Ecoscene Blog

Thank you to EVERYONE who entered our blog comment contest! You guys left some great substantive comments. We hope you will all stick around Ecoscene and continue the conversation.

The following folks won an Ecoscene t-shirt: Megan McKeon, Shayne, A Siegel, Hans and Carrie!

The big winner of an iPod is: Carrie! (See, making lots of comments pays off!)

And our honorable mention winner of a Very Special Gift is: Marie!

To claim your prize, send an email to Molly@ecosceneinc.com

Stop by and see us - we'll be in booth 418. For more details about the expo, see our previous blog entry here. Can't wait to meet you!

We are extending our blog comment contest for one week - make a comment to win! More comments increases your chances of winning one of our fabulous prizes. Return to the blog on 11/18 to find out if you're the big winner of an Ecoscene shirt or our grand prize - an iPod!If you already commented between November 4 and 11, never fear, we will a special drawing just for you. The fabulous prize is a surprise, and you won't be disappointed.Cheers and happy commenting.

Ecoscene will attend tonight's Obama rally in Chicago. (We have tickets!) Catch our live blogging updates from Grant Park on Twitter.  

I'm excited to attend because I was recently fortunate to hear Howard Learner, Energy and Environment advisor to Barack Obama, speak about what we should expect from the next president on the environment.

He outlined Obama's five big ideas for the environment:

1. Pursue energy efficient technologies - good for job creation, the economy, and the environment

2. Recognize the overlap of national security, economy, and environment - Obama wants to develop cleaner cars that are more fuel efficient, which would support the US auto industry and reduce our dependence on foreign oil

3. Reinvest in public transit and inner city rail - Learner noted that Obama would be the first president elected from an urban setting in 80 years, bringing greater understanding of the vital importance of public transportation

4. Make progress with renewable energy - for example, supporting the development and implementation of wind power, which is good for rural economic development

5. Work with global leaders for international cooperation - come together to deal with global warming problems now, and invest in our economy to solve these issues

To celebrate the launch of our blog, we are having a contest! Simply leave a (substantive) comment on any blog post, and we will enter you into a drawing to be held on Tuesday November 11.

We're giving away 4 Ecoscene shirts and an iPod shuffle! You can enter as many times as you want - one entry per comment.

Let the conversation commence!

Offical Rules: To enter, simply make a comment on any blog post. Comments should be substantive. Each comment serves as a new entry. The more comments you make, the better your chances of winning. To find out if you're a winner, return to our blog where we will announce the lucky winning commenters! 

According to my RSS reader, Saturday brings out the sessytime in the ecosphere. Click "More" for a handful of titillating posts.

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Yesterday's Chicago Tribune featured an interesting article about an effort to build wind farms in the Great Lakes - and the resistance from environmental groups concerned about migratory birds and homeowners who don't want their views marred by turbines. The article also mentions the use of offshore windfarms in Europe - I had no idea! The article claims that putting wind turbines in the Great Lakes could generate enough electricity to power the entire Upper Midwest - amazing... I wanted to link the Trib article, but couldn't find it online - so here is one in the Washington Post from the same day with pretty much the same content.

I'm no expert, but I think this seems like a fantastic place to locate turbines. Having actually stood under a turbine over the summer, I can attest to the fact that these are huge, intimidating, awe-inspiring structures. I personally found them beautiful - from a distance - and wouldn't mind being able to see them on the horizon. I can't speak to the bird issue at all, but I can see how turbines would be a problem. Isn't it ironic that environmental groups may stand in the way of this advancement?