Conserving energy in HVAC systems is a ‘hot’ topic these days. Our Aircosaver GUARANTEES 20% savings on any air conditioning unit up to 20 tons, or money is returned. ROI’s are typically less than 18 months and often less than one year (depending on how many Cooling Degree Days and set point of thermostat.) Aircosaver takes the guesswork out of HVAC energy conservation. Call or email us for more information now.

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/06/16/whats-hot-in-hvac/

Energy Shock to Trance, and Back Again: An Advisory Notice

In mid-2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, referring to our national habit of focusing and then neglecting energy policy, said that America had a habit of going from “shock to trance” when it came to energy and energy prices.  Well, batten down the hatches, because with widespread concerns over skyrocketing gas and oil prices, it’s looking like shock time again…

The past four weeks represent the beginning of yet another period of great uncertainty in oil prices and the future of energy prices more generally.  Businesses and other large organizations ignore the energy implications of the turmoil in the Middle East at their own peril. At Hara, we have broad visibility into a wide cross-section of organizations around the world and our customers have already seen impacts from the storefront to the board room.

Everything from consumer behavior and disposable income to logistics and operational expenses are beginning to shift.  While it is still to be determined if this will significantly hamper the economic recovery, it will give significant advantages to those who pay attention and react appropriately.

Concern over global warming remains high, but the reality is that there are multiple compelling drivers that are pushing energy and new waves of cleantech innovation to the forefront as a leading business concern.

Read More

The best part of this $1.43+ increase is that FPL’s parent, NextEra Energy, on Tuesday (January 25th 2011) reported record annual adjusted earnings of $1.8 billion for 2010!

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/26/2035524/fla-psc-approves-143-monthly-increase.html#ixzz1CFpxbpzt

In recent years, pharmaceutical contamination of water supplies — at first presumed to come primarily from human urine and feces — has become an issue of growing concern around the world. Because the world’s water systems are so interconnected, more than 100 different drugs have been detected across North America, Europe and Asia, even in wells and remote regions. Based on its own research and information from water providers in 77 metropolitan areas and 52 small communities, the Associated Press has estimated that at least 46 million people across the United States are regularly exposed to tap water contaminated by pharmaceuticals.

Many drugs are not regulated as water pollutants, and as such no “safe” exposure limits have ever been set. But scientists are concerned that because many drugs are designed to be active in the body in concentrations even on the order of 1 part per billion (ppb), the health effects of this pollution for human and environmental health will be severe. Indeed, a recent USGS study found intersex fish at one-third of all sites tested.

“These are chemicals that are designed to have very specific effects at very low concentrations,” said zoologist John Sumpter of London’s Brunel University. “That’s what pharmaceuticals do. So when they get out to the environment, it should not be a shock to people that they have effects.”

In addition, people consume water in large quantities over the course of their entire lives, and each glass contains a completely untested mix of potentially dozens of bioactive compounds — making the ultimate effects impossible to predict. To make matters worse, many toxic chemicals are known to build up in the tissue of humans and other animals.
Read the whole article here

In light of these disturbing findings, water from air technology becomes more and more attractive. Water from air is filtered to be pure, clean and safe for you and your family.

In the most comprehensive statistical analysis to date on the values of green vs conventional buildings, the Dutch economist Nils Kok shows that U.S. buildings labeled under the LEED or Energy Star programs command 3% higher rent, have better occupancy rates and sell for 13% more than comparable properties. “Labeled buildings have effective rents (which is the rent multiplied by the occupancy rate) that are almost 8% higher than those of otherwise identical nearby non-rated buildings,” the study reports.

Read the whole story here

EPA Observes Children’s Health Month – A PERFECT TIME TO CONSIDER A WATER FROM AIR  HOME OR OFFICE WATER COOLER. SAFE, CLEAN WATER RIGHT FROM THE AIR! Learn more

President proclaims Oct. 4 as Children Health Day

WASHINGTON – As President Obama proclaims today as Children Health Day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working with its partners to expand the conversation on what all of us can do to protect children from environmental health hazards. Children are more affected by pollution because of their body weight when compared to adults and rely upon us to provide them with healthy communities where they live, play and learn.

