by jboullion | Nov 15, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Sharif Durhams in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Maybe the cash rebates are responsible for the uptick in interest in a City of Milwaukee program designed to help consumers pay for energy-saving home improvements.
Or maybe it was just a cold snap.
In any case, the number of city residents signing up for the Milwaukee Energy Efficiency program, known as Me2, is picking up after a slow start. The program, financed by a federal stimulus grant, has a goal of getting at least 4,500 buildings retrofitted with insulation, more efficient furnaces and other green improvements over the next two years.
So far about a tenth of that number of homeowners – 444 – have paid for the $100 energy assessments that are required for the program since it launched early this year. Ninety-three homeowners have completed the recommended upgrades or are making them.
“Nothing is as fast as you’d like it to be, of course, but we’re getting some pickup,” said Dan Milbrandt, the chief lending officer for Summit Credit Union.
The credit union, which is providing low-interest loans for the home improvements, has a potential lending pool of $30 million for the program. So far, the credit union has signed off on $260,000 in loans, a figure Milbrandt said bank officials expected to hit this summer.
Since then, the partners in the program – the city, Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp. and Summit – have better coordinated their efforts, Milbrandt said. And the program has added incentives.
Now, anyone who invests at least $2,500 in energy improvements gets a $500 rebate from Me2. Those who make at least $5,000 in improvements get $1,000 back. To get in on the deal, participants have to sign up with a participating contractor and commit to making the improvements by the end of the year, said Erick Shambarger of the City of Milwaukee’s Office of Environmental Sustainability.
by jboullion | Nov 11, 2011 | Uncategorized
by jboullion | Nov 11, 2011 | Uncategorized
by jboullion | Nov 11, 2011 | Uncategorized
by jboullion | Nov 11, 2011 | Uncategorized
by jboullion | Nov 10, 2011 | Uncategorized
From a a story by Tim Morrissey of Public News Service:
SPRING VALLEY, Wis. – Increasing numbers of Wisconsin farmers are cutting their power bills and reducing their carbon footprints by switching to alternative sources of energy.
Harriet Behar, an organic specialist with the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), says farmers use a lot of energy in producing food.
“From grinding feed to heating hot water in a milk-house to just cleaning grain, fixing machinery – all kinds of things that are done on farms that use energy, and they pay pretty hefty electric bills.”
A typical monthly electric bill for the average farm can run $300 to $400. Behar says she is seeing a trend of farmers using several forms of alternative energy.
“Solar photovoltaics for electricity; wind for electricity; and then solar hot-water heating, and biodiesel, where they grow a crop and use that as fuel.”
MOSES, Behar says, is involved in helping farmers make the transition to cleaner forms of energy.
“We’ve had workshops at our Organic University and also at the Organic Farming Conference, both on looking at alternative sources of energy.”
Some state and federal grants and programs are available to help farmers develop alternative energy sources, but Behar says many decide to do it on their own.
“Even without government funding, they have participated more in this, because they like making that investment in their infrastructure on the farm, for a kind of long-term sustainability.”
by jboullion | Nov 10, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kari Lydersenin Midwest Energy News:
Normal, Illinois, is home to Mitsubishi’s only U.S. manufacturing plant, and residents of the town 130 miles southwest of Chicago are known for embracing sustainability and renewable energy. Many families have two incomes and two cars, and “are very educated and early adopters of technology,” in the words of Mayor Chris Koos.
So about a year ago, Koos and other civic leaders decided to dub Normal and its adjacent “sister city,” Bloomington, “EVTown” and ask Mitsubishi to make it among the early destinations for its new all-electric car, the i-MiEV.
As typically happens with electric and hybrid cars, Mistubishi will roll out the i-MiEV in larger coastal markets first. Drivers in smaller towns, especially in the Midwest, will have to wait many months longer than urbanites to buy an electric vehicle or hybrid from their local dealer. Normal town planner Mercy Davison said locals were disappointed in how long they had to wait for the Nissan Leaf.
So Mitsubishi agreed to dedicate up to 1,000 i-MiEVs for Bloomington-Normal drivers. With a combined population of about 130,000, that would mean a considerably high proportion of families buying new i-MiEVs.
“It’s a big goal, but we think it’s doable,” said Koos.
by jboullion | Nov 10, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Dan Haugen in Midwest Energy News:
A mobile app that helps people perform their own home lighting audits is the winner of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “Apps for the Environment” challenge.
