by jboullion | Nov 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Steve Cahalan in the La Crosse Tribune:
“Cap and trade” legislation that the U.S. House of Representatives passed in June and a similar version pending in the Senate were praised Tuesday at a La Crosse forum by Peter Taglia, staff scientist with the Clean Wisconsin environmental group.
Federal legislation is needed, agreed Brian Rude, a vice president with La Crosse-based Dairyland Power Cooperative. But the House and Senate bills have major flaws, Rude argued at The Economic Forum at the Radisson Center.
Legislation sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and John Kerry, D-Mass., calls for imposing mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and industrial facilities and cutting emissions by 20 percent by 2020. Polluters would be given emission allowances they could trade among themselves to ease the transition from fossil fuels.
by jboullion | Nov 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
From the page of Active Installation Date on the Web site of We Energies:
We Energies Renewable Energy Development Program partners with Fat Spaniel Technologies to show real-time production data from solar photovoltaic, solar hot water and wind renewable energy generation systems in the We Energies service territory.
The Web page has links to the data on renewable energy production at the following installations:
Solar Electric Photovoltaic
Ascension Lutheran Church
Cooper School
Energy Producing Home
GE Healthcare
GE Research Park
HOPE Christian School
Johnson Foundation
Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School
Milwaukee Area Tech College – Oak Creek
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District
MSOE: Fat Spaniel Tech MSOE Monitor
North Shore Presbyterian Church
Our Savior Lutheran Church
Outpost Natural Foods
Racine City Hall Annex
Racine Eco Justice Center
St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Shoreland Lutheran High School
Shorewood School District
Still Point Zen Center
The Order of Julian Norwich
Town of Menasha
Unitarian Universalist Church West
United Community Center
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
University of Wisconsin – Parkside
Urban Ecology Center
Village of Wind Point
Walden III Middle and Senior High School
Waukesha Area Technical College
Wisconsin State Fair Park
Solar Water Heating
Fort Atkinson High School Solar Thermal
Fort Atkinson Middle School Solar Thermal
Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity SHW 1
Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity SHW 2
We Energies HQ: Fat Spaniel Tech Wired Solar
Solar Electric Photovoltaic and Wind
Discovery World
Lakeshore Technical College
Milwaukee Area Tech College – Mequon
by jboullion | Nov 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
A news release from the Dane County Clean Air Coalition:
If you’re burning wood this winter, you can have a cheaper, safer and healthier fire by following these tips:
• Burn only dry, seasoned wood. It’s better for the air and your wallet. Look for wood that is darker, has cracks in the end grain, and sounds hollow when hit against another piece of wood. Dry seasoned wood is more efficient at heating your home and can add up to significant savings over the winter.
• Never burn painted or treated wood or trash.
• Maintain your wood stove or fireplace and have a certified technician inspect it yearly. A certified technician can clean dangerous soot from your chimney and keep your wood stove or fireplace working properly, which reduces your risk of a home fire.
• Change to an EPA-certified wood stove or fireplace insert. These models are more efficient than older models, keeping your air cleaner, your home safer and your fuel bill lower, while keeping you warm in the winter. An estimated 12 million Americans heat their homes with wood stoves each winter, and nearly three-quarters of these stoves are not EPA certified. An EPA-certified wood stove emits nearly 70 percent less smoke than older uncertified models. Go to the EPA’s Burn Wise website for more information: http://www.epa.gov/burnwise
• If you have another source of heat, do not use your fireplace or wood stove on days that are forecast to be Clean Air Action Days for fine particle pollution.
by jboullion | Nov 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
A news release from the Dane County Clean Air Coalition:
If you’re burning wood this winter, you can have a cheaper, safer and healthier fire by following these tips:
• Burn only dry, seasoned wood. It’s better for the air and your wallet. Look for wood that is darker, has cracks in the end grain, and sounds hollow when hit against another piece of wood. Dry seasoned wood is more efficient at heating your home and can add up to significant savings over the winter.
• Never burn painted or treated wood or trash.
• Maintain your wood stove or fireplace and have a certified technician inspect it yearly. A certified technician can clean dangerous soot from your chimney and keep your wood stove or fireplace working properly, which reduces your risk of a home fire.
• Change to an EPA-certified wood stove or fireplace insert. These models are more efficient than older models, keeping your air cleaner, your home safer and your fuel bill lower, while keeping you warm in the winter. An estimated 12 million Americans heat their homes with wood stoves each winter, and nearly three-quarters of these stoves are not EPA certified. An EPA-certified wood stove emits nearly 70 percent less smoke than older uncertified models. Go to the EPA’s Burn Wise website for more information: http://www.epa.gov/burnwise
• If you have another source of heat, do not use your fireplace or wood stove on days that are forecast to be Clean Air Action Days for fine particle pollution.
by jboullion | Nov 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
A news release from the Dane County Clean Air Coalition:
If you’re burning wood this winter, you can have a cheaper, safer and healthier fire by following these tips:
• Burn only dry, seasoned wood. It’s better for the air and your wallet. Look for wood that is darker, has cracks in the end grain, and sounds hollow when hit against another piece of wood. Dry seasoned wood is more efficient at heating your home and can add up to significant savings over the winter.
• Never burn painted or treated wood or trash.
• Maintain your wood stove or fireplace and have a certified technician inspect it yearly. A certified technician can clean dangerous soot from your chimney and keep your wood stove or fireplace working properly, which reduces your risk of a home fire.
• Change to an EPA-certified wood stove or fireplace insert. These models are more efficient than older models, keeping your air cleaner, your home safer and your fuel bill lower, while keeping you warm in the winter. An estimated 12 million Americans heat their homes with wood stoves each winter, and nearly three-quarters of these stoves are not EPA certified. An EPA-certified wood stove emits nearly 70 percent less smoke than older uncertified models. Go to the EPA’s Burn Wise website for more information: http://www.epa.gov/burnwise
• If you have another source of heat, do not use your fireplace or wood stove on days that are forecast to be Clean Air Action Days for fine particle pollution.
by jboullion | Nov 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a guest column by Al Gedicks in the Green Bay Press Gazette:
The argument that nuclear power can contribute to reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions that cause global climate change (“Ban on new nuclear power plants should be lifted” Oct. 16, Green Bay Press-Gazette) is flawed for three main reasons.
First, nuclear power is not carbon-free electricity. At each stage of the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining, milling, enrichment to construction, decommissioning and waste storage, nuclear power uses fossil fuels and contributes greenhouse gas emissions that accelerate global climate change. Compared to renewable energy, nuclear power releases four to five times the CO2 per unit of energy produced.
A recent study of solutions to global warming by Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson of Stanford University concluded that over its entire lifecycle, nuclear electricity emits between 68 and 180 grams of CO2-equivalent emissions per kilowatt hour, compared to 3 to 11 grams for wind and concentrated solar.
