Congress Manages to Pass a Small Energy Bill That Pleases Nearly Everyone

This is a good way to start off the year.  Not a lot of  positive news has come out of Washington of late, and we teeter, still, on a fiscal cliff, but good small energy legislation getting passed is Dec is good news, worth celebrating.

What is noteworthy about this bill is the expansion of language to encourage the development of all new technologies relating to clean energy.  In RI we need updates to promote lots of good alternative sources of energy and commerce, such as EV's and their ability to not only drive clean, but deliver KW's back into the grid while sitting.

Here's part of the story...the link is:  http://news.thomasnet.com/green_clean/2012/12/28/congress-manages-to-pass-a-small-energy-bill-that-pleases-nearly-everyone/

"While no one has been able to accuse Congress of being particularly functional lately, a tiny piece of energy-related legislation slipped through largely unnoticed last month. On Dec. 11, 2012, the House of Representatives passed the American Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act (HR 6582) on a suspension vote of 398 to 2. The Senate approved the bill unanimously two days later, and President Obama signed it into law on Dec. 18.

So what sort of energy legislation passes through Congress nearly unanimously nowadays? The answer is, “minimally important legislation.”

H.R. 6582 corrects and adjusts existing energy laws — most specifically, some elements of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 — to ensure that newer technologies that meet or exceed federal energy efficiency standards are not excluded simply because they are not covered by the 2007 law. The new bill largely covers appliances such as water heaters, commercial refrigerators, and some heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units, including heat pumps. It essentially provides manufacturers with more flexibility in how they meet efficiency standards with these appliances, allowing leeway for some newer processes and materials that, despite being energy efficient, were different enough that they weren’t covered by existing law.

Some of the bill’s corrections include updating the uniform efficiency descriptor for covered water heaters, clarifying language regarding regulatory treatment for small-duct, high-velocity systems made by U.S.-based manufacturers, and establishing a separate, less stringent standard for over-the-counter commercial refrigerators which often have large glass windows, making them inherently less energy efficient than other commercial refrigerators.

The legislation also makes new provisions to more aggressively promote energy efficiency and support deployment of existing manufacturing technologies, and requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) to take some small action on manufacturing efficiency, including clarification of periodic review of commercial equipment standards and how the agency responds to petitions regarding standards..."

We look forward to sharing a good 2013 with you.  Thanks so much for your interest and support.

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Enjoy the show and tour/2012

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New shows added to our show site

We promoted, and were part of, the sustainable school summit at RIC this year.  As you will see from the two TV shows we produced from the event, the speakers, vendors, exhibitors and overflowing room of professionals and students enjoyed a fantastic day and came away inspired with new ideas and hope.

Sustainable changes start with conditioning youth in terms of protecting resources and minimizing their ecological footprint.  We followed this, and you'll see our promotion for this weekend's premier of a new show on ABC and Live Well Network, with a great five-part series on all aspects of sustainable changes in education.

Here's the link; come back often and watch us on TV today:  http://www.arpinbroadcastnetwork.com/http___handylawllc.com_.html

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15 Green New Year's Resolutions that Really Make a Difference (part 2)

Continued from yesterday...thanks to The Daily Green:

Stop Receiving Unwanted Catalogs

Cost: $0
Each year, 19 billion catalogs are mailed to American consumers. All those catalogs require more than 53 million trees and 56 billion gallons of wastewater to produce -- and many of us don't even know how we got on so many mailing lists! So grab that stack of catalogs piling up on your coffee table and clear out the clutter. Visit CatalogChoice.org to put a stop to unwanted catalogs. Within 10 weeks, your mailbox will be empty of unwanted catalogs. A less cluttered mailbox means less pollution, less waste and less of the pollution that causes global warming.

Give Up Conventional Detergents

Cost: $10.25 for one 112-oz box
Many natural detergents today are made to clean clothes just as effectively in cooler water temperatures. Choose detergents and other laundry products that are plant-based, concentrated and biodegradable.

