Image by Guardian UK
Poor Obama: not only does he have to contend with Blue Dogs, but now it seems he is being poisoned by lead found in the People’s Garden at the White House.
In truth, the levels, while not ideal, are far from unusual or unsafe for an urban garden. The Guardian states:
The soil in the garden had lead concentrations of 93 parts per millio…Read the full story on TreeHugger
An outline of the bill, hand-scribbled by Rep. Oberstar. (image via Blueprint America)
America’s “happy motoring” days are over; now is the time for a “transformational” transportation policy. On this point, the Obama Administration and Representative Jim Oberstar agree.
However, while the Administration seems content to Read the full story on TreeHugger
Glenn Beck has uncovered a plot! (Yes, another one.) Turns out Van Jones, President Obama’s green jobs czar, is going to coordinate a vast radical/communist/black nationalist takeover of our sweet, virginal land of liberty.
A crash program to improve the energy efficiency of American homes, offices, and factories could slash energy consumption by 23 percent by 2020 and produce $1.2 trillion in savings, according to a report by the McKinsey consulting firm. McKinsey said that taking steps such as better insulating buildings, replacing old appliances, and sealing ducts is the fastest and best way to cut the country’s energy consumption. The firm recommended an investment of $520 billion in energy efficiency programs over the next 10 years, an amount that dwarfs the $10 billion to $15 billion included in the Obama administration’s economic stimulus package. McKinsey executives acknowledged that carrying out such an efficiency program on a large scale faces numerous challenges, including the reluctance of homeowners and businesses to invest sizeable sums of money and a lack of tax breaks and other financial incentives for efficiency improvements. Still, the McKinsey report said that better education of homeowners and businesses, tighter building codes, stricter efficiency requirements for appliances, and the creation of greater incentives could go a long way toward cutting the U.S.’s wasteful energy use.
This piece originally appeared on Yale Environment 360
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(Posted by Yale Environment 360 in Energy at 1:05 PM)
Dialing in the smart grid at GE in Niskayuna. (Jim Motavalli photo)
NISKAYUNA, NEW YORK-We hear a lot of talk about the “smart grid,” and it sounds high-tech and cool, not to mention just around the corner. A look at how General Electric is preparing for this brave new future was both exhilarating and sobering.
Exhilarating, because it promises to give consumers considerable control over their energy efficient destiny. We’ll be able to order our energy-conscious appliances to run only when the time-dependent rates are low, and switch to half-power when peak use sends those rates soaring. We’ll see our real-time power use displayed on “smart meters” and home energy managers. We’ll plug in our cars, and let the grid decide on an optimal charging time.
Sobering because it isn’t here yet, and won’t be tomorrow either. There are 140 million electric meters in use in the U.S., and just making them “smart” will take at least 10 years, GE officials said. Replacing all the transmission lines that make our grid “dumb” — ie, unable to move wind power generated in North Dakota to, say, New York, where there’s a big population waiting to use it — will take much longer and cost much more. Estimates of total cost range from $100 billion to $2 trillion.
The Obama administration’s $11 billion in smart grid stimulus funding certainly helps, but even the most optimistic estimate sees a relatively long timetable and huge investment for the full vision to be realized.
While at GE, I watched a technician simulate what it would be like for the grid to take control of my power use, and visited the “kitchen of the future,” a row of cutaway appliances (with neon tubes substituting for stove burners) at General Electric’s Global Research HQ in Niskayuna, New York. A computer monitor would allow me to cut my dryer’s electric use from 4.5 to 2.5 kilowatts when rates spike (and increasing drying time in the process, of course).
A range of other consumer appliances are scheduled for energy efficiency upgrades, too, under a new initiative by President Obama.
One of President Obama’s priorities is overhauling America’s health care system, whose costs continue rising at nearly seven times the rate of inflation and currently represent about 17% of our gross domestic product. One reason for these skyrocketing figures is that people require more and more care.
Why? Because we’re not as healthy as we used to be. And the prime factor for that is we don’t exercise enough. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), only a quarter of Americans exert themselves at recommended levels, while nearly a third don’t exercise at all. No wonder obesity is a national epidemic, among young and old alike, and a leading cause of increased incidences of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and even some types of cancer.
Not surprisingly, this inactivity leads to $76 billion — 10% — of our nation’s annual medical costs. But there’s hope. A study released last year determined that those who keep themselves fit file a third fewer medical claims than couch potatoes. And it doesn’t take much to get in shape: The CDC estimates that a vigorous, daily 20-minute walk could stop the obesity epidemic in its tracks.
So how do we encourage people to take the initiative? …
The electrifying redemption of America’s revolutionary declaration that all human beings are born equal sets the stage for the renewal of United States leadership in a world that desperately needs to protect its primary endowment: the integrity and livability of the planet.
— Al Gore, The New York Times (Nov. 9, 2008)
The results of the recent election promise a sea change in how the U.S. confronts the most daunting challenge facing us — reducing greenhouse gas emissions. President-elect Obama has made it clear he intends for America to lead by example in efforts to halt climate change and its potentially disastrous consequences, including extreme coastal flooding, sweltering temperatures and cataclysmic storms. As he said during the campaign:
“The issue of climate change is one that we ignore at our own peril. There may still be disputes about exactly how much we’re contributing to the warming of the earth’s atmosphere and how much is naturally occurring, but what we can be scientifically certain of is that our continued use of fossil fuels is pushing us to a point of no return. And unless we free ourselves from a dependence on these fossil fuels and chart a new course on energy in this country, we are condemning future generations to global catastrophe.”
Part of this catastrophe — the acidification of our oceans — gets very little attention. That should change shortly. Hudson Valley filmmaker Barbara Ettinger and her husband, Sven Huseby, are putting the finishing touches on an eye-opening film (which I originally wrote about Sept. 18, 2007) showing how the huge amount of carbon absorbed by our seas is decimating fish, shellfish and coral reefs. Without immediate action, experts predict more than one million aquatic species will become extinct within the next century. …