York Goes Green

The Climate Scoreboard tool (below) represents a simulation that calculates the long-term climate impacts of proposals under consideration in the negotiations to produce a global climate treaty.

The producer of this tool is Climate Interactive, an organization dedicated to “building a community that creates, shares, and uses credible models, accessible simulations, and related media in order to improve the way leaders and citizens around the world think about the climate.”

Visit climateinteractive.org for more tools and information.

January 30th, 2010 by wayne | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Greetings Everyone!

Our state senator, Peter Bowman is chairing hearings this morning (1/28) on what is known as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bonds – allowing an innovative way to finance home energy retrofits.

For more info on what PACE bonds are you can go to this website: www.pacenow.org

I called his office yesterday afternoon to register my support.  You can do so as well by calling: 207.287.1515 and say you support the PACE measures being debated this morning.

Sincerely,

Eric Hopkins
Chairman
York Energy Efficiency Committee
eric [at] yorkgoesgreen.org

January 27th, 2010 by Eric | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released a news analysis in November that predicts actual savings for drivers in the long run if climate legislation is passed.

by cluestream

Despite doomsday prediction from energy-industry-funded interest groups, U.S. consumers actually will see a net reduction of $13 billion in 2020 and $46 billion in 2030 in their gasoline expenditures ($100 and $326 in average net savings per household, respectively) if Congress moves ahead to impose a cap-and-trade system.

…[The] white paper explains that the lower gasoline expenditures for U.S. consumers will reflect a combination of two factors: a much lower cost per gallon of gasoline for the impact of cap and trade than is claimed by cap and trade critics plus major savings made possible through the federal government’s drive for higher vehicle miles per gallon (MPG) performance.

First, the analysis shows that the increase in the cost of a gallon of gasoline due to the carbon cap-and-trade program established in the climate bill will in fact be modest (an additional $0.15 per gallon in 2020 and $0.24 per gallon in 2030).

Second, while this increase could be significant for many households, it would be offset by the phase-in of a dramatic and money-saving rise in the fuel economy of U.S. vehicles.

The net effect of the tighter fuel economy (CAFE) standards for vehicles just proposed by the Department of Transportation and the cap-and-trade program in the climate bill will be lower average household transportation costs in 2020 and 2030 than we would experience under a business-as-usual scenario.

Of course, all of this is dependent on the actual passage of this or a similar bill in Congress.

Read the rest of the white paper summary at http://www.aceee.org/press/0911mpg.htm.

January 24th, 2010 by wayne | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

From YEEC member Victoria Simon:

Plastic containers with the #5 on the bottom like yogurt and cottage cheese containers are not recyclable in York.  I called Stonyfield Farms and they will take cleaned yogurt containers packaged up and mailed to the address located on the container and recycle them.  They will send you a coupon for yogurt to defray the cost of shipping.

I plan to do this for my household.  I wonder if there would be broader interest to do this collectively somehow.  Ideas?

I will also make calls to other companies packaging with #5 and see if they have recycling programs.

January 22nd, 2010 by wayne | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (3)

It may be your New Year’s resolution or just an ongoing effort to conserve energy, save money, or live a more sustainable life.

Please click the “Comments” link below and share one or more specific steps that you are taking to be a little bit greener in 2010.

January 13th, 2010 by wayne | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (3)

Greetings Everyone!

Please come and join us for food and celebration next Tuesday, January 12th at 7:00pm in the downstairs of the YPL. Please bring a snack or drink to share.

On the agenda:

We will nominate and approve the slate of next year’s officers to a one year term. The following people have been nominated, although more are always welcome:

1. Chairman: Eric Hopkins
2. Vice Chairman: Wayne Boardman
3. Treasurer: Kirk Ronaldson
4. Secretary: Paul Kittel
5. PR/Blogger: Open

If you know anyone who would like to get involved with online blogging for our organization, please forward their name to me. The expectation would be to publish relevant articles on the York Goes Green website that appear in local papers, and pieces forwarded by fellow YEEC members at a rate of about 1-2x/week. In addition this person would be involved in reaching out to local media when marketing upcoming events such as the 2010 York Energy, Climate and Sustainability Fair. It would be a great resume-builder for the right person.

