Live a Green Lifestyle This Summer

By Shireen Qudosi

What is a Green Lifestyle

A green lifestyle is an ethical commitment to conservation - or just simply a greater awareness of what we're consuming and what impact we have on our environment. Over the last few years, with the rise of a 'green' trend, we've seen a lot more companies not only catering to the green market, but making it easier to consumers to be educate on ways to be more eco-friendly. Just picking up a few tips here and there goes a long way. And with summer right around the corner, now is the best time to see what little hidden eco trolls lurk in the habits we've developed over the years.

Fueling your BBQ

Nothing says summer like a BBQ. It's good to know you don't have to sacrifice your time honored summer tradition just to stay in step with Mother Earth. If you're going to BBQ, make sure you use propane rather than wood or charcoal, since propane burns much cleaner. Using briquettes or charcoal creates about 105 times more carbon monoxide than if you cooked on a propane grill - not to mention the fact that those fumes are not only entering into the atmosphere, but directly into your food and lungs.

However, if you can't resist charcoal, consider Cowboy Charcoal. This way, you're not exposing yourself or your family to harmful volatile organic compounds. And if you want to get really nifty, try a using solar energy to cook your food! With the emphasis on green, more and more companies are not only redesigning existing products to be more eco-friendly, but they're coming up with new clever ways to do the same old thing. Featuring several different types of cookers, from a flat top grill to an oven, Solar Cookers completely take away any lingering guilt you may have for flaring up the BBQ grill.

Conscientious Cooling

One of the biggest barriers to a green summer is your central air conditioners. Every time you switch on the central air, you pump out harmful gases into the environment that contribute to the global warming crisis. The more gases that go into the atmosphere, the more we turn out planet into a mini-bake over - creating a cycle that makes us run to our ac all over again. But not only are standard ACs destructive to the environment, they're also considerably harmful to your health.

A smart green alternative is a portable AC unit. Portable air conditioners are mobile cooling units, and unlike their bulky and expensive counterparts, portable ACs do not require specialized installation. Portable, or mobile ACs, are cost-effective, energy efficient, environmentally-friendly, easy to use, and now offer multiple features that makes these little gizmos a must have - especially during summer months!

However the one gold-nugget piece of info that most people don't know is that there is more than just one type of mobile cooling unit. Portable ACs are one thing, but you also have the option of a swamp cooler. Swamp coolers, also commonly referred to as evaporative coolers, have the same effect as a wet towel on a fan. If you're looking to browse smart green cooling alternatives, consider a Soleus portable air conditioner or a Symphony Swamp Cooler.

Don't be a Water Waster

Water is one of the biggest wasted resources during the summer, but there are a number of ways we can just begin to be more aware of how much of this liquid resources we're wasting in even the smallest ways. Starting with the garden, people think because its hotter they have to water their lawns that much more. What's worse, people will water their lawn during the day - big mistake! Not only are you wasting water this way since it evaporates faster (driving the need to re-water), but you're actually killing your plants. Water droplets act like a magnifying mirror attracting even more light/heat to your already fragile plants. What should you do? Wait till late evening or even early night, and water as you would during any other reason.

But along with BBQs and AC's, swimming pools is the third key word that comes to mind when people think of summers. If you've got a pool, think about making a change that not only helps the environment, but helps you directly. Most swimming pools have countless chemicals poured into them weekly. These chemicals come into contact with your skin, your eyes, and are sometimes even accidentally ingested. The smart green move is to invest in a chemical free pool that uses ionization technology to keep your pool clean and sanitary.

There are a ton of small things you can do that will make a big difference, promoting not only a healthy lifestyle, but a healthy environment. Share these ideas with your friends and family and get the ball rolling on your green summer!

Shireen Qudosi is a green expert working with Air Conditioner Home. A premier online retailer of residential/commercial cooling, Air Conditioner Home is dedicated to raising consumer awareness on green issues & promoting both air purification and eco-friendly cooling.