Give Up Hot Water (At Least In the Clothes Washer)

Did you know that only 10 percent of the energy used by a typical washing machine powers the motor? About 90 percent of the energy is used to heat the water, and most clothes will come clean in cold water. So switch your washing machine's temperature setting. For heavily soiled clothing, change it from hot to warm, but otherwise try to wash and rinse most of your clothing in cold water.

More tomorrow. 

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15 Green New Year's Resolutions that Really Make a Difference

Some good ideas from The Daily Green.  We'll run a couple a day:

Have you started to think about positive changes for next year?  Please send us your ideas as we work together in 2013 for a better, healthier world:

Avoid Waste: Recycle

Cost: $0
For every trash can of waste you put outside for the trash collector, about 70 trash cans of waste are used in order to create that trash. To reduce the amount of waste you produce, buy products in returnable and recyclable containers and recycle as much as you can. The energy saved from recycling a single aluminum can will operate a television for three hours! If your community doesn’t provide containers for recycling, designate a bin in your garage for recyclables to make it easy for you and your family to recycle things like the newspaper and aluminum cans.

TDG Editor note: Also check out Amazing Products Made from Recycled Materials.

Give Up Plastic (and Paper) Bags

Cost: $1
Do you opt for paper or plastic when at the grocery store? Neither is a good choice. Twelve million barrels of oil were used to make the 88.5 billion plastic bags consumed in the United States last year. And it takes four times more energy to make paper bags.
The best choice is reusable shopping bags made of cotton, nylon or durable, mesh-like plastic. 

Put a few reusable shopping bags in your car so you have them handy on your next shopping trip. And if you happen to forget your reusable bag (as we all do!), choose paper if you will recycle it or plastic if you will reuse or recycle it.

Stop Buying Bottled Water

Cost: $14.98 for aluminum water bottle
Did you know that it takes 26 bottles of water to produce the plastic container for a one-liter bottle of water, and that doing so pollutes 25 liters of groundwater? Don’t leave a trail of plastic water bottles in your wake! Stop buying bottled water. Use reusable water bottles instead made from materials like stainless steel or aluminum that are not likely to degrade over time. If you choose a plastic water bottle, check the number on the bottom first: Plastics numbered 3, 6 and 7 could pose a health threat to you, so look for plastics numbered 1, 2, 4 or 5.

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Good Christmas gift...our best to you

Happy Holidays! There is still time to clear the air for someone you love. Carbon offsets make a great waste-free, last minute gift, that is meaningful for the environmentalist in your life. We'll email you a customized gift message until 6pm PT on Christmas Eve. Just check "is a gift" at checkout, and enter your message and the email address of the recipient. Now is a great time to give our newest products, made especially for the treehugger or jetsetter in your life, which include a year's worth of flying, driving, home energy use offsets, and more. As always, if you have any questions, you can get in touch with us at support@terrapass.com.   Stay connected. Like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. Get resources and tips to balance your carbon footprint.			How much carbon do you emit? Find out how much carbon you emit by driving, travelling and energy use in your home. Offset your car's emissions, balance your plane flights and make your home carbon-balanced by supporting TerraPass projects, which improve the environment and help communities across the U.S. Learn more...
ABOUT TERRAPASS Our projects generate renewable energy and destroy greenhouse gases (GHGs). We enable indivi

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The outlook for nuclear energy in France

Despite the fact that nuclear energy has lost much of its appeal in the last ten years or so, and especially after the Fukushima accident in Japan, France still gets approximately 77% of its electricity from nuclear energy, which is around 47% of nuclear electricity generated in the entire EU.

France has the very long nuclear energy tradition, and the key event that played the most important

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Update from Sierra Club

We love seeing positive news on EV's.  Are you shopping for electric cars yet?

This past year has been an exciting one for cleaner vehicles. The President announced new historic vehicle fuel economy and emissions standards that will arguably do more to protect the planet than any other policy yet.  Also, according to NRDC's Luke Tonachel's recent blog, in the past year "hybrid sales grew by 55 percent and plug-in electric vehicle sales jumped 228 percent." And in 2013, we'll see about eight new plug-in models on the market. We have much work to do to boost plug-in vehicle sales, but we're heading in the right direction.

Sea Change Radio recently posted an interview with me on why the Sierra Club has been promoting a switch to electric vehicles as one of many important ways to slash oil use and emissions.

