Green House: Small victories...A greener life

Green House takes brief hiatus

This Green House community will take a hiatus until August, because its moderator, Wendy Koch, is on medical leave. Please check back in a few weeks for environmental news and updates on her journey in green living.

My green house is finally, almost, done

"It's surreal," my husband, Alex, said about living in our new home a few days after moving in last month. Indeed, it is. We've nurtured the project so long on paper that actually being inside it felt odd or dream-like.

As readers of Green House know, we started our journey to a right-sized, energy-efficient home in Falls Church, Va., nearly three years ago after selling a McMansion a few miles away. We never expected it would take so long or cost so much.

The process often seemed a testament to Murphy's Law. Take moving day. After hours of hauling items, the final one entered the foyer. I had a sinking feeling when I realized the piano was too big for the "piano alcove." Oops. (Turns out, I inaccurately measured the piano.) A few minutes later, just as I was about to step inside the truck to make sure nothing was left behind, the ramp dislodged and I fell more than three feet flat onto my back. Oops, again.

Now that we've been here a few weeks, we've figured out some

glithces: why the fridge didn't work (needed a new inverter), why the washing machine danced around the laundry room (installation plugs hadn't been removed) and why the bathrooms stunk once we started flushing the toilets with rainwater (had to flush out some of the old water from the cistern.) Our builder, Arjay West, kindly agreed to rip apart the coat closet in the foyer so we could enlarge the piano alcove.

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We're acclimating. A modern home in a traditional neighborhood brings lots of stares, especially when you haven't had a chance to order shades for the 16-foot wide, 10-foot tall sliding glass doors to your living room. Cars slow down as they go by, and walkers sometimes wave. We wave back, even if we have no idea who they are.

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U.S. national parks suffer from climate change, pollution

America's national parks are suffering as wildlife such as gray wolves disappears, air quality deteriorates and waterways are polluted, an upcoming report will reveal.

Pollution, climate change, economic development around the parks and poor maintenance due to funding shortfalls are contributing to their increasing degradation, according to a report to be released Tuesday by the National Parks Conservation Association (NCPA), a Washington-based advocacy group, and its Center for Park Research.

"This is a turning point in the history of our parks," Tom Kiernan, NCPA's president, said in a statement calling for increased protections. "Many people don't know about the threats that increasingly impact the wildlife, water and air within our parks. The historic sites that tell the story of the Civil War, the civil rights movement and the other chapters of America's history are also suffering."

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The report comes amid an announcement this week, hailed by environmental groups, that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will extend a temporary ban on new mining claims near the Grand Canyon with an eye toward protecting 1 million acres and giving the federal government more time to study mining's economic and environmental effects.

Despite that recent news, the State of the Parks report finds:

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Fastest sea-level rise in 2,100 years linked to climate change

The sea-level is now rising faster along the U.S. Atlantic coast than at any time in the past 2,100 years, and this surge is linked to increasing global temperatures, an international research team reports.

"Sea-level rise is a potentially disastrous outcome of climate change, as rising temperatures melt land-based ice and warm ocean waters," said study co-author Benjamin Horton of the University of Pennsylvania. The study was published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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The team found that sea level was relatively stable from 200 BC to 1,000 AD. Beginning in the 11th century, sea level rose by about half a millimeter each year for 400 years during a warm climate period known as the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Sea level was stable again during a period, called the Little Ice Age, that persisted until the late 19th century. But since then, sea level has risen more than 2 millimeters per year on average, the steepest rate for more than 2,100 years.

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Supreme Court backs EPA over states on climate change

The Supreme Court unanimously rejected Monday a lawsuit by six states that were suing five major power companies for emitting greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

In a victory for the utilities and President Obama's administration, the high court ruled the Environmental Protection Agency -- not the courts -- should place restrictions on such heat-trapping emissions. It reversed a ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that would have allowed federal judges to issue restrictions.

"The critical point is that Congress delegated to EPA the decision whether and how to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants; the delegation is what displaces federal common law," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in a decision on behalf of the court, which voted 8-0 against the states. Justice Sonia Sotomayor recused herself, because she had sat on the appeals court panel that heard the case. Ginsburg also said the states and conservation groups can go to federal court if they object to the EPA's eventual rules.

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The ruling was the high court's most significant decision on climate change since 2007, when it granted the EPA authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. In December, the EPA said it will issue new regulations this year to reduce power plants' emissions of the primary greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.

