What Caught My Eye Today

2008 Presidential Race - Consumer advocate Ralph Nader announce that he would make a fourth run for the presidency. Good news, Senator McCain. You are no longer the oldest candidate running for President. Nader, 74, beats you by 3 years. Nader, whose third-party run in 2000 siphoned off enough Democratic votes in Florida to tip the election to George Bush, said he's running to expose the lack of difference between the major-party candidates. Nader played down the possibility that he could sway the election one way or the other. You mean like he did in 2000? In 2000, Nader won 2.7% of the vote; in 2004, he won 0.4%. I'm not big on conspiracy theories, but here's one for you. Maybe one of those ultra-conservative groups bribed Nader to run in order to mess with the Democratic party's hopes for winning the White House.

Germany - Treasure hunters in Germany said that they may have found a cave that contains priceless treasure looted by the Nazis, during World War II. The fabled Amber Room, a room in a St. Petersburg palace made of amber panels backed with gold leaf, was built for Czar Peter the Great in 1716. The Nazis looted the palace and the panels have never turned up. Tests show a huge amount of gold is stored in the cave, but it cannot be recovered until explosives experts secure the area. The Nazis often booby-trapped their troves. Sounds like a great plot line for a novel or movie, doesn't it. Oh that's right, Steve Berry wrote a book called "The Amber Room" back in 2003. I read it. Pretty entertaining if I do say so myself.

Air Travel - I have a history of railing against foreign air carriers for dubious, or at the very least questionable, safety practices. In an attempt to balance out the playing field, I'm picking on a domestic airline this time around. Two airline pilots have been suspended on suspicion that they overshot their destination because they were asleep. A Go! Airlines flight from Honolulu was approaching its destination in Hilo when it failed to descend and just kept going. Maybe they should call it Oops! Airlines from now on. Air traffic controllers tried and failed to contact the pilot and first officers for 25 minutes. Finally, the plane turned around and landed. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating whether the pilot and first officer fell asleep while the plane was in the air. So like does the FAA characterize 'drunken stupor' as sleeping, because I'm thinking that's the more likely reason these fly boys decided to catch 40 winks instead of landing their aircraft.

Water - Los Angeles was judged to have the best tasting tap water in the world at the 18th Annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting. There are contests for this sort of thing? I guess so. Click here for the 411 on this prestigious contest.

Public Service Announcement - Here is another in an occasional series of items for the socially conscious among us. This time the subject is the cost of reducing greenhouse gases emissions.

A recent study was conducted by McKinsey & Co. on the cost of various measures to cut 3 billion tons of emissions by 2030. Here are the ranking of those measures listed first by those that pay for themselves, following by the more expensive ones:

• Commercial Electronics: cost savings of $93 million per ton
• Residential Electronics: cost savings of $93 million
• Residential Buildings - Lighting: cost savings of $90 million
• Commercial Buildings - Lighting: cost savings of $85 million
• Car Fuel Economy Improvements: cost savings of $80 million
• Light Truck Fuel Economy Improvements: cost savings of $68 million
• Commercial Buildings - Heat & Power: cost savings of $33 million
• Cellulosic Biofuels: cost savings $15 million
  Cumulative Reduction of greenhouse gases: 1.35 billion metric tons.


• New Nuclear Power Plants: incremental cost of $10 million
• Reforestation: incremental cost of $25 million
• Wind power: incremental cost of $28 million
• Residential Buildings - Heating & Cooling: cost of $50 million
• Car Hybridization: cost of $100 million
  Cumulative Reduction of greenhouse gases: 1.75 billion metric tons.

What I find fascinating--and a bit surprising to be perfectly honest--is how many cost-effective means already exist that we could employ to reduce a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions. I guess that old adage is true--the little things do add up to something significant.