Los Angeles Mayor Proposes Solar Energy Plan
Los Angeles’ Major Antonio Villaraigosa announced a plan earlier this week that will make L.A. one of the leading renewable energy cities in the country. His proposal involves getting 10% of the entire city’s energy needs to solar power by the year 2020. The goal of this plan is to get the Department of Water and Power (DWP) to be less dependent on fossil fuels. Also, Los Angeles has a huge abundance of sun that is currently not being utilized. This is an extremely ambitious plan considering they will need to have 1,280 megawatts of solar energy by the target year.
Where will they go?
That’s the biggest question a lot of people have is where are they going to put all of the solar panels and where are they going to put them. 500 megawatts of the total electricity would come from a solar energy generator built in the Mojave Desert that would be funded privately. There would also be programs set up to help low-income families add solar panels on their houses. The last part of the energy would go to adding solar panels to the Department of Water and Power buildings. Voters would be allowed to decide on whether this part of the plan actually comes into fruition.
The Cost
This plan seems picture perfect forgetting one thing, how much will it cost? All the details are not yet worked out, but it looks inevitable that the residence’s electricity cost will go up. There is also a question as to whether they will be getting all the tax credits that currently predict to receive. If some of the tax credits are not realized, the price could go up even further. The cost may not be as bad as it seems. The federal government is going to begin enacting a carbon tax , thus raising the cost of using coal as a source of energy. Currently, the DWP is largely dependent on coal and is their cheapest energy source and that cost would go up regardless.
This plan is definitely a good step in the right direction. There seems to be more politics behind the bill at the moment. Hopefully the city is able to a large portion of its energy needs on solar and other renewable energy sources in the future. Maybe other cities will see the financial/environmental benefits and propose similar legislation.
Buy From Local Turkey Farms for Thanksgiving
Before you go to your grocery store and buy a turkey for thanksgiving that you have no idea where it came from, consider buying one from local farm. Not only are the meats going to be much fresher, but they usually are free-range and/or organic. That turkey you buy from the grocery store could have traveled hundreds of miles just to get to the store and you have no idea of its freshness. I’ve had meats from my local farms and I can attest to just how much better they taste as well. The price of the bird may be slightly more expensive or around the same price you would pay in a grocery store. The little extra you spend is well worth the fresher taste.
You can do a search at Local Harvest to find a farm near that carries turkeys. What’s neat about this site is that they also contain reviews and pictures of the various farms and farmer’s markets in your area.
Maryland Environmental News: October 2008
Maryland is one of the most diverse states in terms of its geography as it has almost every type of topography you can think it. Ranging from the mountainous areas in the west that are part of the Appalachian to low marshlands on the Chesapeake bay. You can never stop finding new and different places to go in Maryland and still be amazed at how beautiful the environment is. That probably sounds pretty biased, probably because I have lived in Maryland for my entire life. There are many environmental issues present in Maryland and I just wanted to share a few of those with you.
Chesapeake Bay Pollution Reduction
Waterman from both Maryland and Virginia along with the Chesapeake Bay foundation are threatening to sue the EPA if they do not take action to reduce the amount of pollution in the bay. The Chesapeake Bay is America’s largest estuaries and has a wide variety of sea creatures including Maryland’s famous blue crabs. The EPA has failed to enforce the Clean Water Act, leaving the bay to continually worsen. The biggest problem is when Dead Zones occur that reduce the amount of oxygen in the bay. This can be deadly to many of the creatures in the bay including the blue crabs, fish and oysters. Not only does it put many fisherman out of work, but it also puts the many species in the bay at risk. The Chesapeake Bay foundation is angry that the EPA continues to push the pollution problems in the bay to the background. That’s why they have gone down the legal route to force the EPA to meet its goal of eliminating much of the pollution in the bay by 2015, outlined in the Clean Water Act.
Environmental Groups Cracking Down on Mercury
Three groups: the Environmental Integrity Project, Clean Water Action and the Waterkeeper Alliance are arguing that the Carroll County cement plant and a Western Maryland paper mill are contaminating local waters with mercury. They are two of the top five contributors to mercury contamination the state and unlike the other three, have no laws requiring them to clean up. Combined, the two contribute to almost 40% of the entire state’s mercury emissions. This is horrendous considering that mercury is extremely dangerous to the environment as well as our health. The paper mill did install $30 million worth of pollution control equipment late last year, but the results are not yet in on how this may curtailed their mercury contamination. The cement plant has yet to take action and only will do so if federal regulations are put into place.