“EPA is asking all Americans to join us this month and every month in making our communities across the country healthier places to live, learn and play for our children and future generations,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “As administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and a mother, I know just how important it is that we act to protect our most vulnerable populations, and give them the clean, sustainable environment they need to thrive.”
The presidential proclamation calls upon families, child health professionals, faith-based and community organizations and governments to help ensure clean air, safe water and healthy communities for our nation’s children.

Throughout October, there will be roundtable discussions and educational events taking place across the country. These are opportunities where parents, teachers and caregivers can learn about environmental issues affecting children, how they are being addressed more effectively at the local and national level, and the simple actions they can take to help keep children healthy.

Children’s Health events: http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/CHM_events.htm

Tips to protect children: http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/CHM_Calendar_English_2010_508_2.htm/$File/CHM_Calendar_English_2010_508_2.pdf?Open&preview

Tips, in Spanish:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/CHM_Calendar_Spanish_2010_508.htm/$File/CHM_Calendar_Spanish_2010_508.pdf?Open&preview

Summer from Hell: Our New Normal on a Warming Planet?

• 10 U.S. states had their hottest summer on record and all but 7 states were above normal. And summer nighttime heat records were set in 37 states.
• June-August global land surface temperature was the warmest on record, 1.80 F (1.00 C) above the 20th century average of 56.9 F (13.8 C) and surpassing the previous record of 1.66 F (0.92 C) set in 1998.
• For only the third time in the satellite record and the third time in the last four years, the Arctic sea ice extent fell below 5 million square kilometers (1.93 million square miles). This summer’s Arctic sea ice extent fell more than 25% below the 1979-2009 31-year average.
• Arctic sea ice volume (extent and thickness) reached the lowest level ever recorded, prompting Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center to predict, “The Arctic summer sea ice cover is in a death spiral. It’s not going to recover.”
• A record Russian heat wave caused massive wildfires and drought and may have killed up to 15,000 people, cost the Russian economy $15 billion, and destroyed a third of the Russian grain crop, causing global wheat prices to nearly double. Peat bog and forest fires filled Moscow’s air with carbon monoxide levels reaching 6.5 times more than the maximum allowable levels.
• Devastating floods inundated one-fifth of Pakistan, drove millions from their homes, and led to the deaths of more than 1,600 people. Up to a foot of rain fell in a 36-hour period and Ghassem Asrar, director of the World Climate Research Programme, pointed to climate change: “There’s no doubt that clearly the climate change is contributing, a major contributing factor. We cannot definitely use one case to kind of establish precedents, but there are a few facts that point towards climate change as having to do with this.”
• Hundreds of walruses on Alaska’s North Slope were stampeded to death when they beached themselves on land because there were no sea ice floes available.
• This year’s extreme heat is causing only the second known global bleaching of coral reefs. In oceans from Thailand to Texas, scientists fear this year’s die-off may be as bad as or worse than in 1998 when an estimated 16% of the world’s shallow water reefs were severely damaged. In the waters off the Philippines, 95% of the corals have died this year.

Source: NRDC, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sep 28, 2010

Sunday, September 12, 2010 by: DaView postvid Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) More than 80 percent of male bass in the Potomac River on the U.S. Atlantic coast are producing eggs or showing other female traits, the nonprofit Potomac Conservancy has warned, in a call for more research into the causes of intersex fish.

In a recent U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report, intersex fish were found in a third of all 111 sites tested across the United States, including in major waterways such as the Mississippi River and the Rio Grande. The phenomenon occurred in 16 different species, but was most common in male smallmouth and largemouth bass.

Researchers agree that the phenomenon is almost certainly caused by the presence of pollutants in the water, including endocrine- (hormone) disrupting chemicals and the residue of pharmaceutical products.

