CAP and TRADE...a Racket?

A short video's take on cap and trade.
(via treehugger.com)

The Story of Cap & Trade from Story of Stuff Project

IF you can't see video in your email click on links.

$aving...

and "Green"....?
My sister recently sent me a link to finding cheap gas in my area....i think CNN recently did a story on it's accuracy... which got me thinking about other ways to $ave....and apparently a lot of other people as well from congressional offices to my husband are thinking this way.

According to these energy saving techniques you can save $60/yr using CFL's, $150/year using a programmable thermostat, $274 per year caulking and weatherstripping windows.

That's a saving of almost $500/yr just with THREE things. Imagine if you did a couple of more things:

GAS: Carpooling, driving the speed limit... switching to a fuel efficient vehicle?
Last month we went to San Francisco and rented a hybrid. We drove for 4 days from S.F. to various areas in Oakland and Contra Costa county in California traffic and back. Our surprise came at the pump when we went to fill up. $20 (about 5 gallons!) THAT'S IT!?!!? I was so impressed because it costs $50 just to fill up my Mini!

WATER: Saving water with low flow faucet and bathroom fixtures or using aerators, Xeroscaping with Natives, Rain barrels to capture and reuse rainwater...(from hurricane season??? :|) Also use energy star efficient appliances such as your dish washer or clothes washer.

Buying local: such as farmers markets supports your local economy, healthier, and actually is saving on gas by not buying grapes that have to be transported from chile.

Re-using: Shopping bags, containers...(I was thinking of this the other day in the shower as I used a sample bottle of shampoo... why do i keep buying travel sizes... i could just reuse one of the travel sizes refill with my big bottle of shampoo and also avoid using the hotels travel sizes...which i realized i have a whole drawer full of old hotel travel shampoos... lots to trash and what a waste of space !)

And of course Recycling. You can recycle just about anything these days from your cell phone and ink cartridges via the USPS to large appliances by listing them free on freecycle, craigslist, or donating to .... you can even check out the Steel Recycling Institute to find out where the closest place you can recycle your steel appliances such as that old fridge sitting in your garage.

I can't help to think that perhaps this crisis has spurred some positive personal responsibility in all of us out of the desire/need to save money... not that the high gas and food prices are a good thing...but perhaps this train of thought will persist.

If you have any other suggestions or other resources on how to "$ave" please feel free to comment and share the knowledge. HAPPY MONDAY!

Houston and Nuclear

To follow on a recent GTH post on Nucluear energy I thought I would draw attention to a recent article in CLEAN (The Citizens League for Environmental Action Now):

The Dirt on Nuclear Power
by Vicki Wolf, February 2008

....NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) has applied for the licensing of two new nuclear reactors for the South Texas Project in Matagorda County, near Bay City. Seven more new reactors are proposed for Texas. But these plants don’t need to be built. According to Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D., an electrical engineer, specialized in controlled nuclear fusion, there is no need to rely on the dirty energy of nuclear, fossil fuel or biofuels made from food crops for future energy needs. He has systematically analyzed the energy situation and found it is quite possible to have a clean energy future, relying on efficiency, conservation and clean, renewable technology.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE
comments/editorial: Pause for Precaution...

UTNE Magazine had a great article with the pros and cons of nuclear worth a read titled ATOMIC DREAMS.
I thought it was pretty thorough.