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Enjoy the show and tour 2012

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RENEW Plans Honor for SC Johnson

Award Will Recognize Company’s Investment in Wind Energy

SC Johnson, the Racine-based consumer products manufacturer, will be one of several Wisconsin companies and organizations receiving awards from RENEW Wisconsin for their renewable energy investments in 2012. The award will recognize SC Johnson’s two utility-scale wind turbines that are now supplying electricity to its Waxdale production facility. The two turbines were formally commissioned at the plant in a ceremony this morning.

In recognition of forward-looking customer generators, like SC Johnson, and the businesses that serve them, RENEW will present awards at its January 11, 2013, Energy Policy Summit. The event will be held at the University of Wisconsin’s Pyle Center.

Called Powering Positive Action, RENEW’s summit will focus on strategies for expanding Wisconsin’s renewable energy marketplace for businesses and customers.

“Customer generators like SC Johnson have become the engines for clean energy development. The benefits of these investments don’t just flow to the installation owners, rather all of us gain from their contribution to a stronger economy and cleaner environment. For each of these reasons, they deserve recognition as well as our appreciation,” said Michael Vickerman, program and policy director for RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide renewable energy advocacy organization.

“Wisconsin is fortunate to have such innovative and conscientious employers setting examples for others to embrace,” said Vickerman.

“The Summit will help Wisconsin decision-makers decide on a productive mix of policies to sustain further growth in the clean energy marketplace.”
END
Read the news release from SC Johnson.

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Radio show yesterday is now on Blog Talk Radio 24/7

We hope you listened yesterday but, if not, here's the link:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/renewable-now/2012/12/19/topic-coming-soon

We think you will be stunned by what you hear on the first part of the show.

Here's some info on the guest who appeared:  

We  covered gas safety with special guest Bob Ackley of Gas Safety, Inc. He’ll explain how there are natural gas leaks in many places and the  environmental  impacts this hazard brings .

We’ll also take a look at Rhode Island’s Goodwill Industries and learn about their job training program which involves recycling and rebuilding electronics.

Also, take a look at this grid from Terra Pass on Scope 3 emissions:

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Resistant MRSA “Super bug” Wound Possibly healed with Honey

We had a great talk today on our radio show--which we pre-recorded and will run over WARL and Blog Talk Radio next Weds, the day after Christmas, and this article is one of the remarkable things we discovered during our interview with Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, PhD

Professor Emerita of Anthropology & Joint Doctoral Program in Education,
Rhode Island College
Adjunct Professor of African Studies at Naval War College, Newport
Editor, Sudan Studies Association Bulletin
Secretary and Newsletter Editor, RI Beekeepers' Association
cfluehr@ric.edu

Make sure you listen next Weds and any day thereafter to my interview with Carolyn and my co-host today, Jim Murphy.

In the meantime we are happy to share this story and pretty amazing side of honey:  

"Anecdotal reports of honey healing anti-bacterial resistant wounds abound in beekeeping circles. A recent case was brought to my attention by a local tradesman who was working in New York city on a project and suffered an in-jury to his wrist that worsened into an abscessed open wound that required hospitalization. Hospitalized for two days the wound failed to respond to antibiotic and anti-bacterial treatment and it was feared that the infection was a case of MRSA, a highly contagious and resistant new bacteria. MRSA, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, is a new “superbug” that is re-sponsible for an estimated 19,000 deaths in the US and 368,000 hospitalizations per year. MRSA can be twice as deadly when compared with ordinary staph infections. MRSA is proving to be multi-drug resistant to a growing number of antibiotics in the penicillin and erythromycin categories and it is a growing problem in hospitals, prisons, schools, and nursing homes where patients with open wounds and weakened im-mune systems are at greater risk of infection. Some can be treated with so-called last re-sort antibiotics, but others prove non-responsive"

There's more and we'll post it soon.

