Recently in Energy conservation Category

In the email from a friend at EPA a bit ago:

This year 3 out of 4 national 2009 ENERGY STAR Congregations awards were won by Baptist churches. One denomination has never "swept" the annual awards, and the explanation seems to be that there was extraordinary technical support by two ENERGY STAR affiliated private contractors, Siemens and Energy Education, Inc. who are working with Baptist churches. Many diverse denominations have won past year awards, which are also online at the awards webpage.

And dare I say it, the three bible belt Baptist congregations. Heh. Good on Siemens too.

EPA's official press release is here. Congregational winners' stories are here.

I'll bet Jon Merritt's a happy guy today.

From Serve God, Save the Planet:

Imagine meeting God and answering the question, "What did you do with your time on earth?" You are handed a time sheet that details the seconds and decades of this precious gift called life. What will you say you have done? In a world full of trees, mountains, oceans, birds, people in need and people to love, did you spend ten years watching the news, sitcoms, ball games and reality shows on a cathode-ray tube?

Or as I like to ask, "How much money do you pay the cable company so you can sit in your own living room?" More:

The three hundred million TV sets in the United State consume a lot of energy - five times more than is produced by all the geothermal, biomass, solar and wind sources in the United States. They take energy and materials to manufacture. They are difficult to get rid of and to recycle. They convince us to buy things we don’t need...Television separates us from our Creator while killing his creation.

-D

Heh - guess the whole "separation of church and state" thing doesn't apply to government energy conservation programs.

Most congregations can cut energy costs by up to 30% by investing strategically in efficient equipment, facility upgrades and maintenance. With free, unbiased information and technical support from ENERGY STAR, your congregation can more easily improve stewardship of your budget’s energy dollars, and of the earth by reducing energy waste and energy costs, while protecting the environment.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Heritage/Morning Bell:

Two competing solar power companies, Ausra and BrightSource Energy, recently filed plans to build plants in the California desert. Both firms’ plans affected wildlife habitat. But only Ausra’s plans were hit with complaints demanding expensive and cumbersome environmental studies. The reason? Ausra had rejected demands that it use only union workers to build its solar farm, while BrightSource pledged to hire labor-friendly contractors.

Not encouraging.

Whenever my family or my grandparents were going to be gone for a while they usually unplugged everything around the house. Cleantech Blog says they may have been onto something.

Back then it was just being thrifty. Now they call it saving the climate. Whatever works.