Renewables Conference Sponsored by Envirokinetics

AAEA Midwest Office Director is also president of Envirokinetics, which sponsored a Renewables Energy Coference on September 8, 2008.

In Memoriam: Robert J. Knox

Bob Knox was a friend and inspiration to AAEA as he was to many other institutions and people all over the country.

Robert J. Knox was a founding Deputy Director and former Acting Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice(OEJ). Mr. Knox was an engineer by training and he began his career in Region 4 as a manpower development specialist working on water related issues. He moved to Region 2 where he led manpower and training programs.

In the early 1980s he served as the Director of the Office of Civil Rights. Thereafter, he was the Hazardous Waste Ombudsman for OSWER. When the Office of Environmental Justice was formed in 1992, he served as the founding Deputy Office Director with Dr. Clarice Gaylord, then OEJ Director. Bob spent his last 12 years in EPA working on community engagement activities. Bob retired from EPA in December 2004. In his retirement, he began taking coursework toward a masters degree from Howard University's School of Divinity. He was also a former deacon at the Gethsemane Baptist Church.

Federal Lending For Building Coal Plants Suspended

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has suspended a low-interest lending program for rural electric cooperatives seeking federal assistance to build new coal-fired power plants during fiscal 2008 or 2009. The suspension is acknowledgement about concern for global warming. The low-interest loans are perceived as subsidizing coal plants that emit greenhouse gases while failing to accurately calculate the financial and environmental risks associated with those plants. The RUS has provided $1.4 billion in low-interest loans for coal-fired plants over the past six years. Rural electric cooperatives rely on coal for 80 percent of their power, well above the 50 percent national average.

The last loan for a generating plant was made in 2006. But rural cooperatives have applied for $1.2 billion in loans to cover all or part of four more coal-fired plants, including controversial ones in eastern Kentucky and southern Illinois. The Sierra Club also has a major program to prevent the building of coal plants around the U.S. Yet the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is concerned that global warming retrofit expenses and higher coal prices for rural power generation co-ops could pass the increases along to consumers. Power generation co-ops are separate from distribution co-ops, which in the past have forced some generators into bankruptcy rather than pass along higher costs. (The Washington Post)

AAEA Midwest To Speak At Delta College Earth Day Event

AAEA Midwest Director James Mosley will speak at Delta College located near Bay City, Michigan on April 7 for their Global Awareness Program and Earth Day Celebration. The theme of the event is, "Sustainability: Challenges and Choices for Our Planet." Mr. Mosley will speak about global, national, state and local environmental and energy issues. Another panel will discuss coal issues, which will include industry, state and NGO panelists. College representatives will give a presentation on the Delta College “EverGreen” Green Campus Initiative. Other issues to be discussed include alternative auto fuels, hybrid vehicles, bio-diesel, pollution prevention and there will be a film and a Global Awareness World Event.

On April 8, solar power will be discussed and there will be musical performances. The Student Environmental Club will be available to answer questions and the will be vendor displays all day. Delta College has a 640-acre main campus in University Center, Michigan and additional locations in Midland, Saginaw, and Bay City. This college has over 10,000 students enrolled.

FutureGen Clean Coal Project Cancelled

The Bush administration dropped its support for a $1.8 billion planned 275-megawatt coal-fired plant power plant designed to store greenhouse gases underground, because of ballooning costs. This decision comes about a month after the private partners in the project picked Mattoon, Illinois as the site for the project. Congress appropriated $108 million for the plant that was authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, but the cost of the project has doubled and other technologies could be better. The Center would like to see a conversion plant that converts carbon dioxide into gasoline. FutureGen is one of the most advanced projects for determining whether emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, can be captured from coal-fired plants and stored, or sequestered, underground. The Center will examine whether CO2 to gasoline conversion qualifies for the FutureGen project. By contrast, the FutureGen project is a nonprofit venture that included 13 utilities and coal companies constructing of a plant that would turn coal to gas, strip out and store underground the carbon dioxide that contributes to climate change, and then burn the remaining gas to produce electricity and hydrogen.

