Progressive Wednesday

This Wednesday: Saving the Planet (from the Comfort of our Homes)

Problem:

The first time I heard about global warming was in the mid 1990's, walking through my college's Student Union, table after table offering me great rates on student credit cards and buy-one-get-one-free deals at the campus pizzeria. At a table on my left was a student handing out literature encouraging us to help “Save the Planet.– I walked over with a credit card brochure in one hand and a piece of pepperoni pizza in the other, took a quick look, refused the pamphlet that she offered, and walked out with a smirk and a roll of the eyes.

Not a day goes by now without my regretting what I did that day. And not because of the enormous credit card debt that I have been fruitlessly trying to chip away at ever since, nor the extra couple of gallons of “water weight– that has been with me like a loyal dog rescued during my college days. No, I'm embarrassed by my apathy and ignorance. I point this out not to pretend that I'm now a white-wigged, gavel-wielding, high-horse-riding model citizen, but instead to point out that I'm not, never have been, and never will be. We can all do more to protect our environment.

It's more than a decade later now and global warming has become an increasingly hot topic (no pun intended). Much has been written/said/filmed/read about it and one thing is clear; the solution isn't easy. We all need to drive our cars to get to work and the factories aren't going to shut down overnight. But today we're not going to talk about that.

Instead we're going to talk about one of the greatest and yet least talked about contributors to the problem, home energy use. As a nation we spend more than $160 billion a year to power our homes, representing about 21 percent of the total energy consumed. Fortunately, it's also the easiest area for the average person to “get a little greener,– while saving a little green at the same time.

Make Progress:

There are so many things that can be done to improve home energy use that we can't possibly touch on all of them in a single Wednesday. But we can get the eco-ball rolling with a list of the easiest steps that can make the greatest impact.

• Watch
• Replace
• Turn (off, up, or down) and unplug
• Install
• Switch

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Watch:

At this year’s Oscars you saw former Veep, Al Gore saunter up on stage at the Kodak Theatre to collect an Oscar for his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. (Watch the trailer)While we're not big fans of the title (it could depict a little more urgency), We are big, I'm talking 1800's Arctic Ice Cap-sized, fans of the flick itself. It's so important to understand the crisis that we face and An Inconvenient Truth combines a genuine passion and moral imperative with cold, hard science to make an irrebuttable case for global warming and the role mankind has played in it. You can rent it online or in-store, but we recommend purchasing. Why? 100% of Al Gore's proceeds from the film and its print companion go to The Alliance for Climate Protection.

If this year's “Best Documentary– isn't enough to convince you to make progress, take a gander at the documentary from the good people over at PBS, Global Warming: The Signs and Science. This picture features Alanis Morissette narrating, and spends a great deal of time focusing on the impact of global warming on average citizens and communities and the actions they are taking to correct the problem. Unfortunately, this film is no longer available to view online, but you can catch the trailer here. Then rent it or buy it from PBS.org to support PBS' progressive programming.

So you've put those two movies in your queue, but you want to know more right now. Leonardo DiCaprio's environmental organization has put together this three-minute internet movie that concentrates more on our oil addiction but is still a very informative global warming quickie. Give it look now, and then get ready to do something about it. And maybe we can save a little moolah in the process.

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Replace:

There are many things in your house that contribute to not only greater energy use, but higher energy bills, and they are easy and cheap to fix. Here's a helpful little list of items that can be replaced in your home that are an inexpensive initial investment and save a lot of money and energy in the longer run.

1. Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

Those light bulbs that you've had in your house since Edison won his patent in court are wasting up to 95% of the energy they use in the form of heat. Replace them with compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs. They're the spiral-shaped ones that are on the shelf right next to the incandescents. These lights use about one-fifth of the electricity to give off the same amount of light, are much cooler when lit, and last up to ten times longer. When it's all added up, you save an average of $30 over the life of each bulb. If you have ten bulbs in your house– ¦ you get the idea. You can find a local dealer here, or pick them up at most local hardware or even grocery stores.

