Switch is Back

Greetings AGS members.  This is Scott Tinker, and I want to update you on the Switch Energy Project.  I started Switch in 2009 when I teamed with film director Harry Lynch, and in 2012, produced a feature-length movie to present how our future energy transition would likely happen, based on sound investigation and the practical realities of energy resources, scale, economics, infrastructure, and technology.  The film has now been seen by over 10 million viewers and on more than 1,000 college campuses.  If you have not seen SWITCH, you can view it online at the following link, using the provided password:

https://vimeo.com/arcosfilms/review/65772747/1ea0c55e95

Password: energyeducation

The Switch Energy Project includes a major video-based website with professional, short-format primers, interviews, site visits, and the Switch Energy Lab series, providing exactly the kind of educational materials the public needs and wants. The global penetration has been remarkable.

http://www.switchenergyproject.com/index.php

But we can and will do more.

We have embarked on the making of a second film, Switch On, focused on global energy access and underpinned by the same high-quality storytelling delivered in Switch. In addition to a second film, this next phase includes new educational components. First, a major new social media presence to leverage and grow the substantial Switch following. Second, the Switch Energy Corps, providing an opportunity for young professionals to engage in bringing first electricity to unpowered and impoverished villages globally. And in the not-too-distant future, a revolutionary Energy Course to bring web-accessible, objective, balanced energy education into the college classroom, where it is desperately needed. All of this is part of the Switch Energy Alliance (SEA), a Texas not-for-profit company formed expressly for the purpose of energy education.

I donate my time and energy to this effort, but I need your support. It does not have to be major—$100 or $1000; $10k or $100k—every dollar is put to good use. Perhaps you can contribute as an individual; maybe with a company match. Or perhaps you are in a position to encourage your company to contribute.

We have partnered with the American Geosciences Institute Foundation, which receives tax deductible gifts and routs them directly to SEA.

AMERICAN GEOSCIENCES INSTITUTE FOUNDATION

Attention: Walt Sisson wsisson@agiweb.org

Tax ID: 52-1361803

4220 King St

Alexandria, VA 22302-1502

Credit to: Switch Energy Alliance

 

My objective is to deliver high-quality, objective energy education. We are doing exactly that. Help us continue to provide the kind of energy education that matters by contributing today.

Thanks,

 

 Scott W. Tinker

Chairman, Switch Energy Alliance

Publications of interest

Dennis Trombatore is always looking out for publications of interest for members. Thank you Dennis! Below are a couple. Note that we have a web page dedicated to Noteworthy Publications that have an AGS connection, or very broad appeal. Click here to go to that page.

  1. James A. Golab, Jon J. Smith, Allan K. Clark, Charles D. Blome. 2017. Effects of Thalassinoides ichnofabrics on the petrophysical properties of the Lower Cretaceous Lower Glen Rose Limestone, Middle Trinity Aquifer, Northern Bexar County, Texas. Sedimentary Geology V. 351, pp.1-10

  2. Khan, MS; Hossain, S; Ahmedc, A.; Faysalc, M, 2017. Investigation of a shallow slope failure on expansive clay in Texas. Engineering Geology. Volume 219, pp 118–129 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2016.10.004

     

 

New Book: The Blanco River

The Blanco River

By Wes Ferguson
Photography by Jacob Croft Botter
Texas A&M University Press

 

Blanco River book launch party

  • What: A reading, signing and reception to celebrate the release of The Blanco River
  • When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 8
  • Where: Katherine Anne Porter Literary Center, 508 Center St., Kyle TX 78640 (Map)
  • Cost: Free
  • Presenters: Author Wes Ferguson and photographer Jacob Croft Botter as well as a mapmaker, geologist, botanist and flood survivor who contributed to our project
  • Honored guests: Andrew Sansom, executive director of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment; and William T. Johnson, executive director of the Burdine Johnson Foundation
  • RSVP: Not required, but helpful

More information: www.wesferguson.net and www.facebook.com/wesferg