ENN: Environmental News Network -- Know Your Environment

Where, from my cafe seat near Tiananmen Square,  plans to expand solar power in the United States look a lot different than from my office in Northern California — where I am the CEO of one of America’s larger solar power companies.

Many of the measures — and half measures — that we read about every day in American papers are things the Germans and Chinese and Spanish and French decided to do 10 years ago.

They are racing. We are walking.

Germany, for example: Hardly a sunny hot spot — but it has more solar installations than any country in the world. 200 times more than England.

That is because German citizens have been getting 50 to 75 cents per kilowatt hour for the solar power they sell back to the grid. Spain is similar.

Great Britain and France and Ontario and other places throughout the world recently raised their so-called ‘feed in tariffs’ to  comparable levels. In Gainseville, Florida, the feed-in tariff is now the highest in the country at 32 cents.

All of a sudden there is an explosion of interest in solar in Gainseville.

In California, we get less than 10  cents. And that is more than most places.

In the United States, we limit not just the price but also the amount of solar energy an owner can sell back to the grid.

So we wait for the day when all the transmission lines are perfect. When the grid is perfect. When all the energy infrastructure is in place.

Meanwhile, we wait for an energy future that may never come.

If we allowed the price to rise, and removed the limits on how much solar energy a farmer or business owner or school or police station could generate, we would see an explosion in demand for solar and other renewables.

That would reduce our dependence on foreign energy and stimulate domestic manufacturing as well.

It’s a two-fer.

That is our best chance of creating solar panel manufacturing jobs in the United States. But it is already very late in the game.

Michael Northrop of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund points out the most of the world’s largest renewable energy manufacturing happens outside the United States. He says:

“Not only are we shipping oil dollars to the Middle East, we are watching our solar, wind, and other renewable energy dollars begin flowing to Asia. … The U.S. needs to decide rapidly whether it wants to own this future or pay for it.”

From my seat in Beijing, where I am travelling the country visiting suppliers for my solar power installation company, it looks as if this decision has already been made.

Tom Rooney is the President and CEO of SPG Solar. He can be reached at www.spgsolar.com

Many areas of the US have high background radon level in the ground. When radon gets into a home it can increase the resident’s cancer risk. How does radon get into a home? The most common way is through cracks in basement floors, walls, and sump pump sumps. In the winter, if a furnace or boiler is in the basement, the chimney can act as a depressurization device since combustion air is vented to the outdoors. If the basement is tight, and there is no source of combustion air, the heating system (and water heater too) can depressurize the basement. If there is radon in the soil gas below the house, this depressurization will increase radon infiltration through cracks and sumps. Another infiltration route is through groundwater. In areas with elevated radon in rock formations, and in homes using on-site wells for water, the water carries radon into the shower where it vaporizes to gaseous radon.

January is National Radon Action Month, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is touting three initiatives to raise awareness about the risks of radon. Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that can exist at dangerous levels in homes, schools and other buildings. An estimated 20,000 people die every year in the U.S. from radon-related lung cancer.

This year EPA is highlighting three events: the winners of the National Radon Poster Contest, new global guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO), and a new video outreach campaign.

Three middle school students are being honored for their award-winning posters illustrating radon’s risk. First-place winner of the National Radon Poster Contest is Alec Smith, an eighth grader at Guthrie Junior High School (Guthrie, Okla.); second-place winner is Emily Pinnock, an eighth grader at Olympus Junior High (Holladay, Utah); and third-place winner is Noah Jermain, an eighth grader at Savannah Middle School (Savannah, Mo.).

“The National Radon Poster Contest is a great way to teach students and parents about the dangers of radon,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “Testing and fixing homes for radon helps save lives in communities across the country.”

Last September, EPA joined the World Health Organization’s first global call-to-action on cancer risk from radon. WHO’s Handbook on Indoor Radon represents collaboration by 30 countries seeking to understand and overcome the risks posed by radon while demonstrating the consensus that radon is a global public health risk. The WHO guidance is intended to help countries establish or expand radon programs.

