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Easy Ways to Save Energy
With this fall's spike in oil and natural gas prices and the
further impact Hurricane Katrina will have on this winter's
heating oil supplies, it's become more important than ever to
make sure our homes are as energy-efficient as possible.
...
Efficiency Equals Reduction
Efficiency Equals Reduction (400 words) Imagine that if at the grocery store the person bagging your purchases left empty, unused spaces in each bag causing you to carry 10 instead of 5 bags out to your car then into your home. You would be...
Employ passive solar energy and start saving electricity today.
Here are 7 basic fundamentals that will cost you nothing or very little and save you cash for many years to come! 1. Orientation, layout and positioning of your house on the land Orientate your living areas to the south side of the house, which...
Straw as real estate building material
In the famous kid’s fairy tale ‘The Three Little Pigs’ one of the pigs built a house of straw that made him almost pay with his life. The pig was blamed in the tale for choosing the wrong building material. But his material was definitely the right...
What to do With Pesky Packing Peanuts
We do everything we can to do our part in the effort to protect the
environment. We recycle. We take extra care to combine errands so we
don't waste gasoline (especially at these prices). We even make
purchases online to save energy and keep...
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So, Donald... An Open Letter to Donald Trump
Soaring oil and gas prices and the devastation of Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita have finally brought an issue into sharp focus
for the public: When it comes to energy, we're in trouble! We
import far more crude oil than we produce in the United States;
fully 70 percent of our oil comes from five countries in the
Middle East, arguably the most volatile and politically unstable
region in the world.
We need to develop sustainable, renewable, safe sources of
energy to provide power for our homes and businesses. One real
danger is, however, that as the memory of Katrina fades and the
prices drop at the gas pump, the public will also lose focus,
and fail to continue the pressure needed for politicians to
generate change. What we need is a standard bearer - a big,
vocal, powerful, charismatic standard bearer.
So, Donald... When are you going to build the world's first
off-the-grid skyscraper?
Just think of it - wind turbines on the roof, sheets of solar
panels covering the south side of the building, and, to heat and
cool the building, biodiesel, manufactured on site from
discarded vegetable oil collected from the best restaurants in
Manhattan. In the interior, piped-in sunlight brightens the
living area while saving on electricity; a gray-water system
recycles water throughout the building and can be reused for
showers, baths, and lush gardens on every floor. Bamboo flooring
and other renewable materials create a rich ambiance while
promoting the concept of green living.
While you're at it...
How does an "Adopt a Smokestack" campaign sound?
In talking about decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, one
alternative being discussed is relying more on domestically
mined coal. At this moment, coal burning is already responsible
for generating more electricity in the U.S. than any other
method. Unfortunately, much of this coal is being burned by
obsolete, highly polluting utility plants. In the Midwest alone,
over a hundred aging coal burning plants spew out pollutants
responsible for acid rain which has killed hundreds of lakes,
streams, and rivers in the Northeast. Large amounts of mercury
from these plants are deposited in the water and end up in both
freshwater and ocean fish, turning one of the healthiest sources
of protein into one of the most dangerous - mercury in
fish
threatens the unborn children of women who ingest it,
threatening neurological damage which results in a lifelong
sentence of some measure of disability. Airborne pollutants are
also responsible for an exponential increase in asthma,
particularly in children. Increasing the use of coal without
implementing immediate pollution controls would only intensify
the pollution and its consequences.
Environmental experts familiar with coal burning plants estimate
that it would cost a million dollars per smokestack to decrease
the pollutants emitted to acceptable levels. The utility plants
themselves have resisted this expenditure, and have lobbied
successfully to stop governmental enforcement of environmental
regulations; the fledgling Bush administration quickly stopped
lawsuits, begun by the EPA during the Clinton administration,
which would have forced these plants to implement pollution
controls.
So, Donald, where do you come in? With your visibility, your
cult status, and your corporate clout, you could easily raise
the money to fix every smokestack in the country. NFL and NBA
players, CEOs, Hollywood actors, producers, and directors,
multimillionaires with old money and new - and don't forget
Oprah - all have the means to donate a million dollars, or more,
to adopt a smokestack. We could virtually eliminate the
pollution problem from these coal burning plants in short order
- much more quickly than will be accomplished by lawsuits and
governmental interference. We could offer to fix these
smokestacks in exchange for one promise - that the utility
plants do not sell their pollution credits to anyone else.
All of the technology needed for both of these projects is
available today, and would put this country on the path to
sustainability and energy independence in short order. And
Donald, you could pull it off, in grand style.
I can see into the future: a Newsweek cover with a
picture of a towering Donald Trump, and the title, "Donald Trump
Saves the World." Has a nice ring to it.
About the author:
Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern
New Hampshire and frequently contributes to Tips and
Topics. She may be reached at amfredenburg@yahoo.com.
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