The EPA protects the American public; please protect the EPA and Small Business

On Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 2:21 PM, Solar Nation <chris@solar-nation.org> wrote:

Thank you for using Solar Nation Mail System.

Message sent to the following recipients:
Senator Blunt
Senator McCaskill
Message text follows:

April 7, 2011

[recipient address was inserted here]


Dear [recipient name was inserted here],

The House of Representatives is very likely to pass HR910, a bill that
could rob the Environmental Protection Agency of its power to regulate
harmful pollution.  President Obama has indicated that he will veto any
such bill passed by Congress, but he needs the support of the Senate both
before such an action and also in the event of an override vote.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Act has brought decades of
health benefits to Americans without damaging the economy or our ability
to generate electrical power.  But HR910 threatens to undo this progress,
make us more rather than less dependent on fossil fuels, and prevent the
agency from obeying the Supreme Court's order to regulate carbon emissions.

Senator, when presented with the opportunity to vote on a Senate version
of HR910, please cast your vote for the health of the environment and the
American people.  Please vote against any bill that seeks to undermine the
EPA.

I'd also like to add:  My current project: Installing an Energy Efficient
Roof System per DOE Guidelines on a Home in Sunset Hills, MO 63127.  The
proposed roof system will have estimated rvalue: R40, an increase of R30
when compared to the existing roof.  Because the Funding was reduced for
Energy Efficient Up-Grades via the Recovery Act Funding Reduction of 2010.

 

 The Total Cost could exceed the Budget for the Home Owner- Even though I
have reduced my labor/installation charges by 20% because it is a Green
and Sustainable Project.  I can't lower my prices any more and pay the
required taxes for all those involved or expect my crew of 5 workers for
the proposed project to work for less pay.  Something has to give in re to
the Governments plans on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solutions.

 

 The homeowner is also interested in a Photovoltaic System to generate
Clean Non-Polluting Energy that has no negative Side Affects- Such as
Nuclear Waste.

I feel as if the Politicians are driving the small business people into a
corner.

Here is what I propose:
        It would seem to me that the fastest way out of the current
Economic situation that the Politicians in Washington have caused would be
to Create Jobs and remove the tax advantages that the top percentile are
not being required to pay- Remove the Government Sponsored Welfare.  With
more people paying taxes from their wages it will ad to the Governments
Coffers / Piggy Banks, and more people will have money to spend on Goods
and Services.   Thus creating the income needed to keep the Country Afloat
while improving the bottom line.

An old Businessman Told me once: "You can charge high prices and stay a
little busy or you can charge lower prices and stay really busy and make
more money"  The same holds true in this situation.  Example: I'd love to
donate to your Political Ambitions but the extra money I would have
donated has went to the higher gasoline costs at the Gas Pumps, currently
$3.69/gal in South City, MO.

I encourage you and your fellow Law Makers to Drop the we can't deal with
the Other Party's and get these problems solved.  There has to be a middle
ground that each Party will support.

If all else fails: I say to cut the Politicians and Law Makers Pay Roll.
How can you and your Partners in Crime justify your high salaries on the
Backs of Joe Constituents?  When our Salaries remain low from the Actions
and In-Actions caused by the Regulations in Place.


Scott's Contracting
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com

 "Monthly Energy Review" by the U.S. Energy Information Administration
(EIA), nuclear power and renewable energy sources are now neck-in-neck
with nuclear power's share of domestic energy production dropping while
that from renewable sources growing rapidly.

The share of domestic U.S. energy production derived from renewable energy
sources (i.e., biomass/biofuels, geothermal, solar, water, wind) rose to
10.92% in 2010, up from 10.65% in 2009. By comparison, nuclear power's
share of domestic energy production dropped from 11.48% in 2009 to 11.26%
in 2010.

Sincerely Disgusted,


Scotty

-Find Your Representatives-Republican or Democrat, and Let Your Voice BE HEARD! Active Participation is Suggested

stedTellMyPolitician

--
Scott's Contracting
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://scottscontracting.wordpress.com

Renewable Energy Provided 11% of Domestic Energy Production in 2010 | Renewable Energy News Article

Washington, DC, USA -- According to the most recent issue of the "Monthly Energy Review" by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), nuclear power and renewable energy sources are now neck-in-neck with nuclear power's share of domestic energy production dropping while that from renewable sources growing rapidly.

The share of domestic U.S. energy production derived from renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass/biofuels, geothermal, solar, water, wind) rose to 10.92% in 2010, up from 10.65% in 2009. By comparison, nuclear power's share of domestic energy production dropped from 11.48% in 2009 to 11.26% in 2010.

