Obama: What's not to like about energy efficiency?

Last night in in the SOTU, President Obama used an argument about climate change that I think works well to counter naysayers. It can be summed up as, "Fine, don't believe in climate change. But what's not to like about conserving energy?"

His version (much snappier):

"I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change. But here's the thing -- even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy-efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future -– because the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy. And America must be that nation."

The New York Times has the full text of the SOTU. Did anyone notice the bipartisan applause for building nuclear power plants? And what was up with the line about drilling for oil? Say it ain't so, Obama!

COLUMN: Green light on green light bulbs

Eco-friendly bulbs get green light

El Paso Times

Louie Gilot / Special to the Times

Posted: 01/27/2010 10:11:25 PM MST

EL PASO -- If there were a universal symbol for green living and saving energy, it would certainly be the new curlicue light bulb.
Changing a light bulb is a small, mundane act. But lighting our homes consumes about 20 percent of our entire energy bill, so making lighting more efficient can pay off both for our wallets and for the climate (the less energy spent, the less coal burned to make electricity and the less carbon dioxide in the air).

The new CFL bulbs -- CFL stands for compact fluorescent light -- emit light through a chemical reaction in the coating. Incandescent light bulbs, on the other hand, still emit light the same way they did 130 years ago, by heating up a metallic filament. During this very inefficient pro cess, 80 to 90 percent of the energy is transformed into heat, as opposed to light. Try this at home. Count the light bulbs in your kitchen. Each one emits roughly the same amount of heat as a person. Don't you suddenly feel crowded?

LaGreenga is making shirts

La Greenga opened a store on CafePress for all her pet peeves and causes, including climate change. I ordered some products to make sure the printing came out right and I love it! The store is called "FreeTheBlank" and it has three different designs. "Free the Air," for climate change; "Free the Pill," for over-the-counter birth control (for more on why that's a good idea, visit Pharmacy Access Partnership); and "Free the Weed" for an overhaul of the failed 40-year-old War on Drugs policy, but not necessarily legalization.

For the record, making shirts is way easier than making solar ovens...

Now, that's my kind of utilities!

The New York Times had a great article yesterday about how Idaho Power is paying customers to conserve energy. It's cheaper to do so rather than having a shortage and having to buy power from someone else at outrageous rates. It's also cheaper than building a coal-powered electrical plant. In the meantime, Idaho Power customers learn to decrease their energy consumption.

Read the article here.

COLUMN: My two cents about the proposed bike-sharing program

The adventures of Alice in land of bike-sharing

El Paso Times

By Louie Gilot / Guest columnist

Posted: 01/24/2010 12:00:00 AM MST

Upon hearing that the El Paso City Council was considering a bicycle-sharing program, I became nostalgic for my hometown, Paris, which has such a program, called Vélib' for "free bike," since 2007.
It also reminded me of what happened to my friend Alice. That story involves a shared bike, a flawed plan and a very long night.

But first, let me say that bike-sharing programs are great. Vélib' literally changed the face of Paris. I personally never had the guts to ride one but hundreds of thousands of braver men and women negotiate the treacherous Paris traffic on shared bikes every day, making the sturdy gray Vélib's as prominent as yellow cabs in New York.

Solar oven, Part Deux: Utter failure!

In retrospect, I should have checked the weather reports. All started well. The sun was out at around 9 a.m. when we put the solar oven out to cook carrots and potatoes for a soup. But then, clouds appeared. When we checked our soup about five hours later, the ingredients were still raw.

I blame it on the weather, but I can't help but think it was an engineering failure as well. Even when the sun was out in the morning, it didn't look like the oven was getting any hot. I should just bite the bullet and buy a solar over made by the professionals at Border Partners...

La Greenga gets around

La Greenga is on the Newman Park blog. Check it out.

What did you do today? I made a solar oven!

