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Alaskan teen builds electric car
-- Benton -- 08/18/2009
Even in Alaska, home of "drill, baby, drill," Americans are standing up and taking action against climate change. Bart Grabman, a teenager and avid skier, who had seen snow levels in Alaska dropping as they are affected by global warming, decided to take his turn. He took an old VW bug and built it into an electric car.
He said the environmental issue that concerns him the most is global warming and that he just wanted to do something to help the environment.
Grabman, who said he knew very little about cars before taking on the project, said he is almost finished and has even taken the rusty, red clunker out for a spin.
Wrap Up from Las Vegas: The National Clean Enegry Summit 2.0
-- Benton -- 08/11/2009
“When you have an oil man from Texas saying that we need to get off of oil, you don’t need a better mission statement than that.”
That was Senator Maria Cantwell (D - WA) summarizing the opening half of National Clean Energy Summit 2.0. She was of course talking about T. Boone Pickens, the former oil giant and current proprietor of natural gas.
The summit kicked off with a discussion on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
As the conversation made its way around the table there was input from energy executives, labor unions and elected officials. Hosted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and moderated by former Colorado Senator Tim Wirth, the panel wasted no time making the goal clear.
“This is madness," former Vice President Al Gore said. Gore, who has been the longtime leader in the global warming conversation, was defiant at times. "We owe it to ourselves. Who are we to make the decision to just be more wasteful… in the teeth of every scientific organization in the world.
“When our kids ask us years from now: didn’t you notice that the entire polar ice cap was melting in the summer of 2009? Didn’t you notice these storms, the 500 year floods? What were you all doing? Watching American idol? Sooner or later we’re going to have to wake up and take this for what it is. This is our generation’s mandate and responsibility.”
Following Gore the conversation got much more technical. Pickens spoke about natural gas after Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association gave a rousing speech about the current success of the wind industry.
"Jobs will be there depending on how strong the standard is," she said.
Later during the town hall portion it was Pickens saying that the jobs will follow the investment. It was Pickens attitude the pushed Cantwell to say, "When you have an oil man from Texas saying that we need to get off of oil, you don't need a better mission statement than that."
Pickens has said many times that he is ready to turn this corner, hence his accepting the invitation to Las Vegas in a state already a leader in clean and renewable energy.
If fact, it was Steven Horsford, the Nevada Senate Majority Leader, who said, "Nevada is open and ready for business." Cantwell followed when wrapping up the opening session: "The axiom for energy ought to be 'as Nevada goes, so goes the nation.'"
The theme stayed in play when at the beginning of the second session when former President Bill Clinton summarized: "let's take what Nevada is doing and put it on steroids."
The conclusion? "We need a second industrial revolution," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "We can really take a leadership role in this. You have to send a long-term signal to the people in the United States and to industry."
The Center for American Progress Action Fund and its CEO, former Clinton Chief of Staff John D. Podesta, put on the summit at UNLV. The collection of leaders expressed that is was time for policy to catch up with ability.
"We need to not only change the lights and the windows," Gore said. "We need to change the laws and the policies."
Habitat for Humanity Building 5,000 Energy Efficient Homes
-- Benton -- 08/06/2009
Now the individual can help build and live efficiently.
Habitat for Humanity International and The Home Depot Foundation are teaming up to build 5,000 energy efficient homes over the next five years
The $30 million Partners in Sustainable Building program will issue grants to Habitat affiliates for homes built following Energy Star, LEED or other nationally recognized green building guidelines. In 2009 and 2010, 1,500 sustainable homes will be built by 120 Habitat affiliates in 45 states. The program will grant $3,000 per home built to Energy Star standards and $5,000 per home built to a higher standard, like LEED.
Features like efficient water heaters, programmable thermostats, low-flow toilets and shower heads, weather stripping and better insulation are making a huge difference in the homes' energy use.
In a pilot program last year where 260 homes were built, the sustainable features led to energy savings of 15 to 30 percent. For those that were built to LEED Platinum standards, energy savings have hit 50 percent. The partnership is also granting money to establish training programs for greener building practices for 440 affiliates. via Habitat for Humanity
Join Senator Reid’s National Clean Energy Summit
-- Benton -- 08/06/2009
The August Congressional recess is in full swing, but Senator Harry Reid is taking no time off.
The Senate Majority Leader is hosting an event called National Clean Energy Summit 2.0: Jobs and the Economy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Monday, August 10.