Plastic Bag Ban in Westport Connecticut
Westport Town Representatives earlier this week overwhelmingly passed a resolution on the ban of plastic bags by a vote of 26 to 5. The resolution is making local businesses give up on using plastic bags within the next 6 months. Fines of up to $150 could be given out of stores continue to use plastic bags. This new resolution is encouraging businesses to also start promoting reusable bags as an alternative.
This is not the first time that a town has banned plastic bags. San Fransisco and Los Angeles have already passed have similar bans and have already made a significant difference. In San Fransisco alone, 5 million fewer plastic bags are being used every month. That is way more bags being saved that I would have ever thought. I can’t imagine how many less bags would be used if a really large city like New York or Washington DC decided to have a ban like this. Even though that will probably not happen anytime soon, at least smaller cities like Westport are doing their part.
I can imagine this being a fairly controversial issue in most cities. For me, it just doesn’t make much sense to continue using the large number of plastic bags our country already does. Most people simply toss them out after one use anyways. As I have seen in many stores, people don’t really need a bag, but are given one regardless. Women normally could toss small items they are buying into their purses or most people could just carry the item without need to have a bag.
The biggest concern is plastic bags are extremely harmful on the environment. Many sea animals eat plastic bags in mistake of jelly fish and can die as a result. Besides the environmental dangers, plastic bags are financial stupid for businesses. Companies have to pay for them in one way or another and usually push the price to the good we buy, meaning we end up paying more. I’m with Westport on this issue, but I think people need to take it upon themselves to stop using plastic bags. You can buy a reusable bag or use a bag you already have. Nobody is perfect and you won’t always remember to bring a bag every time you got shopping. If you do end up using plastic bags, there are many places including grocery stores that have recycling bins to use instead of just throwing them out.
EPA Head Visits Wind Powered Community
Stephen Johnson, the head of the EPA administration, visited a small community in Massachusetts called Hull. This community has built two wind turbines to meet some of their energy needs in clean way. Stephen Johnson called this community an “example for the rest of the nation”. He seems to be really genuine about pushing for more Wind Energy across America. As I reported in this week’s news, he could also be trying to get the bad press away from him with his failure to follow through with the .
History Of Hull
Hull is a small town located in the off the Nantasket Peninsula of Massachusetts and has been known as “Windmill Point” since the 1820s. In 1985, Hull built a small 40-kilowatt turbine near its high school in an effort to reduce some of their wind energy costs. That same windmill was later destroyed by a storm in 1997. The town wanted to continue using wind energy, but at a larger scale. They decided to do more research and in 2001 was able to afford a new wind turbine called the Hull Wind 1. The Hull Wind 1 was purchased from Vestas, one of the world’s leading wind turbine manufacturers. The town didn’t stop there and purchased an additional wind turbine called the Hull Wind 2.
Hull’s Wind Energy
Hull’s main goal behind buying these wind turbines was to power a good portion of the town’s energy needs. The Hull Wind 1 was able to cut the town’s street lighting bill from $150,000 a year to zero. It can produce 1.5 million kilowatt-hours per year, enough to power approximately 250 houses. The Hull Wind 2 alone handles 10% of the town’s electricity needs, producing triple the amount of energy of the first. As stated by Hull officials:
The wind turbines save the town $680,000 per year because Hull has to purchase less electricity from other, more expensive sources.
Community Involvement
The greatest accomplishment this town has done is to get together as a community and try to make a difference. Whether it’s strictly for monetary benefits or for the environment, it is a wonderful to see this town take action. This community hopefully will set a precedence for other towns and cities across America that they can rely on themselves and not have to wait until energy companies or the government decides to take action.
Save and Go Green: Buying in Bulk
I shop in bulk all the time because it saves me tons of money. I buy large quantities of foods and household items that I use all the time to save money and reduce the number of times I have to take a trip to the store. I have never thought of buying in bulk as going green, but I wanted to find out if it does and does it always save you money.
