Filed under: Polit-eco, Alternative Energy

On Wednesday, President Obama dedicated a significant section of his State of the Union address to a pitch for clean energy, encouraging the Senate to pass a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill.

Today he backed up his words with a pledge to reduce the federal government’s greenhouse gas emissions by 28% by 2020. The move will save the country $8 to 11 billion dollars. That’s the way to lead by example!

It’s a strong political gesture, for two reasons:

1. it’s says the U.S. is serious about creating an industry — both production and market — for clean energy, and
2. it demonstrates on a large scale what eco-people know from our day to day lives: going green is smart because it saves money!

Everyone is wondering what other clean energy changes were signaled by Obama’s State of the Union speech.

One of the high points (for me) included a jab at climate change deniers (it’s petty, but I enjoyed and probably you did, too, if you’re reading here!) Obama cleverly acknowledged their doubts, and then shifted the argument into a call for the economy-boosting jobs that clean energy will generate.He even made it a patriotic foot-stamper moment.

On the down side, he did indicate that there will be concessions for more off-shore drilling, and somehow, inexplicably, the myth of clean coal seems to have slipped in there, too.

Note: the is no such thing as clean coal. It’s like Unicorns. Pretty but imaginary.

In general, it looks like Obama is doing a some dancing, taking a big step forward (clean energy pledge), a half-step back (drilling for more polluting oil), and maybe a step to side (that’s the nuclear power part). But hey, it’s good to finally be moving again after so many years of making believe we didn’t have a problem at all!

Obama Follows up Clean Energy Talk with Action originally appeared on Green Daily on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:04:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Polit-eco, Activism, Climate Change

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Clean Air Act Foe. Photo: xx, Getty Images

On January 20th the Senate is voting on the national debt ceiling. An important issue, but hardly one that concerns environmentalists, right?

In a sane world, that would be the case. However, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has drafted a completely unrelated amendment to the bill which would hamstring the EPA’s ability to enforce the Clean Air Act by banning them from regulating carbon dioxide as pollutant.

This is contrary to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that the EPA in fact must regulate greenhouse emissions, and standards, such as those for new car emissions.

Murkowski’s amendment is funded and fueld by coal industry and big oil lobbyists who are running scared. In December the EPA announced that green house gases are a pollutant, and pose a threat to public health. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA could go after polluters — like the coal industry — who contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

Although she denies that the bill was influenced by lobbyists from those big polluters, after a Washington Post story revealed that big time coal industry lobbyists advised Murkowski’s team on the bill, she did admit that two “experts” employed by the lobbyist wrote the text. Oh, and they both were in the EPA during the Bush Administration.

Her attack on the EPA’s powers can only be called a campaign of lies and scare tactics, including claims that the EPA would unfairly target “the little guy” like farms, schools and small businesses, and referencing vague threats to the country’s economic recovery.

Reality check: why would that make sense? Sure, individual small businesses should follow ecologically sound practices, but to see any kind of fast and dramatic change, the obvious tactic is to go after the big companies that have a global impact.

In addition to pure logic, EPA Adminstrator Lisa Jackson has also assured the public that their plan is to go after the largest polluters.

The cold, hard light of logic, reason, and the Washington Post have Murkowski possibly backpedaling on pushing through the amendment on the 20th. We can hope.

But even if she doesn’t win this battle, she’s not going to stop attacking the EPA and their ability to hold polluters accountable. It’s still worth your time to contact your Senator and let him or her know that you wholeheartedly support all of the current powers of the Clean Air Act.

There are action alerts all over the internet to make it easy for you to write a letter, like Repower America’s form, which gives you sample text and forwards the letter on your behalf. They also have a form set up for you to send letters to your local newspapers.

The science of climate change, CO2 emissions and pollution really isn’t in question here. Murkowski’s attack on the Clean Air Act is a purely political move, driven by the greed and fear of an industry that doesn’t have a place in America’s future.

Take action now and we can limit their toxic effect!

Murkowski Partnered with Big Coal and Oil Lobbyists to Attack the Clean Air Act originally appeared on Green Daily on Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:13:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Home, Alternative Energy

You know those movies where scientists tunnel to the center of the Earth, and they have to use magic technology to survive the heat coming from the molten lava core?

That’s not real. But there is some pretty amazing — yet simple — technology that allows us to use the naturally consistent temperature of Earth just below the frost line to heat and cool homes. It’s also very eco-friendly: you don’t burn anything, nothing is emitted, and you don’t produce any waste.

Geothermal power is one of the greenest ways to keep your house warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Even better? It’s also one of the most cost-effective sources of energy!
A geothermal home HVAC unit basically has three parts. There is a pump in your home, probably in the basement like a traditional furnace. But instead of burning some kind of fuel, it’s attached to an open or closed-loop system of pipes, which are buried under or near your home, and filled with a fluid that can transfer heat — usually water or environmentally friendly anti-freeze.

The fluid moves through the heat exchange system of underground pipes, either getting warmed up or cooled down by the Earth. It’s then sent back up, above ground, to a distribution system, which is either a system of air ducts, or radiant pipes in the floors.

And cost is another pro in favor of this method of maintaining a comfortable temperature in your living room.

Although it can require a substantial investment, particularly drilling for the pipes, the cost of running and maintaining it are low. Systems start around $4,000, and could wind up costing much more, depending on how much drilling is required. But running the system is so inexpensive that you could save 25-50% of your traditional energy costs!

Plus, you get a tax break for going green and saving some green. If you install a system between January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2016, you can claim up to 30% of the installed cost in tax credits in the year the system is placed into service. And there’s no cap!

Add it up, the benefit to the environment and your bank balance make a geothermal residential heating and cooling system sound pretty appealing — especially during this freezing cold winter that’s gripping the nation!

Geothermal Power: Use the Earth as Your Furnace originally appeared on Green Daily on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:03:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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