“We have not been able to identify one particular chemical or one particular source,” said USGS biologist Vicki Blazer. “We are still trying to get a handle on what chemicals are important.”

Among the chemicals likely to be contributing to the problem, Blazer cited birth control pills and other hormone-containing drugs, antibacterial products including tissues, personal care products (especially those containing fragrances), flame retardants, pesticides and fertilizers.

“In fertilizer [and pesticides] there’s natural estrogen and testosterone and other things … so if we can hopefully pinpoint some of those mixtures or individual chemicals that then perhaps we could manage better,” Blazer said.

It has been hard to narrow down the list of major contributors, however. For example, Blazer tested fish up- and downstream of sewage treatment plants to see if the factories might be major sources of endocrine-disrupting pollutants. She found no difference in rates of sexual abnormalities.

The Potomac Conservancy has called for more research into the problem.

“We’ve got to figure out what the heck is going on here,” said the group’s president, Hedrick Belin. “And we’ve got to figure it out sooner rather than later because it’s clear the longer this mystery continues it’s only going to lead to bad things yet to be discovered.”

Because the hormonal systems of all vertebrates are strikingly similar, anything that has an impact on fish living in water is likely to have an effect on humans drinking it, as well. Yet figuring out the specific effects of tainted water on people may prove difficult.

“Because fish, of course, are in the water all the time,” Blazer said. “But what’s in your drinking water, what you might be exposed to through skin and food and everything else, is another issue for people.”

Even if researchers eventually figure out which chemicals are the major contributors to sexual deformity in fish, that may shed little light on the question.

“It’s going to be a lot harder to get to how these chemicals affect people because of course you can’t experiment on people,” Blazer said.

Approximately 4.5 million residents of the Washington D.C. area get their drinking water from the Potomac.

According to the Potomac Conservancy, individuals can help reduce watershed pollution in part by making more careful purchasing decisions. Consumers should reduce their use of toxic chemicals such as pesticides, and look for more natural cosmetics and other products.

“The chemicals that are in personal care products such as some of the antimicrobials, fragrances, are endocrine disruptors,” said Blazer. “So being smart about the kinds of products you’re buying — because they are available in things that are fragrance-free, antimicrobial-free, things like that — are things that individuals can do.”

Conservancy supporter Rep. James P. Moran of Virginia has urged people to always take old or unused drugs back to a pharmacy for disposal.

“Don’t flush pharmaceuticals down the toilet,” he said. “They don’t disappear when you flush them.”

The Potomac Conservancy is also working on a campaign to get pharmaceutical technologies to dispose of drugs more safely, and calling for better water filtration technology.

“We need to get these toxins out of our river water,” Belin said.

Sources for this story include: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environme… http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticl… http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/l… http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/2….

Get the Facts: Extreme Weather and Global Climate Change

• Pollution from human activities is warming our climate. The 10 warmest years on record all occurred since 1990, and the last decade was the hottest recorded since worldwide record keeping began more than 100 years ago. The period between January and June of 2010 was the warmest six months on record.
• A warming climate increases the chance that we will experience extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and intense storms, and ramps up the risk that severe weather events will cause catastrophic damage.
• The floods, fires and droughts we’re seeing in places like Pakistan and Russia are consistent with the effects of global warming, including temperature increases, increased precipitation in some parts of the world, and droughts in others.
• In early August, a 97-square mile chunk of ice–the largest since 1962–broke away from the northwest coast of Greenland.¹ Canadian officials fear the massive “ice island” could pose a risk to ships and oil platforms.²
• Unless we significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, we are likely to see even more extreme weather events and the consequences they bring.

References:
1. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Earth Observatory, “Ice Island Calves off Petermann Glacier,” August 13, 2010.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=45112
2. Randy Boswell, “Giant iceberg drifting toward Canada could threaten ships, oil platforms,” Montreal Gazette, August 10, 2010.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Giant+iceberg+drifting+toward+Canada+could+threaten+ships+platforms/3382103/story.html