Anyone who knows anything about green movements, legislation, and popularization knows that the concept of framing is perhaps one of the most highly used tactics used by green activists and politicians to garner support for environmentalist causes. Basically, framing is the act of taking an issue and highlighting a more specific aspect of that issue to strike the interest and sympathy of supporters who might otherwise not have cared. Two of the most popular environmental frames are public health- based claims and economic claims. A public health- based claim hypothesizes that a pollutant or environmental hazard poses a legitimate and broad-based public health concern, whereas an economic claim supports the position that sustainable living and technology will create a new American economy, will thwart the threat of foreign oil, and will generally be cheaper for the average citizen.

The students at the University of Minnesota have taken up the latter frame as a base for their green campus initiatives, which they hope will save 5% (or $2.5 million) on their school’s energy costs by the ed of the 2010 fiscal year. Broad-based savings are coming from “recomissioning buildings, and optimizing heating systems and timing lights,” yet the focus of students’ efforts is targeted toward a “change of culture” among community members. Since the spring of 2009, the Energy Efficiency Student Alliance has supported the Power Police, “the action arm” of EESA, members of whom visit offices during pre-planned “Building Blitzes”, installing energy-saving devices, and spreading knowledge about the small lifestyle changes that can save the U of M money. The Power Police are especially concerned with what Rob Bauer, co-founder of the EESA, called “phantom” or “vampire” power, or the power that electronics consume when they are turned off but left plugged in (which allows small yet significant amounts of energy to essentially leak into powered devices, which is wasted because they are not in use). At the end of a Blitz, Police can actually measure how much energy has been saved.

The EESA has proven to be a remarkably effective and salient group on campus. New Police are trained every day as volunteers, the coalition continues to grow with the newfound support from EcoWatch (a group focused on environmental outreach), and even uninvolved students appear to be seeking knowledge and accepting responsibility across the U of M campus. Said Bauer, “One of the strengths of the coalition is how it doesn’t exist to supplant what student groups are already doing. Its about bringing together people who are passionate about energy use and the issues that surround that.”

Go U of M! Comment below!

Not often is a book written that can explain the intricacies and effects of economics, international relations, and the green movement, and how the three impact the sociology of our country and our world. However, in his recently released book “$20 Per Gallon,” Christopher Steiner does just that, and makes it interesting and funny to boot. In the text, Steiner delicately yet simply explains to his reader how extremely volatile the American lifestyle is, and how daunting it truly is to be faced with the oil shortage that we all know is in our future, and in some cases, already in our present. His hypothesis is that our lives will drastically change—perhaps for the better—with the rising price of gasoline. We will have to live cleaner, conserve more, be more internationally and politically vigilant, etc, and Steiner begins his weaving of this thesis at the point that our gasoline hit $4 per gallon about a year ago.

At $6 per gallon, the SUV will become defunct, Americans may become skinnier and more fit on average, and the environment will flourish. At $8, airlines will struggle and perhaps shut down completely, travel for college and vacation will largely slow, and Las Vegas (and casinos everywhere) will face huge fiscal downturns. When we hit gasoline prices of $10, delivery services (UPS, FedEx, etc.) will focus on clean, renewable energy for transportation, hybrids, electric cars, and vehicular contraptions beyond our wildest dreams will have their advent in the American market, and ecofriendly plastic will be made faster and be distributed more widely than ever seen before. Steiner predicts that mass urban renewal—both socially and architecturally—will take place at $12, along with migrations to cities en masse, which will cause subways to expand. As the gas price rise, so does the level of technological innovation, architectural and urban reconstruction, and thought revolution, and while the prospect of such change is daunting to a reader (especially one who may have driven 10 miles to buy the text and is currently sitting in an air conditioned room drinking bottled water…), the idea that such change will come gradually and for the betterment of all is welcome. Steiner injects his book with comical and relatable stories of people from around the globe who have already begun to feel the positive impacts of the rising price of gas, perhaps to show his average reader that she can feel it too.

Find it at amazon.com. Read it? Comment!

Randy Cerveny, in his latest book Weather’s Greatest Mysteries Solved!, has transformed the study of weather patterns and phenomenon from boring to fun! In 22 succinct and fascinating chapters, Cerveny tells the story of many of what he calls “weather mysteries,” some of which include The Mysteries of Weather and Climate in Ancient Greece (where he unpacks weather described in Homer’s The Odyssey), The Mystery of the Saharan Hippo (where he explains how traces of a water beast could be found in the middle of the Sahara Desert), and The Mystery of the Mayan Megadrought (where Cerveny hypothesizes about the extinction of the Mayan race). Each chapter begins and ends with a story of a fictional individual experiencing a weather event, and in between, Cerveny cleverly interjects with his own distinct voice and explanations. Indeed, Cerveny also adds personal stories and experiences into the text, which draws him that much closer to his reader.