2. Air Filter

You've probably heard about the CFLs before, but here's a bit o'savings that might have slipped through the pleated woven fiberglass media. Heating and cooling accounts for nearly half of the energy used in the home and a dirty air filter can seriously slow down airflow. This makes your system work harder to do the same thing. Energystar.gov recommends that you check your filter monthly and replace as necessary, but at least once every three months. Plus, isn't it great to breathe in clean air.

3. Insulation

Get out that ladder and climb into the attic. What does that insulation say? Chances are it doesn't have a high enough R-rating and heat (money) is escaping all the time. Do you get icicle buildup every winter? That's why. Replacing insulation can be a bit tricky so here's a list of reputable contractors that can help. Can't afford it? Not so fast. Insulation usually pays for itself in a few years plus there are new tax incentives for adding the proper insulation to new or existing homes. Check it out here.

4. Household Appliances

Go out and buy all new energy efficient appliances. Go ahead. Okay, maybe that's not within your grasp right now but we hope to have raised your eyebrows enough that next time you're in the market for a new refrigerator you'll look for the EnergyStar label.

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Turn (off, up, or down) and unplug:

hese are the easiest things we'll ask you to do in the name of Mama Earth. They require little to no monetary investment. They're small dogs with big bite.

1. Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Duh.
2. Turn down the thermostat in the winter 2 degrees. For every degree you lower it you can save 3% of your total heating energy and 1000 pounds of carbon dioxide. Besides, you never wear that sweater your grandmother knitted you. Turn it down even further at night. Hey, now you have an extra reason to cuddle up and get cozy. (Please keep in mind your newborn or that tropical bird, though.)
3. On the other side of the coin, turn that thermostat up in the summer. Hey, we're from Buffalo. We love the cold and hate the heat. But if we can all turn that A/C down in the summer months that'll be energy well-saved. Think of it this way: the less we use A/C now, the less we'll need it later.
4. This one knocked our organically-grown cotton socks off when we read it, so here it is according to the Alliance to Save Energy:

   Many idle electronics – “ TVs, VCRs, DVD and CD players, cordless phones, microwaves – “ use energy even when switched off to keep display clocks lit and memory chips and remote controls working. Nationally, these energy “vampires– use 5 percent of our domestic energy and cost consumers more than $4 billion annually.

Five percent! We suggest tackling this problem with a power strip or surge protector. Just plug those electronics into a single strip and flip it off (no, not the finger) when you're done. Quick, easy, and efficient.

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Install:

Here are a couple of things that can be added to your home to help reduce the amount of energy your home uses and maybe even put a little energy back where you got it.

Programmable Thermostat

Having a programmable thermostat in the house allows you to automatically adjust the temperature for different times of the day. During the winter months you can lower the temperature during the hours when you are away from home or sleeping, and it will automatically start heating the house again by the time you get home. Along with reducing your carbon impact, this little genie can save you more than a hundred dollars a year. It makes your home comfortable when comfort's important and efficient when it's not.

Water Heater Blanket

Each time you turn on the shower in the morning you're greeted by a steaming hot rush of water. But it's usually eight hours since you last used hot water. That means your heater has to heat and reheat the water that's in there. Installing an insulated blanket around the tank can reduce that standby heat loss by up to 45%, save up to 9% on your bill and release 1000 fewer pounds of carbon gases into the atmosphere yearly. They only cost around $10-$20 at your appliance store and will pay for themselves in about a year. Some utility companies even offer rebates, discounts, and/or free installation, so give'em a buzz. Oh, and while you're downstairs installing the blanket, turn the temperature in the tank down a few degrees.

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Switch

Each year the average American household uses about 9,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. That averages out to about 750 kW-h per month. The cost per kW-h ranges throughout the country from just under 6 cents to almost 15 cents. 57 percent of this energy comes from coal plants and, according to powerscorecard.org:

Coal power plants are responsible for 93 percent of the sulfur dioxide and 80 percent of the nitrogen oxide emissions generated by the electric utility industry.

Few people know that they can get every watt from clean, renewable energy. Many utility companies offer renewable energy to their customers, and there are other national programs, like Utility Green Pricing and Renewable Energy Certificates, for those who buy from a company that doesn't. To see if your utility company offers renewable power, click here.

