Reading the Sunday Star Tribune, I noticed a short "obituary of national interest." Alexander Farrell, a professor at UC Berkeley, age 46, died in his home recently.
I have never heard of Farrell, but I could tell from the brief obit (and now in the longer one I read at sfgate.com) that he and his work will be sorely missed.
He was the director of Berkeley's Transportation Sustainability Research Center, and specialized in developing low-carbon fuels and other alternative energy sources.
According to the sfgate story, "State officials said Farrell's research and advocacy had been pivotal in California's effort to get cleaner-burning cars on its roads by setting targets for zero emission vehicles and requiring automakers to produce a fleet of plug-in hybrid vehicles, policies that have been adopted by 12 other states."
The cause of Farrell's death was not announced pending the medical examiner's report, but the sfgate story said that "the circumstances surrounding Farrell's death made it appear to be a suicide," according to one of Farrell's colleagues.
If that turns out to be true, it's most likely to be from depression, as the billboards from S.A.V.E. tell us. I feel so sad and angry that a man who was clearly part of the solution couldn't get the help he needed, for whatever reason.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Alexander Farrell, 1962-2008
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1 comment:
Hello DN3, I heard from an acquaintance of Alexander's that he killed himself because he felt responsible for participating in a farce, supporting fallacious biofuels research that is diverting crops from the food supply to make fuel, and contributing to the global food crisis and greater suffering for the already impoverished. Apparently, Alex couldn't handle such a huge burden on his conscience. If this is the reason he left, I'm mad he didn't stick around to come clean and redeem himself. We all make mistakes. We have to learn from them, move on and try harder, because the world needs us!
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