We will also discuss:
1. Our broad goals for the year
2. State of our finances
3. A review of the by-laws

Finally, we will discuss the 2010 York Energy, Climate and Sustainability Fair – currently planned for Saturday, May 1st. Paul McGowan will be coordinating the organization of this event with meetings at his home starting on Wednesday, January 6th at 4pm. Even if you cannot attend the meeting, please contact Paul at: PSMcGow[at]aol.com if you are interested in helping plan for the fair.

Hope to see you next week!

Eric Hopkins
Chairman
York Energy Efficiency Committee
eric[at]yorkgoesgreen.org

January 6th, 2010 by wayne | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Maine Partners for Cool Communities, a coalition of organizations promoting smart energy solutions for Maine communities, is sponsoring an event focused on “A New Decade of Energy Efficiency and Green Building.” Here are the details from their newsletter:

Thursday January 21, 2010 from 6:00-8:00 PM
USM Glickman Family Library
Portland, Maine

As we enter into the second decade of the 21st century we have a tremendous opportunity to build Maine’s green economy. The choices and policies that we make now will have an effect for decades to come.

Green Building policies are helping to shape the green economy in Maine. Recently, The Sierra Club and the US Green Building Council (USGBC) have partnered in a green building policy initiative. Maine cities and towns like Portland, Bangor, York and Bar Harbor have already adopted green building policies and we hope more will come.

Glen Brand, National Cool Cities Director, Sierra Club as well as Lita Semrau and Andy Hyland of the USGBC Maine Chapter will speak about green building, what it is, why it is important and how we can make it happen locally in our Maine communities.

As always, the key question in building the green economy is funding. John Brautigam, Director of Efficiency Maine (invited) will talk about upcoming legislation like PACE, federal stimulus grants and other funding opportunities, and how to take advantage of those. Sam Nutter, from Conservation Services Group (CSG) (invited), will talk about how the state will be using federal stimulus dollars for weatherization and the process by which training and project selection will be carried out.

Who should attend?
Anyone interested in green building and policies in their communities, contractors and construction employees, town officials, and homeowners.

Refreshments will be served. Please spread the word!
For more information please contact Sandy Amborn at 761-5616 or email sandyamborn [at] yahoo.com

Sincerely,

Maine Partners for Cool Communities

January 5th, 2010 by wayne | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Since the end of World War II, new subdivisions in the United States have made extensive use of the cul-de-sac. Designed to limit through-traffic in residential areas and to help developers maximize use of odd-shaped property, this building strategy has come under increased criticism for contributing to suburban sprawl and “for encouraging car transport for even short distances, as more direct connections are cut off by the dead-end geometry, which requires long travel distances even to physically nearby locations.”[1]

Earlier this year Virginia became the first state to encourage walkable neighborhoods by limiting the use of cul-de-sacs. State rules now require that subdivisions have through streets connecting them to adjacent residences and shopping areas. Developments that ignore the new rules will be denied snowplowing and other state services. Research shows that neighborhoods with more street connections and intersections reduce car use. Some of the country’s most progressive-minded cities, including Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas, have also made it difficult to build new cul-de-sac subdivisions.

Read the rest of the fastcompany.com article, Death to Dead Ends: Will the New Suburbia Omit Cul-de-Sacs?

January 2nd, 2010 by wayne | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Copenhagen Conference brought progress in protecting the world's forests.

The Copenhagen Climate Conference of 2009 is over and any measure of success depends largely on who you ask. But one health and climate expert sees at least some progress on two out of three goals.

