eZing

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Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:43:00 -0500

Please join us at our new blog site. In an effort to make all of our energy efficiency news/info more accessible, we’ve made our blog part of the eZing website. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your continued support and we can’t wait to see you at the new site. You can also subscribe to the RSS Feed if you’d like to receive notification when we post.

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eZing Team

"But Barack Obama is also the most powerful person in the world who says he’s committed to averting..."

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:26:00 -0600

“

But Barack Obama is also the most powerful person in the world who says he’s committed to averting climate disaster, and with acknowledging that comes some responsibilities. It turns out that even short of congressional action there are a number of extremely significant things the executive branch could do …… The environmental protection agency actually has the legal authority to begin regulating carbon under the Clean Air Act–no need for congressional approval. The executive branch is such a massive purchaser of energy, vehicles and equipment, it could use that purchasing power to create new, vibrant markets for clean energy.

And the White House currently has the authority to block the Keystone XL pipeline, which would pipe extremely carbon intensive tar sands oil from Canada to refineries in Texas. If that pipeline is built, it means a huge new source of emissions into the foreseeable future. The cliche about second presidential terms, one with, I think, a good deal of truth to it, is that in a second term, a president’s attention turns to leaving a legacy. I am almost certain that 50 or 100 years from now, the only issue that will really matter to people is what we did about the climate.

”

- Chris Hayes, of Up With Chris Hayes, MSNBC, reacts to the President’s (surprising) concern about climate change in the Inaugural Address, Jan 21. Despite the obstructionism of the 2013 Congress, says Hayes, the President has the responsibility to use his executive power to make progress on energy efficiency, alternative energy, and other reductions in our use of carbon. Hayes’s full post.

Most Residential Consumers Unaware They are Energy Hogs

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:22:00 -0600

“For many years, we’ve asked consumers who they most blame for rising energy costs. And for years, respondents have said they most blame either 1) oil companies, or 2) the U.S. government – with utilities much farther down the list. This year, in light of declining natural gas prices, we edited the question, asking who (or what) respondents thought most affects energy costs. With this change, “blame” shifted dramatically to utilities, followed closely by oil companies and the U.S. government.” “Most pertinent, however, is who Americans don’t blame – themselves. Only 12 percent blamed energy costs on their own demand, because 80 percent of consumers think they use the same or less energy in their homes than they did five years ago. And we know this simply isn’t true — American residential energy consumption hit record highs last year.” From The Shelton Group. Let’s repeat: Shelton Group finds that 80 percent of us are unaware that we use more energy than 5 years ago in our homes.

Beijing to Curb Rampant Air Pollution “The Beijing...

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 07:19:16 -0600

Beijing to Curb Rampant Air Pollution

“The Beijing government put in place emergency measures on Wednesday to try to combat thick smog that has encased the city, which the Communist Party has hailed as a showcase capital, in brown and gray soot. The measures include temporarily shutting down more than 100 factories and ordering one-third of government vehicles off the streets, according to official news reports.” — New York Times.

The human cost of coal, in photos -- Sierra magazine

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:13:52 -0600

The human cost of coal, in photos -- Sierra magazine:

When mining companies level West Virginia mountains to get at the coal beneath, towns disappear.

When a Michigan power plant burns coal to make electricity, it triggers asthma in children nearby.

When coal ash blows onto a Paiute reservation in Nevada, elders die.

Sierra traveled to those three states to ask people how their lives have been affected by the world’s dirtiest energy source—and what they’re doing to stop it.

This is how important mainstream media thinks home energy...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:20:34 -0600

This is how important mainstream media thinks home energy efficiency is:

The moderator arrived 2 minutes before shooting this public service segment the News Station is required to do; focused on the props we brought not the energy myths we were to talk about; and it was all over in 3 minutes on a Sunday morning before 7 am.

The sad fact is that most people don’t think they need an energy audit when they do. They may have installed energy efficient windows, CFLs, or attic insulation and figure that’s enough. They may have had a utility company assessment and followed up with work covered by rebates. However, without an independent energy evaluation, most homeowners don’t really know how their home performs and how best to spend their money on energy efficient improvements.

We know one person who saw us on TV that morning — an insomniac carpenter friend of Cheryl’s.

"Humans are a plague on the Earth. It’s coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It’s not..."

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:18:28 -0600

“Humans are a plague on the Earth. It’s coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It’s not just climate change; it’s sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde.

Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world is doing it for us right now”

- David Attenborough | Breaking News (via kateoplis)

Born in 1926, Sir David Attenborough is a graduate of Cambridge University (1947) in Natural Sciences. In 1979, he wrote and presented all 13 parts of “Life on Earth” (1979) (then the most ambitious series ever produced by the BBC Natural History Unit). This became a trilogy, with “The Living Planet” (1984) and “The Trials of Life” (1990).

breanieswordvomit: Y’all know I’m memorizing that line...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 23:22:31 -0600

breanieswordvomit:

Y’all know I’m memorizing that line right?

We, we, we, are laughing all the way home.

"We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to..."

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:31:00 -0600

“We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.”

- Pres. Barack Obama’s Second Inaugural Address, Jan 21, 2013, in which the President states that climate change and “sustainable energy sources” are something the US must lead on.

"A meat-eater with a bicycle is much more environmentally unfriendly than a vegetarian with a..."

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 10:00:42 -0600

““A meat-eater with a bicycle is much more environmentally unfriendly than a vegetarian with a Hummer.” — Dr Mark Post,a star of the Dutch research into in-vitro meat.”

- Alex Renton, “Inside the meat lab: the future of food,” in The Guardian. A fascinating article on the future of food production.

Gov Cuomo Offers Plan for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 14:19:00 -0600

The NYS 2100 Commission, a panel of experts assembled by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo back in November, just two weeks after the storm. EDF CEO Fred Krupp served on the commission, and our energy team prepared extensive recommendations on how to make our energy system more robust, resilient and adaptable. In yesterday’s State of the State address, he talked about the results…. (1 hr 31 min into the video)

For example, amid the darkness and devastation, there were dozens of homes, businesses, even whole communities that kept their lights on and the water because they were designed to isolate breakdowns, heal quicker, and work with natural systems rather than against them. —Andy Darrell of Energy Defense Fund (EDF), Guest Blogger, ThinkProgress.

Excerpts from Gov. Cuomo’s speech: “We have to accept the fact… that climate change is real… It is denial to say each of these situations is a once in a life time. There has been a once in a 100 year floor every 2 years now. we must lower the green house emission cap (CO2 cap) , increase use of alternative power … and distributed energy…. We must understand the needs of coastal communities… We propose the Recreate NY Smart Home program— a home construction mitigation grant program (shows a home built on stilts at water’s edge)… We propose a homeowner buyout program for people who want to relocate to higher ground literally …. We must harden the city subway system so that flooding doesn’t occur— it’s closing tunnels, it’s closing vents… the technology is there. It’s hardening our airports ….. and our fuel delivery system… We must harden our utilities… we must redesign our power system … put real regulatory enforcement teeth into the Public Service Commission…”

Obama Administration’s climate scientists are very...

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 13:44:37 -0600

Obama Administration’s climate scientists are very concerned about the effects of climate change in the 2013 National Climate Assessment, but the Administration released the NCA report on Friday at 4 pm to “bury” it in the news cycle.

The National Climate Assessment is produced by the US Global Change Research Program, which is tasked with collating climate research from a wide variety of federal agencies and, every few years, distilling it into one major report. The latest, a first draft, is the third such report (the last was in 2009), product of a 1990 law that requires the White House to produce semi-regular updates on climate science to Congress. Today’s report echoes the themes of earlier editions….. Mother Jones

2012 was the United States’ warmest year on record The map above...

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:10:00 -0600

2012 was the United States’ warmest year on record

The map above shows where the 2012 temperatures were different from the 1981–2010 average. Shades of red indicate temperatures up to 8° Fahrenheit warmer than average, and shades of blue indicate temperatures up to 8° Fahrenheit cooler than average—the darker the color, the larger the difference from average temperature.

According to the latest statistics from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, the average temperature for the contiguous United States for 2012 was 55.3° Fahrenheit, which was 3.2° Fahrenheit above the twentieth-century average and 1.0° Fahrenheit above the previous record from 1998. The year consisted of the fourth-warmest winter, a record-warm spring, the second-warmest summer, and a warmer-than-average autumn.

"What’s the cost of our appetite for coal power? Residents of Kingston, Tenn. woke up to a nightmare..."

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 11:28:38 -0600

“

What’s the cost of our appetite for coal power? Residents of Kingston, Tenn. woke up to a nightmare three days before Christmas in 2008. Some 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash slurry – a noxious, toxic flow from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s nearby coal-fired plant – ran like a “black wave” through the tiny Emory River after a holding pond dike collapsed.

More than four years later, TVA and local authorities are still dealing with cleanup and arguing over damages. The spill brought national attention to coal-fired power’s waste stream. Federal officials estimate that there are 47 “high-hazard” coal ash ponds across the United States.

