Conserve Energy at Home Made Simple

Hey all maybe we should start a contest for who reduced their energy use at home the most. I have to brag... our bill for June 2008 is 620 KW less than our bill for June 2007.

How do we do it? Keep the air conditioner at 80 and run ceiling fans! I am so used to it that I have turned it to 82 in the evening while watching TV. What's next?

Turn off the HD energy hog TV two days a week? Use my induction burner more and make salads more?

Read this great article from the WSJ!

Leslie

No New Coal Plants! (nonewcoalplants@energyjustice.net)

This should get the utilities' knickers in a twist -- conservation getting noticeable.
My electric bill shows we use 46% less juice now than we did last year (we turned off the hot tub and replaced all bulbs, etc).

Pulling the Plug: Summer of '08 Sparks Creative Conservation With Temperatures -- and electric Bills -- High, Families Face Meltdown; Bourbon Cubes

By STEPHANIE SIMON
July 14, 2008; Page A1

There are days -- just the most stifling and sticky of days -- when Reba Kennedy misses the blissful sensation of walking into a house chilled to 72 degrees.

With energy prices soaring, Ms. Kennedy has made the ultimate sacrifice. She's turned off the central air conditioning.

"A lot of my discretionary income was...going into air," says Ms. Kennedy. She lives in San Antonio, Texas. It's hot. She endures. More >>

Here is the URL to this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121599368430549511.html? mod=most_viewed_day

Dirty Power coming to a power plant near you

Louisiana Environmental Action Network and Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release For more information: Leslie March, Sierra Club, (985) 249-1160 John Atkeison, Alliance for Affordable Energy (504) 208-9761 or (302) 345-0607 Aaron Viles, Gulf Restoration Network, (225) 615-0346 Marylee Orr, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, (225) 928-1315 http://sayyestocleanenergy.org

Polluting $1.5 Billion Entergy Plan Challenged: Little Gypsy Project Will Mean Big Pain for Ratepayers BATON ROUGE - Today community groups rallied in opposition to Entergy's plan to pass the costs of its "Little Gypsy" re-powering project on to Louisiana's ratepayers. Entergy plans to replace its current power plant, which burns natural gas, with a plant that burns coal and petroleum coke, a refinery waste product. The Alliance for Affordable Energy, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Sierra Club, and Gulf Restoration Network challenged the proposal at a Louisiana Public Service Commission hearing in Baton Rouge. The groups are opposed to the plant's greatly increased contribution to global warming, its higher toxic load on the environment, and the high costs the plan will impose on ratepayers. "Burning coal produces twice as much greenhouse gas pollution as burning natural gas," says John Atkeison, director of Climate and Clean Energy Programs for the Alliance for Affordable Energy. "This means that Entergy will be imposing the hardship and costs of accelerating global warming on Louisiana and the world if they switch from natural gas to coal and coke." "Little Gypsy is already a financial boondoggle," says Karen Wimpleberg, chair of the Alliance for Affordable Energy, "$500 million more since the original estimate they gave the Public Service Commission. Yet they want ratepayers to prepay the bill. This is a terrible risk for ratepayers but a sweet deal for shareholders." While utilities normally can recover the costs of a plant after the project is complete, Entergy is seeking to pass the costs of Little Gypsy on to its customers before it even begins construction. In the months since Entergy's announcement of the project, the estimated cost has already increased by 50 percent. Long-term costs for the ratepayers will likely increase as well since the proposed fuel switch will increase the plant's emissions of the pollutants responsible for global warming - just as Congress prepares to penalize such pollution. Louisiana stands at particular risk from global warming; if such warming continues unchecked, rising sea levels are projected to increase flooding and accelerate the loss of the state's coastal wetlands. Such risks have prompted Florida's Public Service Commission to reject proposals for new coal-fired power plants. "Louisiana should follow Florida's lead," says Aaron Viles of the Gulf Restoration Network. "We've seen what global warming means for the Gulf; it should be clear we need action to address global warming, not more pollution to make the problem worse." Leslie March, chair of the Delta Chapter of the Sierra Club says, "The PSC is composed of elected officials, and it's time for them to consider the best interests of their constituents. We've jointly launched www.sayyestocleanenergy.org so the public can remind the PSC that South Louisiana is ground zero for climate change impacts, and it is time to shift away from dirty energy sources like coal." Coke and coal are vastly dirtier fuels than natural gas, contributing to smog and other pollution that causes asthma and a variety of other respiratory diseases. "Louisiana has cheaper, cleaner, better alternatives to satisfy its energy needs," says Marylee Orr of Louisiana Environmental Action Network, noting that simple, inexpensive measures to increase energy efficiency could sharply reduce Louisiana's need for electricity and that investment in renewable energy could boost the economy and create jobs. # # # Atchafalaya Basinkeeper Dean Wilson 225-692-4114 Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper Paul Orr 225-928-1315

Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper | P.O. Box 66323 | Baton Rouge | LA | 70809

We can't argue with this great idea

How about a blog devoted solely to clean technology, electronic or otherwise? As our world gets more enamored with all things technological, we burn a lot more fuel to power it all. Good Clean Tech . com bills itself as "The Independent Guide to Ecotechnology" for a good reason. They "aim to provide you with news, tips, advice, and ideas about how to do more with less." Now that's an ideal that we ought to all aspire to.

http://www.goodcleantech.com/

Chew on this little fact you filthy Americans.

If you think that all of your do-gooder environmental choices actually do any good, read this little piece from Thomas Friedman of the New York Times. It is slightly disheartening, but no reason to give up the good fight. In fact it is all the more reason to fight even harder.

Read the whole story here >>

The full URL...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/opinion/19friedman.html?_r=1&n=Top/Opinion/ >>
Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Op-Ed/Columnists/Thomas%20L%20Friedman&oref=slogin

Entergy to offer green power

But customers will pay for the privilege

Sunday, March 25, 2007

By Pam Radtke Russell

Beginning next month, some Louisiana residents will be able to pay more for electricity.

Yes, more.

Under a green pricing program, Entergy Gulf States customers in Baton Rouge and western Louisiana can choose to pay 2.25 cents per kilowatt hour more to buy green or renewable power.

http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/money-3/1174800541214070.xml&coll=1

U. S. to follow Australia and California's lead on lighting?

As California-and Australia and Europe-goes, so (should) go the nation. That's why it's time for the country to phase out inefficient energy-consuming light-bulbs.

Small idea. Big impact.

Today, I introduced a bill to require all light bulbs produced or used in the U.S. to meet current fluorescent bulb standards (60 lumens per watt) by 2012, 90 lumens by 2016, and 120 by 2020.

Read more by following the URL below.

www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-jane-harman/a-bright-idea-for-america_b_43519.html

Australia to ban old-style bulbs

SYDNEY, Australia - The Australian government on Tuesday announced plans to phase out incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs across the country.

California is also considering doing the same thing. Can Louisiana be far behind? We can only hope.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_hi_te/ban_the_bulb;_ylt=An4glEGQlLPjnm2xvXE6dztj24cA