Author Archives: Zane Selvans

The Corporate Surveillance State

A completely creeptastic article from the NY Times on how Target can figure out that your 16 year old daughter is pregnant before she’s willing to talk to you about it, based on what she’s buying and when.  Big Brother … Continue reading

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Sequencing Risks

A reporter from Bloomberg joins the PGP, only to discover that he carries a rare and potentially pathogenic acquired mutation, found in people with blood disorders.  He doesn’t know how to deal with it, and neither do the doctors, really.  … Continue reading

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Colorado to preempt local regulation of oil and gas industries

(Fracking site close to Platteville, Colorado by Senator Mark Udall on Flickr) With the introduction of the Halliburton Loophole in 2005 the Federal government largely abdicated its role in regulating the water quality impacts of oil and gas extraction. Local … Continue reading

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Picturing Coal

A great series of photos looking at the coal industry worldwide from The Big Picture.  Even ignoring coal’s irreversible long term damage to the atmosphere and climate, it’s a pretty desperate business for a lot of people, who are still … Continue reading

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Help put Boulder’s Climate Smart Loan Program back on track

In the summer of 2010, Boulder’s innovative Climate Smart Loan Program screeched to a halt, because the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) decided that the property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing mechanism amounted to a lien on any property enrolled … Continue reading

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PACE Lives!

The Federal Housing Finance Administration is taking public comments on Property Assessed Clean Energy financing programs, at the insistence of California’s 9th Circuit court of appeals.  Here’s what I told them: Property Assessed Clean Energy financing programs, as have been … Continue reading

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OpenPaths

OpenPaths is a mobile application that allows you to log your location in a way that minimally impacts your phone’s battery life, and keeps that information secure (supposedly out of reach of law enforcement w/ zero knowledge encryption) while still … Continue reading

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Climate Denial Instruction In Schools

Corporate interests are pushing a model bill in many states that would require schools to teach climate change denial.  It sounds creepily reminiscent of the creationism/evolution mess from a few years ago.  Except with the fossil fuel industry instead of … Continue reading

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Vision Prize

Vision Prize is an expert poll on the nature of the climate risks we face, meant to demonstrate the degree of consensus (or the lack thereof) amongst those able to judge the evidence.  It’s put together by Carnegie Mellon University.  … Continue reading

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Open Climate Science Course

The University of Chicago has created an Open Courseware style Climate Science 101, with videos of the lectures and self-assessment materials online.  It’s aimed at non-science undergraduates.  If you, or someone you know, want to get a little  more in … Continue reading

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