Massey Energy Company, Blankenship’s highly successful strip-mining and mountaintop removal operation is the parent company of Performance Coal Co, where a tragic explosion occurred on April 5th. As of this writing, 25 miners have died and 4 more are still missing. Twenty-five families are without a loved one. Four more may discover they have lost someone they love too. 29 families in all, forever changed by one single, violent event in a coal mine. One single violent event in a coal mine run by a company so obsessed with profit it runs roughshod over employees’ and neighbors’ health and safety.

Federal economic stimulus money will start providing rebates to Pennsylvanians, as early as this April, on the purchase of new, Energy Star-rated hot-water heaters, furnaces and boilers.

Gov. Ed Rendell said Tuesday that applications for rebates are expected to become available in April on the state’s stimulus Web site, www.recovery.pa.gov.
Rendell says the $11 million rebate program could benefit more than 30,000 Pennsylvania households and provide long-term energy savings.

The Recovery Act-funded rebates also include “white goods” such as washers, dryers and refrigerators.
The rebates will be worth $100 to $500. The higher the equipment’s efficiency rating, the larger the rebate.
The rebates only apply to non-electric residential heating equipment. Rebates on electrical appliances may be available through regulated electric utility companies.

Contact http://Greencollarrap.com/hec to get more information, or to schedule a consultation.

The tax hike is a broad-based energy tax that will wallop every American who fills a gas tank, pays an electric bill, or buys any product that has to be grown, shipped, or manufactured.

The mechanism is cap-and-trade, which is like a tax on coal, oil, and natural gas but instead of being set at a specific amount, the total level of use is capped and companies are forced to pay the government for emissions permits-which Wall Street wizards at companies like AIG and Goldman Sachs can in turn trade on sophisticated exchanges and derivative markets.

White House Budget Director Peter Orzcag admitted that decreasing carbon emissions imposes costs on the economy, and “much of those costs will be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices for energy and energy-intensive goods.”

The only comedian who isn’t a veteran SNL regular is Jim Carrey who appears as Ronald Reagan. He takes the place of “SNL” funny-man, Phil Hartman, who typically played Reagan on the show. Hartman died in 1998.

Of course, there’s a reason behind this video and it’s not just a reunion of SNL cast members. Directed by Ron Howard, the video is made in association with Americans for Financial Reform, a pro-regulation coalition of labor and consumer activists.

Watch It @ FunnyOrDie.com

Obama talked about his tour of the campus, including facilities where students learn about green technology that will “help transform how we produce and use electricity.”

He pointed out that the Recovery Act has helped fund 300 road projects in the state at the moment, and also mentioned the billions of dollars in loan guarantees he announced last week for the construction of Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle, which he says will create 3,000 construction jobs and over 800 permanent jobs upon completion. This drew applause from the crowd.

The loan guarantee also drew several anti-nuclear protesters outside, including one who was wearing a pig suit and waving a sign decrying “nuclear pork.”

Foremost on the President’s agenda was green technology, jobs and the Recovery Act, all of which segued into his announcement of the new Home Star program.

He did not discuss whether the program would be paid with unused Stimulus money, or whether it would require further investment of taxpayer money.

“My job is to make sure every American can find a job,” the President told the crowd.

The Home Star program will include incentives for home owners to make their homes more energy efficient, upgrades like better windows, insulation and more, which would also stimulate jobs for contractors and construction workers. The improvements would also save homeowners money.

The program could make a significant difference in our national energy consumption.

According to Obama, “40 percent of the energy we use is in our homes and buildings.”

The real scoop: As outlined in a memo that was formally endorsed by PERAB members on Dec. 4, HOME STAR would reimburse homeowners for residential energy upgrades such as air sealing, insulation, new light bulbs and new appliances. Homeowners would be eligible to receive up to $2,000 for implementing at least two upgrades from a list of qualifying measures, or up to $3,500 for at least four qualifying measures. Higher incentives would be available to homeowners who achieve energy savings of at least 20 percent. Weatherization projects that reduce energy consumption by 20 percent would be eligible to receive up to $4,000 in incentive money, plus $1,500 for every additional 5 percent reduction in energy consumption. The Times also notes that all HOME STAR incentives would be capped at 50 percent of project costs, and a percentage of projects would be audited to ensure that the improvements perform as expected. The plan is projected to cost $23 billion over two years.

For now, read details from the Efficiency First blog:

Ma Zhaoxu, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on the ministry’s Web site that “the U.S. has criticized China’s policies to administer the Internet and insinuated that China restricts Internet freedom. We are firmly against the words and deeds contrary to the facts and harmful to China-U.S. relations.”

A Chinese newspaper also joined the criticism of Clinton, who gave her speech in the wake of Google’s declaration that it would stop censoring results on its Chinese-based search engine even if that meant losing its license after a cyberattack on its computers.

The Global Times said that the U.S. “campaign for uncensored and free flow of information on an unrestricted Internet is a disguised attempt to impose its value on other cultures in the name of democracy.”

Clinton said that freedom on the Internet is closely linked to other basic freedoms, including freedom of speech, worship and assembly. And she said the U.S. government would help fund and foster individuals and companies that help those in countries with restricted access find ways to circumvent obstacles.