Latest Air Sealing Requirements/International Residential Building Code

Post was removed for copy right issues.  June 10, 2011 Scotty

Meet with Sen. McCaskill's staff to stop dangerous Fracking

Meeting in St. Louis: Ask Sen. McCaskill to stop dangerous Fracking. Join us Friday, June 17. Dear Friend, Americans count on the Environmental Protection Agency to identify the largest threats to clean air and clean water, and act to make sure they are protected. But thanks to the work of Vice President Dick Cheney's secretive energy task force, since 2005, the EPA has been handcuffed from doing anything about one of the fastest growing threats to our waters supply: High Pressure Hydraulic Fracturing (or Fracking). The method of drilling for natural gas involves pumping huge quantities of water and a secret mix of chemicals, including known toxic and carcinogens, deep underground, directly into or adjacent to our dinking water supplies.1 Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) has introduced a bill "The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act" (S.587), which would allow the EPA to regulate Fracking, and force companies to disclose the list of chemicals in the toxic Fracking fluid. Your Senator, Sen. Claire McCaskill, has not yet co-sponsored the bill. So we've set up a meeting at Sen. McCaskill's office so you can ask her to do just that. RSVP to join the meeting and ask Sen. McCaskill to co-sponsor the FRAC act and protect our water from dangerous Fracking. When: Friday, June 17, 12:00 PM Where: St. Louis, MO (full location after RSVP) Why: Meet with Sen. McCaskill's staff to end unregulated Fracking. RSVP to attend this important meeting. Fracking is spreading across the country at an alarming rate. It's currently underway in 36 states, and has already had significant consequences for our water. A recent investigative series by the New York Times recently concluded, "the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood."2 Between below-ground water contamination, the release of massive quantities of insufficiently treated Fracking wastewater into our rivers and streams, and above-ground spills of Fracking fluid, the ramifications of expanded, unchecked Fracking will be extreme. Yet because of the "Halliburton loophole," — so named because Halliburton, where Dick Cheney was CEO before becoming Vice President, patented Fracking in the 1940's and remains the third largest producer of Fracking fluids — Fracking has been exempt from EPA regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, handcuffing the EPA from taking action. That makes the oil and gas industry the only industry in America that is allowed by EPA to inject known hazardous materials — unchecked — directly into or adjacent to underground drinking water supplies. The FRAC Act would help solve the problem. The bill was first introduced in 2009, and has gained some momentum for passage as public concern over Fracking has grown, but more co-sponsors are needed to help pass the bill and end this dangerous legacy of the Bush administration.3 Click here to RSVP to attend the meeting with Sen. McCaskill's staff to ask Sen. McCaskill to co-sponsor the FRAC Act and end unchecked Fracking that endangers our water. We'll make it easy for you and provide you all the materials you need. Mark Anthony Dingbaum, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets 1. "Hydraulic Fracturing 101," earthworksaction.org. 2. "Regulation Lax as Gas Wells' Tainted Water Hits Rivers," Ian Urbina, New York Times, 02-26-2011. 3. Current FRAC Act co-sponsors are Senators Boxer (CA), Cardin (MD), Feinstein (CA), Gillibrand (NY), Lautenberg (NJ), Mikulski (MD), Sanders (VT), Schumer (NY), Whitehouse (RI)

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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 $132/month

My Solar Supplier is offering Residential Financing for my customers with

monthly payments lower than your current electricity bill (Ameren).

Payments as low as $132/month for a 5Kw system.

No down payment required. Not a leasing program.

Email me for the specifics- scottscontracting@gmail.com

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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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Energy Savings Bill Targets Net-Zero by 2030

What's Happening from Environmental Building News – Paula Melton

Senators Jeanne Shaheen (center) and Rob Portman (right) recently introduced the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, a massive energy bill that targets net-zero-energy use for all new residential and commercial construction by 2030 as well as efficiency measures for existing buildings, appliances, manufacturing processes, and government agencies.

A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate in May 2011 targets net-zero-energy use in all new residential and commercial buildings by 2030, and aims to create jobs by using low-cost strategies to increase energy efficiency in existing buildings across residential, commercial, institutional, industrial, and government sectors.

The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2011, cosponsored by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), was touted by Shaheen at a press conference as "a national energy efficiency strategy" that "can make our economy more competitive, start addressing our nation's energy challenges, and create private-sector jobs today." Some highlights of the wide-ranging bipartisan bill:

• The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) would update national model building energy codes to exceed current baselines and would coordinate with states to track the effectiveness of the new codes in meeting energy savings targets.
• DOE would study direct-current microgrids and make policy recommendations (see "A Surge of Popularity for Efficient DC Power," EBN May 2011).
• Manufacturers would have to comply with new energy standards for a variety of appliances, including refrigerators, room air conditioners, clothes dryers, commercial furnaces, and many others.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would consider whether to update Energy Star criteria to give credit for products with smart-grid and demand-response features.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would make zero-interest loans to rural public utilities and electric cooperatives to support energy-efficiency loans that rural customers could pay back through their utility bills.
• DOE would provide loan guarantees for energy retrofit projects in commercial and institutional buildings (eligible financing mechanisms would include power purchase agreements).
• DOE would research, develop, and promote energy-efficiency technologies for manufacturing, and would fund loan programs to help manufacturers implement already available efficiency technologies.
• DOE would establish a Supply Star program to recognize manufacturers and products that use resource-conserving supply chains.
• All federal agencies would implement energy-efficiency plans—incorporating power-saving tools for personal computers, advanced metering, and data collection—under the management of the Secretary of Energy.

The Alliance to Save Energy provides more information, including the full text of the bill.

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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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