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U.S. states lead on energy efficiency, lower utility bills

As Congress remains in gridlock, U.S. states are taking the lead in energy efficiency. New research shows 26 now have rules that are lowering utility bills for consumers and reducing the need to build new power plants.

From 2004 to 2010, 24 states followed the lead of Texas and Vermont in adopting an Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (EERS), which require utilities to save a certain amount of power each year, according to the first progress report of states that have had such rules for at least two years. The policies require that the savings outweigh the costs.

"These states are demonstrating that energy efficiency programs deliver real savings for utilities and ratepayers, and it is more affordable than any supply-side energy source," said report author Michael Sciortino of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a Washington-based research group.

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The report says EERS policies are driving energy efficiency investments and energy cost savings to unprecedented levels. For example, in 2009 and 2010, it says Ohio utility customers saved $56 million in energy costs over and above the costs to deliver the programs.

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Virginia Tech wins U.S. contest with 82 mpg car

How feasible is it to engineer a car that gets the equivalent of nearly 82 miles-per-gallon? Quite, for a team of students from Virginia Tech University who won first place in a U.S. car contest.

The team beat out students from 15 other North American universities in the three-year "EcoCAR" competition, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors. It started with a GM-donated Saturn Vue and swapped out the engine with one from a 2009 Chevy HHR engine. It then added a battery and electric motor and made other tweaks such as eliminating engine idle.

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"I definitely did not plan on first place. It's a nice surprise," says Lynn Gantt, Virginia Tech's team leader who just finished his master's degree in mechanical engineering. He says the car can go 50 miles on its battery and another 155 on gasoline, including a 85% ethanol blend or E85. The redesigned car boosted the fuel achieving of the stock engine by 70%.

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Senate, House vote to end some ethanol subsidies

Faced with escalating government red ink, the Senate voted Thursday to repeal tax credits worth about $6 billion annually for producing ethanol, a liquid fuel additive that comes mostly from U.S.-grown corn.

With a 73-27 vote, the Senate passed an amendment to end the 45-cent-a-gallon subsidy the government gives oil companies for blending ethanol into gasoline and the 54-cent-per-gallon tariff it places on imported ethanol to protect the domestic market. Its vote comes just two days after it rejected a similar effort.

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Yet the bi-partisan measure faces an uncertain future. It's attached to a federal economic development program that will likely face opposition. Also, it differs from a measure the House of Representatives, by a vote of 283-128, approved earlier in the day to bar the use of federal funds for ethanol blender pumps and storage tanks. The Senate voted 59-41 against such an amendment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

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U.S. solar power industry booms, gains globally

Solar energy remains one of the fastest-growing sectors of the U.S. economy as its photovoltaics produced 66% more power in the first quarter of this year than during the same time last year, the industry reports Thursday.

By the end of March, all grid-connected solar installations generated more than 2.85 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power nearly 600,000 U.S. homes, according to the quarterly report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research.

The two biggest factors driving this growth include reduced equipment costs and a rush to take advantage of federal tax credits that were expected to expire in 2010 but were extended through 2011. While residential installations show steady growth, commercial ones are posting the strongest gains.

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"On the whole, the U.S. is currently the PV (photovoltaic) industry's most attractive and stable growth market," Shayle Kann, GTM Research's managing director of solar, said in announcing the findings. He said the U.S. is positioned to nearly double its global market share this year.

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WindMade label for companies makes U.S. debut

WindMade, the first global consumer label for companies using wind energy, made its U.S. debut in New York City on Wednesday, designated as Global Wind Day.

The proposed standard, unveiled at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi in January, requires participating companies to get at least 25% of their electricity from wind power. After a public consultation period, which begins today and ends Aug. 15, companies are expected to begin applying for the final standard in September. Work on a similar standard for products is slated to begin later this year.

"Market-driven solutions like WindMade will increase voluntary purchasing of renewable energy, and complement the national and state standards that create the market," said Elizabeth Salerno, chief economist for the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) in a statement.

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The WindMade standard, which joins a growing list of eco-friendly labels such as "certified organic" and "fair trade," was developed by experts at the World Wildlife Fund, AWEA, LEGO Group, Climate Friendly, Gold Standard and Vestas, with Öko-Institut and PricewaterhouseCoopers acting as advisers. The first draft was reviewed by representatives from companies and organizations including Walmart.

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