The cost of buying green power ranges from 3/4 of a penny to about three cents per kW-h, with most programs at about 1 cent per kW-h. For the average American that means about an extra $7/month. That's about the price of a movie or half of a pizza. This is the only thing we've asked you to do that does not immediately benefit you financially. But if you do only one thing, do this.

Why? The baby girl in the picture is my daughter. Do it for her. Do it for the polar bears who have just been added to the endangered species list. Do it for the people of New Orleans who were shown with unprecedented violence what effect the warming of the Gulf can have on their lives. And do it for the coral reefs, 16 percent dead in a single year, bleached by the warmer waters. Do it for my children and yours, for me and for you. Do it because it's right.

Liquid Coal: As dirty as it sounds

Proponents and lobbyists for the myriad energy industries have been engaged in a perpetual “steel cage– wrestling match since the 1970s or earlier, bloodying each other up (Hey, can you run cars on energy lobbyist's blood?) so much that nobody seems to be making any significant headway. Well, now there's some fresh meat in the energy cage: liquid coal. This is from the New York Times:

Prodded by intense lobbying from the coal industry, lawmakers from coal states are proposing that taxpayers guarantee billions of dollars in construction loans for coal-to-liquid production plants, guarantee minimum prices for the new fuel, and guarantee big government purchases for the next 25 years.

Problems ooze from every pore of this piece of legislation. The argument that liquid coal is a clean burning fuel is absurd. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, if liquefied coal replaced gasoline as the main source of energy in the country our greenhouse gas emissions would increase 119%. That's unacceptable to me; I hope it is to you too.

It also follows that any long-term decrease in the price of fuel would be offset by the increase in tax revenue spent on subsidies. According to the Denver Post, the government would:

spend $35 billion over the next decade to build coal-fired generating plants. Given these long-standing financial incentives, cooperatives have had little reason to make meaningful investments in alternative energy sources.

I have great difficulty sending a red nickel of taxpayer money to energy companies at all. But when that money would be used to fund a project that would, say, end the world, I have an even bigger problem with it.

Liquid coal has a lot of friends, however, and on both sides of the isle. Members of the House, Senate, and even Presidential candidates are pushing to get this through. There are a lot of states that mine coal, and they would to get a piece of the pie; the pie tastes like coal.

This is a bit urgent, as liquid coal subsidies might be added to a bill to combat global warming at the last minute after being defeated in committee. So call or write your Senator or Representative today and tell them to vote “no– if this amendment is attached. You can get their contact info here.

The government already subsidizes obesity when it gives money to big farms to grow corn. Let's not subsidize the destruction of our environment too.

Photo credit goes here

From A to B on nothing but air

Gasoline. Diesel. Electricity. Ethanol. Propane. Methane. Hydrogen. Solar. Biodiesel. Natural gas. Vegetable oil. Air? Yep, air. Ex-Formula One engineer, Guy Negre, has developed an engine that runs on compressed air. Here it is from EcoGeek.org:

The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engine’s pistons. It is anticipated that approximately 6000 Air Cars will be cruising the streets of India by 2008. If the manufacturers have no surprises up their exhaust pipes the car will be practical and reasonably priced. The CityCat model will clock out at 68 mph with a driving range of 125 miles.

Here’s how it works. A lightweight, carbon-fiber, air tank holds 3,000 psi. That air runs the engine at lower speeds, primarily in the city, up to that 125-mile range. At higher speeds and longer distances, most models will adapt by using fuel engine to assist or to refill the air tank, in a similar fashion to today’s gas/electric hybrids. That technology would likely “squeeze” a cross-country trip out of a single tank of air.

There are two refueling options. The vehicles come with a built-in air compressor that plugs in to a standard outlet and takes about four hours to “filler-up.” If you’re lucky enough to drive by an increasingly ubiquitous (in India, at least) custom air pump. All that plus zero tailpipe emissions.

The CityCat model is being developed by the Indian automobile manufacturing company, Tata Motors. With the number of new drivers in India and China skyrocketing, it nice to know that some of them will have zero impact on the environment and won�t contribute much to the global fuel economy. We could afford to take a recycled page from that book on this side of the pond.

