Solar PV developers may soon get the message that the Sunshine State is closed for business.
In an important proceeding at the Florida Public Service Commission in Tallahassee, approval of large-scale solar projects is in doubt. The key issue before the Commission is whether to approve a project with clear environmental benefits, yet its price tag exceeds “avoided cost”, and thus Commission staff has recommend against approval.
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The following is an essay on sustainable development by Anubha Momin, a Canadian student studying abroad in London who will be attending the Youth Encounter on Sustainability program in Braunwald, Switzerland. This two-week program “aims to sensitize participants to the complex issues of sustainable development in a global context, through course work, field trips, workshops, group work, discussions and practical learning experiences, combined with social and cultural activities”.
I’ve been integrating climate conscious actions into my days for as long as I can remember: trying to view documents on screen instead of printing and printing double-sided if required to print, regarding plastic water bottles with disdain, and using cloth grocery bags even before I was being charged for plastic ones.
However, when my good friend Martina informed me that she was planning to traverse the 9306 km that make up Canada by bicycle in an effort to raise awareness about climate change, I began to reconsider my limited knowledge about the environmental issues my reducing, reusing, and recycling were to target. To that end, I decided to apply to the Youth Encounter on Sustainability program, a course run by ETH Zurich, which is being held this year in the car-free mountain village of Braunwald, Switzerland. I am seeking just the type of immersive, didactic environment YES offers in order to heighten my awareness of sustainable development, beyond the surface attention provided in blog posts, news programs, and school.
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If you’re interested in clean energy solutions, climate change, and the environment, be sure to attend the Repower America event tonight in St. Petersburg:
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A great opportunity crossed my path when Jamie Trahan from the USF Clean Energy Research Center called. As a local green builder, she thought I could help her search for homes to feature on the 14th annual ASES National Solar Tour being held across the country on October 3rd.
Sadly, I informed her although I researched installing solar on our super energy efficient homes, I couldn’t find a way to make it work. Our mission is to build sustainable and affordable. We went with a gas fired tankless hot water system. Yes, it is natural gas, not a renewable, but still better than a traditional water heater sapping electricity around the clock. I know everyone can relate to waiting for water to come from the tank to your shower and up to a comfortable temp, wasting gallons upon gallons of water in our already deprived region. Tankless saves money and almost more importantly, water. Would I have preferred solar? Damn straight I would, future homeowners of our Ec0-Craftsman would have benefited from a zero energy home, but solar is caught in a conundrum of sorts. There’s not the demand to spur mass production, which leads to lower costs while at the same time, there isn’t the mass production leading to lower cost which would spur demand.
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In Fearsome Creatures of Florida, Tampa author John Henry Fleming serves as taxonomist of Florida folklore, producing a wildlife handbook that could have been published by National Enquirer. This book breathes new life into real creatures and popular myths like the Skunk Ape and the Chupacabra. However, the beasts that stay with readers long after finishing the book are Fleming’s creations, like the ghost of the monkeynaut, Gordo, trouncing along the Space Coast in his shiny suit.
From David Hazouri’s sketched illustrations, I expected a Disney World version of swamp monsters. Instead I was confronted by Swiftian creatures that prey on the book’s true monsters: humans. These unnamed locals and tourists are lazy drunks more concerned with stocking their liquor cabinets than evacuating from a hurricane. Read the rest of this entry »
What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:
Sustainable beer 101: A guide to growlers- Benefits of refillable beer jugs far exceed the lure of fresh tap beer.
Refresh your mind, body and spirit by reconnecting with nature- Living in such a busy world these days overloaded with technology leaves little time to get back to the basics and connect with the planet we live on. Take some time out of your busy schedule and reconnect with nature, which will balance you physically, mentally and spiritually.
Ronald McDonald gets a pie in the face from PETA protester- Ronald McDonald takes one in the kisser from a PETA protester who is against McDonald’s “controlled-atmosphere killing” of chickens.
St. Petersburg College and Tampa Bay green building chapter announce partnership- St Petersburg College’s Corporate Training Office announced a partnership with the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter (FGCC) of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide a comprehensive sustainable building operations training course based on the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance rating system.
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In spite of pleas from environmental groups, local governments and bashings from editorial boards, Gov. Charlie Crist signed SB 360, effectively repealing Florida’s growth management, minus the usual ceremonial signing hype. Makes us wonder where he hid to sign the offending legislation … was it in a bathroom stall somewhere?
[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwalk628/ / CC BY-ND 2.0
The Federal Trade Commission has charged a number of bamboo clothing manufacturers with making false claims about the environmental attributes of their product. The FTC’s case is part of a growing fight against “greenwashing” – making an environmental claim about a product or service without adequate scientific evidence.
In the National Textile Association’s 8/12/09 News Blog, they state that the FTC has charged four sellers with deceptively labeling and advertising garments made of bamboo fiber, when they are actually made of rayon. The complaints also charge the companies with making false and unsubstantiated “green” claims that their clothing and textile products are manufactured using an environmentally friendly process that retains the natural antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant and that they are biodegradable.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:
St. Petersburg College’s new Natural Science, Mathematics and College of Education building is certified LEED® Gold- St. Petersburg College recently announced that for the second time in as many months, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded LEED Gold certification for one of its new campus buildings.
Best of the Bay of the Day: Best organic smoothie- Believe it or not, algae and bee pollen add up to a delicious drink called the Spirulina Power Buzz. Read this to find out where to get one.
Tips to improve gas mileage (and save some green)- Do you have a lead foot or drive an inefficient automobile? Here are a few simple tips to improve gas mileage and save a bunch of green!
Living Sustainably in Tampa Bay: Darren Brinkley, owner of REAL Building- Brinkley is the owner of REAL Building and home that he built for his family in St. Petersburg is the first home in Florida to achieve the LEED for Homes Gold Rating.
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Our love for fancy, multi-layered toilet paper has major environmental consequences. Did you know that what you wipe with has a huge impact on the world?
I bet most of you probably never thought about it, but it takes a lot of trees just to wipe your butt. Millions of trees are cut down each year, then turned into pulp and bleached just to make that soft, cushy two- and three-ply toilet tissue that most of us deem a necessity in our lives.
I came upon this entertaining little video that really puts into perspective what goes into what we wipe with and “how our love for incredibly soft and fragrant paper is causing more environmental harm to the world than our love for gas guzzling SUVs, big houses, or fast food.”
Video after the jump
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:
The Earth Charter: How ethics can change the world (video) – The Earth charter was created by thousands of people representing hundreds of countries aiming at a universal ethical code of conduct for human beings. How do we treat each other? How do we treat the world? These questions were raised and answered.
City of Tampa Green Business Designation Program- As of this week, the City of Tampa became one of just a handful of cities nationwide to start a green business designation program. Outside of the West Coast (California and Washington state), Tampa will join major metropolitan areas like Philadelphia and Knoxville in rewarding private businesses that have become or want to become more environmentally-friendly.
Why buying recycled, repurposed products is so important- Preserving the Earth’s natural resources is vital to the future of the planet and all of its inhabitants. Buying recycled and repurposed products is a great way to make a positive impact on the environment by cutting back on waste and the resources needed to make new items.
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Are you an aspiring filmmaker looking to reduce your carbon footprint but you don’t know how to get started? Then the Going Green Film Festival might be right up your alley.
First and foremost, What is ‘green filmmaking’? According to the festival website, “green filmmaking is a way of producing your film that uses alternative materials, as well as environmentally friendly practices in the production office and on set”. That seems logical enough.
As per the guidelines, films must be made between 2008-2010 and be between 20 to 120 minutes. It doesn’t look like any exceptions will be made with these rules.
There are three different green genres that you can enter your film under:
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Buying “green“, eco-friendly products is becoming more and more popular in this day and age. But why is it so important? Preserving the Earth’s natural resources is vital to the future of the planet and all of its inhabitants. Buying recycled and repurposed products is a great way to make a positive impact on the environment by cutting back on waste and the resources needed to make new items.
Everything you do for the planet, no matter how small, can add up to make a huge difference. Just imagine how much energy and other natural resources would be saved if everyone made it a point to buy some type of green products regularly, whether its clothing, accessories, personal care products or something else.
By making that type of a commitment you’re taking the first step to saving the planet and its natural resources. Plus, there’re many other benefits to buying green. Some of them are listed below:
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Sustainability is the ability to meet present day needs without jeopardizing the future’s ability to provide for their needs as well. In order to have a sustainable system such as this it must be created equally in a democratic way. If sustainability is built only for the extremely rich the poor and middle class will be left out with ever rising costs of living. A green revolution is needed most from the bottom up, not the top down.
Social justice and peace are necessities for a sustainable society. The resources and manpower devoted to war are all we would need to combat global climate change and transition our economy from a fossil fuel dependent one to a cleaner/renewable energy/decentralized system. What would this story look like?
In 1992 a little girl named Severn Suzuki spoke at the Rio Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero:
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:
TRA’shion Fashion and Art Show 2009 (photos) – The fabulous trashionistas were out in force for ARTpool’s annual TRA’shion Show, and photographer Chip Weiner caught all the recycled green glamour.
Letting go of addictions: Using alternative methods to release addictions of any type- Kelly Rothwell gives us alternative methods such as energetic healing, visualizations and affirmations, that can be used to not only cope with such addictions but to understand the reason behind the addiction and let it go for good.
Living sustainably in Tampa Bay: Dave Starman’s biodiesel fueled car and green lifestyle – The first in a series of profiles, by Jack B., of individuals who are living sustainably in Tampa Bay. This profiles Tampa Bay resident Dave Starman.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning and St. Pete Times Forum employees and staff members participated in a “River Cleanup this morning - cleaning the shoreline and water’s edge of the Garrison Channel around the Cotanchobee Park.
Wearing shirts saying “Together We Will”, the group picked up trash and debris in the park and river areas.
It’s great to hear about individuals, groups and companies doing “the green thing” and setting an example for others to do the same. Whether its picking up trash, planting trees, or even donating money to green charitable causes, many people are jumping on the eco-friendly bandwagon.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:
Celebrating Independence Day or creating environmental disaster? – Kelly Rothwell looks at the littered aftermath of Fourth of July celebrations and wonder why, instead of giving back in celebration of their freedom, people decide to light off fireworks, leaving mass amounts of debris in the water and on the beach.
Local Food: Dinner in, and from, the garden at Gateway Organic Farm – Chef Gui Alinat gives information about Gateway Organic Farm’s next “Dinner in the Garden” event, an incredible local foods experience featuring nine Bay area chefs.
As was widely reported, my family and I lost our home to a fire last year. In an effort to turn a bad situation into something really positive, to be environmentally conscious and energy efficient, and to save money and lead by example, we built our new home to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Many friends, colleagues, and constituents have inquired about my family’s new home and the green features, and so my staff and I decided to grab the video camera and record a tour to share with those interested.
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I am still deciding whether to accuse McDonald’s of blatantly pandering to the green consumer or applaud them for one of their most recent initiatives to open what it bills as the “first green restaurant” in Cary, North Carolina on July 14th. It has the potential to be industry changing, or also just another joke aimed at fat people.
Gizmodo reports McDonald’s says the facility will not only be built using all green construction materials, but will be complete with free-to-use charging stations for your electric vehicle. That’s right, while you wash down those tasty, salty chunks of charred animal flesh and yummy, deadly fried potatoes with your favorite sugary beverage, you can help the environment by charging up your eco-friendly car simply by pulling up, plugging in, and pigging out.
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Last Wednesday – which many of your remember due to the heavy rain, flooded roads and overflowing water barrels – I had the wonderful opportunity to speak at the Florida Native Plant Society’s monthly meeting held at the Pinellas Extension Center in Largo. As I left the building, an orchestra of frog calls filled the damp night. The roar was almost deafening and oh so beautiful. In the warm humid evening I was catapulted back to my childhood: listening to frogs “croak” and watching fireflies dance – a treat that fewer and fewer children will experience.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:
Steps to becoming greener: Reducing your waste, reusing and recycling: Joshua Poll gives some useful tips for ways to start reducing, reusing, and recycling things you thought you could just throw away.
Genetically engineering cows that will produce less methane, reducing greenhouse gases: Geneticists in Canada are trying to engineer a cow that produces less methane, resulting in less greenhouse gases, reports Brian Roberts.
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This is the playlist for Chris Martenson’s “The Crash Course”. It is a brief rundown of the number of simultaneous issues affecting America in its energy, economy, and environmental areas. The road map that Chris Marteson presents is one that I will refer back to in coming blog posts. He does a wonderful job of tying together everything. Knowing what walls we’ve reached will allow us to determine a course of personal and community action that is most relevant to the future we will probably head towards. Will we truly see a great green energy investment bubble from cap and trade? Can we take on more debt to convert our livelihoods into a new energy transition?
Video after the jump.
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This article started out as a way to explore pollution caused by the fashion and textile industry, but quickly became focused um, er…elsewhere…
TheDailyGreen is (gratuitously, fortunately) rounding up a list of designers and companies that are using sustainable business models and practices to help reduce the very large impact the textile industry has on the environment.
More natural materials such as chiffon, hemp, and organic cotton are being used, along with unexpected items such as bamboo and recycled materials like rubber from tennis shoes are all being made into hot, hot, sexy lingerie by designers all over the world. All in the name of saving the planet, of course.
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This post is partially a retraction and a correction. I have reported previously on how cow farts are filling up the atmosphere with greenhouse gas emissions in the form of methane. Apparently, its not the gas from the tail end of the cow that’s the problem. Its the belching. My bad.
Either way, it sounds like a premise for a bad episode of Captain Planet and a chain of visual images that eventually ruins lunch.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this past week:
Reconstructing a historic bat tower in Temple Terrace and how to build your own bat roost- Grant Rimbey investigates efforts in Temple Terrace to reconstruct an historic tower for bats, discusses a large community bat roost he designed for the Florida Bat Conservancy, and tells how you can purchase (or build) your own bat roost for your yard.
Summer Solstice: A brief history- Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, occurs this Sunday- June 21st. Here are a few facts you might not have known about it, from Linda Taylor.
Organics: How to eat well without breaking your budget- With the increase of demand over organic food in the last ten years you would think that a wide range of these products would be easily accessible. Here’s some some advice from Kelly Rothwell on purchasing healthy, organic food in this region without breaking your budget.
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Below, is an interview I just conducted with Arlen Slobodow, a local filmmaker who just completed a documentary about air pollution caused by fossil fuels in the Tampa Bay area and how it affects our health and the health of our planet. Also, see my last post which goes more in depth about the film.
The following interview was conducted by phone on the evening of Tuesday, June 16, 2009.
Matt De Vlieger (M): How did you get involved in documentary filmmaking?
Arlen Slobodow (A): I have always been interested in social change work and have found mass media a good way to accomplish that. Read the rest of this entry »
Recently, I received an email from a local filmmaker, Arlen Slobodow of Public Media Productions, asking me to take a look at a 17-minute video he just completed on public health and the environmental consequences of air pollution in the Tampa Bay area. Because I am such a supporter of local independent media production, things that inspire action for the public good, and combating big polluters, I thought I’d share it. Also, be sure to check out my interview with the film’s writer/director/producer, Arlen Slobodow, in my next post.
Video after the jump
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this past week:
Cool-N-Save: An eco-friendly energy saver for your air conditioning unit (Video): Jennifer Meier writes about how the Cool-n-SaveTM system affixes to the top of most home air conditioning units, resulting in a substantial drop in ambient temperature of up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. The Cool-N-Save(TM) system has also been rated by the US Department of Energy and EPA as an Energy Star Partner.
Signs of hope: are our environmental efforts making a difference?: Linda Taylor shows us an example of how environmental efforts can make a difference, even if they take years to come to fruition.
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Last week I took a bit of a break after my hectic market schedule to visit my folks. I was raised on the Jersey “shore” as it is termed in the Garden State/Philadelphia area. I have been a bird watcher since the age of 8 starting with my magazine drive prize fold-down opera glasses. Once home and without any responsibilities (except providing a good appetite for my mother’s cooking), I am emersed in my beloved hobby. Of particular interest in the Delaware Bay area is a shorebird called the red knot rufa. This beautiful bird’s story is interesting because it is linked to the prehistoric looking horseshoe crab. The red knot has one of the longest yearly migrations of any bird, traveling 15,000 km from its Artic breeding grounds to Tierra del Fuego in southern South America.
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Cool-n-Save™ is an awesome new patented product that is actually based on the same scientific principles that large corporations have used to save themselves money for years.
Installed in less than five minutes with no tools required, the Cool-n-Save™ system affixes to the top of most home air conditioning units. The system is activated only when the AC unit turns on; hot air from the condenser unit’s fan raises the flap on the patented Cool-n-Save™ control valve allowing water to flow to the misters that surround the AC unit. When the ultra-fine mist is released into the air, it evaporates almost instantly creating what is known as a “Flash Evaporation,” which literally sucks heat out of the air as water absorbs the energy it needs to evaporate. The result of the immediate evaporation constitutes a substantial drop in ambient temperature without wetness- up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Cool-N-Save system fits on top of most air conditioning units and expels a filtered, ultra fine mist around the AC unit, which creates a “chill zone.” This “chill zone” allows your air conditioner to work more efficiently and reduces the electricity it draws. This results in consumer savings and reduced CO2 emissions . The efficiency of the Cool-N-Save(TM) system has been scientifically proven by Tulane University .
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Remember when we were suffering from drought? Back when we longed for rain drops to quench our gardens, or heck, wash our cars? Tampa City Council has eased the ban on lawn sprinkling, which ends Monday June 1st. City dwellers will fall in line with Hillsborough County residents abiding by SWFWMD’s emergency restrictions; allowing lawn sprinklers to run once a week from midnight to 4 a.m.
Our city once had the strictest regulations in the state; Council members had the foresight to see beyond the immediate crisis, to address our dwindling water supply. We all know water is one precious commodity, more expensive by the 12 oz bottle than gasoline is by the gallon. By initiating tough regulations, City Council was preparing us, forcing us, to change our water guzzling ways. Forestalling the implementation of ration cards, tandem showers, and sky high rates. Okay, maybe the latter is more likely but one thing is for sure: water rates will rise as supply diminishes. Not to mention as our aquifer falls lower and lower, so does the surface; so we should be in for some major sinkhole action. Council members Mulhern and Miranda voted against lifting the ban, with Mulhern correctly stating that, “A three-year drought is not solved by two weeks of rain”, and Miranda resigning from the Water Board in disgust.
I miss the drought and the restrictions. Okay, so I’m lazy – for months my crunchy weeds, um, I mean lawn, didn’t need mowing but beyond my front yard and personal issues, the drought and its dire circumstances prompted discussions of conservation. Read the rest of this entry »
Mc Libel is a documentary that was recommended to me a couple of years ago by fellow activists who said it
was eerily familiar to our own Wal-Mart experience. After viewing this important and inspiring film recently, I must recommend that all activists see this film immediately. It started with one woman-Helen Steel. She was the first to take a stand, and then she was soon followed by Dave Morris who fought by her side to the bittersweet end. The two British activists made history in the longest ever English trial, by taking on the multi-national corporation McDonald’s.
It began in 1982 when both activists were busy handing out leaflets with their group London Greenpeace. The group started by protesting environmental issues such as nuclear power and social justice issues including Third World Debt. In 1985 they launched International Day of Action Against McDonald’s, which continues on Oct.16th to this day. In 1986 they produced a six-sided fact sheet called “What’s wrong with McDonald’s-Everything they don’t want you to know.” The leaflet attacked many aspects of the corporations business accusing them of exploiting children with their advertising, promoting an unhealthy diet, exploiting workers, and environmental damage as well as cruelty to animals.
London Greenpeace held regular meetings, and were soon infiltrated by private investigators hired by McDonald’s. They actually hired two separate firms, and even had them spying on each other, as well as the activist’s in the group. Some meetings actually had as many spies as it had activists. The information obtained by the spies was used to issue libel writs to 5 volunteers in the group. There was no public legal aid for libel cases and the only legal advice they got was that this type of law was extremely complex and would be very costly so best to just end it by apologizing to McDonald’s. Read the rest of this entry »
With this post, I make a strong case for the use of the social-media, micro-blogging tool Twitter as an extremely useful resource for staying connected to and up-to-the-minute with the green community, or any other community, for that matter. More on that later.
The case for Twitter requires use of the many and ever-growing list of applications to manage, filter, and access the flow of Tweets (comments). While the overall signal-to-noise ratio on Twitter may not be that high (case in point would be Oprah’s first Tweets that were little more than noise — dare I say white noise?), there is a high quality, high velocity stream of information, if you just know where and how to look.
The first step to creating a noise filter (to only see and/or block certain Tweets) requires a visit to the Twitter search engine. Navigating without this feature would be like finding something on the internet without a search engine (e.g., Google). Because of the “open architecture” characteristics of Twitter, ALL words in ALL tweets are searchable. Here is link to a search on all tweets that include “Creative Loafing” and “tampa”. And since the tweets update in real time, you always have the most up-to-date information. Read the rest of this entry »
So it’s come to this? “Global warming” is out and “climate change” is in? We are no longer looking for a “silver bullet”, but rather seek “silver buckshot”?
Based on a recent article in the NYTimes, linguistic battles are shaping as PR firms and lobbyists look to shape the language of debate over climate-change legislation working its way through the halls of Congress. Though, navigating this new lexicon may help to improve the image of this most important social, environmental, and geo-political issue. Perhaps when renamed, “global warming” will climb from its last-place position of twenty important voter concerns (based on a recent Pew Research poll). Read the rest of this entry »
By taking the wisdom we have learned from past events, we can move forward free from the past and also enjoy freedom from the cycle of history repeating itself. It has been said that class warfare has always been a part of our lives, even when it comes to our environment. There are those who have more money who care more about sustaining their lifestyle, than they do about sustaining life on our planet. There are those with less money, who care more about sustaining life, than allowing those with more to have it their way. The difference has often been that those with more have also had more opportunity to squelch the views of those with less. This is where a positive change is occurring. Many people far more educated than I am have told me stories and actually demonstrated how history has repeated itself. I often respond to them by saying, “We are in a new era. We have, for the first time in recorded history, several abilities that have never existed before” (that we know of). These are: 1) The ability to travel anywhere on this planet in 24 hours or less, 2) The ability to talk to anyone, anywhere on this planet at any time, 3) The ability to translate every language in use today, 4) Access to “all” known information via internet, 4) The ability to travel to other planets. As far as we know, these things have never before been available to mankind. Therefore, we can not judge the future, by the limited scope of the past. Our future need not be a bleak repeat of things we know all to well. No more reruns of old tragedies and dramas. With these new found abilities, we have found ourselves on a new path. We are on the precipice of something much greater. Read the rest of this entry »
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