Miller Center National Debates U.S. energy policy, including the use of carbon-based fuels.

Efficiency.

 The echoing sentiment debated and built upon during the PBS program housed in it the apparent next move - best move for controlling climate change, aiding conservation, and bringing to bear the new policies of a environmentally conscious society - was the golden ticket to both sides presenting in the Miller Center National Debate on Energy Policy which aired locally on PBS/WITF today. 

 Two sides discussed various topics of Energy Policy including items included and excluded from the Waxman Bill. The bill is up for adoption (apparently) soon by the Federal government. Those presenting were...

 Chrisine Todd Whitmann, Former EPA administrator

 Jon Podesta, Former White House Chief of Staff

 Caron Harbert, of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

 James Woolsey, Former CIA Director

 

 This was a very interesting discussion, and another instance IMHO of TV being used the way it should. Some notes and statements from the broadcast appear below. 

"We can't run a 21st century economy on the current infrastructure", Jen Harbert. 

 James Woolsey, " They have on one building as much or more wind and solar as the entire state of Florida, or Texas. The Germans have it right." 

 The energy grid must be renewed, even if we don't add a kilowatt of power, it is badly out of date, Christine Todd Whitmann

 -> Solar still expensive. 

 -> #1. Wind

 -> Create new jobs, create new industry - nuclear?; solar; wind - means for getting wind and solar to places where people live is arguably the same transportation problems we aim to control with improved efficiency. 

 BANANA (build anything, anywhere

 NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) 

Waxman Bill

  Discussion on the Waxmann Bill, energy renewal programs, alternative forms of energy, climate control, etc. hosted by Jim Angle in the Miller Room, on PBS May 31st. 

  

Discussing Emerging Technologies, Trends, and Tales in the Green Energy and Sustainable Living Spaces

Over the weekend I was able to attend a Green Jobs Forum hosted by the York County Conservation Alliance. The discussion was held at Penn State York and featured a list of qualified speakers. They represented various industries include education, archititure and engineering, and oil and other energy brokers. John Hanger, of the EPA was on hand and spoke first. 

• Representative Eugene DePasquale - York, PA 95th District
  
• Secretary, Department of Environmental Protection John Hanger
• Director Tom Tuffey of Penn Future for Energy, Enterprise and Environment
• Director of Special Initatives Kevin Abbey from Penn State - Technical Assistance Program
• Tom Donley from the York County Chamber of Commerce
• Shaun Pardi from Envinity Incorporated
• Dr. James Kraft and Sue Hoffman from York County School of Technology
• David Hortman from York Technical Institute 

Jane Heller, a York local who I know from Spring Garden County Community meetings. Mrs. Heller is a passionate woman. She is a people’s citizen who does her due diligence in supporting and inspiring others to engage in issues that matter to them.

In the coming weeks I plan to share with you some of the items that were gone over during the forum and possibly include supporting information. For me, there were many new ideas to digest and as I learn more about these things I’ll likely trail down some new avenues. I hope the endeavor will make me, and possibly you in return, more aware.

Team Showers: Saving Water or Sparking Romantic Frivolity?

You've probably seen that I write about ways to keep water and energy consumption down. And why not? Reduced use are conservation paths for us to be good stewards and to help protect the environment and human and animal health.

So, when it comes to two-person shower times who cares?! It really doesn't matter if it's for romance or environmental reasons, using less water will reduce your energy bill and conserve on maybe the most precious natural resource water.

Consider this a job your doing to save the planet, you super heroes.

If you wanted to take an even greater step toward water conservation you could try capturing the water while your shower heats up. To do so, place a large tub under the facet. Remove the tub before you get in for your shower. You can then use the water for plants or other round the house water needs. Some people use this water to fill up their toilet tanks.

For the Hesitant Polluters

Don't worry. This isn't the Thunder Dome; we're not there, yet. It is good for us to challenge the perceptions we have about "the way" to do things.

Being Frugal is Totally Hip

Collecting rain water is another savvy way of using whats already here, and proves your no slouch. Getting the most of the resouces (time energy etc) available makes you feel good while you do good.

Cleaning Agents: Who's Working for You?

Federal Invesitagtion Agents aka FBI appear hero in so many movies. Catching the bad guys, foiling the crime plot, freeing the oppressed, these are just some of the reasons we admire and romantize those agents who work so hard to keep us safe. But what about the agents under your sink? Have they been corrupted? Quick fix, short term gain, greed or avarice, these agents may or may not be just what the situation calls for. 

I Know Agents on Your Side

This post won't cover the range of developments in cleaning chemicals over the past two days let alone the past two years. While products and companies are getting hip to the green agenda, (& the need of the environmental imperative) quality solutions are already available today. 