The summit will be a great opportunity to have many of the best minds in one place, working on creating clean energy jobs and jumpstarting our economy. Reid will be joined by former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore and Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
Unfortunately, big oil and gas companies are using scare tactics to stall this work and are organizing a protest Monday against any sensible reform to our nation’s outdated energy policy.
PLEASE JOIN US -- Monday, August 10, at 8:30 a.m. on the steps of the Cox Pavilion of the UNLV campus -- to let our elected officials know we need green jobs and a Clean Energy Plan now! It’s important that we show our support for a Clean Energy Plan.
Join other Nevadans to send a public “thank you” to Sen. Harry Reid for the work he is doing to support a Clean Energy Plan in Congress and call on other senators to vote in favor of jobs that can’t be exported overseas. Sen. Reid recognizes that we must harness Nevada’s vast solar, wind and geothermal energy potential to stabilize our energy costs and create much-needed jobs!
Free parking is available in the Cox Pavilion parking lot on the UNLV campus at Swenson and Tropicana. For more information, please go to http://www.rebuildnevada.org. To rsvp, please email info@rebuildnevada.org.
Clinton to join leaders at Energy Summit
-- Benton -- 08/05/2009
Former President Bill Clinton, fresh off of his trip to North Korea, will join Senator Harry Reid at Clean Energy Summit 2.0 next week in Las Vegas.
Clinton adds to an already strong group that includes his own former Vice President Al Gore, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, energy executive T. Boone Pickens and Reid. The summit will be held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Monday August 10.
For the second year in a row the Center for American Progress Action Fund has brought leaders together to discuss a policy agenda for creating good jobs in the new economy by accelerating the deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency, advancing energy independence, and ensuring long-term prosperity for Nevada, the nation, and the world.
Register here for the summit.
Home improvement
-- Benton -- 08/03/2009
Sometimes, it is about just taking things into your own hands. That is what two homeowners, in South Carolina and Baltimore, are trying to do to make their own mark on the planet, or not make a mark really.
In the Melrose Heights neighborhood of South Carolina, Betsy Kaemmerlen wants to install 10 solar panels on the south facing roof of her home. Kaemmerlen had to file a petition to get around her neighborhood's architectural design guidelines, but if that should happen the more than 100-year old house will be it's own producer of clean energy. Some feel that this could have lasting effects on others that want to take individual action.
“Melrose is the guinea pig,” Fred Easley, president of the Melrose neighborhood association told The State. “It’s like Betsy is the first person to buy a car in our neighborhood, and we have no road signs, no speed limits."
Well, almost. Kaemmerlan isn't alone in her efforts.
In Baltimore, Marsha Vitow of Federal Hill is trying to lower her carbon footprint by installing a wind turbine on her roof. Of course, she has run into just a few zoning laws, the most key being one that prevents "variants" from being built above a 35-foot limit. Vitow lives in the inner harbor, making it more likely that she will have enough wind power to make her efforts worthwhile. The executive director of the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals told the Baltimore sun himself that Vitow's project, "certainly fits within the goals of the city."
These efforts fit within to goals of the country as well.
Follow the leader, please!
-- Amanda Meade -- 03/26/2009
The choice is simple. We can either take on America's long-term challenges or just lower our heads and keep muddling through. Regardless of our decisions, the economic news is dire. One thing is certain; Federal debt will rise much faster without spending to stimulate programs and will create an even steeper hill to climb. What we need is bold action.
The President has called for addressing head on the challenges we face. We need a massive effort to help Congress realize we want action and not the same old tired politics of the past.
We need to build a better foundation for our future and to revive our economy. Addressing energy in this Budget will lay that foundation. Our energy needs are growing, but we can't continue our dependency on and expect more from an unstable oil market, or the dirty energy of coal. Those high gas prices that hurt so many families' budgets last summer will return, and with today's economic woes, will cause even more pocketbook pain.
Congress must vote to support the President's budget. We can't wait any longer to solve these problems.
LIVE BLOG: National Clean Energy Summit 2.0
-- Benton -- 08/10/2009
Former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and energy executive T. Boone Pickens are in Las Vegas today, headlining National Clean Energy Summit 2.0.
Put on the by the Center for American Progress Action Fund and hosted by Senator Reid and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the second annual summit will focus on how to accelerate the deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency, create good jobs and advance energy independence.
Live video of the event can be found at the summit's website, Cleanenergysummit.org, thanks in part to UNLV. The event begins at 1 pm E.T. and will run until 7 p.m. A press conference will follow the conclusion of the summit.