Looking at the full energy sector (i.e., electricity, transportation, thermal, and other end-uses), overall domestic production of renewable energy, including hydropower, increased by 5.6% in 2010 compared to the previous year. However, non-hydro renewables increased by 11.6% from 2009 to 2010.

Among renewable energy sources, biomass and biofuels combined accounted for 51.98% of the total, followed by hydropower (30.66%), wind (11.29%), geothermal (4.68%), and solar (1.38%). Comparing 2010 production to that in 2009, wind energy increased by 28%, biomass/biofuels by 10%, and solar and geothermal by 4% each. Hydropower dropped by 6%.

Looking at just the electricity sector, the latest issue of EIA’s "Electric Power Monthly," with full-year data for 2010, reveals that non-hydropower renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, solar, wind) increased by 16.5% over 2009 and provided 4.08% of net U.S. electrical generation. Renewables, including hydropower, accounted for 10.32% of net electrical generation.

During 2010, solar increased by 45.8%, wind grew by 28.1%, geothermal expanded by 4.4%, and biomass increased by 3.7%. Among the non-hydro renewable sources, wind accounted for 56.3%, biomass for 33.6%, geothermal for 9.3%, and solar for 0.8%. Nuclear power's share of net electrical generation dropped from 20.22% in 2009 to 19.59% in 2010.

Against the backdrop of the on-going nuclear disaster in Japan and the pressure for financial belt-tightening at home, the U.S. government’s latest energy statistics once again confirm that limited federal dollars are far better invested in rapidly expanding renewable energy technologies and not in the black hole that is nuclear power.

Ken Bossong is Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign.

Note: The U.S. Energy Information Administration released its most recent "Monthly Energy Review" on March 29, 2011. It can be found at: http://www.eia.doe.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly. The relevant charts from which the data above are extrapolated are Tables 1.1 and 1.2. EIA released its most recent "Electric Power Monthly" on March 11, 2011; see: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html. The relevant charts are Tables ES1.B, 1.1, and 1.1A.

Renewable Energy Provided 11% of Domestic Energy Production in 2010 | Renewable Energy News Article

Energy Solutions So Good Even Climate Skeptics Can’t Say No | JonCoifman

For all the exciting innovation in clean tech today, debate about energy and climate policies crucial to the market remain stuck in eat-your-vegetables mode. What’s interesting is how some people keep saying no, even as they grab a second helping of spinach.

There’s Rupert Murdoch, of course, whose News Corporation recently went carbon neutral even as the FOX News talking heads rail against climate solutions. But this year’s championship for doing one thing about energy while saying (or paying people to say) another goes to billionaire conservative political financier David Koch.

It turns out the cutting-edge energy-saving technologies used in a new $211 million research lab named in his honor by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were partly funded through a state program to cut global warming emissions that also happens to be under fierce political attack by one of Koch’s biggest political beneficiaries, the group Americans for Prosperity.

Thanks to smart technologies, the David H. Koch Institute, dedicated earlier this month, will use almost a third less energy than comparable facilities. Everything in the building is designed to maximize efficiency, from lighting and climate controls to the laboratory systems – even the floorplan.

Money for all those extras came through MIT’s $14 million campus-wide partnership with their utility, NSTAR. In just 36 months, they plan to cut the university’s energy use 15 percent – enough to power 4,500 Massachusetts homes for a year. Total lifetime payback is expected to exceed $50 million.

Innovative initiatives like this exist because Massachusetts law requires utilities to pay for efficiency upgrades whenever the energy savings cost less than building the equivalent amount of new generating capacity.

And as it happens, almost a fifth of that money last year came from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, or “Reggie”), a program created by 10 Northeast states in 2005 that limits the amount of carbon dioxide utilities can put in the air and collects a small fee – set by quarterly auction – for every ton of they do emit.

It’s a similar story in other the RGGI states, too. The problem is, almost nobody knows it.

That’s because those benefits flow through a tangled network of rebate and incentive programs administered by utilities, state governments and non-profits. As a result, thousands of businesses, families and local communities reap RGGI dividends without knowing it -- robbing an effective program of the natural constituency it deserves, and making it easier for groups like Americans for Prosperity to attack.

Thanks to AFP’s aggressive yearlong campaign, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted to quit RGGI. Senate agreement is expected. The new Republican Governor of Maine wants to follow, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recently started hinting he wants to do likewise.

