Your Piece of the Planet

As reported by the Washington Post, Prince William will get over $3 million from the Federal government to implement some alternative energy projects.  County officials may grouse about Obama and the Federal stimulus bill.. but we’ll still take advantage of whatever the Feds will offer.

We’ll see solar panels of the roof of the McCoart building, new sensors to automagically turn off lights when no one is in a room, and “energy dashboard monitors that will provide real-time data on energy use to building visitors and staff members.”  To determine the best Low Emitting Diode (LED) streetlights, 6 of the 6,000 streetlights in Prince William will be converted in a pilot test.

(Fairfax County is testing 10 streetlights in Reston, plus others at the Virginia Railway Express parking lot in Burke Centre and at 10 Fairfax Connector bus stops.  EPA has results from numerous tests across the country now, in various climates and at different latitudes.)

This bodes well for the Energy section in the draft Environment Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan, which is scheduled to be updated in 2010.
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Today is Earth Overshoot Day – the day when humanity has used up the amount of natural resources that ought to last a year if we were to live in a sustainable manner. After today, we begin living beyond our ecological means and adding to our ecological debt.

In 2008 we reached this point on September 23. So, despite a recession and growing awareness about the climate crisis, we’re only a couple days ahead of where we were last year and a whole month behind the 2007 marker.

While the numbers may not be perfect, the concept is clear. And since we’re all part of the problem, last spring I decided to try to be part of the solution and see what kind of a difference I could make to myself. Read the rest of this entry »

Two announcements just arrived:

Oct 3 – 4: D.C. Metro Area Solar Homes Tour
The D.C. Sierra Club, along with the Virginia Solar Council and Potomac Region Solar Energy Industry Association volunteers, are hosting their 19th annual D.C. metro area solar homes tour on October 3 and 4 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Over sixty solar-powered homes will highlight a variety of passive design, technology and sustainable living concepts, including photovoltaic and solar hot water systems, radiant heat, energy-efficient appliances, and energy-saving building construction techniques. Many homeowners also will be demonstrating their energy and water conservation measures, recycling and composting procedures, and their fuel-efficient or alternative energy vehicles.  For more, see http://solartour.org

Oct 9 – 18: 2009 Solar Decathlon
The Solar Decathlon is a biennial competition where 20 teams of university students from around the world develop fully-functional houses that draw all their energy from the sun. After spending two years developing their homes, the students ship their partially completed homes to the National Mall, finish building the homes, and then compete in 10 contests that measure the team’s skills in architecture, home design, and communications. The solar homes must produce enough electricity and hot water to perform all the normal functions of a home, including powering the lights and home electronics, washing clothes and dishes, showering, and cooking, all while maintaining a comfortable temperature. The event will be open to the public on October 9-13 and 15-18. For more, see http://www.solardecathlon.org

… should we do nothing?

The George Mason University Center for Climate Chance Communication has completed a Global Warming’s Six Americas 2009: An Audience Segmentation Analysis report.  The report found that 18% of Americans are “alarmed,” while 7% are “dismissive.”  In between are people who are concerned, cautious, disengaged, or doubtful.

So how could an energy conservation section in an updated Environment Chapter for the Comp Plan minimize political controversy?

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