Could the obesity epidemic — and a general weight gain in the U.S. population — be adding substantially to our energy-use requirements and thus to our “carbon footprint” and stress on the planet? Think about glass versus plastic containers for any type of product, such as peanut butter, brewed tea or mayonnaise. Glass on average

What a week! U.S. credit downgraded from AAA to AA+, followed by a precipitous (if temporary) drop in the stock market. Thirty-five Americans killed in a seemingly endless—and some would say pointless — conflict in Afghanistan. Riots out of control in, of all places, London. But what all this bad news signals to me is

Recently while staying in NewYork City, I found myself on the 31st floor of a building off Fifth Avenue. Peering out of a small window down at rooftops and decks of the few buildings that were not as tall, I was struck by something that really stood out: fans. I’m not talking about ordinary fans,

Recently, while I was staying at the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston, an elevator got stuck with a bellman trapped inside, and the fire department had to be called in to free him using equipment like I have never seen before. In fact, I had never observed anything quite like this before in a modern

What a glorious day in L.A.! We — or at least I – tend to forget what a wonderful place this is in summertime. I know I have written some Pollyannaish-sounding blogs lately, but for some reason, I find myself appreciating the planet, the place I’m in and the summer like never before. Concerts in

Last Sunday, while soaking in the wonderfully therapeutic salt water off Seal Beach, California, catching the frothy breaking waves and riding them in without a board, I got to wondering what such an exhilarating experience would actually be worth if it had been designed by some commercial enterprise. What would I be willing to pay

This past Friday, I had the luxury of watching the news –or make that the pain of watching the news — and then finding a safe haven from all the negative events in the world at, of all places, the Food Network, which I appreciated even more than usual. (And yes, I know this may

“Big” is not bad in itself when we’re talking about increases in growth and consumption – it’s how we design the systems to accommodate such expansion that is critical. Adaptation of our technology is also a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs both to do good and to do well at the same time – the kind

Talk about turning a lemon into lemonade. As it turned out, “Carmeggedon” has been a great learning experience for all of us –with an incredibly great outcome for the City of Angels. To me there were three key lessons that we should take with us from this experience, whether we are building a bridge or

As I write this, it is the eve of “Carmageddon” here in Los Angeles — the 53-hour shutdown of the 405 Freeway, the city’s central traffic artery. What a wonderful event! While to many, it may be an extreme inconvenience, and in a weird kind of way, even have the appearance of a natural disaster,