The project is a joint venture between a private industry alliance, which would cover 26 percent of the cost and the Department of Energy, which was supposed to cover 74 percent. Half of the nation's electricity is produced by coal-fired plants so dealing with the carbon dioxide for is important for reducing this main greenhouse gas emission that is producing climate change. The cost was first estimated in 2004 at $950 million and the $1.8 billion final cost estimate assumed that construction costs escalate at a 5.2 percent annual rate. DOE has refused to issue a record of decision on the environmental impact statement, which blocks development of the project. DOE has decided to pay the cost of adding carbon capture and storage technology to new or existing coal plants bigger than 300 megawatts. (The Washington Post) (The Washington Post)

DOE Selects "Clean Coal" Demonstration Site

The U.S. Department of Energy's FutureGen Alliance named Mattoon, Illinois, as the site for a new $1.8 billion "clean coal" demonstration plant that will capture carbon dioxide and store it underground permanently. The FutureGen project, which also aims to eventually produce some hydrogen from coal, is expected to be online in 2012.

The plant in downstate Mattoon will be a joint venture between the U.S. Department of Energy and the FutureGen Alliance, a non-profit consortium of coal producers and energy generators. Downstate Illinois has the coal, the geology and the commitment needed to demonstrate this project. The Center supports this project. (Reuters, The Baltimore Sun)

Congress Passes Final Energy Bill

The House passed the final version of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 today (Dec 18) by a vote of 314 to 100. The Senate passed the revised energy bill 86 to 8 on Dec 13. It now goes to the president for his signature. President Bush signed his second energy bill (H.R. 6) and thus leads America into a new age of automobile efficiency. Raising vehicle fuel economy standards is a great achievement that eluded other presidents and congresses since the passage of the original mileage law (Energy Policy Conservation Act of 1975).

President Bush signed his first energy bill, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. AAEA atttended the signing of that historic legislation.Key provisions of the bill include: Autobile fuel efficiency stardard of 35 miles a gallon by 2020, Renewable fuel ethanol use increased to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022, Green Jobs training for 35,000 people every year, Increases the efficiency of buildings and appliances and eliminates incandescent light bulbs by 2015, among others. The new law also goes far in helping to fulfill the goals of the California global warming law and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Iniative (RGGI) of the Northern states.Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate) [H.R.6.ENR]

Ethanol Supports Increase With Energy Bill

The House passed the Energy Bill today (H.R. 6), the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007 on a vote of 235-181 and now it moves to the Senate for final passage. President Bush has threatened to veto the bill because of provisions included that he opposes (Statement of Administration Policy). President Bush supports the most important provision of the legislation: increasing automobile fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, 40 percent more than the current 27.5 mpg standard. AAEA supports the legislation (and administration objections).

Update (evening Dec 13): The Senate passed the revised energy bill 86 to 8, which makes it veto proof. President Bush will sign it anyway if the House passes the revised bill, which eliminated the tax package.

Update (morning Dec 13): The Senate voted 53 to 42 (evidently changed to 59 to 40), which fails to get the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture and close debate, effectively killing the measure. The Senate will try to rework the bill for passage before Congress adjourns. The bill failed largely because of the provision to pay for the renewables items with ending about $13 billion in tax breaks for oil companies over 10 years.

Energy Tax Incentives Package: The new $21 billion tax incentives package measured over 10 years includes 1) $2.8 billion in incentives for energy efficient products, 2) a $993 million credit for plug-in vehicles and 3) more than $7 billion in incentives for renewable fuels.