It hard to believe that there could be naysayers when it comes to air-powered vehicles, but naysayers there are. Their paper-thin argument is that it still takes electricity to fill the air tanks and that electricity usually comes from burning coal. While true, even at four hours fill-up time the carbon emission and the cost is a drop in the proverbial bucket. And, sure, it’s not exactly vehicular “eye candy,” but that seems like a small price to pay.

As an added bonus, since the process of compressing air creates heat, the exhaust of these vehicles is cold air. A quick redirect of that air into the cabin and…. Ahhh. Plus, no more expensive air-conditioning repairs. This technology is definitely a “breath of fr…., okay, I won’t say it.

The Niagara Power Project debate, in layman’s terms

Anyone paying an electric bill in our neck of the increasingly thinned out woods knows that those in the Buffalo/Niagara region pay a lot to turn the lights on and keep their food cold. In fact, we pay 50% more than the national average; all while one of the largest, cleanest, and most profitable sources of power literally flows right through our backyards.

Most people have probably also read/heard that 15% of the “juice– that is produced at the Niagara Power Project will be “in the air– when two contracts expire later this summer, and there are a lot groups waiting underneath with their hands in the air, hoping to get a piece of that action. That action, by the way, is worth a total of $100 million a year.

The problem is that it's hard to understand how power allocation works. No one seems to want to put it layman's terms, and that makes transparency difficult while making it easier for local politicians to shake accountability for how they allocate the power. Now, I'm no lawyer, but I'll do my best for my fellow laymen (and women).

Two years ago, a law was passed by the state legislature that took 70 megawatts (that's a lot) that had been earmarked for industry in Niagara and Erie counties, and used it to lower electricity costs for a handful of businesses downstate. That law expires at the end of June. We need that power to stay here to spur local economic development. It's a no-brainer.

Two months later, an even bigger chunk (can electricity be measured in chunks?) will become available that has been sold to utility companies that power homes in western New York. In fact, it's powering the computer that I'm writing this post on.

This one's a bit more complicated. Many labor groups and local businesses want that power to go to economic development also, rather than sold to utility companies. The problem? Those already stratospheric rates could possibly climb into the mesosphere, increasing by a maximum of eight percent. Of course, that's if all of the Niagara Project's electricity goes to economic development. A reasonable compromise would probably be somewhere in the middle.

Whatever your position is though, it's important to make your voice heard. Here is the contact information for your state legislator and state senator. Call, write, or email them and let them know where you stand. If you're not sure who your representatives are, you can search by zip code here and here respectively.

Of course, it's important to decrease our energy use, especially during the hot summer months. Changing your lights bulbs to compact fluorescents would, by itself, more than make up for any increase in electricity rates. Here is a great list of 20 things you can do to lower your energy costs and help the environment at the same time. So tell your politicians what you think, but don't wait for them to do it all.

Corn, from Ascorbates to Zein: Learn

With most issues, progressive or otherwise, people usually realize that a problem exists or at least that improvements can be made. We squabble over whether or not it's worth fixing, how to go about doing that, how important the issue is, what side effects our actions might have, etc. But at least we know that there is a problem. Not so with corn. Here are some of the impacts the over subsidizing and overproduction of corn has on our society, in bullet form for your convenience:

• Corn is the most subsidized crop in our country. From 1995-2005, over 51 billion dollars were given to farmers in the US of A, more than twice that of the next closest crop.
• Cows are ruminants whose stomachs are designed to eat grass, not corn. They are given antibiotics to stave off infection until they go off to slaughter. This promotes antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can be transmitted to humans that eat corn-fed beef.
• Corn strips the soil of more nutrients than any other mainstream crop and therefore requires much more fertilizer and pesticides, and consequently, more gas and oil to produce.
• Hormones and antibiotics given to cows to make them grow faster and bigger end up in our meat, soil, and water.
• Corn acidifies a cow's stomach, providing a haven for bacteria like E. Coli. Most of these animals are raised in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) where these diseases are easily spread.
• Compared to 1970, farms (which grow corn) today produce 500 more calories per person each day. We pack away an average of 200 of those calories.
• By many formulas, ethanol made from corn burns nearly as much fossil fuel, if not more to produce the crop as it would to just burn it in our car. Ethanol made from other plants such as sugar beets is much more efficient. Making ethanol is good; making it good is better.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is the most common sweetener in the country. It is cheaper and easier to make than sugar from beets or sugar cane. But (there's always a “but– ), it doesn't stimulate the pancreas to make insulin or leptin to let us know when we are satisfied. The result? We crave more, eat more, get fatter, and get sicker. We are literally subsidizing obesity.
• Many scientists are now attributing the latest honeybee die-off to chemical pesticides used in fields of sweet corn.
• Corn is Iowa’s number one crop. Iowa has the earliest Presidential Primary. Need I say more?

“Country Fresh– renewable energy

Renewable energy. We've talked about it before, many times. Biodiesel, solar power, wind power, hydropower, geothermal power, wave power, ethanol, flower power– ¦ okay, maybe not the last one, but you get the gist. There is enormous potential for one or more of these to help solve our political, economic, and climate crisis born from the burning of fossil fuels.

These innovations are children of true “outside-the-box– scientific thinking, real progressive thought. But it is important not to stop at these. We can't know any possible long-term shortcomings or negative side effects that these new energy sources might have, so we must continue to find and develop cheaper, safer, more efficient, and cleaner energy sources than even these.

And we are. According to LiveScience.com:

Researchers say they have successfully generated electricity from heat by trapping organic molecules between metal nanoparticles, a finding that could yield cheap refrigerators, not to mention new, more efficient energy sources in general.

Now, I'm no scientist; my wife is the atom-splitter (and dog neuterer) in our family. So, I won't try to paraphrase. You can read the whole article here.

The same journal reports that electricity has also been generated using cow manure and stomach juices.

Microbes living in the rumen chamber of a cow's stomach break down cellulose, a tough carbohydrate produced by plants, specifically in the grass cows munch on.

This process helps cows digest their meals, but it also releases electrons which scientists can harness for use in a battery. They used about a liter of microbe-rich rumen fluid to produce 600 millivolts of electricity, about half the voltage needed to run one rechargeable AA battery.

It doesn't seem like much, and maybe it isn't. But finding a good way to convert the excessive waste produced by huge corporate farms is as important as creating that small amount of energy. And continuing to find new and better ways to make the world spin is what being a progressive is all about.

A bank concerned about a different kind of “green–

I use HSBC bank to do all of my personal banking. When I looked around they had all the features, free checking, free Internet banking, no minimum monthly balance, that most of the big banks boast. Plus they really gave us a great rate on our mortgage and their headquarters are right here in Buffalo.

But as I walked in to my local branch today I noticed a pamphlet sitting on the counter. This one advertised perks that I have never seen from any bank, earth friendly bank accounts. HSBC is offering a free Green Living Kit to any one who opens up a new personal account and makes three online bill payments before July 25. The kit includes:

• A Carbonfree^TM compact fluorescent light bulb to save energy.
• 15% off coupon from thebulb.com.
• ChicoBag, a reusable shopping bag.
• One free issue of The GreenGuide^TM from National Geographic – the go-to source for green living.
• One year free subscription to The GreenGuide^TM
• 10% off coupon to shop at Lime.com – the online home of green living.
• 20% off coupon for Organic Bouquet.
• TerraPass certificate for 1,000 lbs of greenhouse gas reductions to offset your environmental impact by funding clean energy and efficiency projects.

That would be the same TerraPass we told you about this Wednesday.

HSBC is even donating $15-$30 for every product purchased up to one million smackers to environmental charities. The charities include:

• Zoological Society of Buffalo
• Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
• Genesee Land Trust
• Friends of the National Arboretum
• SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF)
• National Arbor Day Foundation

We spend enough time telling you about the evils of corporations and asking you to hold them accountable. But sometimes they actually do good things. So if you have an HSBC near you, stop in and check it out. Then consider making the switch. Making true progressive policies work for you is just as important as changing the policies that aren't.