the environment on blast
July 31st, 2009

Lobbyists forge letters to congress?

Should this be true, I have to say I’m surprised. Not because I think that this is morally beneath lobbyists, but because I thought that they’d be reasonably intelligent, at least to the level where you don’t pick huge, active liberal groups and write letters as them. So just in case you’re lobbying for something, don’t hire Bonner & Associates.

We know the dirty energy companies will stop at nothing to prevent progress in the creation of a clean and just energy economy, but this is a new low!

News just broke1 that Congressman Tom Perriello received FORGED letters telling him to vote against taking action on a clean energy economy from a corporate lobby firm, Bonner & Associates.  What’s worse is that these forged letter were sent on behalf of organizations like the NAACP and Creciendo Juntos (a nonprofit network that tackles issues related to Charlottesville’s Latino/Hispanic community).

Take action now to stop our democracy and our future from being compromised.

Dirty energy companies and their lobbyists are using dirty tricks to prevent a clean and prosperous energy future.  We can’t let this happen.

Demand Congress stand with us their constituents, not the corporate polluters.

Standing with you,

Jessy Tolkan
Executive Director
Energy Action Coalition

by Ryan | Posted in Lobbying | No Comments » |
July 23rd, 2009

Over 100 Groups Urge Congress to Support President Obama’s Energy Education Initiative

Hot off the press: emPower is one of the 100 groups urging the Senate to support the renewable energy education program ‘RE-ENERGYSE’. Press release below.

A group of over 100 universities, professional associations, and student groups joined the Breakthrough Institute yesterday in submitting a letter urging the U.S. Senate to fully support the Obama administration’s national energy education initiative.  The initiative, named “RE-ENERGYSE” (REgaining our ENERGY Science and Engineering Edge), would produce thousands of highly-skilled U.S. energy workers and develop new energy education programs at American universities and K-12 schools.
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July 14th, 2009

UFC 101 – Steve Chu vs House of Representatives

This is Steve. Hes trying to show you what science thinks (right hand) and what Congress does (right hand)

This is Steve. He's trying to show you what science thinks (right hand) and what Congress does (left hand)

You know those awesome innovation hubs Energy Secretary Steve Chu was pulling together? The ones focused on tackling the most difficult problems in renewable energy? The ones which break away from the traditional, archaic, loosely focused approach we currently use to create interdisciplinary institutes that focus laser sharp on specific advances in technology, once again restoring the US to vanguard of cutting edge, highly applicable solutions? Oh yeah, those hubs have been all but cut by the House Appropriations Subcommittee.

Funding for the Energy Innovation Hubs has been cut to less than $35 million from Chu’s initial request of $280 million. Furthermore, believing that they understand the science better than the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs director-emeritus and Nobel laureate Steve Chu, they have gone against Chu’s reccomendations and funded $190 million in hydrogen research.

Wait, what?

Lets get the talk straight from the horses’ mouth. Here’s what Chu has to say about these hubs.

“I believe that to solve the energy problem, the Department of Energy must strive to be the modern version of Bell Labs in energy research, and that is what these Hubs will do. They will essentially be little ‘Bell Lablets’. The scientific collaboration the Hubs will foster will be unique and indispensable, and must be backed by a meaningful and sustained investment. ”

So there you have it guys: The Energy Secretary picked to push through a massive overhaul and reform of American energy research has been overruled on his massive overhauls and reform of American energy research by a bunch of massively entrenched political… idiots.

I know it’s not a nice word but for Pete’s sake there’s no other word to describe it. When politicians cut something as absolutely revolutionary and game-changing as these institutions in the name of “redundancy” then drop $190 on a failing, low-potential option like hydrogen research it can not be described as anything but lunatic idiocy. Further more: Out of a budget that’s $26.9 billion (with a b) dollars, you guys take issue with something that’s one percent of the budget? Wait, you take it out, then you replace it with something equally as large but has nowhere near as broad an applicability and holds limited scientific creditability?

I’ve been watching a lot of Top Gear recently, so forgive me when I say this:

Oh… cock.

Via Wired.

by Ryan | Posted in Energy, Lobbying | No Comments » |
July 7th, 2009

Microsoft Hohm spells funny, saves energy

Ever wondered exactly how your home energy bill breaks down? Microsoft has just released a new tool called Hohm that gives you a microscope on your bills.

If you’re looking for a quick tool to figure out if you need more insulation, this is not it. Hohm breaks your energy usage down to the individual appliances, building a comprehensive map of where each one of your hard earned cents go. Your annual energy outlay is transformed into easy to understand pie charts and graphs, allowing you to visualize exactly where you’re spending the most and where you can improve. At the end Hohm will present you with a list of energy saving projects you can undertake, providing details like the current cost, initial cost for installation, and payback period.

Microsoft Hohm via Lifehacker

by Ryan | Posted in Energy | No Comments » | Tags: , , ,













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