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Entry bubble What Do You Know About Energy?

By: Editor | August 24, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

boy who looks puzzledOur guest blogger today is Colleen Blessing, who works on the energy statistics website at the Energy Information Administration.   

We all think a little about gasoline, because that’s a type of energy we actually buy, but many of us probably don’t understand much about gas prices except that they go up and down a lot. 

Do you know which country we get the biggest share of our oil imports 
from?  Answer:  It’s Canada, and almost half of our oil imports come from the Western Hemisphere.  You’re not alone if you got the wrong answer:  More than half of the people we surveyed recently either didn’t know or guessed Saudi Arabia or Iraq.

When you click the remote and the TV comes on, do you ever think about the electricity you’re buying to make it work or even where that electricity comes from?  If you’re like me, energy is sort of just there.  It’s on the stove and in the plug, but I don’t really think about it until there’s a power outage or until my bills are really high.  But where does electricity come from?  About half of the electricity in the United States is generated by burning coal! 

So, seeing as how it’s back-to-school time for kids, maybe some of us adults could also learn an interesting fact or two! 

And have I got a source of energy information for you!  In the category of “wow, I didn’t know the government did that,” at my high school reunion (I won’t mention which one), I amazed people by telling them I work at a government statistical agency that produces policy neutral energy data—independent of spin or advocacy.  They thought the government should do that, but they didn’t know that it actually did!  The Energy Information Administration prides itself on collecting and giving the public facts about energy that they can believe in. 

Biofuels mostly refers to ethanol and biodiesel, liquid fuels used for transportation.  They are made from things like corn and animal fat.  Did you know that Henry Ford’s original automobile, the Model T, could run on either gasoline or ethanol?

Renewable energy sources include water, the sun, geothermal, biomass and wind.  Did you know that most renewable energy is used to produce electricity?  China leads the world in renewable energy use for electricity production, but the United States is in second place.  

Do you think yellow cake is just to eat?  In fact, the term also is another name for uranium oxide, the fuel used by nuclear power plants.  Fun and Games can help you learn more energy terms.  If you’re ready to graduate to data and analysis, you can find lots of information on the Energy Information Administration website.

Start learning about energy!

| Post a Comment | View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: biofuels   editor   electricity   energy   foreign_oil_dependence   gas_prices   gasoline   kids   renewable_energy  

 

Entry bubble World Peace Through Cowbells

By: Ginger | August 21, 2009 | Category: Fun

Man sitting with electric guitarSome of my blogs lately have been pretty serious and perhaps just a little intense, so it is time to lighten it up a bit. Whenever I am in a funk or taking life way too seriously, I turn to music to settle my nerves and put a little spring back into my step.

Recently, as I was driving down the highway listening to a 70's radio station, I heard a peppy little song with one of my favorite percussion instruments... cowbells.  I had a profound moment of clarity on highway 10. What the world needs now is love sweet love (hats off to Burt Bacharach and Hal David for that great song) and more songs with cowbells. If we were to put all of the people who are angry and hellbent on mayhem in a room and play them some songs with cowbells, it would suck the anger right out of them!

Thinking I was really on to something, I shared my love of songs with cowbells and my “peace through cowbells” theory with my husband. He just rolled his eyes and then he showed me a Saturday Night Live video clip featuring Christopher Walken directing the band to “add more cowbells.” Apparently, I can't come up with an original thought that SNL hasn't already covered in a skit.

I am kidding about the “peace through cowbells” thing... sort of, but music can significantly alter my mood and put me in better spirits. I listen to different music depending on my mood. Our country has such a rich, wide variety of music (blues, jazz, rock, rap, gospel, country, etc.) because of the various ethnic traditions and influences in our country.

I decided to do a search on USA.gov to see what musical resources were available from the government. I was amazed at the volume and rich history represented in our government's musical archives. Here are just some of the resources that are available:

Take a few minutes out of your crazy, busy day to sit back and relax. Go check out some of these resources and go put on some cowbell music. Drop me a line to tell me about some of your favorite songs and why you like them.