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Today's radio show on WARL 1320 and Blog Talk Radio

Is going to cover a lot of ground.  The first part of the show--which runs live, 12-1p, EST, every Weds, will feature Jack Gregg, my co-host from Boston and this is what we are talking about:

"My guest for Renewable Now on Wednesday, Dec. 19 will be Bob Ackley of Gas Safety Inc. (www.gassafetyusa.com).  He is committed to the safe transmission and use of natural gas and propane. Natural gas leaks can be an explosion hazard as well as an environmental hazard that can threaten your health and environment. He has studies that show Natural gas leaks emanating from distribution piping systems are causing millions of dollars of damage to lawns, shrubs and trees. He has instruments that have the ability to detect as little as 10 parts per million of natural gas or propane. Recent studies have been published for the Boston ( http://www.bu.edu/energy/2012/11/26/study-details-natural-gas-leaks-in-boston/ ) and other states towns and cities.

 

BU and Gas Safety Inc did the testing and maping for the Boston report."

The second part is a Christmas special as we bring in Goodwill Industries to talk about their amazing, feel-good stories about job training, putting people back to work, how those people, amongst other skills, are learning how to recycle and rebuild electronics, and we'll find out more about how their e-waste efforts have helped clean up RI.

Feel free to contact us through Twitter and Facebook if you'd like to ask a question and make a comment.

We are the business side of green.

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Banning wind...are you in favor?

Eco RI News had a good story this week on Newport RI's recent ban on turbines (Ironically, we filmed some great shows there last week, studying tourism there and in RI, ocean management and the city's efforts to keep the local economy throttled up while implementing changes that they hope will take the burden off their water, air and infrastructure.  Those shows will start to air in Jan).  Local ordinances, like this one, are getting more common and more restrictive.  Wind can be a very efficient source of clean energy but, soon, there will be no where left to place turbines.

We believe strongly in preservation.  Newport has done a very good job of building much of their economy around its great history, architecture, historic neighborhoods and sites.  However, we don't think preservation should come at the expense of embracing new technology and moving the city, its businesses and citizens into alternative energy and reduced emissions.  We think their action here is short sighted and politically driven.

Here's the link:   http://www.ecori.org/front-page-journal/2012/12/14/newport-severely-restricts-turbine-placement.html

Part of the story:

Newport Severely Restricts Turbine Placement

By KYLE HENCE/ecoRI News contributor

NEWPORT — The City Council has voted to ban wind turbines from most of the city. With the recent approval of the wind turbine ordinance, out of 7,872 city lots, commercial-scale wind turbines — between 10 and 100 kilowatts and a maximum of 80 feet high — are permitted on 52 lots, and residential-scale turbines — less than 10 kilowatts and a maximum of 50 feet high — are permitted on 627.

In total there are 679 plots where the ordinance would allow a wind turbine to be installed to produce electricity. However, the ordinance prohibits turbines of any kind or size on 91 percent of city lots, regardless of plot size or energy generating potential. A 100 percent moratorium was in place up until the Dec. 12 passage of the city’s new wind ordinance.

As delineated in the language of the ordinance, property owners are prohibited from erecting small wind turbines anywhere in the city’s historic sections, including the entire southern portion of Newport defined by Ocean Drive.

In an April 9 letter to the City Council, James Dring, the Planning Board chairman, wrote, “The Planning Board regards the local Historic District as an inappropriate location for wind turbines unless the subject property has greater than 40,000 square feet of land areas.” The council, however, ultimately elected to impose a more restrictive ordinance than thatoriginally drafted by the Planning Board.

“It’s extremely restrictive,” said Newport Energy & Environment Commission member Doug Sabetti prior to this week’s vote. “It should be allowed in the historic districts with special use permits.”

During the discussion period opened by Mayor Henry Winthrop, council member Justin McLaughlin defined his guiding philosophy of governance as one in which he endeavored to legislate “for the people” rather than “to the people."

“This just seems overly restrictive to me,” he said, explaining his feeling that people should be free to do what they want with their own property as long as safety and related concerns are addressed...

What if a developer or a neighborhood wanted to do microgrid?

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World Food Day: Co-Operatives Feed People Around Globe

This story, from Voice of America, fits very well with what we've been finding as we've traveled, talked to guests and done shows on location.  Food co-ops are, in fact, growing, as is locally-grown food, many times raised organically, farmer's markets and local and state support for growth in farms.

