by jboullion | Jul 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a story by Susan Bence on WUWM radio, Milwaukee:
Catherine McQueen and Fritz Kreiss describe themselves as partners in life and business, who decided to put their money where their green talk is.
I’m invited to their home to see for myself.
You drive into their five acres – it’s a former mink farm – through lush trees. A circle drive pulls you into their brightly white-painted home, surrounded by perennial beds.
Then WHAM, you spot the 50 kilowatts wind turbine throwing giant shadows along a line of trees.
Fritz says they’re goal is to use no more energy than they consume. They seem to be off to a good start.
“The 50 KW is about enough electricity for 15 homes,” Fritz says.
When the couple transplanted from Illinois five years ago and took on the fixer-upper, Catherine says they weren’t on an environmental mission.
“This was our Shangri-La. We were going to go out toes up from this house,” Catherine says.
They had just rolled up their sleeves to tackle the project, when Fritz says they learned their quiet country road was slated for development.
“We went to a town meeting and the town basically said, listen Highway 50 is meant to be a commercial corridor in the long term plan,” Fritz says.
Catherine says after pulling their jaws off the floor, they started brainstorming. Why not transform their vision to a B&B? Next summer they hope to welcome their first guests.
“`Where you’re sitting is going to be the area where people can get their breakfast and I’d like to serve tea at 4:00 and we’ll have like a cookie of the day,” Catherine says.
by jboullion | Jul 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Molly Newman in the Marshfield News Herald:
When Doug Petznick’s roof needed to be replaced last year, he invested $14,000 in the project — about twice the average cost for a new roof. But thanks to federal and state green energy rebates, Petznick will end up paying only half of that amount for his solar electric roof.
Petznick is one of five Marshfield homeowners who have installed solar electric panels in the past year. He chose photovoltaic panels, which convert sunlight into energy, both to save money in the long term and to reduce his family’s carbon footprint.
He already was considering installing a metal roof when he arrived at Kulp’s of Stratford and learned the company offers solar electric metal roofing, Petznick said.
John Maggitti, solar specialist at Kulp’s, said the roofing and insulation company has been offering photovoltaic panels for about a year, since customers started asking about them two years ago.
Since last year, Kulp’s has installed about 12 photovoltaic roofs statewide and has six more projects pending, Maggitti said.
The panels are an investment that offers an average 6.5 percent return after 15 years, Maggitti said. The systems last about 25 years, so homeowners can expect 10 years of profit on the investment.
“People are acutely aware that the cost of energy is rising, and there’s no indication that the cost of energy is going to come down anytime in the future,” Maggitti said.
Petznick said he saw an immediate change in his electric bill as a result of his installation, and he now pays about one-third less each month.
by jboullion | Jul 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
Now in its seventh year, the Kickapoo Country Fair is the Midwest’s largest organic food and sustainability festival. In La Farge, Wisconsin, nestled among the ancient hills of the Kickapoo Valley, the fair serves up a generous helping of fun for all in celebration of family, culture, and community, all the while looking toward a healthy, sustainable future.
Held July 24-25, 2010, on the grounds of Organic Valley headquarters Kickapoo Country Fair will bring together thousands of attendees for two fun-packed days of food, music, bike and farm tours, cooking demonstrations, theater, kids’ activities, dancing, author readings, and speakers—all offered at an affordable price for families.
*Authors, activists and innovators including Temple Grandin, author of Animals Make Us Human
*Live music all weekend on two stages
*Musical headliner Miles Nielsen — Good ol’ heartland rock ‘n’ roll, main stage, Saturday night
*Wisconsin Author Michael Perry reading from his latest book Coop and performing with his band, the Long Beds
*”Green Village,” green building and lifestyle workshops
*Delicious local and organic food
*Farmers market
*Farm tours and exhibits
*Vendors and artisans
*Fourth-annual Butter Churn Bike Tour
*Children’s activities
*Stiltwalkers and other surprises!
by jboullion | Jul 14, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Sharif Durhams in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Milwaukee County’s bus system unveiled on Wednesday the first of 90 new buses purchased to replace those in its aging fleet.
The clean diesel buses cost a total of nearly $33 million. About half of that money came from the federal stimulus package.