I will get us started. I love “Grazing in the Grass.” I like the original instrumental by Hugh Masekela, because of the cowbells, of course. I also like the 1969 version done by “Friends of Distinction.” This song just starts me dancing and fills me with happiness. The lyrics are about sitting back and enjoying the moment. There are times when we all need to do that. Have a good week and I'll see you next Friday.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: ginger   government_music_collection   music  

 

Entry bubble Tracking hurricanes

By: Jess | August 20, 2009 | Category: Travel

HurricaneThe peak of hurricane season is now here, ushered in by the arrival of Ana and Bill. The southeastern part of the country will now be on alert until the middle of the fall when hurricane season passes. But hurricane season affects more than the people living in Florida, the Carolinas, or other hurricane-prone states. It also affects vacationers who plan fun get-aways to the South.

I know every year when my family planned our vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for August, my mom would always pay close attention to the weather to see if any storms were a-brewin'. A hurricane far off the coast usually meant awesome waves, but anything that moved too close to shore had the potential to rain out our beach vacation.

NOAA's making it easier for people to track hurricanes by offering widgets that can be embedded on Websites and blogs. These widgets make it super easy to track the hurricanes. You won't have to be glued to the TV trying to catch the latest.

And to give residents and vacationers some peace of mind, NOAA's predicting this year's hurricane season will most likely be average to below average in terms of the number of hurricanes developing. People are still advised to be on alert if they plan to travel to or live in the areas most affected by the Atlantic hurricane season.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: 2009_hurricane_season   hurricane_season   hurricanes   jess   noaa   severe_weather   travel   weather   widgets  

 

Entry bubble HPV Vaccine

By: Colleen | August 19, 2009 | Category: Health

Gardasil is the vaccine that prevents four kinds of human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause 70% of all cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts.

The shot, which is given in a series of three injections, is on the CDC vaccination schedule for 11-12 year old girls.

However, many parents are waiting for their daughters to get older before having them get the vaccination. They worry that not enough research has been done on children that young, and they worry about potential side effects. Concerns are for neurological problems, blood clots, and death. During testing, 93% of effects reported were mild- headaches, nausea, and fever.

Gardasil is not required in order to attend school, but as of 2007, 25% of 13-17 year-olds received a dose of Gardasil.

Personally, I was given the Gardasil vaccine as soon as it was made available, but by that time i was in my early 20s. My doctor was very much in favor of it, and administered it without hesitation.

Would you let your daughter get the vaccine as early as 11? Would you wait until she was older, or not have her get it at all? Has anyone had a bad experience with Gardasil?

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Entry bubble Will We Have 5 Days of Mail Delivery?

By: Joanne | August 18, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

postal carrierThe issue is still on the table, you know. The Postal Service is pursuing the idea of cutting back to a 5-day mail delivery schedule in order to save money.

In spite of a postal rate increase earlier this year and the reduction of overhead costs, the Postal Service is projecting a 7 billion dollar loss this fiscal year. It appears that the problem is simply a drop in mail volume. We’re using commercial services to deliver packages, paying our bills online, sending e-mails and e-vites to our friends and family instead of the old snail mail. This change in our communication habits is having a big impact at the post office.

Personally, the idea of no mail delivery on Saturday doesn’t much bother me. My mail consists mainly of catalogs I don’t want, junk mail and an occasional bill. It’s rare to find a card or letter in the mailbox anymore, so I really don’t think I will miss Saturday mail delivery, if it's eliminated. Maybe I’m missing something and Saturday mail delivery is more important than I think. I wonder though. In the modern era, is 6-day mail delivery still a necessity, or is it a comforting holdover from our past?

If you’ve got a strong opinion on the matter, I encourage you to contact your representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate to let them know how important it is to you.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [18] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: delivery   joanne   mail   office   post   postal   service  

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