President Barack Obama said Tuesday in his not-a-state-of-the-union speech, "It begins with energy." That means investment in fossil-fuel alternatives, in expanding the number of high-mileage automobiles, a smart grid. Some of the plan is incredibly simple and straightforward.
Retrofitting homes is a labor-intensive endeavor. An average home retrofit takes a crew of three people about five days to complete. There are 111 million homes in this country. We can cut consumption in these homes 30 to 50 percent or $700 to $1150 annually on average. Every four crews or so needs a project manager. Every retrofit company needs accountants, executives, salesmen, and administrative staff. They need legal advice, they need office supplies, and they need to advertise. The insulation, caulk and sealants, appliances, and mechanical systems they install have to be manufactured. The money that each person saves from being wasted on energy will be spent, supporting other industries and creating more jobs. Add to this projection the 4.8 million commercial buildings in this country, representing 72 million square feet of space. |
The stimulus bill includes $5 billion for weatherization, a project that could have been completed decades ago if Ronald Reagan hadn't chopped the budget for that the way he did most other conservation and efficiency measures. But even Jimmy Carter's weatherization budget didn't come close to what's in the stimulus package.
Weatherization isn't all.
G. Jeffrey MacDonald at The Christian Science Monitor reports:
Stimulus plans brings green home improvement tax breaks
Energy-saving systems for the attic, basement, and in between have effectively gone on sale, courtesy of the United States Congress.
But whether shoppers will take advantage -- or even notice available discounts -- remains an open question. ...
"This is by far the most the federal government has done in the past several decades" to reward energy-efficiency investments, says Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. "In many cases, this will make the high-efficiency product cheaper than the low-efficiency product. [For consumers], this is pretty lucrative, and I'd be surprised if it gets extended into 2011."
New incentives increase the size of tax credits for homeowners who buy qualifying products. For instance, those who invest in highly-rated insulation, replacement windows, duct seals, or high-efficiency heating and cooling systems can now receive a tax credit worth 30 percent of the upgrade cost (maximum credit value: $1,500).
Previously, homeowners could get a tax credit worth just 10 percent of an upgrade cost, up to a maximum of $500. Now, taxpayers who spend $800 on an efficient water heater, $1,000 on insulation, and $2,000 on windows could lop $1,140 off their federal tax bill. |
As with any of his policies, details of the Obama energy agenda touched on in his speech need vigorous scrutiny, for instance, the carbon cap, and, in some cases - "clean coal" being chief among them - outright opposition. But we stand on threshold of an energy policy that outshines anything that we've seen ever.
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The Green Diary Rescue begins below and continues in the jump.
dannym999 delivered the Scariest global warming graph I've ever seen: "Scientists tell us that going past 2C warmer will be disaster. ... 2C warming will be really bad, 3C will be biblical, and at 4C and above, we face the possible collapse of agriculture, the economy, and perhaps civilization itself. It may be ‘Game Over’ at 6C and above. We can see from the graph that there is a 50% chance we will cross the 2C ‘danger line’ between 2040 and 2050, and there is a 95% chance will will cross it by 2060 or before."
Idaho to Ask Feds for Permission to Kill Nearly 100 Wolves, according to Brian at BigWildlife, who says the claims are bogus: "Today, the wildlife advocacy group, Big Wildlife, urged the Obama Administration to reject the Idaho Fish and Game's (IDFG) request to kill nearly 100 wolves near the Lolo National Forest. This week, Idaho officials said it was developing a plan to remove nearly 80 percent of wolves in two ‘game’ management areas ostensibly to boost elk numbers. Under a provision of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), states are permitted to kill wolves where officials claim the animals are preventing ‘game’ populations from reaching management goals."
The Overnight News Digest is and includes the story, Downturn to cost billions in aid to world's poor.
A Siegel reported on Obama’s speech, "It begins with energy ...", noting that the President said: "The leader of the 21st century is the nation that leads in clean energy. Americans see ourselves as leaders, yesterday, today, and into the future. To achieve that, my fellow Americans, we must be clean energy leaders. ’And yet, it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient. We invented solar technology, but we’ve fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it. New plug-in hybrids roll off our assembly lines, but they will run on batteries made in Korea.’"
ATL Dem viewed Van Hollen's dangerous climate bill: "A day after the president's call for a climate cap in his inspiring address to Congress, Chris Van Hollen is introducing a ‘cap and dividend’ bill. The bill would set a cap on carbon emissions, charge polluters for the privilege of emitting carbon up to the cap, and distribute the proceeds to equally to everyone with a Social Security number. This approach is seductively elegant compared with the major alternative, which is to invest the proceeds from carbon charges in green energy, workforce transition support, technical assistance, and the like. Dividends avoid all the politics of how to make this investment. Unfortunately, they would probably also make the carbon cap and pricing system completely unworkable. "
Taking tree hugging another step, Bob Guyer began his Suburban Tree Dialog 1: "I have started talking with this tree in my imagination as I run and now I am going to begin to write out this dialog. My purpose in beginning this dialog is to see if by giving nature a voice in my subjective life, through talking with this tree, I can gain a greater appreciation of my relationship with the world of plants. It may seem a strange idea at first but there is a method to my madness."
Asinus Asinum Fricat provided a summary of Water & Food News You Can Use, which including this bit: "Algae-eating fish used to clean up Chinese lake: – Chinese authorities have turned to algae-eating fish to clean up a toxic algal bloom in one of the country's most famous and scenic bodies of water, Tai Lake (Taihu) near Wuxi in Jiangsu Province."
ElsieElsie sought metaphor in Ginkgo: A Tale of Survival: "When reading about climate change unsettles me, I sometimes need a little reassurance. Today, I turned to an old childhood friend for help. ... I find ginkgo trees reassuring when I read about change in our biosphere. They are durable survivors, in some ways an example of what we need to be, in others a fantastic metaphor."
Renewable Fertilizer, Regional Vegetables
was Stranded Wind’s warning: "I spent a lot of time in 2008 espousing the theory of relocalizing vegetable production in conjunction with the manufacture of renewable ammonia. I've paid a lot of attention to the grain production side, as the credit mess and natural gas depletion have gotten into our typical fertilization regime and the results in 2009 may very well be disaster. Last week I saw an article that indicates climate change has got loose in our national vegetable production strategy."
NNadir took a gander at The Problem of Halogens in Recycled Plastics: "The crisis of plastic waste is now several decades old and many of us - if not most of us - now participate in recycling programs. I often reflect on the plastics I throw away, wondering to myself what really becomes of them after they are hauled away in giant dangerous fossil fuel trucks. I have always had the fantasy of following the trucks to see where they really go."
indigoblueskies was sad because My chicken died today: "I usually let the girls roam around the backyard for a few hours in the afternoon. I live at the end of a cul de sac next to open space, and coyote sightings are reasonably common in the neighborhood. Today I heard a loud squawking and went to investigate. A neighbor reported seeing a coyote race down the street with ‘the rooster’ in its mouth. There are way too many feathers on the lawn to give me any hope of seeing Loco alive again. Usually I love the diverse animals nearby, but today I'm just bummed."