This ain't your grandma's kitchen, but wait -maybe it should be. Since the dawn of time borax has been there to help people clean their toilets and sinks. In the days of Noah it was used to wash the ship's deck. Okay, well maybe that's not completely acurate, but sufice to say it's here now. Borax, Arm & Hammer, and vinager (white) are possibly all you need to keep your home sparkingly clean even in a 21st century kinda way. 

While you may not have Rosie, the Jetson's amiable, apron clad super cleaning robot to assit you, you do have solutions for all the house-hold areas that need cleaning. 

• Windows: treate them with an equal parts water to vinager (white does best) solution, put them in a spray bottle and wipe glass and window surfaces with old newspaper or some people like to use coffee filters. 
  

• Kitchen: including the sink, you can wipe, scrub and clean most kitchen surfaces with an Arm & Hammer + water solution. Test to see what ratio works best for you, but you can start with 3 tablespoons A&H to each 1/2 cup water; that's 6 tablespoons + 1 cup water; 12 tablespoons + 2 cups water; etc. *Don't forget to wipe down, inside and out, of the fridge. 
  

Floors: A&H + Water + Lime Juice 

• Pipes: send 1/2 cup baking soda, followed by a 1/2 cup vinegar, followed by a few cups (3-4) boiling water down your drains. This will break up the oily grime in the pipes and it should leave them smelling clean and fresh. 
  

• Tile: with an old toothbrush (*don't use your roomates; remember the golden rule?) and a nice pasty solution made of one part A&H and one part water you can clean that grime right out of your grout. 
  

• Toilet & tub: again with the A&H and water. By  now you should be an old pro, but essentially these items call for another solution of the wonder agent and some water. Also you can get the lime scale off of the shiny things by soaking them in the A&H and water solution. 

Some things not to do: nose pick in public - okay that's off topic; what I meant to say, don't continue to buy those nasty aerosol sprays. They're funky, they're junky, and here's the real scoop. 

*Aerosol sprays no longer contain chloroflurorcarbons which was the reason not to use them in the 90's, but they still contain hydrocarbon-based gases which, you guessed it, add to the overall amount of carbon in the air. 

These natural ingredient solutions can help you clean without worry of toxins, or environmental damage. Now if only you can get your spouse to pitch in.  

Toilet Training: Where's Your Green?

It occured to me through the help of a couple books/ blogs, etc. I'm reading that the toilet accounts for about 1/3 of the water your house uses. Obviously, your house and you are really one in that type of observation. So here's something you can do to help your house or apartment use less water while getting the same or better performance. 

Toilet Training

Dams and/or displacement bags can help reduce the amount of water being filled into your tank each time you flush. Essentially, when you flush drinking quality water fills into the resiviour. It sits there till you flush the comode, which initiates the process of it flowing down to the bowl to wash out the #1 & #2 that might be there. 

Using a displacement bag or a dam means less of the city's drinking quality water is required to fill the tank to where it trips the plung.  

Purchase a displacement bag for only $2.00!  Or maybe the dam's your style? 

Hardees Death Offers & Your Carbon Emissions

Today I made the rare, and disastrous decision to ... go to Hardees (Carl's Jr.) for breakfast. I know about MSG in sausage, and what it does to your brain. I know about Styrofoam coffee cups, and food packaging overkill...but it was right next to the location I'm working from... and you know the story. 

So, my point though, isn't how bad a jerk I am, alone. My point is about the yay-hoo driving my car (me) plus the yay-hoos in the two cars in front of me, in addition to the one that drove in behind me - and all the yay-hoos in their cars everyday waiting for their double QP, or a Mexican pizza, or the whatever it is.

Lb.'s in the Air

Carbon emissions is a killer. Stand behind a work truck for a couple of minutes. Feel dizzy?Salivatingly nauseous? That blue smoke we are pumping into the atmosphere at an alarming rate everyday is adding up. 

Too, as more people and more machines take up landing and practice here on Earth the potential for gross volumes of this stuff continues to increase. What's more, factories in developing countries (factories here too) don't have quality standards that have the long term in mind. 

This things deserve our attention. 

Emissions is killing people's lungs, increasing the number of toxin related asthma cases globally each year. What's more, environmentalists see the growing potential of environmental destruction motivated by the burning of fossil fuels.

When we sit in our cars, heck when we run them, they're putting out a bi-product of the fuel that's burning under the hood. This bi-product in addition to the same or similar bi-product emitting from the factories down the road and in developing countries adds to the Earth's ability to trap infrared rays within the Earth's atmosphere. 

Infrared. Think about that. It doesn't sound good does it? How about living in a house full of infrared rays; sound cozy? Sounds a lot like the type of "rays" that nurse technicians (radiologists) wear metal sheets in attempt to avoid soaking up. 

That's what's happening. Carbon emissions (which are puke worthy themselves) lead to the Earth's ability to house more infrared rays in the atmosphere. What's more, that problem adds to the melting of the polar ice caps and glaciers, which adds to all sorts of other turbulent stuff. 

