The Green Journey Starts at Home ™

New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg (D) and Illinois House Representative Bobby Rush (D) have been working on legislation to overhaul the nation’s original Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)  In 2009 a report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) named the original TSCA act a “high risk” area of government, in need of reform.

The GAO found that the original act fails to adequately monitor the toxic chemicals actually in use in this country, requiring testing on only about 200 out of 82,000 chemicals entering the market since 1976. Of these 82,000 chemicals only  5 have been restricted.  The GAO also found that the original act places significant burdens on those most likely to be affected by these chemicals, requiring them to research products for themselves to determine risks.

The new law would correct these flaws and would require safety testing of all industrial chemicals.

Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder of Seventh Generation , the leading household healthy cleaning products company says: “We support updating TSCA because it is vital for protecting the health of people and the planet.”  Jeffrey Hollander was interviewed  on the Green is Good radio show.  His interview can be found here.

Cellulose has a distinct advantage over other insulation types.  Please see this controlled experiment that compares the advantages of cellulose in a fire.

HOME STAR legislation is scheduled to be voted on by the full U.S. House of Representatives this coming Thursday, May 6.

This initiative establishes a $6 billion rebate program to encourage immediate investment in energy-efficient appliances, building mechanical systems and insulation, and whole-home energy efficiency retrofits. HOME STAR will rapidly create jobs in both construction and manufacturing, while saving families money on their energy bills. It will build on current state programs and existing industry capacity for performing both retrofits and quality assurance, using federal standards and incentives as a common platform to lower program costs and increase consumer awareness.

Google, Ebay, Staples, COX Enterprise, Federal Express, Bank of America, Coca Cola and many other corporations have been testing a new device that can generate power on the spot, without being connected to the electric grid. Will we have one in every home someday? Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes, reports.

Check out:

The Bloom Box

In a markup session on Thursday, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved the bipartisan Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 (H.R. 5019) by a vote of 30 to 17. “Today’s legislation presents an opportunity for us all to work together,” chairman Henry A. Waxman said in a statement to the committee. “I urge all members to seize that opportunity.”

Xcel Energy has asked the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) for permission to increase its electricity rates by $156.065 million.  Residential kilowatt hour rates are anticipated to rise.  The rate increase asked for will be in the summer (June-September) from 6.755¢ to 7.628¢ per kilowatt hour, an increase of 12%.  In the winter the rate increase asked for will be from 5.807¢ to 6.628¢ per kilowatt hour, an increase of 14%.

The proposed rate increase is outlined in this document from Xcel.

On a more positive note, some interesting rebates are available from Xcel for doing energy conservation work in the home.  You can see up to a $350 rebate for improving the insulation in your attic.  See this link for more details.  These rebates are in addition to Federal tax credits of up to $1500 available to you.

Between the expected rise in energy cost and the rebates and incentives available, the time has never been better for improving your homes energy performance with more insulation and air tightening.

Alberta Canada  is estimated to have the second largest oil reserves in the world, next to Saudi Arabia. Saudi oil is referred to as sweet crude since it is low in sulfur, is  light and is easily extracted and converted to fuels.  The oil in Alberta is not so sweet.  This oil is extremely dense and is contained deep in the sand and clay soils . It is referred to as bitumen or heavy oil.  The units of energy required to extract and refine this heavy bituminous oil is 3 to 4 times more than lighter crude.

• Every day, around 600 million cubic feet of natural gas is used on the oil sands. That is enough energy to heat more than three million northern climate homes.
• Producing one barrel of oil from the oil sands produces over three times more greenhouse gas emissions than producing one barrel of conventional oil.

The oil is extracted by either surface mining or in situ, where steam and heated water is injected under pressure to release the oil. Either way both methods are highly destructive to the environment.  The Athabasca Oil Sands are considered to be one of the most highly destructive and toxic large scale operations happening on the planet. The production of bitumen and synthetic crude oil emits more greenhouse gas  than the production of conventional crude oil and accounts for 40 million tons of CO2 emissions per year.

Several inspired U.S. companies have recently decided to avoid suppliers that source fuel from Canada’s oil sands. Whole Foods Market the organic grocery chain and Bed Bath & Beyond should be commended and supported. This underscores how companies are moving to fill the void left by inaction at Copenhagen and the failure to limit carbon emissions.

For an interesting article on Energy Conservation please see the March edition of National Geographic.

The New York Times provides an interesting video on thermography and energy loss detection —  see this link.  NYTimes editor Tom Zeller has written  an article on having an energy audit performed, the recommended improvements and the results of the improvements.

Hello Blog.   I feel as if you are a new friend.  Where do we begin?   How do we start?  What do we have in common?

Well, actually not much.  You, my blog friend, are a blank slate.  A canvas waiting for some colors, some inspiration, some life.

And I am approaching you blog with some trepidation, some uncertainty.   This is the beginning of an experiment, the beginning of a new journey, a Green Journey…. and hopefully the seed that can bring together people that share  similar commitment and passion towards our communities, ourselves and how we live our lives.

I am looking forward to getting to know you better blog in the months that follow.

-Matt