We see, too, a push for diversity on farms...some back East, as an example, not only tend fields and raise crops, but have outreach for education, sell baked goods and prepared foods and become tourist meccas.  We know a wonderful farm on the East Coast that shows movies to kid and families in the summer while feeding them fresh, local food.

Here's the story from VOA:  You'll see significant economic impact coming out of this trend:

LONDON — Agricultural co-operatives are an important tool in the global fight against hunger, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. It's a point being underscored on World Food Day.

The Food and Agriculture Organization's Eve Crowley said agricultural co-operatives are important because they have social objectives, mobilize resources locally, and focus on sustainability. What is more, she said, they turn a good profit.

“When you add up the economic turnover of the 300 largest co-operatives alone, it's equivalent to 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars per year, which is roughly the same as the 10th-largest economy in the world, Canada.”

Co-operatives are associations of people who voluntarily form jointly-owned and democratically-run enterprises. Crowley said co-operatives have one billion members globally, and they create at least 100,000 jobs.

“The point is when you put them all together they are having an enormous impact on global finances, on global agricultural production, and on the availability and quality of food that people eat,” said Crowley.

According to the United Nations, nearly one-in-seven people suffer from undernourishment. It says small-holder farmers will provide much of the extra food needed as the global population grows to an estimated 9 billion by the year 2050. 

Crowley said co-operatives are good at withstanding turbulent economic times, and that was demonstrated during the recent financial crisis when food prices soared and many businesses struggled to survive. Co-operatives weathered the economic storm well, she pointed out.

“They were interested in the long-term security of their members, so they tended to be less speculative in the way that they ran themselves.  And in addition, when crisis hit, and if there was a shortfall in funding, in many cases members themselves chipped in to make the co-operative work,” she said.

Africa Advocacy Coordinator for the campaign group Action Aid, Henry Malumo, spoke to VOA from South Africa. He said co-operatives are key to giving small-holder farmers a stronger voice..."

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Energy history facts

From ancient times people use various energy sources. Geothermal energy were used for springs and heating, hydro and wind energy were used for mills, sailing, water pumps and other mechanical devices, solar energy was used for heating, biomass and coal were used for heating, illumination, cooking, and so on.  For example, nearly 2000 years ago the Greeks used water wheels to grind wheat into

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Italy - One of renewable energy leaders

Current situation with renewable energy in EU is looking exceptionally good, and Italy is no exception, in fact the Apennine peninsula country has in the last couple of years become one of the European clean energy leaders. According to the official government figures Italy is well on the track to meet its EU target of generating 26 percent of energy from renewable energy sources by 2020 since

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Part Two: Good piece from World Watch Institute

We had run part one of this report from WWI a while ago, but felt it important to finish up as we've been focusing some great radio shows of late on producing food locally, organically and the potential health benefits.  You'll find more on this on their site: 

"Food for Health:The global food system also affects issues of human health, including incidences of disease, malnutrition, obesity, and diabetes. The report notes several unhealthy changes in dietary and lifestyle patterns, including an increase in calories consumed, a lack of balance and diversity in diets, a lack of education about health and nutrition early in life, and a significant reduction in the amount of time dedicated to physical activity.

Food for Culture:The report emphasizes the need to reconnect people with producing, obtaining, preparing, and eating their food. This involves the transfer of knowledge from older to younger generations about the production and preparation of food, the return to a healthy relationship with and appreciation of the land on which food is grown, the revitalization of conviviality associated with food preparation and consumption, and the recovery of traditional flavors in the context of contemporary tastes. In Italy, the University of Gastronomic Sciences is finding ways to combine the passion of food connoisseurs with the science of agriculture. The university conducts courses in food anthropology, food cultures, food policy and sustainability, and students participate in study trips to examine regional food systems.

