Book - Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air by David MacKay

Sammi, having a particularly powerful social conscience, was deeply affected by the specter of Climate Change after watching An Inconvenient Truth last year. Maggie, however, was a climate change skeptic. On Sammi’s recommendation, though, Maggie accepted President Obama’s invitation to join him at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Those world leaders – so selfless. The courage of these ordinary politicians inspired us to chew on little bit thicker book than usual; Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air by David JC MacKay.

David MacKay is a scientist (the odd breed of human that describes our mother), so his book begins with a data intensive chapter on historic emissions of Co2, and a quick review of the science behind global warming. While we typically enjoy books that reinforce our world view, it was refreshing to read a book that laid all biases and assumptions out for the reader to review. The remainder of the book explores sustainable energy sources in the UK and weighs their potential against current energy consumption. This book is good, and is the first thing that we have read to make some sense out of a highly emotional debate.

We don’t want to give it away, but even highly evolved blogger bitches like us consume far less energy than even the smelliest of our daddy’s telemarking friends. For any of you who care about the earth at all, we recommend an immediate policy change to support dog ownership. This policy cannot be too ambitious. Specifics could include lifting the federal tax credit for children, creating universal doggie day care as part of the national health care plan, and providing free table scraps for all. Also, while Congress is making this change, it would be nice to exempt dogs from airport security – we don’t wear underpants.

Enjoy your weekend, and don’t forget to thank the next dog you see for their role in saving the Earth. A vigorous belly rub will do.

The Bitches