by jboullion | Dec 18, 2008 | Uncategorized
An editorial from The Tomah Journal:
As of Friday, gas was $1.68.9 a gallon in Tomah, which is down from $4.06.9 a gallon in mid-summer. That’s an enormous swing, but here’s something that didn’t change: Oil is a finite resource and will be depleted one day. Does anyone believe, barring a Great Depression, that gas will be $1.68.9 a gallon two years from now? When it comes to developing renewable energy sources, there is no time like the present.
Fortunately, president-elect Barack Obama plans to make renewable energy a major part of an economic stimulus plan he’ll present to Congress shortly after his term begins next month. It’s important for the government to take the initiative because private markets won’t. There is simply too much price fluctuation, and if we wait for the market to develop alternative fuels and alternative vehicles, it won’t happen until a more expensive crash program is required.
The government actually has a good record in research and development. It wasn’t the private sector that developed the atomic bomb, sent a man to the moon or created the infrastructure that led to the Internet. It was all done by government researchers who didn’t have to answer to stockholders who cared more about the next quarter than the next decade.
That doesn’t mean the private sector won’t have the largest role in getting alternative energy products to consumers. The private sector is far better equipped to manufacture, market and distribute profitable goods and services than the government. However, it’s the government, not the private sector, that has the luxury of funding research that doesn’t pay off immediately.
Research on alternative vehicles and renewable energy needed to power them can’t hinge on the price of gas in a given week. Perhaps the benefits won’t be felt immediately, but clean and renewable energy will benefit Americans long after next year’s stimulus package is passed.
by jboullion | Dec 17, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story posted on WKBT-TV:
[The] Grand River Station in downtown La Crosse . . . which will be more than just a new place to catch the bus. “In addition to the transit center, there’s commercial space here as well as 87 residential apartments and condos; it’s a six-story building and it will bring a lot of people activity downtown La Crosse,” says La Crosse Transit Utility Manager Keith Carlson.
The $20 million construction project has been in the works for years, and will serve as the new hub for public transportation in La Crosse. The new station will serve more than just the River City, with routes going to other near-by areas. “I think that not only does this help within the city of La Crosse from a transportation standpoint, using mass transit, but I think it’s got an awful lot of potential of brining communities together,” says La Crosse Mayor Mark Johnsrud.
by jboullion | Dec 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article article by Deneen Smith in the Kenosha News:
Shawn Henoch can’t wait for frigid weather and the first serious heating bills of winter.
“I’m really looking forward to January and February to see,” Henoch said. “Who is excited to get their electric bill? But I am.”
Henoch hired a company to do an energy efficiency overhaul of her 60-year-old Kenosha home this year. The work was completed in June, and she said she’s already seen a dramatic reduction in her energy bills and an improvement in the coziness-factor of her home.
The project sealed air leaks in the house, added insulation in the walls and ceiling, and replaced an old, inefficient furnace and air conditioner.
Before the overhaul, her typical winter heating bills were about $400 “and that was keeping my heat set at 67 or 68,” she said. “Now I can really keep my house at 72, and my last bill was, I think, $136.”
Learn more about an energy efficiency evaluaition at Focus on Energy.
by jboullion | Dec 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Nick Paulson in the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune:
STEVENS POINT — The average American has gained 10 pounds in the past decade, and the extra weight is helping cause climate change.
“What that means is that the airlines that crisscross this country burn 350 million more gallons of jet fuel every year, schlepping around that extra weight,” said Terry Tamminen. “If all of us, myself included, would lose that 10 pounds, the planet would be better off and so would we.”
The idea may be a little harsh, but it is the kind of forward thinking Tamminen is known for and has helped him land some of the most prestigious climate jobs in the country. He has worked as the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Thursday night was part of a conference call with the transition team for President-elect Barack Obama.
Tamminen was Friday morning’s keynote speaker at the Wisconsin Climate Change Summit at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
From ideas such as his weight loss theory to broader changes like converting 1.2 million buildings nationwide to more efficient systems, Tamminen shared four steps he believes will stimulate the economy and create a more sustainable country: renewables, efficiency, markets and democracy.
by jboullion | Dec 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by K.J. Lang in the La Crosse Tribune:
Western’s newest vehicle is a commitment to environmental sustainability and a conversation starter.
“People practically break their neck to look at you,” said Marlin Peterson, site supervisor for Per Mar Security at Western.
Marlin Peterson, Per Mar Security sight supervisor at Western Technical College, gets back into Western’s new NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) while working parking detail Thursday.
Peterson drives the $13,000 vehicle around campus for parking enforcement and security. He often stops to answer questions about the vehicle, a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle or NEV, that runs on eight, six-volt batteries.
It costs considerably less than the previous security department fleet vehicle, a Chevy Malibu. A typical fleet vehicle had cost the department about 48 cents per mile to run; the NEV costs about 3 cents per mile.
by jboullion | Dec 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story by Larry Sandler in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
A new study by a libertarian think tank claims the projected economic benefits of a proposed Milwaukee-to-Kenosha commuter rail line have been inflated and questions its ridership estimates.
But a business leader noted that the author of the study, Los Angeles-based transit consultant Tom Rubin, took a far more positive view of the $200 million project in June, when pro-transit business leaders were pushing the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority to hire him as the authority’s consultant. And a regional planner said the commuter rail projections were sound.
The Reason Foundation study, being released today, says the transit authority should consider express buses as an alternative to the KRM Commuter Link, which would connect downtown Milwaukee and the southern suburbs to Racine and Kenosha with 14 round trips each weekday.
Rubin said his latest study wasn’t meant to bash the KRM, but to highlight the advantages of bus options.
“We’re not saying that KRM is a dumb idea and it should be dropped,” Rubin said Monday. “I am not saying that KRM is going to fail. I am saying there are other options that should be studied before you make that commitment.”
