ENN: Government red tape stymies new solar energy development

Leaders in the U.S. solar energy industry blasted the U.S. government on Monday for a freeze on applications for new solar projects on public land in six Western states.

The Bureau of Land Management announced the freeze a month ago, saying it would conduct an extensive study looking at the environmental, social and economic impacts of solar energy development.

During the 22-month study, the agency will not consider any new proposals for solar energy developments on public land in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico or Utah.

Fred Morse, senior advisor for U.S. operations at Abengoa Solar, a Spanish company with a solar plant in development in Arizona, said the moratorium could hurt many companies in the burgeoning U.S. industry.

Read the full article here: http://www.enn.com/energy/article/37536

Text © 2008 Environmental News Network

One more on electric cars

Project Better Place has an interesting top-down model for getting people into electric vehicles, from the manufacture of cars, to a distributed network of charging stations and a subscription-based method for vehicle ownership. The company's website is worth a look, to see some creative thinking in action.

Okay, I'm getting a little too mired down in talk about alternatively fueled vehicles. This will be my last post on the subject for awhile, unless there is some dramatic breakthrough in the technology or the industy. Enjoy your vacation.

Environmental President? Ha!

Well, forget the notion that George W. Bush will be remembered as an environmental progressive. The sweeping motion to create hundreds of thousands of acres of maritime preserve has apparently been abandoned; at least I haven't heard any news about its passage. Instead, it's been replaced by a call for new offshore drilling to add to our nation's oil reserves. This is a wholly unneccessary endeavor, since the major oil companies are already sitting on thousands of 68 million acres of land, covered by signed lease -- oil-rich land that is being held for speculative purposes, presumably to be used to keep profits up if it becomes necessary. In addition, any oil discovered by new drilling off America's coasts, besides being environmentally risky, very likely won't show any influence on aggregate supply or retail gas prices until 2030.

This should teach us never to elect an administration that is as beholden to industry as Bush and Cheney.

(No links for this post; information is from a presentation by Sen. Barbara Boxer [D-CA] at a meeting of the Democratic Women's Leadership Council, broadcast yesterday on CSpan.)

Another factoid, from Rachel Maddow: the U.S. consumes 25% of the world's oil. We produce 2% of the world's oil. Even if we were able to increase our oil output by a factor of five (not likely, since all our refineries are already operating at capacity), we would still be able to produce only 10% of the world's oil -- while still consuming 25%! Seems to be time for some new thinking...

Miscellaneous stuff

Just a few words to keep current -- my resident Eastern Phoebes have left their nest. It had fallen onto the porch from above the lamp where they had built it. I don't know if the young had matured and flew away on their own, or if they were the victims of predators. The adults seem to be still around, so perhaps it was the latter. I won't dwell on it. I'm sorry to see them go, and I hope they decide to rebuild someday in the same spot. I'll leave the light off for them.

Honda has announced the release of a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle, called the FCX Clarity. There are only 200 scheduled to be made in the initial production run, simply because the infrastructure required to refuel them will need to catch up. And they are expensive, at $600 per month on a three year lease. But with fuel economy the equivalent of 65 mpg, and the exhaust plain water vapor, the potential for replacing traditional fossil fuel vehicles seems extraordinary. See this article from the New York Times, or Google for more information.

See you next time. Namaste.

George W. Bush -- the environmental president?

Much has been written and spoken about George W. Bush's abysmal record in environmental matters over the course of his presidency. Lawyer and environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, called Bush's environmental record the worst in history. Earlier this month it was revealed that he spurned accepted scientific data and the warnings of scientific professionals for politcal purposes. He has been a monument to irresponsible judgement in important matters concerning the planet, such as pollution control and climate change.

Now, however, President Bush is eyeing a sweeping measure that will create a gigantic marine reserve. Two areas are being looked at in the Pacific, as well as one in the Gulf of Mexico and one in the Atlantic. This will instantly become the largest creation of such a reserve in U.S. history, with a possible 600,000 square miles of protected ocean area in the Hawaiian Islands area alone. In doing so he hopes to establish his legacy as being a visionary in environmental regulation and preservation, and of course undoing a seven-year record of having done the exact opposite. I'm not sure I can truly forgive him for all that he has done that has been harmful to the environment, but the new marine reserve, if indeed it does come to pass, will certainly be to his credit. Comments welcome.

