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Hawaii first state to require solar homes
Hawaii has become the first state in the nation to pass into law a requirement that all new homes built after Jan. 1, 2010, be equipped with solar or other energy efficient hot water systems.
Signed into law by Hawaii’s governor on June 26, the bill's introducer, Senate Majority Leader Gary L. Hooser (D-Kauai, Niihau) said, "Hawaii is almost totally dependent on imported oil for its energy needs and estimates show that, with this law, our oil consumption will be cut by 30,000 barrels during the first year and continues to decline exponentially thereafter."
While allowing for other energy efficient choices, the new law is widely seen as a solar hot water mandate and is expected to cut home energy usage in Hawaii by an average of 30 percent starting in 2010.
With the price of oil recently reaching $140 per barrel, Hooser considers Hawaii's move toward cheaper, cleaner energy "a vital decision for our island state."
"While the instituting of broad mandates is never an easy thing to do, the public benefits resulting from the passage of this measure are huge," he added.
Hawaii currently has the highest electricity costs in the nation and it is estimated that homeowners will save $600 annually for a family of four. "The additional disposable income combined with a cumulative multiplier effect of that income circulating in the Hawaii economy, rather than being exported to import foreign oil, will result in significant additional economic activity," Hooser said.
Economics aside, the groundbreaking measure enables Hawaii to lead the nation in the country's growing effort to combat global warming. Hawaii's switch to solar will prevent the emission of over 10,000 tons of greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere every year.
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Aloha Hawaii! This is the way to go and show leadership as well. Who needs Washington Dc? Hawaii has become the first state in the nation to pass into law a requirement that all new homes built after Jan. 1, 2010, be equippe... more -
Homes that produce their own energy
"We’re in a rather good spot,” says Harry Shepherd-Cross of his nine-bedroom, 17th-century farmhouse, set in 40 acres of land west of Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire. “We’re on a windy, southwest-facing hill - and we don’t have many neighbours.” Better still, at the bottom of the hill stands an old windmill, its threshing and grinding equipment intact. “There are some old boys in the village who keep it going. They let it go every Sunday.”
Shepherd-Cross, 39, a property developer, and his wife, Dorte, 37, decided last year to put up a windmill of their own: a 5.3-kilowatt(kW) Eoltec Scirocco wind turbine. While they were at it, the couple also fitted an array of 16 mono-crystalline photovoltaic (PV) cells - solar panels to you and me - on the roof. Together with the turbine, these produce about 9,500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a year.
The installation cost them a total of £40,000 - reduced to £27,000 by government grants (which are no longer available). Shepherd-Cross calculates that it will take 10 years to recoup this investment through lower energy bills. From then on, the family will effectively be getting their energy for free - and, in fact, making a profit by selling any surplus electricity they generate back to the grid. Given the rising cost of gas and electricity - heating bills could be 40% higher in the coming winter than last year - they might do even better than that. “If energy prices double, the pay-back period will halve,” he says.
Shepherd-Cross’s “eco-warrior” children, Jack, 11, Hughie, 9, Daisy, 8, and Kitty, 6, are impressed by what he has done. “Even quite young children now have environmental and sustainability issues injected into them,” he says. “Their friends come round to have a look. They can be disappointed if there’s no wind, but that’s not very often.”
Welcome to the new eco-industrial revolution. Until now, many people who have installed solar panels, wind turbines or other such green paraphernalia have done so largely out of ideological conviction. Increasingly, though, it can make economic sense, too, thanks both to the rising cost of energy and to a series of financial incentives, unveiled by the government last week, that will allow householders to sell surplus energy to the grid at premium prices. The proposals, which include the building of 3,500 onshore wind turbines, are designed to ensure that Britain hits its EU target of generating 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
"We’re in a rather good spot,” says Harry Shepherd-Cross of his nine-bedroom, 17th-century farmhouse, set in 40 acres of land west of ... more -
Global report card of green countries/US falls short
A global report card on nations doing the most, and least, to clean up the environment.
...the EPI is the best measure we have of how nations are faring in the battle to save the environment, and the findings are striking. As one might expect, the overall rankings place small, wealthy Scandinavian societies at the top, and poor, war-torn African nations at the bottom. But one big surprise is that size is no excuse for poor performance; big and small nations occupy both the top and bottom ranks. And bigger surprises come when you compare nations with peers of similar income, or with neighbors. In the following pages, you'll find chapters on the best—and worst—nations in every income group: the rich, the middle class and the poor.
