The designers and architects donate their knowledge and time to create these cutting-edge single family homes and duplexes.  The Make It Right Foundation is on its way to building the largest, greenest neighborhood of single family homes in America.  The homes are equipped with metals roof to absorb less heat and reduce the need to cool a home by 20-70%, solar power, roof hatches, elevation, storm fabric, advance framing techniques, green guard rain drop building wrap, Bluewood, rainwater harvesting, and those are just the exterior features. Interior, homes are equipped with Energy Star-rated windows and appliances, formaldehyde-free cabinets and paints free of VOCs.

It is amazing what can happen when people come together and work towards a common goal.  It is even more amazing that the common goal for the Make It Right Foundation is to not just get families displaced by Hurricane Katrina back into their homes, but to be environmentally conscious and affordable while doing it.  Each of these homes sells for no more than $150,000.

America should take a hint from the foundation.  More and more neighborhoods are being built that could easily be built in an environmentally favorable way, while costing less; keeping the health and environment in mind.

Environmental reforms on climate change have been discussed for decades by the UN, separate countries governments, environmental groups, and individuals. The need for change is evident, but getting a national response, much less an international response, is difficult to see through.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was created almost 20 years ago. This framework aimed to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations below a dangerous level. What this dangerous level is, however, has been a topic of debate. Last year’s Copenhagen Climate Conference tried to turn the UN’s framework into a reality, but failed to do so. The simple drawback in this environmental reform was the unrealistic goals it set with no precedent or way of implanting without a country going bankrupt or losing power.

The Copenhagen negotiations (UN backed) attempted to strap down 200 nations committing themselves to drastically change green reforms. This UN decision has not yet been implemented due to the holes in the program and the non-urgent threat of climate change.

The following are the different environmental reform strategies that different environmentalism specialists have hypothesized, as well as the plan created by the UN.

Global Agreement Strategy from the UN Copenhagen Conference

• Assumes national governments can set a meaningful threshold beyond the point where climate change can become dangerous, and then create a plan that assures never getting to that point. However, environmentalism specialists cannot find any such threshold.
• If a threshold was found, this would mean cutting off all greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, which no country has ever been able to do and still stay profitable.
• Because there are no set strategies on how to meet the requirements of this strategy, many nations have been reluctant to join in the UN efforts and have created environmental reforms of their own.

Clean Energy Revolution Strategy by Separate National Governments

• Individual countries will take their own actions in reducing an impactful climate change.
• The pros for this argument center on the power that national governments have in where spending goes in their own countries. Increase the spend and support of research and green reforms as well as put caps on greenhouse admissions that make sense per country and (in this theory) you will see results.
• The assumptions of this strategy assume that the actions of individual nations will eventually make green energy less expensive than today’s fossil fuels quickly enough to positively effect and limit the changes to the climate. This represents what economists call a collective action problem, meaning “successful solutions require many different parties to respond in a coordinated manner” which is highly unlikely to occur.

Combine National Efforts with UN Watchdog

• National governments (driven by environmental factors as well as economic) will pursue their own ways of lowering emissions and greenhouse gases.
• Global negotiations would watch separate nations and keep certain countries from lagging too far behind by supporting early results and creating circumstances in which countries who are not implementing environmental reforms would suffer economically.

The next round of climate negotiations is going to be in Mexico in December. Hopefully, with the aforementioned plans in mind, this meeting will help create international reporting standards for monitoring greenhouse gases, as well as other international standards for climate control.

The Gulf coast oil spill “is an epidemic, one that we will be fighting for months and even years,” President Obama grimly reported last night in his first Oval Office speech. After visiting the coast for two days, the president’s speech showed a passionate man out for BP’s blood and aching for progressive environmental reform.

The president will be meeting today with BP’s chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg to discuss the oil spill and what BP needs to be doing to stabilize the environment and socio-economic factors the spill has caused. This meeting will go over the environmental reforms needed from BP, including the mobilization of additional equipment and technology as well as the financial obligations the oil company has to the business owners and workers of the Gulf coast. President Obama said he will “meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company’s recklessness.”

Although nothing can make up for the 60,000 barrels of oil being pumped into the Gulf each day, BP will be required to set monetary assets aside to help the workers and business owners who lost tourism profits due to the oil spill. The account will be set up and administered by a third party company so as to watch BP very closely.

