NBC10 Philadelphia Green Homes 2011

Posted on 22/08/2011 | Leave a comment



In 2011, NBC10 will focus much of the year on informing and educating consumers about the construction of three different residential projects across the Delaware Valley through a project called the NBC 10 Philadelphia Green Home. The process and materials used to build and service the homes will be energy efficient and eco-friendly, thus providing a real life example of how to build and live GREEN.

NBC10’s Green Homes will contribute to the Delaware Valley’s recent recognition as one of the leading markets in energy conservation and community sustainability.
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Posted in D.I.Y., G.A.C., Home Efficiency, Transitioning

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Drilling The Arctic For Oil

Posted on 19/08/2011 | Leave a comment



They’ve found oil in Greenland. The success of a massive deep-water drilling rig operated by Cairn Energy, a Scottish company, could mean that the world’s newest oil-and-gas rush is underway, this time in one of the globe’s most remote, rugged and pristine locations. For Americans used to hearing about huge fossil fuel deposits in Venezuela, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Russia and other locations that are politically unstable or intermittently antagonistic toward the West, this could come as welcome news. Greenland is a lightly inhabited arctic wilderness administered for now by the unthreatening Scandinavian country of Denmark. The territory is counting on oil and mineral development to fund a gradual move toward independence, and the discovery is being cheered in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital.

The arctic may contain 90 billion barrels of oil and 1.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the United States Geological Survey, and a third of those vast quantities likely lie within Greenland’s territory, where Cairn has been drilling exploratory wells this summer. These were the first wells sunk in the region since the 1970s, but more are sure to follow. Upward of a dozen major international energy companies have leases

Read more: Oil Drilling Greenland – Cairn Energy Strikes Oil in Greenland – Popular Mechanics

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What does the new credit rating mean for me and you

Posted on 10/08/2011 | Leave a comment



Rachel Kingston
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) –

America’s gold-plated credit rating is no longer King of the Hill.

Standard & Poor’s downgraded the nation’s rating leaving many Americans wondering what this means for them.

In the short term, this probably won’t mean much for the average American, like you or I.

Any impact it does have will be slight, compared to the economic turmoil we’ve weathered over the last three years.

It sounds counterintuitive, but Standard & Poor’s downgrading of the United States’ credit rating probably isn’t going to have much of a trickle-down effect on the average consumer at least, not immediately.
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National Debt Ceiling Legislation 101

Posted on 03/08/2011 | Leave a comment



by Jeanne Sahadi CNN Money

The debt ceiling deal passed by the House on Monday and by the Senate Tuesday will keep the country out of default and reduce deficits by at least $2.1 trillion over a decade.
Whether the deal might also avert a first-ever credit downgrade for the United States is not clear, since ratings agency Standard & Poor’s indicated it was looking for a credible, bipartisan plan that had at least $4 trillion of debt reduction.
The plan includes no tax or entitlement reform measures up front, although theoretically it leaves the door open to both.
A debt ceiling increase of between $2.1 trillion and $2.4 trillion: The framework will raise the debt ceiling immediately by $400 billion, then by another $500 billion after September.
After deep cuts are enacted by the end of the year, it will be increased by another $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion.
All told, the increases should cover the Treasury’s borrowing needs until 2013.

At least $2.1 trillion in spending cuts: The framework will immediately cap domestic and defense spending, resulting in cuts of $917 billion over 10 years.
The framework then calls for more deficit reduction — between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion worth — to be determined by the end of this year and imposed over 10 years.
Bipartisan debt-reduction committee: That second round of deficit reduction would be proposed by a special bipartisan joint committee of Congress. The committee has until Thanksgiving to come up with its proposals and those proposals would be guaranteed by an up-or-down vote without amendment by Dec. 23.
If the committee proposes and the Congress approves between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion in cuts, the debt ceiling will be increased dollar for dollar.
If the committee deadlocks or comes up with less than $1.2 trillion in cuts, or if Congress votes down the committee’s proposals, the debt ceiling will be raised by $1.2 trillion.
While it appears the committee will be free to consider entitlement and tax reform — and dare we say it, tax hikes — practically speaking it’s more likely members would hit an impasse over these measures just as they have, oh, every other day this year.

Read the legislation – Full text

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Posted in Law, Politics

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What’s Up With…. “Solar Water Heaters”

Posted on 28/07/2011 | Leave a comment



I had a potential client ask me what’s up with solar water heaters? Are they all they seem to be? Should I be upgrading my system? How should I go about this? These are everyday questions for a Home Efficiency Consultant like myself. After listen to all her questions I reached out to John Patterson over at HomePower.com to help explain in depth, basic information on solar water heaters.

Solar Hot Water Basics

By John Patterson

While most people are captivated by the high-tech nature of solar-electric (photovoltaic; PV) systems, in most cases, a solar hot water system will harvest more energy at a substantially lower cost. In fact, compared to PVs, solar hot water (SHW) collectors are more than three times as efficient at producing energy from the sun.

Investing in an SHW system is a smart solar solution for most homeowners. This proven and reliable technology offers long-term performance with low maintenance. And with federal, state, and utility incentives available, these systems offer a quick payback—in some cases, only four to eight years.

A thoughtfully designed SHW system could provide all, or at least a significant amount, of your household hot water needs for some portion of the year. The California Energy Commission estimates that installing an SHW system in a typical household using electric water heating can shave 60 to 70 percent off water heating costs. To get the most for your money, you´ll want a properly sized system that offers the best performance in your climate.

