Thank you!

Last night we had a screening of the coal documentary Dirty Business and with that Energy Week Boston has concluded.   Thank you to the participating groups and their dedicated staff for planning, organizing, promoting and hosting events.  And thank you to everyone who came out to the events.  The week was a big success and a lot of fun.

If you’re interested in learning more about energy issues in Massachusetts or want to be an energy activist send an e-mail to emily.rochon@greenpeace.org.  You can also sign up for e-mail updates from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to stay in the loop on upcoming energy events, programs and workshops.

Fossil fuel industry’s ridiculous reaction to Global Wind Day

You can’t make this stuff up!  Americans for Prosperity (AFP), which is funded to a large extent by the infamous Koch brothers, has put out a reaction to Global Wind Day in New Jersey.  And it’s actually attempted to organize a counter protest to a wind event which features children flying kites.  A portion of their anti-Global Wind Day press release is reproduced below.

Left-Wing Radicals Harness the Power of Child Labor on “Global Wind Day”

Global Environmentalists Exploiting, Indoctrinating Kids to Advance Their Radical “Green” Agenda

BOGOTA,NJ– Global environmentalists connected with the radical Party of European Socialists are indoctrinating and manipulating innocent children as props to advance their radical “renewable” energy schemes.

Examination of the website GlobalWindDay.org reveals a concentrated effort to indoctrinate small children into a cult-like movement to force taxpayers to provide massive subsidies for on land, and the even more costly, offshore wind mills.

“These European eco-zealots are penetrating our grammar schools with a bizarre program of indoctrination that includes forcing little children to color in propaganda style coloring books while being taught that the world will end if windmills don’t come to the rescue,” stated AFP New Jersey state director Steve Lonegan.

“Meanwhile, these environmentalist radicals are receiving enormous funding from the project’s major benefactors: General Electric, Siemen’s, Lockheed Martin, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and Ernst & Young, the international corporations that stand to profit handsomely from these schemes.”

“This is disturbing and really quite sick. What we are seeing is a bunch of very radical and extreme elements of the environmental movement attempting to brainwash kids and then use them as props and human shields in their quest to foist their European-style, anti-free-market, globalist ‘green’ agenda on the world.”

“People, especially parents, need to be made aware of this and that’s exactly what AFP is going to do this Friday. We won’t be stopped by their efforts to intimidate and silence us,” concluded Lonegan.

Press Release: Energy Activists Bring the Case for More Renewable Energy to the State House

BOSTON, MA – Energy activists, solar industry employees, students and citizens from across the Greater Boston region lobbied their Representatives on Thursday to update policies in the Green Communities Act to increase renewable energy production. “We know the policies in the Green Communities Act, particularly net metering and long-term contracting, increase renewable energy generation. Now it is time to support our success by using our experience to update these policies,” said Larry Chretien of Mass Energy, one of the lobby event’s sponsors.

The Clean Energy Lobby Day, organized as a centerpiece to Energy Week Boston, aimed to ensure the Massachusetts House of Representatives approves the policy updates already passed unanimously by the Senate in March of this year. Ben Wright of Environment Massachusetts stated, “We can’t let politics get in the way of important net-metering reforms that have strong support among the Commonwealth’s citizens, industry, and our Senators, as well.”

Also present on Beacon Hill on Thursday were representatives from Green Berkshires and Wind Wise Massachusetts, which are both anti-wind groups arguing against the proposed reforms. “I didn’t expect anti-wind opposition to these reforms,” said Matt Lord, a member of the Lexington Global Warming Action Coalition. “This bill is the best bet for solar and small hydro energy development in the Commonwealth. It goes to show these anti-wind activists care more about themselves than sound environmental and energy policy.”

“The diverse coalition of organizations and individuals that advocated for additional renewable energy generation shows why Massachusetts is a nationwide leader in energy policy,” noted Vincent Maraventano of Massachusetts Interfaith Power and Light, a faith-based organization open to people of all faiths and dedicated to environmental justice and care of creation. Other lobby day attendees came with a wide range of interests, including environmental activists from Environment Massachusetts, the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, solar industry representatives, students from Northeastern University School of Law, and other concerned citizens of the Commonwealth.

Rainy days are perfect for movie screenings. Come see Gasland TONIGHT!

Join us tonight for a screening of the exciting film Gasland!

The recent discovery of a boom of natural gas, which can be accessed by “hydraulic fracturing” of shale, has seemed a blessing for a country struggling with oil at $4/gallon. But as with all energy, there is a larger cost.

When filmmaker Josh Fox received a letter asking him to lease his land for natural gas drilling, he went on a cross-country journey to research how natural gas affects our nation. What he found were secrets surrounding the hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” process, and no regulation of contamination. The tagline of the film, “Can you light your water on fire?”, comes from residents in areas where cross-contamination of water supplies has occurred. This is just one of the jaw-dropping findings that Fox encounters.

This movie is riveting and moving; a great way to introduce a friend to the issue, or to learn more yourself. Mass Energy’s Executive Director and long-time clean energy advocate/economist, Larry Chretien, will speak and moderate a short discussion on natural gas before the film. Join us for some thoughts about our energy future.

Details, directions, etc for the screening can be found here.  If you don’t have time to RSVP today you can still get in to see the movie.

