Promoting sustainable shelter in Alaska
From the Washington Post on Saturday, January 24, 2009:
Frugality is finally showing up in new home developments.
Although the number of new single-family houses sold this year will probably be down about 68 percent from the peak of almost 1.3 million sold in 2005, there will still be about 420,000 households buying new homes this year, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
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From www.thegreenguide.com (sponsored by the National Geographic Society), retrieved on Monday, January 26, 2009. A day-by-day guide to “greening” your life:
You could decide to lose weight—again—or this year you could resolve to lighten the load you leave on the planet. To help, we’ve outlined a series of small changes that add up to big results and divvied them up by time frame—tasks you can complete today, in the next week, during the next month and over the course of the next year. Breaking your efforts into smaller, more manageable tasks isn’t a cop-out: By following this plan, each small step adds up to changes that will benefit the health of the planet—and, yes, even your own health—immediately and in years to come.
Click here to see the whole guide.
From the Washington Post on Monday, January 26, 2009:
President Obama today declared a national goal of ending dependence on foreign oil and promised new U.S. leadership in the fight against global warming as he announced a series of steps aimed at making American cars more fuel efficient and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In remarks at the White House at the start of his second week in office, Obama called on Congress to pass a massive stimulus package that he said would help “create a new American energy economy.” And he directed federal agencies to reexamine two policies that could force automakers to produce more fuel-efficient cars with reduced tailpipe emissions.
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From the Anchorage Daily News on Sunday, January 25, 2009:
An 18-turbine wind farm in the Snake River Valley has begun producing 10 percent of the energy needs in Nome. It is the first step toward more self-sufficiency, says Neal Foster, president of Banner Wind LLC.
“It’s not only a way to help cut (energy) costs,” said Foster. “We felt it was like putting our toe in the water, to become more and more self-sufficient. The intent is to add more to that, to increase our expertise and knowledge of alternative energy. The next step for us is to move into the villages. We want Nome to be the hub.”
Bering Straits Native Corp., which is the Alaska Native regional corporation for the Nome area, along with area village corporation Sitnasuak Native Corp. jointly own Banner Wind’s turbines, which have the potential to generate up to 1.2 megawatts of power.
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From npr.org on Wednesday, January 21, 2009:
With awareness of global warming rising, going “green” and reducing one’s “carbon footprint” have become pop culture catchphrases. But addressing climate change on a global, governmental level is still a matter of heated debate.
With potentially staggering costs involved, are efforts to make major reductions in carbon emissions even worth it? Would the money be better spent elsewhere? Or, does the amount of money involved become less important when considering the possible consequences of climate change?
A panel of experts recently took on these questions in an Oxford-style debate. The motion for the Jan. 13 debate, part of theIntelligence Squared U.S.series, was: “Major Reductions in Carbon Emissions Are Not Worth the Money.”
Click here to read the summary and listen to the broadcast.
From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Monday, January 19, 2009:
The first proposed grants from a $100 million state renewable energy fund would boost wind farm efforts in Healy and Delta, as well as other local projects.
The state released a list of 77 projects covering all regions of Alaska Friday for consideration by a legislative committee.
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From the Chicago Tribune on Friday, January 16, 2009:
Plans to build the nation’s first offshore wind farm in the waters off Cape Cod cleared a major hurdle Friday, winning environmental approval from a key federal agency.
The proposal has sparked a bitter public fight begun more than seven years ago.
The new Obama administration will decide the project’s fate. President-elect Barack Obama, who wants to double alternative energy production over the next three years, was visiting an Ohio company that makes parts for wind turbines on Friday. He takes office Tuesday.
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From the Washington Post on Tuesday, January 121, 2009:
President-elect Barrack Obama’s nominee for Energy secretary, Steven Chu, walked a fine line today between his strong views on the need to combat climate change and the concern of some senators about Chu’s past criticism of coal use, endorsement of gasoline taxes and tepid embrace of a cap-and-trade system for limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
Chu, who appeared before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, was asked about a comment he once made that “coal is my worst nightmare.” Chu told the committee that “if the world continues to use coal the way it is using it today, not only in the United States but in Russia, India and China, it is a pretty bad dream.” But he added that he does not favor a moratorium on coal and said he would seek and fund research on technologies so that the United States could continue to tap its abundant coal reserves.
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There are two “green” inaugural balls being hosted during Barack Obama’s big party next week.
Al Gore is hosting The Green Ball, which, according to the website, will celebrate “the expanding network of diverse organizations, companies, and individuals committed to advancing our clean economy to create shared prosperity for all.” It is invitation only.
Another organization is hosting The Green Inaugural Ball, which, according to organizers, will be wind-powered. All the food to be served will be organic and, to the extent possible, locally grown. You can go to this one — for $500 per person or more.
Neither event will be hosted by — or even attended by — the Obamas. But the concept does fit with Mr. Obama’s major policy theme.
From the Washington Post on Friday, January 9, 2009:
President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday that he wanted to double the production of alternative energy over the next three years, a goal that will probably require a new set of government incentives for the capital-intensive solar and wind industries.
Six months ago, some of the biggest names in solar- and wind-project finance were firms such as Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, GE Capital, Wells Fargo and Municipal Mortgage & Equity. But many of those firms are mired in their own financial crises, and existing tax benefits for renewable energy projects are now unattractive to them. A technical aspect of the bank bailout has even made renewable tax incentives useless for some profitable banks.
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