KEY PROVISIONS OF THE ENERGY BILL

1) Fuel Efficiency. The new stardard would be 35 miles a gallon by 2020.
2) Renewable Energy. Electric utilities would be required to use renewable energy sources for at least 15 percent of their power generation.
3) Taxes. A $21 billion package of tax incentives.
4) Efficiency Standards. Incandescent light bulbs would be eliminated by 2015.
5) Renewable Fuels. Ethanol use would be increased to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022. (The Washington Post)

* Eliminated

E85 Biofuel Needs Cool Cars and More Stations

Wall Street Journal reporter Matt Vella drove a FlexFuel Chevrolet Suburban 1,907 miles on a round trip from New York City to Indianapolis to see if it was convenient to use a car that uses 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. His findings: limited availability of flex fuel vehicles, E85 shortcomings but cheaper gas. He found a high concentration of stations that carried E85 in the Midwest, but stations are rare back East.

He found other pros and cons. E85 is a renewable energy source, it is cheaper and it provides an alternative to imported oil. E85 has a lower energy content and cuts fuel economy by 30%. Vella found that there weren't many 'cool' vehicles because Midwesterners that purchase most flex vehicles drive larger, less fuel efficieint models like the Ford Crown Victoria, Dodge Durango, Jeep Commander and Saturn Relay. And most of the stations are in middle America.

Vella found that the biggest reason people liked E86 was price, not environmental or foreign policy benefits. The highest E85 price was $3.11 in Philadelphia with a low of $2.39 in Moroevill, Pennsylvania. Regular gasoline was $3.50. (The Wall Street Journal, 6-19-07)

Midwest Ethanol Producers Will Have To Consolidate?

Ethanol is problematic because most American cars can only use about a 10% blend with regular gasoline and it cannot be moved via pipeline like gasoline because of it corrosiveness. Most ethanol is shipped from the Midwest by rail to terminals. So what is the ethanol industry to do? Consolidate? Possibly. There is also the expensive proposition of building specially constructed ethanol pipelines. Brazil is considering such pipelines.

Archer-Daniels-Midlands (ADM) controls about 20% of U.S. ethanol capacity. Small farmer-owned ethanol producers account for about a third of the market with midsize companes make up the rest. Some of these midsize companeis include: Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc, US BioEnergy Corp, and VeraSun Energy Corp. In order to increase market penetration the ethanol industry might have to bulk up by partnering up. There is also the question of purchasing or building an ethanol plant. An acquisition costs about $2.30 per gallon and building a new facility is about $2.00 per gallon. (The Wall Street Journal, 6-18-07)

Midwest In Center Of Energy Bill Tax Incentives

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont) is considering tax incentives for the energy bill being debated on the Senate floor this week. Vehicles and coal, Midwest staples, are front and center. Fuel economiy standards and coal-to-liquids are getting lobbied from supporters and opponents, along with other clean energy proposals. Automakers want to weaken proposla to significantly increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The legislation proposes about 46 mpg, automakers say they 'could' do 'maybe' 36 mpg and AAEA wants about 40 mpg.

The Coal to Liquids Coalition, a consortium of coal producers, unions, airlines and railroads, wants $200 million in investment tax credits to help in building 12 coal-to-liquid (CTL) refineries. AAEA supports coal-to-liquids mostly for military use, although we want CO2 sequestration from these plants and we support Senator Barck Obama's legislation (notwithstanding his clarification). AAEA also believes CTL producers should be required to finance nuclear plants, solar power and wind turbines as carbon dioxide offsets.

The total energy bill tax incentives package for cleaner energy sources, ethanol, animal fat diesel, CTL, fuel economy standards and more will be about $14 billion over 10 years. (The Wall Street Journal, 6-18-07)

AAEA Establishes Midwest Office

James Mosley has agreed to be Director of the AAEA Midwest Office. This will enhance AAEA's outreach and increase our ability to address the issues affecting the Midwest. At the top of this list are ethanol and coal.

Moseley is an energy expert and a longtime environmentalist. He and AAEA President Norris McDonald are pictured at left at the State of Environmental Justice 2007 Conference at the Howard University Law School. AAEA help organize the conference.

This is an exciting time for us and the country. Mr. Mosley brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to our little organization. We continue to be small but very powerful.