The passionate and patriotic man we saw on TV last night might have something to do with the response he received when arriving at the coast. The crowds were littered with picket signs with words of wisdom, to feelings of thanks, to passionate declarations calling the president useless. Surveys found that more than half the country thinks Obama is doing a poor job taking action against the oil spill. Even more than that says he is not being harsh enough with BP.

This knowledge might have spawned the commitment to environmentalism the president made in his speech, along with his promise to make BP “pay for the damages their company has cost.”

The end of the worst oil spill in American history might be on the horizon with the success of top kill. Top kill was one of the many environmental reform measures brought forth by BP to plug the oil rig leak. Although environmentalism activists are still in shock at the devastating consequences the oil rig has brought on the environment, top kill is the first beacon of hope since the oil rig explosion over a month ago.

Top kill is a process where BP is pushing mud into the damaged blowout protector in an effort to block the oil. How much of a success the top kill is actually going to be is still unsure, but environmental reform measures are being presented and granted by President Obama to ensure these things never happen again. Green reform measures like a moratorium was granted that ceased the approval of new offshore oil rigs and environmental waivers were issued earlier this week. Obama commented in a press conference yesterday acknowledged the shortcomings his administration faced but said “those who think we were either slow on the response or lacked urgency, don’t know the facts.”

Although the top kill procedure seems to be stopping the BP oil leak, officials are hesitant to make any overoptimistic statements. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry is the federal on-scene coordinator for the Coast Guard, and she was optimistic that their efforts are working due to the flow turning muddy.

This however does not help the 17-27 million gallons of oil that has seeped into the Gulf of Mexico from the month long BP oil leak. The Director of the U.S. Mineral Management Service Elizabeth Birnbaum retired from her post due to the stress and blame placed on her and her department. It is unclear by environmentalist supporters if the Gulf’s wildlife and habitats will ever return to the way they were.

Despite Obama’s moratorium on May 14^th issuing the immediate halt of drilling new wells and granting of environmental waivers, grants for drilling permits and environmental waivers have continued to be permitted by the federal government, met with skepticism and complaints that the terms of the moratorium are too narrowly defined and have been violated.

Obama created the green cleaning moratorium in order to close “the loophole that has allowed some oil companies to bypass some critical environmental reviews,” he said. He also commented that after investigation of certain oil company permits it was found that there was no concrete safety measures implemented, only the word of the oil company. Obama vowed these practices would end, but different federal agencies are having issues following these orders.

“The moratorium does not even cover the dangerous drilling that caused the problem in the first place,” said Daniel J. Rohlf, a law professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, adding he was not certain that the Interior Department was capable of carrying out the needed reforms.

Since the April 20^th explosion of the BP oil rig, federal regulators have granted at least 19 environmental waivers for gulf drilling projects and at least 17 drilling permits for the same kind of work the Deepwater Horizon drill, working for BP, was doing. These will have a significant change on green living initiatives and negatively affect the already almost destroyed Gulf.

Government officials in the Department of the Interior and the Minerals Management Service are hiding behind the skirts of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, stating the moratorium was never meant to completely cease permits for new work on existing drill projects, it was simply meant to stop permits for new drills. Salazar also stated the hardships his agency are going through, harping on his requirement of having to process drilling requests within 30 days of their submission.

Even though officials keep claiming the moratorium requirements to still be intact, the main purpose of the moratorium was to prevent accidents occurring due to lack of safety precautions. However, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said there are existing drilling types that have been OKed to continue even though they are as hazardous as new drilling would be. On record there have been at least three major oil rig accidents involving procedures that are still being permitted.

On April 20^th, 2010 a Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded and killed 11 workers, spawning what is predicted to be the biggest oil spill in this country’s history. The oil is spilling out at over 5,000 barrels a day due to the three breaks in the well pipes and hit the Louisiana coastline late Thursday night, nine days after the initial spill.