Light Bulb Finder was created by a Milwaukee, Wisc., app developer called Eco Hatchery. Co-founders Adam Borut and Andrea Nylund learned they won the challenge last week, and on Tuesday they’ll be in Washington, D.C., to accept the recognition. . . .
The app was released for iPhone and Android in late 2010. It lets people walk around their home and use icons to identify the type of bulb currently used in each light fixture. After entering a zip code and the estimated daily hours of use for each bulb, the app suggests more efficient replacement bulbs, as well as a detailed projection of savings, in dollars and carbon emissions.
“We want to provide people with meaningful, individualized feedback so that they can make the smartest decision based on their priorities,” Borut said.
by jboullion | Nov 9, 2011 | Uncategorized
A news release from the Sierra Club:
Madison, Wisconsin – Today, the Sierra Club issued a Notice of Intent to sue We Energies for the October 31 flood of coal ash into Lake Michigan when an old landfill located on the bluff collapsed at a construction site at the company’s Oak Creek coal plant.
“We Energies must be held responsible for the toxic mess at the bottom of Lake Michigan,” explained Jennifer Feyerherm of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “We Energies has essentially turned Lake Michigan, a national treasure that supplies drinking water to over 10 million people, into a coal ash dump. We Energies filled a ravine next to Lake Michigan with coal ash, and it is that ash that now lies at the bottom of the lake. This was a predicted and preventable disaster.”
A biologist from the Southeastern Wisconsin Planning Commission raised concerns about the structural stability of the bluff when We Energies was planning to develop the site. As construction proceeded, the bluff collapsed, covering the shoreline with an estimated 25,000 cubic yards of coal ash and soil and dumping 2,500 cubic yards of coal ash and soil into the lake.
The Notice of Intent to sue alleges that the pollutants in the coal ash at the bottom of Lake Michigan “pose an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health and the environment.”
Coal ash is the toxic byproduct of burning coal. Heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, chromium, and molybdenum remain in the ash after coal is burned. These toxic metals are linked to many health effects including cancer, birth defects, kidney damage, and nerve damage. In fact, studies have likened the risk of living near a coal ash site to smoking a pack of cigarettes each day. These toxic metals also put our fragile Great Lakes ecosystem at risk, threatening aquatic habitat and building up in the food chain.
“There are more than 2,000 toxic coal ash sites in the U.S. polluting our air and water, and now there is a new one on the bottom of Lake Michigan,” noted Melissa Warner, a volunteer leader with the Sierra Club that lives south of the coal ash dump. “My family’s drinking water comes from the lake. We Energies must clean up its mess and prevent any disaster like this from happening again.”
To date, there has been little information available to the local community about where the coal ash in the lake is going, what it will take to clean it up, and when the cleanup might be completed. Today’s Notice of Intent to sue is the first step in legal action against We Energies to force the company to clean up the toxic coal ash.
Ever since the TVA coal ash disaster in 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency has been trying to enact national protections to stop this kind of disastrous spill from happening.
“Communities here in Wisconsin and across the nation remain at risk and unprotected,” concluded Feyerherm. “The burning of coal is a public health menace. This spill is yet another illustration that as long as we are still mining and burning coal, our families and communities are paying the price.”
More posts on the spill and utilities.
by jboullion | Nov 8, 2011 | Uncategorized
Michael Vickerman’s letter-to-the-editor of the Racine Journal Times:
Dear Editor:
In his November 3rd letter opposing S.C. Johnson’s proposed wind development in Mt. Pleasant, Tom Joy rattles off a number of myths about wind turbines that populate the Internet. However, the facts on the ground paint a very different picture of wind generation than what Mr. Joy represents.
First, there is no medically credible study out there that concludes or suggests that wind generation is a threat to human health. According to Dr. Jevon McFadden, a public health professional serving on Wisconsin’s Wind Siting Council, “Evidence does not support the conclusion that wind turbines cause or are associated with adverse health outcomes.”
If the experience elsewhere in Wisconsin is any guide, the proposed wind turbines will have no discernible effect on neighboring property values. But don’t just take RENEW’s word for it. Ask any and all assessors in townships that host large wind turbines, and to a person they will confirm that finding. Moreover, in Kewaunee County, home to the oldest commercial wind projects in Wisconsin, new homes are going up within sight of the 31 turbines operating there.
S.C. Johnson’s proposed project has been carefully designed to meet the strict performance standards specified in Wisconsin’s wind siting rule. We have little doubt that this project, once placed in service, will very quickly become a source of pride for the surrounding community.
Sincerely,
Michael Vickerman
Executive Director
RENEW Wisconsin
