by jboullion | Dec 30, 2009 | Uncategorized
From The GreenLaCrosse.com Promise:
Every little bit together – can make a big difference. We encourage everyone to do whatever they can to make their own green choices.
My GreenLaCrosse.com Promise:
1. I will reduce my fuel consumption by carpooling, riding a bike, using public transportation, walking etc.
2. I will use more green cleaning products.
3. I will eat more local and organic foods.
4. I will write a letter to my Representatives and Senators to express my green ideas
5. I will buy more local products within a 150-mile radius from my home to support the local economy and reduce transportation overhead.
6. I will dispose of my yard waste in accordance with the law. I promise to never burn my yard waste and to compost or re-use it whenever possible.
7. I will purchase and install a programmable thermostat to save money and energy on heating and cooling.
8. I will pick up litter when I see it and dispose of it properly.
9. I will recycle as many types of materials as possible including paper, aluminum, plastic and cardboard.
10. I will dispose of hazardous wastes in accordance with the law. This includes paints, household chemicals, electronics, fluorescent light bulbs and NiCd and Li-Ion batteries.
by jboullion | Dec 30, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Sheboygan Press:
Gov. Jim Doyle’s 2006 campaign promise of having four University of Wisconsin campuses completely “off the grid” by 2012 and get their energy needs from renewable sources was an ambitious one.
Unfortunately, it has turned out to be an impossible task.
Doyle said that campuses at Oshkosh, River Falls, Green Bay and Stevens Point were to work toward energy independence as a way to show that it can be done. Doyle has pushed hard for Wisconsin to research and implement alternative energy sources, especially renewable sources — wind, solar and biomass. The goal is to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels, especially oil bought from foreign countries.
The four schools were to start producing their own electricity or buy it from utilities using the renewable sources of energy, Doyle said in 2006. The challenge also would spark energy conservation on the four campuses.
But with just two years to go, the promise far outshines the reality.
Still, there has been significant progress.
UW-Green Bay, which specializes in environmental education, has reduced its energy use by 26 percent since 2005.
UW-River Falls is studying the use of wind turbines on the campus farm to generate electricity. . . .
If the governor deserves any criticism for his promise, it is that he set an unrealistic timetable and did not ensure that there was adequate funding.
But Wisconsin must continue to do the research and find the technology that will not only reduce reliance on fossil fuels, but also ensure that energy in the future will be less costly.
by jboullion | Dec 29, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Sheboygan Press:
Gov. Jim Doyle’s 2006 campaign promise of having four University of Wisconsin campuses completely “off the grid” by 2012 and get their energy needs from renewable sources was an ambitious one.
Unfortunately, it has turned out to be an impossible task.
Doyle said that campuses at Oshkosh, River Falls, Green Bay and Stevens Point were to work toward energy independence as a way to show that it can be done. Doyle has pushed hard for Wisconsin to research and implement alternative energy sources, especially renewable sources — wind, solar and biomass. The goal is to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels, especially oil bought from foreign countries.
The four schools were to start producing their own electricity or buy it from utilities using the renewable sources of energy, Doyle said in 2006. The challenge also would spark energy conservation on the four campuses.
But with just two years to go, the promise far outshines the reality.
Still, there has been significant progress.
UW-Green Bay, which specializes in environmental education, has reduced its energy use by 26 percent since 2005.
UW-River Falls is studying the use of wind turbines on the campus farm to generate electricity. . . .
If the governor deserves any criticism for his promise, it is that he set an unrealistic timetable and did not ensure that there was adequate funding.
But Wisconsin must continue to do the research and find the technology that will not only reduce reliance on fossil fuels, but also ensure that energy in the future will be less costly.
by jboullion | Dec 24, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Lisa Kaiser in the Shepard Express (Milwaukee):
Supporters of a proposed clean energy bill promise that not only will the new green energy standards help the environment, but that they will also help the state’s bottom line.
If passed by the state Legislature, the proposed Clean Energy Jobs Act would increase the amount of electricity to be generated by renewable energy, change building codes, implement new energy standards for appliances and cars sold in the state, revise the state’s requirements for new nuclear power plants, and require the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to consider greenhouse gas emissions when planning a new transportation project.
The bill, built on recommendations from the Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming, would require 25% of the state’s energy to be produced from renewable sources by 2025 and encourage businesses and residents to conserve energy and increase energy efficiency measures.
Taken together, the bill’s provisions would cut the state’s greenhouse gas emissions 22% by 2022 and 75% by 2050.
The bill will be introduced in the state Legislature after the winter break, and supporters would like to deliver it to the governor’s desk by April 22, 2010, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.
by jboullion | Dec 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by RENEW Wisconsin:
An Examination of Wisconsin Policy Research Institute’s Bogus Methodology
Madison, WI (December 22, 2009) In response to a recent report from the Wisconsin Public Research Institute (WPRI) concluding that policies to increase renewable energy production would be prohibitively expensive, RENEW Wisconsin, a leading sustainable energy advocacy organization, today issued a critique documenting the faulty assumptions and methodological errors that undermine the credibility of that finding.
WPRI’s report, titled “The Economics of Climate Change Proposals in Wisconsin,” reviewed the proposal in the Governor’s Global Warming Task Force to increase the state’s renewable energy requirements on electric utilities to 25% by 2025, and estimated a total cost in excess $16 billion. RENEW’s analysis uncovered a disturbing pattern of “methodological sleight-of-hand, assumptions from outer space, and selective ignoring of facts” that render WPRI’s cost estimate to be completely unreliable.
“It appears that WPRI’s $16 billion number was pulled out of thin air, and that its analysis is nothing more than a tortured effort at reverse-engineering the numbers to fit the preordained conclusion,” said Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin executive director.
Specifically, RENEW identified four significant errors in WPRI’s analytical approach. The critique says:
+ It relies on a grossly inflated electricity sales forecast that is completely detached from current realities.
+ The final cost estimate includes all the generation built to comply with the current renewable energy standard, a clear-cut case of double-counting.
+ The authors fail to account for existing renewable generation capacity that is not currently being applied to a state renewable energy standard.
+ There is a high likelihood that the savings from the renewable energy standard are undervalued, because the authors fail to model plant retirements in their analysis.