China in particular has long argued that it is too poor to afford the Western luxury of environmental awareness. The EPI exposes this claim to be bogus. China ranks last among 15 nations in its income group (the fifth decile), behind Vietnam. If Colombia, the group's leader, can afford environmental concern, why can't China?
snip:
In its environmental priorities, the United States is in some ways remarkably similar to China, the EPI reveals. Like China, the United States scores poorly among countries in its income class (the top 10 percent), ranking third from the bottom, due in large part to terrible scores for emissions, which are heavily weighted in the index because of their contribution to global warming. And like China, the weak U.S. emissions scores are due in part to reliance on coal. In the EPI, the United States scores 38 on carbon emissions from electricity generation, compared with an average of 68 for countries of similar wealth. That statistic lowers the U.S. score in emissions per capita, which Yale puts at 56, far below the peer-group average of 74.
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Again, it comes down to moral and political will. Trying to excuse the lack of it by stating anything else is simply bogus. Even in Kenya people are turning to solar and they hardly have an economy to speak of. So the US, China, and other rich countries will be exposed for the morally bankrupt leadership they have all at the expense of this planet and its people just to make gold bars that will serve no purpose without a planet. A global report card on nations doing the most, and least, to clean up the environment. ... more -
One Earth Blog by TouchArt
One Earth Blog
Take a break to join Charleen Touchette of Mixed Blood Radio, for a virtual cup of tea or coffee in historic Santa Fe to chat, reflect on the weather, art, raising children, living green, world politics and keeping creativity flowing in a challenging world.
Check One Earth Blog as the mood moves you for new thoughts, pictures, viewpoints, radio interviews, video, art and links several times each week.
TouchArt's One Earth Blog brings you news, voices, and leaders in Indigenous Arts and Politics, Environmental and Green News and Scientists, American Indian Leaders, Artists and Authors, Mixed Blood Activists and Leaders, and voices, art and literature from youth from diverse rural, urban and reservation communities.
Check out One Earth Blog for news on Touchette's work with TouchArt Books, Russell Means and the Oppressionist Art Movement, Martin Luther King III and the Realizing the Dream Poverty in America Initiative and Bill Brown at New Mexico Global Warming.
With each decision, we each can be part of the solution.
We share one earth.
Like a stone dropped into a pool of water, every action has a ripple effect.
ONE EARTH - THINK ABOUT/ACT LIKE IT.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
One Earth Blog ... more -
Women face tougher impact from climate change
Climate change is harder on women in poor countries, where mothers stay in areas hit by drought, deforestation or crop failure as men move to literally greener pastures, a Nobel Peace laureate said on Tuesday.
"Many destructive activities against the environment disproportionately affect women, because most women in the world, and especially in the developing world, are very dependent on primary natural resources: land, forests, waters," said Wangari Maathai of Kenya.
"Women are very immediately affected, and usually women and children can't run away," said Maathai, who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her work on sustainable development.
"Men can trek and go looking for greener pastures in other areas in other countries ... but for women, they're usually left on site to face the consequences," she said. "So when there is deforestation, when there is drought, when there is crop failure, it is the women and children who are the most adversely affected."
Maathai was in Washington with 1997 Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams, who got the award for her work in creating an international treaty to ban landmines, and both spoke to reporters at a briefing.
Williams said she saw climate change as a threat to security, and said desertification of former agricultural land fueled the conflict in Darfur.
Credit: Reuters AlertNet. Climate change is harder on women in poor countries, where mothers stay in areas hit by drought, deforestation or crop failure as men ... more -
The Seegers Family Edifice Venture. (The History and Beginning)
The Seegers Family Edifice Venture is a documentary of a family that is turning an old church camp activities center into their future home. One of their goals is to show practical construction methods that will turn this building into an efficient green dwelling.
The History & Beginning is the first webisode of The Seegers Family Edifice Venture. In this episode you will meet the Seegers family, see us close on the building, learn its history and see the new roof go on. You’ll also get a tour of the building with an explanation of how they plan to renovate it. The Seegers Family Edifice Venture is a documentary of a family that is turning an old church camp activities center into their future... more -
Oil chiefs say high prices not their fault
WASHINGTON - Don't blame us, oil industry chiefs told a skeptical Congress. Top executives of the country's five biggest oil companies said Tuesday they know record fuel prices are hurting people, but they argued it's not their fault and their huge profits are in line with other industries.
