Posts by — Lindsay

Utilities won't spend the money to fix the system

As the clean up continues across North Eastern America, 1.7m were still without power Tuesday night according to Associated Press.The realization is dawning that if you live outside a major conurbation with its underground power grid, you can no longer depend on your electricity supply. That means each household ensuring it has its own backup, including batteries and a means of surviving for several days without the Utility.

Consolidated Edison “has gotten so unbelievably bad,” David Kirschstein, an 83-year-old retired patent lawyer,  told the New York Times. Kirschstein has been living in the same house in Chappaqua, N.Y., for 44 years.
“The winters used to be much worse, but even with the big snows, we had nothing like the outages over the past four or five years,” he continued. People who make preparations for the next big outage can end up deciding they no longer need the Utility company at all. (more…)

Butler and Dorm do late breakfast University students are best known for burger flipping, drinking, and sleeping late. But while the rest of the country is focused on its financial troubles, students are becoming increasingly vociferous in greening their campuses.
A single Dorm at Sarah Lawrence, the elite East Coast college recently named the most expensive in the USA, is a microcosm of what is happening in the student community. Formerly Warren House, it was renamed Warren Green at the start of the current Semester and the 13 student-residents adopted a set of eco-rules they are hoping will spread to the rest of the dorms on campus. The college responded with a grant of $150,000 (more…)

The buzz around bio-fuels is all about maintaining our current lifestyles with a quick fix. But at who’s expense?

Nair: bio-fuel is theft Like most something-for-nothing schemes, the arguments for bio-fuel turn out to be flawed on close examination.

Indian Academic K. P. Prabhakaran Nair says “local people will find it harder to satisfy their food and fuel needs” as a result of large-scale bio-crop exploitation. The rural poor will suffer most.

India is a rapidly developing economy whose energy needs are growing as fast as its population. Responding to the global thrust for bio-fuels, the Indian government has promised a bagful of initiatives to encourage large-scale planting of bio-fuel crops, particularly Jatropha. (more…)

Wilson family: nothing Green about him VANCOUVER, British Columbia – A Canadian MP who has been rejected by his own party, joined the country’s fledgling Green Party on Saturday.

Blair Wilson MP is apparently a total scumbag who represents one of the country’s mst marginal seats and this is almost certainly an own-goal by Green Party leader Elizabeth May.

“Today we make history,” said May. Yes, but for all the wrong reasons. Wilson has no record at all of support or even interest in green issues. (more…)

Off-grid or bust

Eco-businessman Andrew Mercer has called in the diggers to start work on the foundations of a pioneering eco-house on a hillside above Bath. So confident is he that the four-storey glass structure will fulfil its promise, he has signed a binding agreement with Bath and North East Somerset Council to demolish the property if it is not off-grid within 12 months.

He has also pledged to knock down his family’s existing house in Batheaston within six months of moving into his new home 50 yards away. (more…)

One day all this will be siezed

Steve James (pictured) is a tireless campaigner for the right to live off-grid. Because he wanted others to learn from his experience of building an off-grid cottage, his own home is now under threat from the planners. Here he tells his own story: You can learn more about Steve at his web site.
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