Not only does Cerveny, a President’s Professor in Geographical Sciences at Arizona State University, submit a variety of interesting theories regarding weather mysteries, but he also provides his reader with a wealth of information about new scientific studies, technologies, and the opinions of other experts in the weather and climate fields– All of which emerges as surprisingly interesting when told in Cerveny’s simple and comedic tone. Cerveny also adds his own opinion on modern climate change and points out what he thinks are legitimate claims and fears and what he thinks, frankly, is BS. It is this honest yet easygoing position that makes Weather’s Greatest Mysteries Solved! a very successful book, and a very appealing read.

Have you read “Weather’s Greatest Mysteries Solved!”? Is Randy Cerveny your professor at ASU? Comment!

Refreshing and organic, Numi Tea is a line of lightly flavored Puerh green teas that offer a great alternative to coffee and come from a company that actively supports green initiatives and events across the country. The bottled variety comes in numerous different natural flavors like Magnolia Jasmine and Peach Nectar, and unlike other bottled teas on the market, they actually taste like tea (what a novel idea)! They are USDA approved, well under 100 calories a bottle for those of us trying to watch our waistlines, and sport all the natural upshots of green tea—they are filled with antioxidants and provide a natural boost because they are lightly caffeinated. Served cold, Numi Tea is refreshing and a great morning pick-me-up for hot summer days, and the new bottled line is now on sale at the company website, www.numitea.com.

A sperm bank in Los Angeles recently launched a service that identifies donors as resembling different celebrities. Apparently, the agency spent 6 months researching celebrities and matching their donors to them based on appearance, and online customers of the bank can filter their search for potential donors via an extensive list of celebrities, some of whom include actor Antonio Banderas, magician David Blaine, pro wrestler (turned actor) Duane “The Rock” Johnson, football player Payton Manning, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, and comedian Seth Rogan.

Scott Brown of Cyrobank told KTLA news Los Angeles “The number one client question we get is ‘who does this donor look like?’ We decided this would be a great way to give thorough and consistent answers. Clients love it. Look-A-Likes has only been available for a week and our website traffic is up 50 percent.”

When viewing a donor profile (which features donor specifics such as physical characteristics, current occupation, religion, and ethnic origin), a visitor may also view a list of celebrities who most closely match that donor, with each celebrity name acting as a link to the Google Images search page of the given male. One donor Look-A-Like page claimed that he looked like Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Shockey and Paul Walker, although a disclaimer on the Look-A-Likes page states “no celebrity is meant as an exact match for any donor, nor should you assume that your future children will look like any celebrity listed.”

To start your search for a celebrity baby, visit http://www.cryobank.com/Donor-Search/Look-A-Likes/.

Article based on information obtained from dlisted.com

Recently, great strides have been made in the research of many sexually transmitted diseases, including herpes and HIV, and it is widely thought that a vaccine to combat and prevent such communicable ailments is thought to be on the horizon. This should be of particular interest to young people and college students, as statistics show that the American youth (18-25 years old) is the largest, and most quickly growing, group of people with STDs, STIs, and HIV/AIDS. However, new research out of the University of Missouri shows that many students may turn down an opportunity for vaccination based on what researchers call “invulnerability” to physical danger.

According to writer Emily Smith, students were surveyed and those who identified themselves as having being “invulnerable to physical danger” were less likely to receive the vaccination if given the chance, because they essentially feel “invincible” and feel themselves unlikely to incur any physical harm. On the other side of the equation, students who identified themselves as “psychologically invulnerable,” those who basically don’t care what their perceived appearance is to others, were more likely to get vaccinated. Indeed, a correlation may be emerging that the stigma associated with being vaccinated (that a person who seeks the vaccine may be promiscuous, unclean, etc.) will prevent young people from being proactive about their sexual health in this way.

Smith noted, however, that the “strongest predictor of vaccine acceptance was students’ perceived susceptibility to contracting HIV, followed by their number of sexual partners.”