That would be a giant leap in the wrong direction, not just -- or even mainly -- for the environment, but also those state economies in general, and the clean tech sector in particular.

RGGI costs the average household about 75 cents a month. In return, it pays for upgrades from home weatherization to energy efficient industrial boilers, commercial lighting projects, and rooftop photovoltaic installations on schools and factories (which is how New Jersey became the number two state for solar, by the way).

It provides access to scarce capital and helps reduce operating costs, creating new opportunities for businesses of all sizes, from architects, engineers and programmers to the people in tool belts who bend metal and wire up buildings. That’s business that can’t be outsourced to China.

These investments also save money by avoiding expensive new power plants, and by lowering peaks in demand that drive up electricity prices across the board.

Of $789 million raised by RGGI through last December, more than half went to efficiency projects. Eleven percent went for renewables, and 14 percent to offset bills for low-income families. Less than five percent went for administrative overhead. Those numbers would be even better if New York and New Jersey hadn’t used some proceeds for deficit reduction.

The point of all this is not that David Koch is a hypocrite (in fact there’s no reason to believe he would have known about the funding connection). Rather, it is that if RGGI is good enough for him, it is plenty good for the rest of us.

So, lawmakers, please, pass us another helping of those greens. And keep ‘em coming.

Energy Solutions So Good Even Climate Skeptics Can’t Say No | JonCoifman

EPA-A BIG announcement

Friends, For too long, the fossil fuel industry has had its way on the climate issue--its money has overwhelmed the scientific facts, delaying action on the largest challenge humanity now faces. Right now, the the Clean Air Act is being threatened, the EPA is under attack, and big polluters are mounting an all-out onslaught that threatens to destroy our lands and scorch our planet.  In short, we are losing ground. In the face of these challenges, one thing is clear: if we want to win, we will have to come together like we never have before. That's why we at 350.org and 1Sky have important news to share: starting today, our organizations are officially merging. We'll be called 350.org, and together we'll be smarter, bolder, faster, and more creative than we were before. Find out more about the NEW 350.org: www.350.org/new Over the last three years, 350.org and 1Sky have frequently teamed up for U.S. campaigning. Many of you have been with us every step of the way. Together, we've coordinated over 5,000 climate demonstrations in all 50 states. We've helped protect the Clean Air Act and won a campaign to get solar panels back on the White House. We've launched creative projects to get science at the center of the climate debate, trained thousands of new leaders, and built a network of strong local groups. Despite all of this work, we haven't been winning enough. The truth is that we don't yet have the climate and energy policies our country and the world need. To get them, we'll need to do much, much more to loosen the stranglehold that corporations have over Congress. We'll need to be as strong as possible to take on the fossil fuel companies--and we can be stronger together. That's why we're merging organizations to create a NEW 350.org. The merged organization will be running an ongoing series of cutting-edge campaigns--online and offline--that can help usher in a new era of climate action: We will directly confront the barriers to climate progress--from Big Coal to the US Chamber of Commerce, from the cabal of corrupt politicians attacking the Clean Air Act to an administration too timid to defend it. We will train, empower, and mobilize a grassroots army of individuals, businesses, organizations, and community leaders pushing for climate solutions in the United States.   We will continue our work globally to build a diverse climate movement all around the world that unites for strategic mobilizations on a scale previously unimagined. In just a few short months, we've witnessed people power in action. From the Middle East to the Midwest, movements have risen up to overturn tired dogma and challenge entrenched power. Many of us were inspired by these events. And many of us were surprised. Perhaps we were growing skeptical that people power could still work. Maybe we had forgotten a vital fact about our world: that bold citizens, united around a common mission, can still come together to create major change against enormous odds. This movement will never have the money of the fossil fuel industry, so we'll have to use a different currency: people power. People power means you. It means your friends and neighbors. It means hundreds of thousands of us across the country, uniting to transform our future. We can do it, and we'll need your help--that's why we'll be in close touch in the coming weeks and months about exactly how anyone and everyone can plug into this vital mission. If the events of 2011 have taught us anything, it's that people, properly organized, can do amazing things together. On behalf of everyone at the new 350.org, let us be the first to say: we can't wait to do amazing things with all of you. Onwards, May Boeve - Executive Director of the NEW 350.org Liz Butler - Campaign Director, 1Sky Bill McKibben - Board Chair at 350.org Betsy Taylor - Board Chair at 1Sky

Build the movement in your community: Join the Climate Network. How do I donate? Fund the movement to help make bold climate action a reality. Join our network:

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Scott's Contracting
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://scottscontracting.wordpress.com