Three issues dominated the United Nations Copenhagen Climate Conference during the last two weeks: funding, forest preservation, and emission reductions. Despite lack of resolution on the latter, there has been some success on the first two.

…The climate fund envisioned at the conference will include financing for adaptation, mitigation (climate stabilization and clean technology transfer), and forest preservation. Though much, much more funding is needed—hundreds of billions of dollars a year for several decades, according to leading energy experts, for the clean energy transformation alone—there is now a platform for ratcheting up the amount (rapidly, we can hope, as nations and organizations maintain pressure).

…A second accomplishment of the Copenhagen conference: The principles for a framework have been put forward for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). Threats of further deforestation—including the use of trees for biofuels and in large-scale bioenergy power plants—loom large. We cannot afford any further clear-cutting of forests.

…As for the most difficult issue, carbon emission targets, that subject was essentially tabled. China and India’s proposal of using carbon intensity (carbon emissions per GDP output), which has not been entered into the international arena, may offer an equitable way forward for many nations. Creative thinking is needed to set goals for the first several years after the Kyoto agreement’s expiration in 2012.

…But the 2009 UN Copenhagen Climate Conference is a step—halting, lurching, for sure—toward the enhanced global governance we need to achieve a sustainable solution to the climate change crisis. Essential principles and measures towards that goal have begun to take shape.

Read the entire article from Rodale Press.

December 21st, 2009 by wayne | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

From my letter to the editor in today’s York Weekly:

Combat global warming now

To the Editor:

Remember Y2K? It was that infamous “mother of all computer bugs” scare that caused such concern during the late 1990s. The basic gist was this: People were worried about the world’s computers — especially the giant mainframes that still ran most of the world’s industry and commerce at the time. They were worried about an error embedded in the machines’ original programming, one that stored the calendar year as a two-digit number, instead of a four-digit number (e.g. “85″ instead of “1985″).

Because people were dealing with the unknown, there was growing anxiety and fear about what the future might hold. So many critical applications of the time were running on those old mainframe computers — everything from subways and stockmarkets to power plants and pumping stations. What if the error caused them all to go haywire?

Nobody was really sure what to do about it, but as the mid 90s turned into the late 90s, and it grew closer to the year 2000, armies of programmers from countries all over the world were ultimately employed to fix the error. Just in case.

As it turns out, the Y2K moment — when it finally arrived — was a bit of a dud. Nothing happened. As expected, computers all over the world correctly recognized the date as “01/01/2000″ and everything kept working the way it was supposed to be working. The lights were still on, the TV still worked, the phones still had dial tone.

Nothing went haywire.

So maybe this is what will happen with all the concern over “global warming.” Maybe one day, we’ll look back and conclude that CO2, just like Y2K, was not actually a serious concern after all. And maybe all the money and energy spent on managing it, wasn’t really necessary.

Let’s hope so.

But for now, it probably makes sense to continue investing in energy efficiency, and limiting our CO2 emissions anyway. Just in case.

Now just for the record, I don’t actually think that the concerns about CO2 are misplaced at all.  I think the physics of heat trapping gasses are a fairly well understood phenomena – and given the sheer enormity of the CO2 we’ve emitted into the air over the last 150 years, it seems quite clear to me that we have a significant problem on our hands.

However, we do tend to live in a fear-based society that is constantly hyping ominous threats – it seems like we are constantly panicking about something – (e.g. Y2K, SARS, H1N1), so I understand why people are leery of the “doom and gloom” prophesies that accompany discussions around climate change, and are skeptical about calamitous declarations about what the future climate will look like.

My advice: hope for the best, and prepare for the worst!

December 16th, 2009 by Eric | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

On Saturday, May 1st, YEEC will be hosting the 2nd annual York Energy and Climate Fair at York Middle School.  Paul McGowan will continue to coordinate the event.  If you’d like to attend, present, or help with organizaing, please contact him directly at: psmcgow@aol.com.

December 16th, 2009 by Eric | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment