Retiring Coal Plants, 5 Easy Ways to Clean Energy, Good News on Fuel Efficiency, Inner City Outings Hereos

On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 4:32 PM, Sierra Club Insider <insider@sierraclub.org> wrote:

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August 2, 2011: In This Issue º Take a Hike and Go to Prison? º 3 Deals for Muir Fans º Inner City Outings Heroes º Green Your Photography º The Worst Bill Ever  Share: EXPLORE Discover Something New Want to explore remote areas rarely seen by humans? Embark on a rugged wilderness backpacking trip. Eager to return from vacation feeling like you changed more than your tan lines? Join us on a fun and affordable volunteer vacation. Hungry to discover exotic, foreign lands? Let us whisk you away on one of many international journeys spanning the globe. Visit our homepage for a full list of trips, including international, lodge, kayak, and plenty more. And be sure to sign up for the Explorer newsletter for monthly updates on new and featured trips from Sierra Club Outings! Photo: Andy Johnson TODAY'S GREEN TIP Green Your Photography: Go Digital While film cameras have a certain nostalgic charm, it really is time to switch to digital. Film cameras produce more waste, thanks to the water, electricity, and hazardous chemicals needed for film development. More tips | Subscribe! ENJOY Three Deals for Muir Fans 1. Thanks to everyone who entered our John Muir T-shirt contest on Facebook. We had some very happy winners. Still want one? Check here! 2. Get an $8 discount on the DVD of the John Muir in the New World documentary this month by using the code SIERRA11 at checkout. 3. Listen to John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra in a new audio book (25% savings on digital download or CDs this month if you use the code SIERRA). ON THE RADIO 1) Actor and director Harry Shearer on his documentary The Big Uneasy, which tells the real story of why New Orleans flooded during Hurricane Katrina 2) Kate Harrison, CEO of GreenBrideGuide.com, talks about trends in green weddings and a new green gift registry. Listen | Subscribe PROTECT The Worst Bill Ever Congress is considering a "slash-and-burn" appropriations bill that is the worst legislative attack on the environment we have ever seen. Tell your representative to defend America's legacy. Five Easy Ways to Get Clean Energy Love the idea of a clean-energy future but not sure what you can do about it personally? Here are five easy ways that regular folks can help move America toward a clean-energy  future right now. From our rooftops to our cars to our retirement accounts -- we've got the tools to create a cleaner, safer, healthier world. $50 Million to End the Coal Era Last week, the Sierra Club announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies that will effectively retire one-third of the nation's aging coal fleet by 2020 and replace it with clean energy. The partnership includes a $50 million commitment over four years to the Beyond Coal Campaign that will fuel the Sierra Club's effort to clean the air, end the coal era, and accelerate the transition to cleaner, cost-effective energy sources. Read the op-ed on "Why America Must Get Off Coal," by Michael Brune, the Sierra Club's executive director, and Michael R. Bloomberg, businessman, environmentalist, and mayor of New York City. Take a Hike and Go to Prison? In July 2009, Sarah Shourd went hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan's Ahmed Awa mountains with her fiancé, Shane Bauer, and her friend, Josh Fattal. After accidentally crossing into Iran, they were arrested and charged with espionage. Sarah was detained in solitary confinement for 410 days before being released for health reasons. Josh and Shane have now been in prison for more than two years, in spite of international efforts to get them released. Later this week, an Iranian court is expected to finally rule on their case. Sarah sat down with Sierra magazine to explain how a hike into the wilderness turned into a Kafkaesque nightmare. Good News on Fuel Efficiency Last Friday, President Obama announced a proposal for strong fuel-efficiency and carbon-pollution standards for cars and trucks of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 -- an important step toward ending our dependence on oil. Together we sent nearly 300,000 messages to President Obama, the EPA, and the Department of Transportation in support of strong standards -- showing that reducing oil dependence and carbon pollution through better fuel efficiency is a high priority for Americans. Now let's thank the Obama administration and ask them to make sure that the proposed rule stays strong and free of loopholes. Inner City Outings Heroes Every kid deserves a chance to get outdoors. Each year, the Sierra Club's Inner City Outings program, which has 50 volunteer-run groups throughout the U.S., helps approximately 14,000 urban youth enjoy the outdoors safely and responsibly. To make the program's more than 800 trips happen takes a lot of great volunteers. Two of the most dedicated are Boston's Anne Monnelly Carroll and Chicago's Colin Tysoe, who each were honored with Sierra Club volunteer awards for their contributions. Congratulations to them both! Endangered Species Safe for Now, But... With overwhelming bipartisan support, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to preserve funding for the Endangered Species Act last week. The vote killed a measure added to the budget bill that would have prevented new listings under the ESA and the protection of key wildlife areas. Unfortunately, that measure was just one of nearly 40 anti-environmental riders that have been attached to the budget bill that would affect everything from clean water to fuel economy. Looks like it'll be a long, hot summer... From White House to Whitewater Rafting "The Best Internship on Earth" requires spending the summer video-blogging on different Sierra Club outings sponsored by our Inner City Outings, Building Bridges to the Outdoors, and Volunteer Vacations programs. Kokei Otosi's most recent adventures crisscrossed the country, from rock climbing on the White House Lawn to whitewater rafting down the American River. See what you're missing when you stay inside in the latest video posts from the Best Internship on Earth.