The oil company that owned the oil drill, BP, is completely responsible for the cleanup, although Obama and his office is enforcing environmental reforms, saying they will help the clean up in any way they can, including giving the aide of the Department of Defense, if necessary. The National Coast Guard has approved an experimental plan by BP to apply chemical dispersants underwater to help stop the oil spread, and the federal government is sending as much help as they can:

· There are over 50 boats and aircraft deployed from the Department of Homeland Security to help the spill

· The DHS also put out 174,060 feet of absorbent foam booms and recovered 18,180 barrels of an oily mixture from the gulf’s surface

· Interior Department deployed SWAT teams to inspect 30 other drilling rigs in deepwater sections of the Gulf of Mexico

· DHS is setting up a headquarters in Alabama as well as the already stationed Louisiana post

· Navy is sending 66,000 feet of inflatable boom and seven skimming systems

· Navy is offering its base in the region as a staging area for the operation

· National Guard troops are mobilized and ready to assist

· The situation was deemed an incident of national significance which means a National Response Team composed of 16 federal agencies will coordinate a federal response

This spill is predicted to be the largest oil spill in US history, larger than the 1989 spill from Exxon Valdez that spilled 11 million gallons of oil into an ecologically sensitive area of the Prince William Sound. The difference between the spills is that in 1989 the cause was an oil tanker which holds a finite amount of oil; this spill is tapped to an underwater oil well which is predicted to spill up to 3 months.

Effect on the Environment

Environmentalist efforts are being spawned everywhere, from Mexican and American volunteers to the oil company workers. The spread of the oil spill to the coastline poses a serious threat for marine habits as well as human health. The Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring the air quality of the affected area to measure the impact of the controlled burning. There are two national wildlife refuges around the area of the spill that has not yet been affected by the spill, but has the potential to be.

It was predicted by local fishermen/farmers that if the oil spill hit the shore, the entire population of shrimp, crab and oysters would be destroyed.

Change of Environmental Reforms

This spill comes at an inopportune time for Obama and his administration, who just last month stated they would continue in their efforts at finding less environmentally damaging ways of getting oil and said they were opening up over 150 million acres of water property for oil drilling.

The White House is now saying there will be no new offshore drilling until the investigation as to why the explosion occurred is finished.

In response to the plan, Natural Resource Defense Council Director of Programs Wesley Warren said “With this budget, President Obama is starting to usher in a clean energy economy. That means more jobs, less carbon pollution and a more secure nation.His budget promotes America’s energy independence by reducing our reliance on foreign oil, starting the transition away from dirty fossil fuels, and investing in conservation and clean power like wind and solar. Cutting harmful greenhouse pollution and ramping up renewable energy will secure our nation and foster innovation that will make our economy more competitive. Now it’s up to Congress to deliver on the president’s funding priorities for a cleaner, more secure America.”

The highlights of his speech included the following:

Provides $3.3 billion total for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds.

This will allow States and Tribes to initiate approximately 800 clean water and 500 drinking water projects nationally, continuing a major Federal commitment to water infrastructure investment.

• Provides new funding to support the Administration’s commitment to mitigate climate change.

Obama wants Congress to enact forward-looking energy legislation that kicks off our development of advanced, clean energy technologies to reduce our dependence on oil, strengthen our energy and national security, create new jobs and restore the U.S. spot as a global leader in mitigating climate change.

• Continues support for collaborative, interagency ecosystem restoration efforts in the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay and Mississippi River Basin.

Obama’s plan gives $300 million towards the Great Lakes, $17 million for the Mississippi River and increases Chesapeake Bay support by $13 million. The Great Lakes money will focus on contaminated sediments and toxics, nonpoint source pollution, habitat degradation and loss and invasive species. The Mississippi project will target nonpoint source reduction practices on agricultural land to reduce nutrient loadings. The Chesapeake money will support the Presidents Day May 2009 Chesapeake Bay Restoration Executive Order and enables the EPA to conduct robust regulatory, permitting, modeling and reporting efforts.

• Provides grants for States and Tribes to administer delegated environmental programs at $1.3 billion, the highest level ever.

Environmentalism has helped lead this FY to have the highest budget for environmental programs, 14% higher than 2010 FY. The budget recognized state fiscal restraints and provides increases for select state and tribal programs, including a $45 million increase for state water pollution control grants and a $58 million increase for air quality management grants.

• Supports economic growth and job creation in hard hit regions by bolstering Brownfield’s cleanup.

Brownfields are lightly contaminated sites-many in economically hard hit regions- that pollution may keep from being used productively. This green legislation increases the spending available to help clean up these areas. Obama gave an estimated $3,000 more for these projects than FY 2009.

Source: GoAccess.gov

Last week President Obama and his administration outlined changes that would greatly alter the fuel economy and emissions standards of the auto industry. Not only would these changes reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions emitted into the air by cars, but they would also save the average car buyer thousands of dollars in fuel.