The book draws on advice from experts and activists around the world to suggest specific reforms to the food and agricultural systems. These include:

• Healthy eating and lifestyles. In developing countries, where rising average incomes are affecting dietary choices, it is important to provide access to and education about healthy foods like fruits and vegetables before bad eating habits develop into deep-rooted cultural practices. Ensuring proper nutrition among infants and children can greatly improve overall health later in life. Among both children and adults, a balanced diet, coupled with an active lifestyle, can minimize the risks of overweight, obesity, tumors, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. One extensively studied example is the Mediterranean diet, which characteristically emphasizes a balanced consumption of fruits and vegetables, legumes, and grains while limiting meat intake.  A study completed by EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) found that strict adherence to the Mediterranean diet resulted in a significant reduction in the risk of developing a gastric carcinoma.

• Fair food prices. To ensure that agriculture remains a viable and sustainable source of livelihood, farmers must be able to ask realistic prices for their products. In many countries, food prices are kept artificially low because they do not take into account the environmental impacts of producing food, the high medical costs associated with long-term unhealthy eating habits, the costs required to pay farmers and farmworkers a decent living wage plus benefits, and the billions of dollars in government subsidies that farmers receive to grow certain commodities. If farmers could charge real prices for the food they grow, consumers, especially in wealthy countries, would reconsider the impacts of their various food choices.

• Transparent and responsible food trade. To improve universal access to food, policymakers must address the lack of transparency and responsibility in the commercial exchange of food around the world. This means, for instance, ensuring that production of crops to be used as biofuels does not interfere with the cultivation of crops for food. In Europe, 8.6 million metric tons of vegetable oil is used for the production of biodiesel fuel and continues to expand by 15 percent annually. The food system must encourage “sustainable well-being,” or the idea that people’s current well-being should not be achieved at the expense of the happiness or prosperity of future generations."

---

BCFN and Nourishing the Plant will officially launch Eating Planet–Nutrition Today: Challenge for Mankind and for the Planet at The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space in New York City at 10 AM EST on June 28. Please contact Supriya Kumar at skumar@worldwatch.orgor click here if you would like to register for the event.

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Legislators set to speak at Powering Positive Action

Neither encouraged nor discouraged by state legislative election results, RENEW Wisconsin will hold its second annual energy policy summit to shape policy initiatives that will increase customer-driven renewable installations in 2013 and beyond.  Register now!

Set for Friday, January 11, 2013 in Madison, RENEW Wisconsin’s  summit, called Powering Positive Action, will synthesize the ideas and aspirations of business leaders, elected officials, and clean energy advocates into an achievable policy agenda.

This year a bipartisan legislative panel will outline their energy policy goals and identify specific initiatives that can move forward in the upcoming session.

Senators Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) and Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse), and Representatives Chris Taylor (D-Madison) and Gary Tauchen (R-Bonduel), and Chris Schoenherr, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Administration, have agreed to take part in the legislative panel. 

Other plenary sessions will focus on policies and practices that advance jobs and economic development through in-state development of renewable energy.  One promising initiative vigorously promoted by RENEW, called Clean Energy Choice, would allow businesses and residential households to directly access clean energy produced on their premises from third party-owned systems.

We would like policymakers to hear company representatives discuss the fit between on-site renewables and their ability to remain competitive in a period of great energy transition.

Over the lunch hour, RENEW will recognize a host of pioneering businesses that are advancing renewable energy use in Wisconsin.  This year several businesses and nonprofits took the reins of the renewable energy marketplace, and we wish to honor their outstanding achievements.

Former Colorado governor Bill Ritter will deliver the keynote address.  During his two terms, Ritter championed several innovative policies that are now fueling one of the healthiest energy economies in the nation.

Click to see registration details and other information about RENEW’s 2013 Energy Policy Summit.

RENEW thanks our current Summit sponsors:

Breakout Sponsors
DVO | Anaerobic Digesters - Bioenergy Session      
American Wind Energy Association - Wind Session            

Champion Sponsors                                    
Cullen Weston Pines and Bach
Organic Valley
W. W. Williams

Advocate Sponsors
Danfoss
Madison Solar
Michael Best and Friedrich, LLP
Prairie Solar Power & Light
Stantec
Western Technical College
         
Supporter Sponsors
Baker Tilly
Clean Wisconsin
C.R. Boardman
Michels Corporation
Midwest Renewable Energy Association
Sierra Club - John Muir Chapter
Werner Electric Supply

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Enjjoy the show and tour/2012

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