Appearing before a House committee, the executives were pressed to explain why they should continue to get billions of dollars in tax breaks when they made $123 billion last year and motorists are paying record gasoline prices at the pump.
"On April Fool's Day, the biggest joke of all is being played on American families by Big Oil," Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said, aiming his remarks at the five executives sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in a congressional hearing room.
"Our earnings, although high in absolute terms, need to be viewed in the context of the scale and cyclical, long-term nature of our industry as well as the huge investment requirements," said J.S. Simon, senior vice president of Exxon Mobil Corp., which made a record $40 billion last year.
"We depend on high earnings during the up cycle to sustain ... investment over the long term, including the down cycles," he continued.
The up cycle has been going on too long, suggested Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo. "The anger level is rising significantly."
Alluding to the fact that Congress often doesn't rate very high in opinion polls, Cleaver told the executives: "Your approval rating is lower than ours, and that means you're down low."
WASHINGTON - Don't blame us, oil industry chiefs told a skeptical Congress. Top executives of the country's five biggest oil companies... more -
Make your voice be heard!
The Annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is accepting the participation of You Tube user in its Congress Center viewing and answering the significant suggestion to what companies or individuals must do in order to make the World a better place in 2008.
Most of the conflicts we have in the World today is caused by economic inequality and its consequences.
The idea that corporation, which in many aspects decide the way other human beings and the environment are treated, are considering to take in consideration opinion and ideas of single individuals, like you and I, make me feel quiet optimist about the possibilities of a future with fair way of living for all!
So, it's up to you! You've up to January 27, 2008 to address them!
Make your voice be heard!!!
The Annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is accepting the participation of You Tube user in its Congress Center viewing ... more -
Respond to Al Gore's BBC radio "Gore helping 'planet savers'" speech
I reflect to Al Gore's BBC radio "Gore helping 'planet savers'" speech. 13.11.2007
(Former US Vice President Al Gore wants to help entrepreneurs who have ideas to help save the planet. )
It will collect more sun energy? Put mirrors to the Solar tower's wall ! More potential? More capacity? This is the PS10 solar power tower. Seville, Spain.
It will collect more sun energy, because the solar tower/sun tower's wall mirror (1) reflect sun energy to the other sun panels, which are in the ground (2) / floor, than they collect from the sun direct too? And efficient / stronger sun energy goes to the top? (3)
http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?tab=a...
This is an idea from Hungary to Alliens for Climate Protection to Mr. Al Gore and Parkins. (Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, John Doerr) I reflect to Al Gore's BBC radio "Gore helping 'planet savers'" speech. 13.11.2007 ... more -
Put mirrors to the Solar tower's wall ! More potential? More capacity?
It will collect more sun energy? Put mirrors to the Solar tower's wall ! More potential? More capacity? This is the PS10 solar power tower. Seville, Spain.
It will collect more sun energy, because the solar tower/sun tower's wall mirror (1) reflect sun energy to the other sun panels, which are in the ground (2) / floor, than they collect from the sun direct too? And efficient / stronger sun energy goes to the top? (3)
I reflect to Al Gore's BBC radio "Gore helping 'planet savers'" speech. 13.11.2007
(Former US Vice President Al Gore wants to help entrepreneurs who have ideas to help save the planet. )
http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?tab=a...
This is an idea from Hungary to Alliens for Climate Protection to Mr. Al Gore and Parkins. (Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, John Doerr) It will collect more sun energy? Put mirrors to the Solar tower's wall ! More potential? More capacity? This is the PS10 solar power ... more -
Saving Madagascar
Current's Adam Yamaguchi goes to otherworldly Madagascar, an island struggling to flourish after bouts with environmental suicide.
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The Oshara Model - Sustainability for Mainstream America
Oshara Village in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is now under construction. This unique New Urbanist development which is the first of its kind in the United States, will allow residents to drastically reduce their use of non-renewable resources and overall energy consumption. Oshara Village in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is now under construction. This unique New Urbanist development which is the first of its kind... more
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Sustainable Development
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Sustainable Development