Milwaukee County plans to buy 35 more buses in 2011, according to MCTS.
by jboullion | Jul 13, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content and Lee Bergquist in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Many old coal-fired power plants are shutting down or being upgraded, but Valley escapes change
Many of Wisconsin’s oldest coal-fired power plants are shutting down or are being upgraded as regulators tighten standards to improve air quality.
But We Energies’ Valley plant – with its twin 400-foot smokestacks that tower over the High Rise Bridge a mile south of downtown Milwaukee – is a glaring exception.
The utility has avoided installing costly pollution controls by capitalizing on the plant’s age, its unique role in producing steam to heat many downtown buildings and a court settlement with environmental regulators.
Valley is We Energies’ oldest power plant that lacks modern emission controls. As a result, it exposes metro Milwaukee – an area with longstanding air quality problems – to more air pollution.
“Valley is the poster child for the oldest and dirtiest coal plants in the state,” said Jennifer Feyerherm of the Sierra Club, an organization that has been active in forcing utilities to clean up operations of old power plants.
We Energies’ No. 2 executive said the company has installed equipment to bring down pollution.
“We have not ignored Valley,” said Rick Kuester, the utility’s executive vice president.
He signaled for the first time that the company is studying the future of Valley and considering adding more pollution controls or switching to a cleaner burning fuel.
Kuester also emphasized the critical role the plant plays in the financial health of downtown Milwaukee by relying on steam to keep heating costs stable. The plant also provides supplemental electricity for the broader power grid on hot summer days when usage is high.
by jboullion | Jul 12, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a commentary by Michael Vickerman:
Commentary
by Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin
July 12, 2010
About 100 people gathered in downtown Madison in early July to take part in “Hands Across the Sands,” an internationally organized protest against continued oil drilling in and along the world’s coastal waters. Against the backdrop of the weed-choked waters of Lake Monona, they joined hands for 15 minutes to express their fervent desire to see a cleaner, less destructive energy future emerge from the liquid melanoma spreading across the Gulf of Mexico.
No doubt the protestors would like to do more, much more, than simply engage in ritualized protest in front of a few camera crews. But we live in a society that is organized around the expectation of a limitless supply of nonrenewable hydrocarbons feeding concentrated energy into our economic bloodstream. Most of us have not bothered to comprehend the yawning gulf that lies between our best intentions and our abject dependence on the wealth-producing properties of petroleum. Nor how this addiction fills us with delusions of godlike mastery over our environment while blinding us to the reality that we humans have grossly overshot our planet’s carrying capacity.
For those who read and still remember the science fiction classic Dune, the “spice” on Arrakis remains the quintessential literary analogy to the reality of Earth’s oil. Like our oil, the spice held a special place in that world as the ultimate prize worth waging wars and plundering hostile environments for. . . .
Need I mention that once you begin to appreciate the finitude of the Earth’s endowment of petroleum, there’s nothing to stop you from taking immediate steps to curb your personal consumption of this irreplaceable fuel. Whatever you do to lessen your dependence on petroleum will turn out to be a much more satisfying and meaningful response to our energy predicament than any canned protest promoted through Facebook.
As for myself, I made two resolutions since the Macondo well erupted. The first is to go through this summer without activating the household air-conditioner. So far, so good, I can report. (Luckily, we were spared the triple-digit temperature swelterfest that gripped the East Coast last week). It wasn’t that long ago that life without air-conditioning was the norm rather than the exception. If we all resolved not to turn on air-conditioners, we could force the retirement of two to three coal-fired plants in this state.
The other change was to ratchet up my reliance on my bicycle and make it the default vehicle for all my local travels, irrespective of weather conditions. I have been a fair-weather bicycle commuter for many years, but after watching everyone on TV blame someone else for the catastrophe, I felt the need to push myself a little harder. My objective here is to regard my car as a luxury that one day I might do without.
Though the extra perspiration and the occasional dodging of raindrops may take some getting used to, you are going to sleep better at night. Trust me on this.
If the oil spill has prompted a similar response from you, feel free to describe them and send them to the moderator of our Peak Oil blog or post them in a response.