So far both environmental organizations and lobby groups seem to be on board for the car fuel economy changes.

Last week President Obama and his administration outlined changes that would greatly alter the fuel economy and emissions standards of the auto industry. Not only would these changes reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions emitted into the air by cars, but they would also save the average car buyer thousands of dollars in fuel.

So far both environmental organizations and lobby groups seem to be on board for the car fuel economy changes.

The best fuel economy standards?

So, what makes the 1,200 page fuel economy and emissions standards document so great for everyone? Besides completely altering the current rules of the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency, these rules will also:

• Push for a 5% increase in fuel economy standards per year from 2011 to 2016
• Increase  automobile fuel standards from 27.3 mpg in 2011 up to 35.5 mpg in 2016
• Ensure that cars with model year 2016 would have to meet an average limit of 250 grams of carbon emitted per mile driven

These are all great changes that could help everyone reduce their carbon footprint. The government even says that these would:

• Save car buyers $3,000 in fuel costs over the life of a vehicle
• Reduce CO2 emissions about 950 million metric tons
• Greatly reduce US dependence on foreign oil by about 1.8 billion barrels

Overall, this sounds like a great green initiative, and we hope that it will help us reach the best fuel economy standards in a reasonable amount of time.

What do you think? Are these goals within reach?

Source: Matter Network

From 1998 to 2005 scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, an organization whose mission is to provide scientific information to describe the earth, studied over 1000 fish from 291 streams across the nation, and what they found in regards to high mercury levels was pretty astounding.

Every fish that was sampled had some of the toxic mercury substance in it, and that raises concern over the rising amount of pollution in water across the country.

From 1998 to 2005 scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, an organization whose mission is to provide scientific information to describe the earth, studied over 1000 fish from 291 streams across the nation, and what they found in regards to high mercury levels was pretty astounding.

Every fish that was sampled had some of the toxic mercury substance in it, and that raises concern over the rising amount of pollution in water across the country.

Mercury Health Hazards

In a previous blog post we wrote about The Hazards of Eating Sushi. One of the most dangerous elements of eating sushi is the amount of mercury that can be found in it, and that means all types of fish are susceptible to the hazardous element, which is known to damage the central nervous system and cause birth defects in children.

So, what is the cause of this type of water pollution? Mercury is usually emitted by coal-fired power plants or smokestacks that release this toxic element into surrounding lakes and streams. The spreading of the mercury in the water makes it impossible for the fish to avoid.

Highest Level Mercury Areas

Here are some states that had the highest level of mercury found in the fish:

• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Georgia
• Florida
• Louisiana

As far as the western states go, high levels of mercury pollution in the water were found in Dayton, Nevada.

With these findings almost all of the U.S. states, except Alaska and Wyoming, have enacted fish-consumption warnings to advise people about the hazards of mercury. Mercury is a hazardous water pollution problem, so by bringing attention to it we hope that the U.S. Geological Survey will inspire all U.S. states to find a way to clean up their streams and waterways.

Source: Yahoo! News

According to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit organization that provides grants to improve public policy, the U.S. states of Oregon, Colorado and Tennessee have emerged as the top leaders for job growth in the clean-energy sector.

The study looked at green job growth in 38 states from 1998 to 2007.

According to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit organization that provides grants to improve public policy, the U.S. states of Oregon, Colorado and Tennessee have emerged as the top leaders for job growth in the clean-energy sector.

The study looked at green job growth in 38 states from 1998 to 2007.

Some other findings from the Pew report are:

• At least 7 states and the District have gained green energy employment opportunities
• Virginia and Maryland had overall job increases that exceeded clean-energy job growth
• The green sector has created an array of new jobs that generate incomes from $21,000-$111,000
• States are set to receive $85 billion from federal stimulus money in direct spending and tax incentives for energy and transportation-related programs
• Twenty-three states have created regional incentive programs to reduce pollution from power plants
• Forty-six states will offer tax incentives geared to renewable energy use

In conclusion, the report says that the clean-energy economy “generates jobs, businesses and investments while expanding clean-energy production, increasing energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste and pollution and conserving water and other natural resources.”

The future looks good for green energy. Now let’s just see if we can keep it green.

Source: The Washington Times