So, avoid Hardees, and if you end up there; consider parking and taking the quick walk inside to get your grease-ridden cloro-carbons and Earth murdering styro-excess packaging. And if you see me there, make sure I'm doing it too, would ya?  

What are Carbon Credits & How do they Work?

-What are Carbon Credits?

Carbon credits are part of the economics of global warming. Credits are given to companies that have a surplus of emission allowance. Emissions are bi-products released into the atmosphere as a result of the breaking down of fossil fuels. Emissions include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydroflorocarbons and sulfur. These items add to the Earth's ability to trap infrared energies in the atmosphere.

Carbon credits emerged as a commodity from the Kyoto Protocal, which was a multi-national agreement formulated by more than 170 countries. Credits allow corporations - especially those that operate factories that rely on the consumption of fossil fuels - the chance to duck regulations concerning the amount of permissible emissions.

-How do Carbon Credits work?

Essentially, factories are allocated a number of permissible emissions. These emissions are calculated in tonnes. The factory will offset their emissions by purchasing carbon credits from another factory or company that has a surplus of emissions.

At best, this looks to be a form of baby-stepping the factories to responsible action. The thing I wonder about this is whether when the COP15 meets if these permissible amounts of carbon will be more tightly restricted?

... stay tuned, we'll keep looking into it.

The purchase of carbon credits can help create new environmental initiatives. Check out this article from valuable blog source, TreeHugger: Survey of Carbon Offset Services.

Both people and companies are purchasing carbon credits, is it for you?

Understanding & Exploring the Green Environmental Agenda

GOOD magazine publishes great content supporting and promoting social and environmental causes. In the Jan./Feb. 2009 publication of GOOD's magazine they offer a "state of the world" assessment of buying and selling, the environment, and media to name a few. 

I aim to take some of the jumping-off points provided by the magazine as avenues to research, debate, discuss, and better understand the 'green' agenda in its many, many forms. Here is a quick list of the topics to come...

• Endangered animals: One of the three spheres commonly identified with environmental concerns (human health, planetary preservation, & animal life), endangered animals offer an interesting path and an earnest need. 
• Worldchanging.com - Alex Steffens is author of the book and website. The book's title is "Worldchanging: A Users Guide for the 21st Century".
• The generation gap - the knowledge/thought gap - between the youthful environmentally aware and the oblivious, or unconcerned Congress people, Senators, etc. 
• United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (Cop15)
• Kyoto Protocol
• Green Hawks as conservative alternative-energy politicos
• The 11th Hour
• Electric Cars
• Alternative energy sources
• Clean energy processes and sources
• freecycle
• Toms shoes
• Van Jones & Tom Friedman
• America's Climate Security Act
• Obama's weekly addresses

This is a start. In addition to these things I plan to visit opportunities in consumption, energy efficiencies, life-style choices, waste reduction, disposal, local economies, recycling, reuse, DIY, and food choices. 

 

Tropicana Rescue Plan in Action

Alright. Tropicana has followed through with hosting the Rescue the Rainforest webpage. If you recall I wrote a post about the MIA webpage after having attempted to persuade them to save the rain forest by providing a number code from an orange juice carton. 

So, go visit 'em. Buy a carton or two, but be sure to visit the website if you do. *Also they do make it clear as to which numbers are to be used. Next I wanna see a documentary of the 100 sqft per carton code that is being saved. 

Inauguration Day Update

Rick Warren

 The land of unequaled opportunity - give to our new president the wisdom to lead us with humility

... the compassion to lead us with generosity. 

Help us oh God to remember that we are Americans ... united by a justice for all. 

 

Inauguration Day Update

Diane Feinstien is the first to address the public. She speaks about, a transition of power, and the freedom to choose leadership as a cornerstone of liberty. 

"The sweet victory of this hour,"... Diane Feinstien

"The dream finally reached the walls of the white house 

A renewed called to greatness, inspired by ... Barack Obama." 

Inauguration Day Update

11:44

It is now after 11:40 am on January 20, 2009 and the president elect Barack H Obama has been introduced and called to the stage. He will soon be sworn in and later give an address.  

The crowd in Washington is tremendous. 

Inauguration Day Update

10:05 a.m. 

The Obamas are out of the chapel and the Internet (Twitter) is abuzz with inauguration talk. Here is a great blog post found through the stream on inauguration places to watch. 

There is noise in the House of Representatives; it appears a jovial time.  

Inauguration Day Update

7:15 a.m. 

 Sunlight is beginning to illuminate the area around the Capital Building. 

 240,000 people are said to have tickets to attend the inauguration ceremonies of Barack Obama.  Hundreds of thousands more are also attending the event. 

8:45 a.m.