Buying In Bulk Bins
When it comes to the environment, it makes sense that it is a greener alternative to buying smaller quantities. There is less packaging involved that with traditional retail packaging. When you buy a large amount of the same product, there is only a minimal amount of packaging involved. The EPA reported that we generate about 80 million tons of waste from packaging and containers every year. That is a lot of wasted packaging that we don’t need. One really good example comes with cereal. There is such a small bag of cereal inside of a big box which is completely unnecessary. If you ever go to a natural food store, you see the bins with cereals and granola in them. You can buy whatever quantity you want and it only requires a small bag with none of the packaging.
Wholesale Stores
Natural food stores are not the only places that can save on packaging when purchasing in bulk. Even in wholesale stores like Costco and Sams Club you can really save on packaging. Be careful with some of the products though, they still have just as much packaging as with traditional retail packaging. If you are going to purchase something in bulk from these stores, just make sure to recycle the packaging. I found an interesting article that talks of Costco uses an environmental friendly packaging made by Natralock and recyclable cardboard for their packaging. These products are still inexpensive so the cost is able to stay down.
Saving Money
it’s easy to see that you can easily save money on buying bulk with less packaging and larger quantities. When I was in college, I would buy granola and other cereals from a co-op located on campus. The price of them would be around $1.50 per pound for both. I would leave with a huge bag of granola for only a few bucks. It would probably cost close to double for a similar amount of product in packaging. What was also great is that everything I purchased was organic.
Going to wholesalers can also save you tons of money because you are purchase much larger amounts of the same products. I save money by buying bulk, especially when it comes to meats. I buy large quantities of beef, chicken and other meats at a fraction of the cost I am able to get them in a grocery store. I freeze any of the meat that I don’t eat immediately and they last several months. Here is a good reference to how long meats and other products can last in the freezer.
The next step for me is to buy meats in bulk from local farmers. I have previously purchased meats from local farms. They aren’t fed any hormones and are free-range. The price was about the same as the price of meats in any grocery store. I should be able to save a little by purchasing in larger quantities from local farms.
Save and Go Green: Local Produce
I go to a local farmers’ market every weekend because I love fresh produce. The taste of the food I buy is unmatched by any grocery store that I go to. I have even heard Alton Brown from the Food Network say on his show that large strawberry farmers only produce for looks not taste. Even though taste is a huge factory, it is not the point of this article. The article will be geared towards answering the following two questions: does buying locally promote green lifestyle and most importantly, will it save me money over buying produce from the grocery store?
I had heard various segments on the radio about how our travels far to get here, but I never realized just how far. Apparently, our food travels an average of 1,500 miles between the farm where it was grown and your refrigerator. Much of the food we buy in the grocery store that usually could be bought locally is still shipped in from other parts of the country. Why not just buy from local farmers to get fresher produce that will taste better? I can only guess that cost must be the major factor into their decision. The amount of pollution that is occurring from the food’s transportation seems extremely wasteful. Also, many major farmer don’t use sustainable or organic methods of farming.
A huge plus I find when buying local produce is that you can actually talk to the farmer that grew the food you are buying. You can just ask them the types of farming methods they use and if pesticides are used.
You can save also save a bundle when buying local produce. One food that I love to eat is tomatoes. They are ridiculously expensive at the grocery store, usually $2-$4 a pound. Thats way too much to spend on tomatoes may or may not taste like crap. The tomatoes I buy at my local market are about $2.50 for about 5. That’s a huge savings over the grocery store and they taste better. In general, many things you can buy locally will be at a fraction of the cost of comparable products at the grocery store.
On the flip side, the grocery store is a little more convenient as you can buy produce whenever you want. Farmers’ markets and local farmers can sometimes be a far drive away or only be open certain days of the week. This can lead to buying produce too far in advance and it can go bad before you get a chance to eat it. Also, grocery stores carry a much wider range of produce that you would normally find at a local produce stand.
My rule of thumb when it comes to buying produce is to buy them locally while it is in season and get any reminding produce they don’t carry (like bananas) at the grocery store. Also, don’t buy too much produce just because it looks fresh. I have done this in the past and I regret it every time.
You can check out my article on Farmers’ Markets to find farmers in your area selling local produce.