”

- Opinion: A green energy loss in perspective
(via coalashchronicles)

Carbon Taxes in Ireland a Success

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 14:59:00 -0600

Taxes on garbage and fossil fuels are part of Ireland’s strategy to shrink its debt and its use of fossil fuels. After 3 years the results are in: it’s a success. Ireland is greener than ever. Full article and 2 min video.

"We are not saints like those Scandinavians — we were lapping up fossil fuels, buying bigger cars and..."

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 21:37:45 -0600

““We are not saints like those Scandinavians — we were lapping up fossil fuels, buying bigger cars and homes, very American…. We just set up a price signal that raised significant revenue and changed behavior. Now, we’re smashing through the environmental targets we set for ourselves.” — Eamon Ryan, Ireland’s energy minister from 2007 to 2011.”

- NYTimes

EPA Chief to Step Down, Moderate Successes Achieved

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 17:23:25 -0600

Despite high hopes for action on climate change and other environmental issues, the EPA Chief, Lisa Jackson, must be content, after four years, with winning several battles, if not the war. The cap and trade bill died in the Senate early on. Jackson’s proposal for a new ozone pollution standard was rejected by Obama. After 2010 Republican gains in the House, the EPA had to play more defense than offense.

Despite all the challenges, however,

Ms. Jackson has achieved some notable firsts, including the finding that carbon dioxide and five other gases that contribute to global warming meet the definition of pollutants under the Clean Air Act. That so-called endangerment finding, which has survived federal court challenges from industry, allowed the agency to negotiate strict new emissions standards for cars and light trucks, the first time the federal government has limited global warming pollution.

Furthermore,

The (endangerment) finding also formed the basis of the first steps toward regulating greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants… The rule governing new power plants in effect bans the construction of new coal-fired power plants unless they capture carbon dioxide emissions, a technology so far unproven on a commercial scale.

…The E.P.A. under Ms. Jackson also established the first standards for emissions of mercury, arsenic and other airborne toxins from power plants….

Read the full NYTimes article here.

Not mentioned in the article: new power plants will likely be powered by natural gas, whose emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides are half that of coal-fired plants; while their emissions of sulfur oxides and mercury are trivial.

Observation: The car industry needs to make high mpg vehicles to compete in a global market anyway. We suspect this helped EPA make headway on this “battleground”.

GOOD NEWS ABOUT SPRAY AND BOARD FOAM Closed Cell Spray Foam...

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 01:02:00 -0600

GOOD NEWS ABOUT SPRAY AND BOARD FOAM

Closed Cell Spray Foam (ccSPF) and Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) are 2 commonly used insulation and air seal products. As energy auditors, clients often ask about the health of these and other insulation products. Concerns about these products include: off gassing effects on human health, long term performance of spray foam (shrinkage), ozone depletion potential (ODP), and global warming potential (GWP).

A review of a session about Spray Foam, by Building Science Corporation, is provided by Allison Bailes.Bailes’s Energy Vanguard and Lstiburek’s Building Science Corporation websites are highly recommended for energy auditing practitioners.

The good news about spray foam is that low GWP blowing agents are being developed and Honeywell will use a low GWP blowing agent in 2013; the ODP blowing agents (CFCs) are being phased out even in developing countries; and high GWP blowing agents (HFCs) have been or will be phased out in 2013.

On the health front, the SPFA (Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance) provides contractor certification in proper use of spray foams to achieve expected air seal and insulation potential and ensure proper ventilation during and after install. It’s up to building owners to ask about a contractor’s SPFA certification!

How Much Lead Is In Your Home?

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:44:00 -0600

Neurological research is demonstrating that lead’s effects are even more appalling, more permanent, and appear at far lower levels than we ever thought.

I know people who have moved into gentrified neighborhoods and immediately renovate everything. They create huge hazards for their kids.

Great reporting by Kevin Drum of Mother Jones in its Jan/Feb 2013 magazine. Even though we’ve taken lead out of most gasoline and out of much of old building stock (lead paint), it settles in the soil, gets stirred up from the soil and re-enters the air, our homes, and our food. High lead levels in the body correlate to lower IQ. Lead levels in gasoline correlates closely with violent crime levels 23 years later. It has been thought of as a low-income, African-American problem but it’s not that simple.

secretrepublic: Can we say it? 2005 was peak car in America.

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 22:55:07 -0600

secretrepublic:

Can we say it? 2005 was peak car in America.