10:00 a.m. 

11:30 a.m. Swearing In

1:00 p.m. Launch 

3:30 p.m. Inagural Parade

8:00 a.m. Inagural Balls

Inauguration Day Update

6:40 a.m. 

People are filling the National Mall. In Washington, D.C. preparations for the inauguration of the Barack Obama, the 44th President, are underway. 

For so many it is a glorious day. This is a hope-filled day, a day of redemption.  

Check back here all day long for updates, or checkout C-SPAN on television or at c-span.org for more live coverage. 

My Book Pick ~ Hot, Flat, and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman

Get this Book: Thomas Friedman Hot, Flat, and Crowded

    You won't regret it.  

Alright so this isn't the best video, but the book is "better than the movie."

Reading it? Read it? Think it's totally off the mark? Chime in...your comments/thoughts are welcome. 

Green Groceries or Greenwashing? Tropicana's Rescue the Rainforest Program

Yesterday I was enjoying a nice healthy breakfast with my lovely wife when she poured a glass of orange juice. That is when what I am about to tell you occured to me. High pulp let's us get extra oranginess and buying Tropicana, apparenetly let's us
"Rescue the Rainforest".

Now for you die-hards, the notion will be laughable at best. You may be thinking that a large company like Tropicana is inheriently the problem, well relax. That's not today's discussion. 

My point today is Tropicana offers a Rescue the Rainforest program whereby purchasers are (ideally) able to go to the Tropicana website and motivate them to save 100 sq feet of rainforest by providing a carton code.

Not unheard of, not groundbreaking, but hopefully honest; right? Well, the problem is when I go to the
web address what I get is a message that says, "Please bear with us while we get up and running...check back in mid January."

Coolearth (the marketing company?) and Tropicana have just a few more days until the calendar passes the mid January mark. Once this happens, I'll be looking, and I'll report what I find back here.


PS: the promotion code on the Tropicana carton is apparently the UPC code - that's the standard. Yet, the code isn't identified as UPC, nor is it explained -at all- where to find the code - which code it is - how long or other identifiers about the code, none of that is made clear. So, come on folks let's do this right.

Where Do We Go From Here?

As I write this post I write it with many apologies. Apologies mostly for mistakes and shortcomings of my own. But, I write it inherently with apologies for the failures and missteps that have us now grasping for the lever to pull the brakes and put us on the path to environmental betterment. 

Certainly it is questionable whether 'we' ever have or ever truly will be fully on the path (I'm not suggesting a good-old-days argument here) but as I look through the pages of a Buckminster Fuller book, and as the words I read from Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded pour over my brain and ignite my spirit, I am motivated to resurrect, recreate, and invent ways for our lives to be more peaceful, insightful, and coordinated with the resources and responsibilities in the biosphere. 

And, perhaps I wax little too flamboyant, but I have this genuine urging that I feel I need to share. Our lives must move in a kinder, gentler, more responsible direction. As more people populate the Earth, as cultures mash and blend, as old-style, renewable resources tip toward zero there isn't time to lollygag. 

 

Obama, the Green President

The word is out, and the scuttlebutt surrounds asking; What will he do next? In the blogs, and in the papers, it seems nearly everyone is "all a wonder" about the next steps of President-Elect Obama, some of what they are saying is...

My biggest concern, I suppose, is that Obama hasn’t yet really sold his environmental vision to the American public. Klein calls him out on this: “So why haven’t you given the big speech about it?” I think that speech is coming, and I likewise believe that we could be entering a transformative era for environmental politics, but a lot of us have been waiting too long to take anything for granted. (from a post for WorldChanging) ~ Adam Stein is a co-founder of TerraPass. He writes on issues related to carbon, climate change, policy, and conservation.

Kieth Johnson for Green Capital ~ The Wall Street Journal ... Nuclear power will be a hot potato in the next administration, after the Department of Energy recommends focusing all nuclear-storage options on Yucca Mountain, in the NYT. Meanwhile, a documentary look at how environmentalists have learned to love nuclear power, at Angel Asaini (HT).

Yes we can. The Obama campaign narrative set a high bar for us… but we’re up to it. We’ve proven, once again, that we’ll choose hope over fear… now, let’s follow that choice up with meaningful, thoughtful and cooperative action. Hope is renewable… our challenge, our responsibility, is to insure that hope is sustained. Jeff McIntire-Strasburg writing for Sustainablog

Have a great weekend.

GOOD Recycling Paint Cans and Old Batteries

Q. Does anybody know what to do with old batteries? A. I hear that batteries, of the last few years, are disposable. 

Q. Someone on our road put paint cans out for recycling recently. The cans have been there almost a week now. What do I do? A. Need to find a local service. 

Here's a video to enjoy while I get to those above chores. Please, let me know if you have any advice, or stories about those things. best.