Building a new home? Try "energy-free"!

This post may be aimed at a smaller-than-usual segment of my readership, but whenever I come across something that I find interesting I like to share it with you. This is for all those who may be considering building a new house, and it comes from the redoubtable Treehugger: why not consider a home that's practically energy-free? These homes, from Enertia, use minimal, and in many cases no, energy for heat, cooling, electric power or hot water. They are complete units that take into account the siteing and orientation of the structure, the lighting on your homesite, the climate you live in, etc., and are available for all types of homeowners -- those who wish to build part or all of the homes themselves, or as completely constructed units. Many styles, sizes and configurations are available, and the homes' visual appeal is as good as the usefulness of the technology.

Take a look at their website. There's a lot to be gleaned about energy saving in home design. If you are building, consider that the savings over time can help defray a substantial portion of your construction costs. Enertia has done a lot of work in creating homes that are as ecologically sound as they are handsome.

Waste-to-energy is here! Write your Senators

The idea of waste-to-energy has been around for a long time -- at least since the time I was a budding young failure of an ethical investor, many years ago. Now, it seems its time has come; actually, its time came a long time ago, when the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere started growing at an exponential rate, but the technology was still very much in the experimental stage. Now, however, there are 89 plants online nationwide, and more in development. The time that has now come is the time for us to write our governmental officials and make sure they are on the bandwagon, for waste-to-energy is destined to become an important part of our renewable energy picture.

Today's waste-to-energy plants provide efficient trash disposal of about 90,000 tons of solid waste nationwide every day, while converting the compounds contained therein into enough methane-free electricity to power 2.3 million homes across the country. In this regard, waste-to-energy plants actually provide a reduction in greenhouse gases over ordinary landfill disposal methods. Ferrous and non-ferrous metals are also recovered in a more energy efficient method than mining virgin ore, providing a further reduction in greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide emission is also avoided by eliminating the need for the combustion of coal or oil in the energy generation process.

The Integrated Waste Services Association has just opened their Legislative Action Center, where you can contact your Senators and urge them to consider waste-to-energy as part of your state's overall energy profile. The IWSA website has far more information than I can possibly include here. Interesed people are encouraged to visit there to find out more about current trends and technologies.

New books

Al Gore -- The Assault on Reason

Al Gore moves beyond pure environmentalism and explores how the human environment has been assaulted by an aggressive, conservative agenda, resulting in a breakdown of reason.



Paul Hawken -- Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being, and How No One Saw it Coming

The noted envioronmentalist, social activist and green entrepreneur examines the worldwide movement for social change.

Click on book title for more info or to order from Amazon.com.

Joint call from business for aggressive pollution cuts

From Environmental Defense:

Business Coalition for Climate Action Doubles

The unprecedented coalition calling for a cap and trade system to combat climate change, the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), has more than doubled its membership.

In a move that transforms the political landscape, General Motors is the first automobile manufacturer to join the coalition of high-level corporate and environmental leaders. The group's mission is to urge the federal government to:

* cut greenhouse gas emissions 60-80 percent,
* create business incentives and,
* act swiftly and thoughtfully.

USCAP member companies represent industries critical to slowing climate change, including car manufacturing, utilities, chemical production and manufacturing. Twelve new companies join the original members, bringing the number of corporate partners to 22.

Read more at www.environmentaldefense.org

Eat locally

Considering a new diet? Want to help change the world at the same time?

Try the "100 Mile diet"

Who Killed the Electric Car?

Buy or rent Sony Pictures' Who Killed the Electric Car? and see one possible solution to our dependence on foreign oil, and what we're up against in trying to achieve it.

In the meantime, visit the website. Or have a look at what Malcolm Bricklin is up to.