Tuesday: rally for public transportation and Energy Solutions Open House

We’re lucky enough to have TWO great events happening tomorrow during Energy Week Boston!  The first is a rally at the State House in support of the public transportation.  The rally is from 12:30 PM-1:00 PM.  Come out on your lunch break and join this great event.

On your way home from work, stop by Next Step Living which is hosting an Energy Solutions Open House.  That events runs from 5:00-8:00 PM.  This is a great opportunity to talk to home energy and efficiency experts about how you can lower your home energy bills and your carbon footprint!

 

And we’re off!

A solar thermal installation on top of one of Castle Square Apartment’s newly renovated buildings.

Energy Week Boston has begun and is off to a great start.  It was a wonderful day for a walking tour. We saw lots of clean energy technologies, a passive house, an EV charging station and got plenty of exercise and sun along the way.  And in case you didn’t know, the view of Boston from the Castle Square Apartment rooftop is AMAZING (see photo to the right)!

Thanks to everyone who came out to learn about some of the innovative clean energy projects in use in Boston. More importantly, thank you to our tour guides for taking time out of their weekend schedules and educating us about energy.

We hope to see more of you at the rest of this week’s events.

Energy Week Boston kicks off this Sunday

Energy Week Boston is just around the corner!  With events every day of the week, there are plenty of opportunities for you to participate in events that wiill  increase your knowledge and understanding of energy issues.

Starting the week off is the Energy at Work Walking Tour.  The tour itself is divided up into two legs with a lunch stop in between at Boloco near Copley.  At each stop, expert tour guides will talk about  the clean energy technologies in use.  Join us for one leg of the tour or both!

Leg 1- Runs from 11:30 AM-1:00 PM.  It starts in Jamaica Plan at the passive house located at 135 Bourne St.  Other stops include the Boston Nature Center and it’s solar electric and thermal installations.  From there the tour walks past a couple of residential homes with solar installations and concludes at the Forest Hill t-stop.

Leg 2- Runs from 2:15-3:30 PM.  It starts at the Hubway bikeshare location at Copley Square in front of the Boston Public Library.  It also includes stops at an EV charging station and the deep energy retofit underway at the Castle Square apartments.

The weather is going to be great on Sunday so grab your walking shoes and join us!

A complete tour schedule and itinerary can be obtained by e-mailing emily.rochon@greenpeace.org.

Starting an Energy [R]evolution

Re-posted from Greenpeace’s website:

A new report released by Greenpeace and its partners today shows that investing an annual US$1.2 trillion in new power plants up to 2050, will lead to US$1.3 trillion in fuel cost savings per year. Simply put, the investments will pay for themselves in the long-term.

Consider also this: changing the current energy policies to focus on renewables will create employment in the energy sector in what would otherwise be a shrinking jobs market.

Rather than the forecast decline in global energy jobs to 17.9 million in 2020, the energy revolution will ensure there are still 22.6 million jobs in the sector, slightly more than the 22.5 million jobs reported in 2010.

So you’d think it would be an easy sell to the world’s political and business leaders: invest in renewable energy, boost the economy and create jobs. They’d even be saving the planet at the same time.

And yet, apparently fatalistic corporate and government energy policymakers are placing the world on a collision course with devastating global warming.

Today’s Energy [R]evolution report, jointly released by Greenpeace, the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), illustrates that change is possible (and affordable).

A renewable energy renaissance will mean that drilling for oil in pristine areas such as the Arctic, which oil major Shell intends to do this summer, or moves to exploit other marginal sources of oil such as the tar sands in Canada can be circumvented.

Exploring the scenario of “peak conventional oil”, today’s report gives a detailed, practical roadmap for reducing global oil demand by around 80%, especially for the transportation sector.

In future, renewable energy technologies could provide more than 90% of global electricity and heating, and more than 70% of transportation.

Importantly, renewable energy is already a major success story, accounting for 13.5% of the world’s primary energy demand in 2009.

Greenpeace will continue to campaign, however, for governments and business leaders to take a stance now and chart a new course to a sustainable, fossil fuel free economy.

This means measures must be imposed to ensure new cars in Europe meet an average efficiency standard by 2020 that is 40% lower than today. Other regions must also implement similar car efficiency standards.

Transport energy must in future come from renewable electricity – mainly from wind and solar power plants.

In addition, governments need to commit themselves to phasing out dirty energy sources, decouple economic growth from fossil fuel use and implement renewable energy solutions.

If the global energy supply is based almost entirely on renewable energies, CO₂ emissions would drop, after peaking in 2015, the year international climate scientists say is crucial. By 2050, CO₂ emissions would be more than 80% lower than in 1990.

All that this requires is political and corporate will.

I love wind energy because…

Check out this new video from the organizers of Global Wind Day!

Lobby Day has moved- from June 15 to June 14!

Take note!  We are moving Lobby Day to Thursday June 14th.  This will facilitate greater access to your elected officials.

No experience is necessary to participate in this event.  We will have experts, organizers and volunteers on hand to help you find your elected officials and talk with you about the clean energy issues being debated on Beacon Hill.  We anticipate focusing on our state Representatives on June 14th, asking them to support provisions in SB 2214 that will promote the use of clean, renewable energy in Massachusetts.  This bill has already been passed by the Senate and now needs a thumb’s up from the House before it becomes law.

If you want to join us at Lobby Day or have questions, please e-mail Matt at lord.ma@husky.neu.edu.