Solar Hot Water System Types

Five main types of solar water heating systems are sold today. These five are a distillation of dozens of types sold over the past 25 years. They are:

• Batch
• Thermosyphon
• Open-loop direct
• Pressurized glycol
• Closed-loop drainback

The proven winners are simple, reliable, and long lasting. Some systems are “open loop” (the domestic water itself is directly heated) and some are “closed loop” (a heat-transfer fluid is heated by the collector and the heat is passed on to the domestic hot water by means of a heat exchanger). Some systems are “active,” using moving parts such as pumps and valves, and others are “passive,” using no mechanical or moving parts.

There are many considerations in choosing the best system for a home, but the client and the situation will dictate the right system.

For instance, for a one- to two-person household in a temperate climate where hard freezes rarely occur, you might go with a batch heater, especially if the hot water will be used more at the end of the day rather than first thing in the morning. In a household with three or more people, where aesthetics and weight are not an issue, the thermosyphon system might fit the bill, especially if there´s no room for an additional tank near the existing water heater.

The drainback system, a personal favorite here in the Northwest, requires continuous drop between the solar collector and the solar storage tank. If continuous fall is not possible, there´s always the pressurized glycol system where piping can go up, down, over, and around without concern. Usually more than one option can work for any situation.

The number of people in the household will dictate how large the system will need to be, and which systems are even possible. Rebate and incentive programs may only qualify certain systems in a given area. Some systems are relatively easy to install for do-it-yourselfers, while others most laypeople shouldn´t attempt. See the comparative chart showing features of the different system types. Make your choice, and enjoy using solar energy to heat your water!


For more information on Solar Water Heaters visit http://homepower.com/basics/hotwater/

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New Book:: The Shock Doctrine “The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism

Posted on 15/07/2011 | Leave a comment



The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

In THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, Naomi Klein explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically. Exposing the thinking, the money trail and the puppet strings behind the world-changing crises and wars of the last four decades, The Shock Doctrine is the gripping story of how America’s “free market” policies have come to dominate the world– through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.

At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq’s civil war, a new law is unveiled that would allow Shell and BP to claim the country’s vast oil reserves…. Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly out-sources the running of the “War on Terror” to Halliburton and Blackwater…. After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts…. New Orleans’s residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be reopened…. These events are examples of “the shock doctrine”: using the public’s disorientation following massive collective shocks – wars, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters — to achieve control by imposing economic shock therapy. Sometimes, when the first two shocks don’t succeed in wiping out resistance, a third shock is employed: the electrode in the prison cell or the Taser gun on the streets.

Based on breakthrough historical research and four years of on-the-ground reporting in disaster zones, The Shock Doctrine vividly shows how disaster capitalism – the rapid-fire corporate reengineering of societies still reeling from shock – did not begin with September 11, 2001. The book traces its origins back fifty years, to the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman, which produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today. New, surprising connections are drawn between economic policy, “shock and awe” warfare and covert CIA-funded experiments in electroshock and sensory deprivation in the 1950s, research that helped write the torture manuals used today in Guantanamo Bay.

The Shock Doctrine follows the application of these ideas through our contemporary history, showing in riveting detail how well-known events of the recent past have been deliberate, active theatres for the shock doctrine, among them: Pinochet’s coup in Chile in 1973, the Falklands War in 1982, the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Asian Financial crisis in 1997 and Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

To hear the truth click here.

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The Dangers of Synthetic Marijuana

Posted on 14/07/2011 | 1 Comment



By Eric Schelhopf (Kane County Chronicle)

Aurora mother Karen Dobner believes that a synthetic form of marijuana played a part in a crash that killed her 19-year-old son last month after his 1999 Chrysler Cirrus slammed into a house near the intersection of Mooseheart Road and Route 31 in unincorporated Batavia Township.

She will be interviewed this morning on the “Today” show to talk about her son, Max Dobner, and about what happened that day. Karen Dobner said she also wants to educate parents and teenagers about the dangers of synthetic drugs.

At 3:45 p.m. on June 14, about a half-hour before the crash, Dobner said her son had called his oldest brother, Justin Dobner.

“Max said, ‘I smoked that legal stuff, and my heart is pounding and I’m having a panic attack,’ ” Karen Dobner said.

The occupants of the home Max Dobner crashed into were in the backyard and were not injured. Witnesses said his 1999 Chrysler Cirrus was going at a high rate of speed before the crash, which occurred just south of the Mooseheart campus.

Dobner said she later found out that Max Dobner had smoked iAroma earlier that day. The product is marketed as potpourri or incense, and buyers are warned that it is not for public consumption.

“They sell it in tobacco shops,” she said. “Who goes to a tobacco shop to buy potpourri? Who buys potpourri by the gram?”

After talking to other teenagers about iAroma and its effects, Karen Dobner said she believes her son was hallucinating before the crash. The Kane County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the crash.

Lt. Pat Gengler said the state crime lab in Joliet is still working on Max Dobner’s toxicology.

“It can take several months depending on the backlog of cases at the crime lab,” Gengler said. “We won’t know what the results are until we have them.”

Karen Dobner has been cooperating with authorities.

“The first thing I did was to call the police and tell them what I discovered,” she said.

She said what happened to her son that day was totally out of character for him.

“My son never hurt a fly, and he was very respectful,” she said. “He would be horrified to know that he damaged a home.”

She has started a foundation, www.tothemaximus.org, that seeks to provide education and awareness about synthetic drugs. The foundation would like to see a ban on these types of products. A news release from the American Association of Poison Control Centers noted that synthetic marijuana products have spurred more than 4,500 calls to U.S. poison centers since 2010.

“Our goal is to promote legislation to ban these products and educate and inform parents and teens,” Karen Dobner said.

“Most parents have no idea of their teens doing this.”

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