Hong Kong.”
Very diplomatic of them.
In an e-mail sent to Etopia News, a State Department spokesperson wrote:
“In response to your inquiry, the Department does not have a statement on this since this is an internal decision for the people of Hong Kong.”
Very diplomatic of them.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Outside support for Hong Kong Internet poll is “probably not a good idea,” says Brookings expert
Richard C. Bush is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Director of its Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies. According to the Brookings web site:
“Richard Bush’s two-decade public service career spans Congress, the intelligence community and the U.S. State Department. He currently focuses on China-Taiwan relations, U.S.-China relations, the Korean peninsula and Japan’s security.”
His background and expertise makes him ideally suited to comment to Etopia News about the March 23rd Internet-based “civil referendum” poll/election that seeks to ascertain the preferences of all the millions of permanent residents of Hong Kong 18 and older for that jurisdiction’s Chief Executive two days before an unelected Selection Committee of 1,200 makes the official choice for that position.
For one thing, Mr. Bush does not think that Westerners who’d like to see more democracy in China ought to get involved in that polling process. “Because suspicious Chinese will easily believe that Washington is behind the current effort, it is probably not a good idea for outsiders to ‘actively’ support this effort,” he writes in an e-mail.
The Brookings-based China-watcher provides a useful context for this exercise in popular democracy when he writes:
“This exercise at bottom-up democracy does challenge both the authority that Beijing believes it has to set the boundaries of political activity and its assumption that the selection committee [SC] represents the interests of the community. It would be rather embarrassing for the regime if the electronic tally was the opposite of the SC result (although I’m sure there would be a propaganda offensive to discredit the citizens’ count or perhaps a hacking effort to undermine it)."
He also provides some background information on the man who heads the Public Opinion Programme at the University of Hong Kong and who is the organizer of this exercise in quasi-popular sovereignty:
“Actually, this is not the first time that Robert Chung has tested the tolerance of the regime. He recently released a poll that showed that more people in Hong Kong have a Hong Kong identity than a Chinese identity, and he was roundly criticized in China for being a ‘political player in academic disguise’ and for being a cat’s paw for the United States.”
Clearly, this civil referendum and the controversy surrounding it in China and its Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong will provide a lot of fodder for those concerned about the future of democracy in China. Mr. Bush’s considered advice to them at this point seems to be simple: look but don’t touch.
Meanwhile, the JakartaGlobe reported in its February 23rd edition that a poll already conducted by Mr. Chung shows that:
“[Beijing’s reported choice] Henry Tang was favoured by only 16 percent of the 506 respondents polled in the latest survey commissioned by English daily the South China Morning Post when respondents were asked to pick between him and main rival Leung Chun-ying. Leung is well ahead of Tang with the backing of 63.9 percent of respondents."
The JakartaGlobe went on to say that:
“’If Tang finally gets elected against landslide public opinion, there will be a governance crisis,’ pollster Robert Chung from the University of Hong Kong, who conducted the poll, told the Post.”
The article goes on to relate personal details of an unflattering nature about Mr. Tang, here.
“Richard Bush’s two-decade public service career spans Congress, the intelligence community and the U.S. State Department. He currently focuses on China-Taiwan relations, U.S.-China relations, the Korean peninsula and Japan’s security.”
His background and expertise makes him ideally suited to comment to Etopia News about the March 23rd Internet-based “civil referendum” poll/election that seeks to ascertain the preferences of all the millions of permanent residents of Hong Kong 18 and older for that jurisdiction’s Chief Executive two days before an unelected Selection Committee of 1,200 makes the official choice for that position.
For one thing, Mr. Bush does not think that Westerners who’d like to see more democracy in China ought to get involved in that polling process. “Because suspicious Chinese will easily believe that Washington is behind the current effort, it is probably not a good idea for outsiders to ‘actively’ support this effort,” he writes in an e-mail.
The Brookings-based China-watcher provides a useful context for this exercise in popular democracy when he writes:
“This exercise at bottom-up democracy does challenge both the authority that Beijing believes it has to set the boundaries of political activity and its assumption that the selection committee [SC] represents the interests of the community. It would be rather embarrassing for the regime if the electronic tally was the opposite of the SC result (although I’m sure there would be a propaganda offensive to discredit the citizens’ count or perhaps a hacking effort to undermine it)."
He also provides some background information on the man who heads the Public Opinion Programme at the University of Hong Kong and who is the organizer of this exercise in quasi-popular sovereignty:
“Actually, this is not the first time that Robert Chung has tested the tolerance of the regime. He recently released a poll that showed that more people in Hong Kong have a Hong Kong identity than a Chinese identity, and he was roundly criticized in China for being a ‘political player in academic disguise’ and for being a cat’s paw for the United States.”
Clearly, this civil referendum and the controversy surrounding it in China and its Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong will provide a lot of fodder for those concerned about the future of democracy in China. Mr. Bush’s considered advice to them at this point seems to be simple: look but don’t touch.
Meanwhile, the JakartaGlobe reported in its February 23rd edition that a poll already conducted by Mr. Chung shows that:
“[Beijing’s reported choice] Henry Tang was favoured by only 16 percent of the 506 respondents polled in the latest survey commissioned by English daily the South China Morning Post when respondents were asked to pick between him and main rival Leung Chun-ying. Leung is well ahead of Tang with the backing of 63.9 percent of respondents."
The JakartaGlobe went on to say that:
“’If Tang finally gets elected against landslide public opinion, there will be a governance crisis,’ pollster Robert Chung from the University of Hong Kong, who conducted the poll, told the Post.”
The article goes on to relate personal details of an unflattering nature about Mr. Tang, here.
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