Sierra Club 85 2nd St. San Francisco, CA 94105 insider@sierraclub.or g

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*Scott's Contracting*

Green Me UP-Scotty
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Only 3 Days Left to Support Clean Air

Dear Readers, Big polluters want you to believe pollution is good for you. Take action to hold them accountable. You have 3 days left to submit your comments to EPA to support their life-saving new Mercury and Air Toxics rule to cut dangerous air pollution from coal-fired power plants. Please don't wait: Take action now to get your comments in before the August 4th deadline. The polluters are mounting an all-out assault on your right to clean, healthy air. They are spending tens of millions of dollars to oppose this rule and lobby Congress to block clean air action. They have even begun denying the overwhelming science that air pollution contributes to premature deaths or is even dangerous to human health. Their bizarre claims have no scientific support and ignore decades of research and hundreds of studies from scientists, medical doctors, and other public health professionals, which all demonstrate a clear, undeniable link between air pollution and human health. This polluter attack on science must stop. And you can help fight back right now. Please take action: Send you comments to the EPA today supporting their strong new Mercury and Air Toxics rule. Stand up for your right to breathe air that won't kill you. Thanks for activism and support, Environmental Defense Action Fund Environmental Defense Action Fund 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20009 1-800-591-1919

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*Scott's Contracting*

Green Me UP-Scotty
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://scottscontracting.wordpress.com
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Solar power with no upfront payment

PACE (property-assessed clean energy) programs that were alive in no fewer than twenty-seven states before they were killed by the overlords of Fannie Mae and Freddie Macnow have a chance of being reborn. PACE, you'll remember, are programs in which local government bodies fund, through private investment, energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements on residential and commercial properties; owners then repay the government body through property tax assessments over twenty years, with new owners becoming responsible for unpaid balances on the assessments. In this way, homeowners can have solar arrays, for example, installed with no upfront cost. A bill was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives aimed at satisfying the concerns of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which effectively strangled PACE programs last year over concerns about superiority of liens. FHFA was, and is, worried that the lien associated with the mortgage would take second place to the lien belonging to PACE money. This, they thought, would jeopardize the bank's chances of repayment in the event of default. The huge error in this line of thought is that PACE programs aren't loans at all, but tax obligations. And the most innovative and popular method we've seen for financing rooftop solar atrophied for a full year because of this error. Hope, as they say, springs eternal, and you know where. The new, very bipartisan bill - the PACE Protection Act of 2011 (HR2599) would prevent the FHFA from adopting policies that work against local PACE laws, so long as certain provisions applied to applicants, e.g: the proposed energy efficiency or renewable energy installation could not cost more than 10% of the value of the property; the property owner had more than 15% equity in the property; PACE-financed projects have positive savings-to-investment ratios. Everything about PACE should appeal to legislators on both sides of the aisle. The programs are based on private capital, not subsidies from ratepayers, government funds or the taxpayer. They're also based on state and local government initiatives, not federal mandates. And they serve to deploy more distributed clean energy resources, reducing carbon emissions and saving homeowners money. What's not to like? Congresspersons will likely be debating the PACE Protection Act after the summer recess, which makes this a perfect time for letters to be appearing in their hometown papers. Can you write one or more of those letters? We've provided some 'talking points' on the next page for you to mold into a suitable letter-to-the-editor, calling on your Congressional delegation to vote PACE back to life! For more information, check out the PACE support site here; and press Go! below to TAKE ACTION NOW! 

Solar power with no upfront payment

Energy Saving Window Replacement JOB

Nonrandex Custom Replacement Windows

• Energy Star
• Dual Pane
• Low E Glass Coating
• Argon Gas
• Tilt In for Easy Cleaning and Maintenance

Weatherized and Air Sealed against the Elements with: Dow Great Stuff Window and Door Sealer

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Job Notes: 

1. Replaced Existing Windows in Lower Level of Home with Nonrandex Custom Windows.  
2. Estimated Energy Savings 30% on Energy Costs (note: the Customers and I will be monitoring the new Utility Bills for Actual Energy Savings for Real Time Energy Savings). 
3. More Job Site Photos will be available soon.