Invulnerability studies are particularly salient in college communities across the United States, because college is known traditionally as a time when young people engage in extremely risky behavior. This study comes on the heels of the Gardasil vaccine released in 2006, which claims to protect women from certain types of HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), many of which can cause cervical cancer.

What do you think? Is it your responsibility to get vaccinated when a vaccine becomes available? Comment.

That time is here again, for all the college students across the nation to start packing their stuff to move back to dorm life! College is the best time to get involved in going green, because it is probably the best place to find truly concerned, active, smart, capable people who are informed and ready to make meaningful change and have the means to do so. Now more than ever, college students are concerned with the environment, because they know that the future of their nation, personal safety, and job security rests in finding alternative energy and transforming the American lifestyle into one that is less wasteful. Here, we have posted just a few of the hundreds of ways that you (or your kid) can be green at school. Get started and run with it!

• Plug all appliances, chargers, and light sources into power strips, which will save electricity and can be easily unplugged to save energy when you leave the room
• Invest in a bicycle, either for yourself or for your group of friends, to use to get to class instead of driving. If not, hope on your school’s campus shuttle to get around.
• Instead of buying books from your college bookstore, check the library first. Checking out books for a semester (you can renew them), will save you hundreds of dollars and will force your school to cut back on new book- buying and focus on selling used textbooks instead.
• Eat locally as much as possible, and take advantage of local farm stands and sales if your school features them.
• Get involved and boost your resume! Join or start an environmental group on campus that devotes itself to “greening” your school and encouraging others to do the same. If you are involved in a fraternity or sorority, encourage your philanthropy chair to focus on planning fundraising events devoted to the environment and donating cash to green groups.
• Print all reading materials and papers on both sides of the page, or electronically submit all essays, papers, and projects if your professors let you. Save tons of paper!
• CAR POOL to and from school on breaks with other students who live in your area. And please, don’t make your parents come and get you! They have enough to do, and its double the gas use to make them drive up and back.
• Recycle your beer cans. They add up.
• Instead of throwing books away at the end of the semester, try to sell them back to your college bookstore or to an independent buying company (no matter how beat up they are). If you have abused them too much and no one will buy them, donate them to a Salvation Army or a local library.
• If your school doesn’t already do this, start a program in which students can donate lightly used but unwanted things from their dorms when they move out in the spring. Put a large cardboard box in each hallway, and watch them fill up! Then, have your school sell or donate the stuff.
• Have inter-dorm competitions to see which hall can conserve the most energy in a weekend, week, or month. Davidson College sports a “Do It In the Dark” Month every year, and it is a very popular event on campus!
• Go on a green spring break trip, either by finding a resort or program that is a planned green excursion, or by staying in a green hotel. If these options are too expensive, try going on a service trip.
• If you are a biology, chemistry, environmental sciences, geology, political science, economics, sociology or geography major, encourage your professors to investigate how they can use their expertise to make your campus (and their classrooms) more green. Suggest they design a class about global warming, climate change legislation, decreasing biodiversity, or green technology and its uses.

How do you plan to go green at school this year, or what is your school doing to go green? ENN wants to know!

The idea of “carbon tariffs” has some European countries worried, according to Roger Greenway, editor of ENN, who noted in an article today that “they are concerned that carbon tariffs could be used [in the future] to fend off competition from countries which have not committed to reducing emissions, in effect triggering a green trade war.” In what countries like the US and France are calling “border measures,” developed nations could, in theory, hold another nation’s lack of carbon reduction pledges and legislation against it, and impose tariffs on a country until such legislation is introduced and enacted successfully. This move is supposed to “secure the competitiveness of European industry against emerging economies” and counteract the recent phenomenon of countries outsourcing to nations that have no carbon reduction plans to save money on industry.

France has been the only European Union member state to openly rally for the introduction of border measures, and introduced the idea to the EU in 2008 while it was discussing its emissions trading plans. In the meantime, the EU is currently granting “free emissions ‘permits’ to industries which might be tempted to relocate to areas with less stringent regulations.”

The US is dealing with things similarly, with the House of Representatives allowing a provision to a draft of a climate bill that would allow a kind of carbon tariff on countries who don’t limit emissions after 2020. President Obama was opposed to this action, concerned that in this tough global economy it is important not to discourage trade.

What do you think? Comment.