Posts Tagged ‘Solar Energy’
Growing Community in the New River Valley
Story and photos by Molly Moore From a curvy, two-lane road roughly four miles from downtown Blacksburg, Va., Arlean Lambert’s property is easily recognizable. Three solar panels are mounted by a pond in front of her ranch-style home. A verdant perennial garden alongside the home, flanked with a trellis covered in hardy kiwi, completes the…
Read MoreSolar Leasing: Crediting Electric Bills with the Sun
By Davis Wax Energy distribution for the people, by the people. That was the founding principle of electric cooperatives and municipal utilities as they sprang up in the United States throughout the twentieth century. Today, any profits made by these member- or city-owned utilities go back into infrastructure, operation, or payments towards their member-investors. Seldom…
Read MoreThe Inside Scoop on Residential Efficiency Policies
By Matt Grimley Jim and Edrianna Stilwells’ home in Fairview, N.C., is immersed in nature. It sits at 3,500 feet and offers nearly 360 degrees of mountainous views. It was designed to be energy efficient, and with lessening their carbon footprint in mind, the Stilwells decided to add a solar thermal system to their home.…
Read MoreTwo School Districts Go Green to Save Green
By Toby MacDermott North Adams Elementary is one of the greenest schools in southeast Ohio. With solar panels on the roof, wild turkeys roaming the grounds, and a design based on LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, standards, this school exemplifies sustainability in action. But this building is not alone. The entire Adams…
Read MoreA Golden Wing and a Prayer: Restoring Warbler Habitat
By Brian Sewell Appalachia’s favorite bird, the golden-winged warbler, has been selected as one of seven focus species by a new partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that aims to reverse population decline through habitat restoration. The “Working Lands for Wildlife” program will collaborate with private landowners…
Read MoreBy The Numbers
78%: Voters nationwide who support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s work to hold polluters accountable. 170: Votes against environmental protection in the House of Representatives since the beginning of 2011 1,048.3 million: Number of short tons of coal the U.S. consumed in 2010, the second-lowest consumption rate in a decade. 1995: The last time coal…
Read MoreThe Solar Decathlon
By Jeff Deal Those weren’t spaceships on Washington D.C.’s National Mall in September — they were entries for this year’s U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Every two years, the competition challenges teams of college students to design, build and operate solar-powered homes that are affordable to build and maintain, energy-efficient and beautiful. The winner…
Read MoreViewpoint
Please Don’t Trash the Outdoors Dear Editor, For my school service project, I picked up trash around the forest. I picked up trash at campsites and on the forest roads. I found a lot of things like beer cans, milk containers, soda bottles, food wrappings, and someone even threw away a broken camp chair. I…
Read MoreCongregations Put Faith in Solar Power
By Brian Sewell On a sunny day in April at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Asheville, N.C., the Reverend Joe Hoffman welcomed his congregation with an unusual liturgy. “Today we celebrate a particular act of faith with the dedication of solar panels on our roof,” he announced from the pulpit. The event,…
Read MoreEnergizing the Clean Economy
Political speeches, the nightly news and newspaper headlines are filled with reminders of the battered economy and the millions unemployed or underpaid. But as energy efficiency and renewable technologies advance, more domestic jobs are created that foster a sustainable economy, save money at home, and benefit human health and the environment. It’s an ambitious goal,…
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