Follow the Summit live via blog below:
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1:13 p.m. ET: "I am now part of the 'Pickens' church." - Harry Reid
The summit kicked off at UNLV with John D. Podesta kicking things off by thanking Sen. Reid and the other hosts. Podesta is currently the CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, but is absolutely more well known for his former job as the Chief-of-Staff for President Bill Clinton.
Following the current panel there be a lunch break. After the break President Clinton will speak and then there will be a town hall-type session. Questions can be emailed in at questions@cleanenergysummit.org. Make sure to include name and hometown when sending questions in.
Vice President Al Gore gave an opening statement as well:
"This is madness. We owe it to ourselves. Who are we to make a decision to just be more wasteful… in the teeth of every scientific organization in the world.”
“When our kids ask us years from now: didn’t you notice that the entire polar ice cap was melting in the summer of 2009. Didn’t you notice these storms, the 500 year floods. What were you all doing? Watching American idol? Sooner or later we’re going to have to wake up and take this for what it is. This is our generation’s mandate and responsibility.”
1:45 Moderator Tim Wirth introduced the panel in two parts, alloting the first 45 minutes for talks on Renewable Energy and the second on energy efficiency. The discussion wil start with Energy Secretary Chu.
2:45 Chu began by saying that the United States needs to have a "second industrial revolution." He spoke of the challenge of the U.S. gearing up to take a leadership role in renewable energy.
During his comments, T. Boone Pickens suggested changed the 6.5 million 18-wheelers shipping goods across the United States be switched from diesel to natural gas, cutting the 4.5 million barrels of oil the U.S. receives from OPEC in half. His comments were lauded by Senator Maria Cantwell (D - WA):
"When you have an oil man from Texas saying that we need to get off of oil, you don't need a better mission statement than that." She went on to talk about the leadership of the state of Nevada: "The axiom for energy ought to be 'as Nevada goes, so goes the nation."
But it was Vice President Gore who summed up the goal of this year's summit: "We need to not only change the lights and the windows, we need to change the laws and the policies."
The summit is taking a lunch break right now, to be followed by former President Clinton's remarks at 5 p.m. Eastern.
A new path forward
-- Amanda Meade -- 03/11/2009
Last November, voters chose a new direction. We realized our country was headed in the wrong direction and overwhelmingly voted for a new vision of where the country should be. Last month, President Obama started carving a new path with an historic stimulus bill. And this month, has submitted a budget that represents the shortest route to help move us from the old path to a new one.
From his cabinet appointments to the release of his budget, in the handful of weeks he's been in office, President Obama has worked hard to fulfill his campaign promise to chart a new course for America's future. First, he fought for and passed the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That bill was the single largest investment in clean, renewable energy in history.
President Obama's budget seeks to eliminates unfair tax loopholes and subsidies that companies like Exxon have taken advantage of for years. Last summer, high gas prices were the spark that lit our economic wildfire, but Exxon and its congressional allies continue to claim that President Obama is picking on the oil industry. They fail to mention that in 2008, Exxon made the largest recorded profit of any company, anywhere, ever. Taxpayers will not be fooled into bailing out the most profitable companies in history, companies that have already spent decades on corporate welfare.
It's up to each of us to follow the path that President Obama drew and to urge all of our Senators and Representatives to look beyond special interests, to look beyond self-interest, and to work instead for America's interests by passing the President's budget.
Aging electric grid can’t handle winter storm
-- Amanda Meade -- 01/29/2009
Over a million homes remain dark tonight from Arkansas to Michigan. Electric power is essential to modern society. Economic prosperity, national security, public health and safety all compromised by our aging electric grid; Knocked out by a winter storm. It’s time to rebuild with a new smart grid.
Communities that lack electric power, even for short periods, have trouble meeting basic needs like food, shelter, and water.
America operates about 157,000 miles of high voltage electric transmission lines. While electricity demand increased by about 25% since 1990, construction of transmission facilities decreased about 30%. There’s lots of work to rebuild and get the economy moving by creating jobs repairing, replacing and renewing with a smart grid. It will harvest a new energy economy and create whole new industries. Investing in clean energy and efficiency can create millions of jobs in every state across the country.
The policy to make the smart grid happen was passed in 2005. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) helps make the new smart grid a political priority. This plan calls for modernization, creates new federal committees, defines their roles and responsibilities, addresses accountability and provides incentives for stakeholders to invest. All it needs now is funding from the stimulus bill heading for the Senate this week.
One other point to consider: electricity is used to move oil and natural gas through the pipelines. Gas stations use electricity when pumping gasoline and homeowners often have natural gas water heaters and furnaces with electric ignition. These too are disrupted by electrical power outages from our aging grid.
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