I don't want to brag but today, while you were probably watching football, I made a solar oven! Let me take a moment to bask in my own glory for this oven is truly a masterpiece. Also, I might not feel so smug tomorrow when I actually try to cook in it...

In reality it was really easy. It took two cardboard boxes, foil and tape. I looked up instructions online. It took 40 minutes. It's great to do with children and supposedly you can cook pretty much anything in it as long as you have a black pot and four to six hours to spare.

The plan for tomorrow was to cook artichokes (my husband, who was watching football, said, "all this for artichokes?") but I didn't find any at the store so I'll try to cook carrots and potatoes for a soup. Keep posted.

COLUMN: Learning green new tricks

In the El Paso Times today:

It's hard to learn new eco tricks

Louie Gilot / Special to the Times

Posted: 01/13/2010 09:15:18 PM MST

EL PASO -- Changing habits so deeply ingrained that they might as well be part of our DNA is no easy task. Even with the best of intentions, how many times did I forget to take the reusable bags from the car's trunk before heading into the supermarket? So many times, it turns out, that it became a running joke in the family. But in time, I remembered more often than I forgot, and now it's become second nature.

It's a lesson that needs to be relearned with each new green milestone. For instance, I recently bought a stainless-steel bottle to replace my ubiquitous plastic water bottles. That purchase left me giddy with thoughts of all the plastic bottles that I prevented from piling up in a landfill and all the money that I would save. I washed my new bottle with warm, soapy water and a bottle scrubber. I couldn't wait for it to dry so I could fill it with tap water. Of course, the next morning, I promptly forgot it on the dish rack.

We are all slaves to our habits, addicted to our wasteful lifestyle. And like all recovering addicts, we are bound to relapse before we get clean. But that's no reason for us old dogs not to try to learn new tricks. And what better time than the new year?

Anybody going to the Austin Climate Conference?

The Austin Climate Protection Conference and Expo takes place Friday and Saturday and it's free! They have something called "Hand on experience with alternative fuel vehicles." That sounds great. I wish I was going. Better yet, I wish it was taking place in El Paso.

Anybody going to this event?

Is cap-and-trade a tax?

Most of the comments about my cap-and-trade column on the El Paso Times Web site were accusations that cap-and trade is a not-so-hidden tax. That's the refrain of all the antis -Don't be fooled, they say, health care reform is really a tax; cap-and-trade is a tax; every single legislative change is really about taking your hard-earned money.

But is it true? Cap-and-trade would allow utilities that already have clean technologies to sell their carbon allocations to other companies that pollute more, thereby making money. That's right, some companies could be making money! That doesn't sound much like a tax, now does it? Among the predicted winners are utilities that use nuclear energy and renewable energy sources to produce electricity (Among them, Exelon and NRG).

The government could simply mandate the technological changes (All utilities would have to switch to clean energy sources). But oftentimes it is better to "nudge"companies toward the desired behavior with the use of incentives. Cap-and-trade is just such an incentive.

Interesting tidbit: Patriotic mulch

So I was at a New Year's Eve Party, talking to someone from Environmental Services and I learned this interesting tidbit. Remember all the free mulch that's available to the El Paso public from disposing of 2,000 to 4,000 real Christmas trees? Turns out nobody (or almost nobody) ever claims it. So where does it end up? Around the bases of flag poles in El Paso parks.

Now, who says green is not patriotic?

COLUMN: Put price on carbon emissions now

In the El Paso Times/Opinion Section
By Louie Gilot / Guest columnist
Posted: 01/03/2010 12:00:00 AM MST

Imagine a commercial that would go something like this. "A ton of carbon dioxide: $40. A livable world for our children: Priceless." Pretty convincing, no? We pay a little now to avoid catastrophe later.

Now that the United Nations Conference on Climate Change ended without the much-needed accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we must turn our attention Stateside. What wasn't accomplished on the international scene -- that is, to create an insurance policy against the predicted effects of global warming -- must now be worked out at the national level.

We must put a price on carbon-dioxide emissions.