Maryland Residential Energy Efficiency Programs

New! Save money, save energy, and save carbon dioxide emissions: The Maryland Energy Administration has announced four new programs “designed to save Maryland residents both energy and money”, reports Southern Maryland Online.

According to the article, the four new “EmPOWER Maryland” Programs include:

  • Maryland Energy Efficient Affordable Housing Development Program – Using a $250,000 grant from MEA, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will initiate an affordable housing program to increase the energy efficiency of homes receiving funding assistance from DHCD. New homes will have to meet the national EPA ENERGY STAR Qualified New Homes energy saving target of 15 percent more energy efficient than required by code. Existing home rehabilitation projects will have to increase their energy efficiency levels by approximately 15 percent.

  • Improving Energy Efficiency in Existing Homes Continue reading

Maryland Citizens Rally for Real Global Warming Solutions

This morning in Annapolis, I was one of over 70 Maryland citizens and students gathered outside the state house to support the Maryland Commission on Climate Change and Governor Martin O’Malley. Backed by a giant yellow banner calling for science-based reductions in global warming pollution of at least 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, speakers from the newly formed Alliance for Global Warming Solutions and politicians spoke of the importance of taking real action to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. The Alliance delivered over 5,000 (!!!) postcard petitions to the Governor and Commission members asking the state leaders for a firm commitment and swift action!

The Time to Commit is Now!

Last April, Governor O’Malley created the MD Commission on Climate Change to study the effects of global warming in Maryland and to make an action plan to deal with them. And believe me, Maryland may seem small, but just like in every other place, the effects of global warming will cause massive changes. Maryland, with over 3,100 miles of coastline, is the third most vulnerable state to sea level rise- after Louisiana and Florida. With just a small rise in sea level rise, Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay culture and much of the Eastern Shore will be dramatically impacted. Even Allstate Insurance Company is no longer issuing new flood policies in coastal Maryland.

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And today before the Commission’s third meeting, we turned out to rally the Commission and the Governor to set firm commitments to science-based reductions of at least 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. It was incredible to see how many people had come from out of town, or taken the day off work. Armed with a giant hourglass, Claire Douglass, CCAN’s Maryland Campaign director, showed how with every passing minute and every turn of the hourglass, Marylanders are pumping 350,000 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere.

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I was inspired by the overwhelming grassroots support and dedicated political leaders (including state Sen. Paul Pinsky and Del. Kumar Barve, who spoke at the rally). Maryland is the position to become a national leader in the fight against climate change. Click here to send an email to Governor O’Malley and the Commissioners to thank them for their support and to encourage them to make a commitment to science-based reductions.

As Claire said, “These are achievable reductions. We can do this, we must do this, but we have to act now.”

1998: Still Hot

You may have heard this from a conservative friend already, but NASA recalculated its temperature records for 1998 and the year is no longer the hottest in the 48 states (1934 is). Hill Heat has a good synopsis of the political fallout- sometimes more interesting than the science itself. RealClimate has a good rundown on the science. What your conservative friend did not tell you is that the differences are statistically insignificant. Anyway, the problem with the NASA data was found by a blogger from http://www.climateaudit.org/. Nice work, Steve McIntyre. You get the gold star for analyzing primary data and for paying attention.

The data record still indicates that temperatures on the surface of the Earth are getting warmer. The data corrections are for anomalies of surface air temperatures for the 48 states and do not change the fact that temperatures in 19 of the past 26 years globally have been setting records, and that 2005 was the warmest year on record for the globe. According to RealClimate:

More importantly for climate purposes, the longer term US averages have not changed rank. 2002-2006 (at 0.66 Continue reading

No Time for Activism as Usual

“The Weather Makers,” a book by Tim Flannery, is one of the best sources for those who want to understand the global heating process that is seriously destabilizing the world’s climate. In it, Flannery explains the three main Continue reading

Stepping it Up … second time around …

Global Warming is a massive challenge. It requires serious commitment for change toward a better tomorrow, change from government and from individuals. Government action can help drive (and facilitate) individual action. And, well, individual action — individuals acting in concert — can help drive government action.

That second, individuals combining to drive a government response, is the core to Step-It-Up. And, after a massive set of actions earlier this year (1400 rallies across the nation), Bill McKibben is organizing another day of citizen engagement for 3 November 2007. This is something that everyone (EVERYONE) should engage with …

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Decoupling 101

Decoupling essentially works like this: The profits a utility company receives are separated (un-coupled) from the amount of kilowatt hours produced. Right now in Maryland (and most states) power companies earn more money the more energy they produce (the more coal they burn, the more kilowatt hours they push onto the grid). Therefore, the companies make more money when more energy is consumed. Clearly, this is not going to usher in a new era of energy efficiency.

With Maryland energy bills hitting record-highs recently, it’s time for Maryland to consider something new. In 1999, lawmakers passed a degregulation bill. They capped utility rates for seven years at pre-1999 levels and hoped that competition among energy providers would drive down prices. But, when the caps expired last year, Constellation Energy (which owns Baltimore Gas and Electric) proposed a 74% increase- and the Maryland Public Services Commission approved it! And now, people are demanding action on energy policy like they never have before.

Recently, the Public Services Commission decided to try decoupling to increase Maryland’s energy efficiency. Decoupling would remove the disincentive for the utilities to pursue and encourage energy efficiency projects. Instead of having profits that are dependent upon total kilowatt hour produced, the power company rates profits of a certain amount are guaranteed by the state. If Maryland consumers use less energy, the power companies would make up the difference with a flat distribution charge. So, this means a few things: 1) Rates will not change much. Marylanders will not experience the 75% rate hikes- rates will remain relatively stable. 2) Efficiency projects, that in the past meant less kilowatt hours produced and therefore lower projects, can occur more readily without disrupting the profits of the company. In fact, power companies realizing that they can earn more by producing less may even embrace energy efficiency projects everywhere- saving homeowners and power companies money.

There are a lot of problems with the way our energy system is managed today. Can decoupling be part of the solution? O’Malley seems to think so. What do you think?

For more information and a more in depth analysis of the issue, see this daily kos post by A Siegel. Continue reading

FACT: Wind farms will have zero impacts on migratory bird populations

Among the many colossal falsehoods routinely espoused by the media and misguided activists about wind power is the canard about how wind farms threaten bird populations. People how make this claim, who say birds are at risk in Appalachia from existing and proposed wind farms, have zero — ZERO — data to back up their claims.

On the other hand, there’s now an enormous body of scientific evidence, backed up by radar studies, showing the opposite: that bird populations are in no way threatened by wind power development in our region.

Please see below and here an essay I posted on the CCAN website in March 2006. This is thoroughly documented stuff, not hot-headed rhetoric. Here’s the truth: global warming is the single biggest threat to all the planet’s bird and bat populations. And wind power can and already is a safe and responsible part of the solution to global warming.

Read the essay>>

Global Warming: Seven Generations, not Seven Years …

We live in a “time of consequences.” We, as individuals and collectively, are setting the path which will determine the living conditions for millenia to come. This time of consequences is both long term and quite immediate.

This is true for the individual. Do you invest in an energy efficient future life? Will you unplug the computer before going to sleep?

And, it is true for society. What is the transportation infrastructure we want 30 years from now? And, what is the legislation that will emerge in coming weeks and months related to energy, farming, and Global Warming?

We live in a Time of Consequences. And, we can chose to live through this time, buffeted by the consequences, or we can seek to act to drive change in a positive direction.

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