While we talk about reducing the dependence of the country on oil, it is an issue of national security. America does not own a large part of oil supplies and whosoever has the control over them owns the planet. A very strange thing that I somehow dont see in the news is the private mass transport options.

In bay area, I am seeing a continuing trend of companies deploying their buses to pick and drop employees. They do this if their locations are not convenient and some of the good ones like Genentech and Google even see this as an employee sat issue. I think this trend needs to go up and private operators need to operate point to point transport options. Each bus has the potential of taking out 15 - 20 cars off the road and a bus can be run completely on alternative fuel options.

It is a great opportunity to start a modern fleet of point to point transport buses that are environment friendly and can take off the cars from the road. Automakers can start making fuel efficient buses and still participate in an entirely new economy.

Posted by praneymittal at 9:56 PM PST

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This year brings in new perspectives for all of us. I went to office one Sunday night to pick up an item on my way to airport. Our office is very conscious on resource wastage, so, I always thought there was nothing to worry about from the conservation perspective. However, that evening opened my eyes. There was not a single person in the office and lights and most airconditioning was off. It was evening time but the entire floor was lit up with the light from the monitors. Being an IT office, everyone gets two monitors.  We use these only 40 -50 hours a week and they are switched on most of the time - about 168 hours in a week. It seems that we use only 25% of their uptime and waste the rest of it.

I would think that this happens in IT offices of most companies. It does not just put extra pressure on the power supply, it also takes the airconditioning to keep these devices cool. I think we all owe a moral responsibility to shutdown the computers and monitors that we dont use at work.

I know I am not saying something new but it is so old that it gets ignored. Sometimes we just need to go back to basics ...

Posted by praneymittal at 10:31 PM PST

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America's Oil industry well realizes that its best days are gone. Soon the oil friendly administration will go. America's oil industry is like the CEO of a big company seeing retirement. This industry has milked every single person alike and at the same time, has reaped windfall profits. Hats off to their strategists for that. However, in the process they have made less friends - more enemies than friends. Biggest of all, they have made their consumers enemies of themselves. This is not a happy situation for any company.

These companies have the best cash positions in the entire industry and so, they will probably never feel any major problems related to sustainability. Their major issue will come from people's love of environment. The engine efficiency initiatives, which are emerging from Automakers desperation to get customers will keep driving the fuel demand lower for upcoming years, will keep the oil company profits linear. Ultimately, oil companies will need to make friends and the consumers will win!

Posted by praneymittal at 11:12 AM PDT

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This article details change in spending habit patterns:

Lenders retreat as housing market plummets

Posted by praneymittal at 10:49 AM PDT

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The recession is official today. This is evidenced by the job numbers report. Does the thought of losing our job due to "contracting economy" scare us? Yes, A little bit. But it really scares us working in the financial and mortgage industries. I have been always curious if a thought of rainy day will make us run for cover and I think it does. Our spending habits change when the news from media starts brewing in our minds. Suddenly, the drive to LA for a weekend getaway becomes a little bit less interesting and so, does an evening latte in Starbucks. Many of us begin to adapt to the changing market by "conserving" and that is a good thing. Conserving not only helps us save for a rainy day, it helps the environment as well. There are ample ways to have fun without using gas for long painful drives.

 Going slightly off topic, conservation will also help the economy. If the masses have good amount of savings, it will help build a solid foundation for the country. This helps the economy and well-being of the population. The Big Oil and Big Marts would not be as big though.

And finally a big thanks to the Minimalist for providing helpful editing inputs!

Posted by praneymittal at 11:30 PM PDT

Updated: Saturday, 5 April 2008 6:45 PM PDT

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One day I decided to look at the world from the green lens, the one of the kind lens that makes your perspective environment friendly. The feeling of being green did not sink in until I passed Chevron HQ on my way to a friends place. Suddenly the red and blue in Chevron's logo appeared black and black to me. And at that moment, I realized that it was not Chevron but my car itself that was the source of the problem. The next thought was that it is not really my car but my need for convenient transportation. My 8 year old Jetta would give me only 22 miles for a gallon of premium fuel while adding to the environment woes. Prius buyers would argue that it is the ultimate environment friendly, activist friendly vehicle. It goes over 50 miles for the same amount of fuel and also, provides a convenient transport. But with all the lead going in those batteries and thus making it to oceans and landfills for disposal, is it a really green vehicle?

Given this, I wonder if the Corporate hoopla about going Green is a mere way to introduce a new line of products painted Green and invisible through the short sighted Green lens. These products may sound environment friendly but they are actually merely less destructive to environment operationally.So much has green become an activist friendly term that companies are running funds to invest in green technologies. Since using green products is now a fashion statement, it has become a marketing ploy for the big businesses. It sounds hypocrytic when Chevron, BP, Ford and Toyota are the ones that talk green. Its like a cat talking the about how many mice it spared today. An example of how attractive the green is to the money managers is here : http://quicktake.morningstar.com/FundNet/Snapshot.aspx?Country=USA&Symbol=PORTX

Green Technology, the word itself, is more of an oximoron. Isn't Industrialization fueled by Technology the first thing that killed environment?

But as one of the 6 billion people on this planet, what is the best way to save the planet. Do nothing is not the answer. The answer lies in conservation. Conservation is the best green way. There is no technology that is perfectly green. If I did not drive my car one  day, it may save not only the environmental emissions, it will also save the energy needed in the food chain of producing the Technology. Many times, the technology is not the best way to solve the problem. Aren't the problems with environment created by Technology in first place? I believe it is the way we go about things that will make the most difference.

Posted by praneymittal at 4:19 PM PDT

Updated: Monday, 10 March 2008 4:30 PM PDT

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