The White House Solar Panels: An Update
The White House actually had solar panels installed once before - in 1979 President Carter had 32 experimental panels installed to supply hot water to West Wing offices. However, for some reason, President Reagan had them taken down when he took office. (image: dailycaller.com)
As HeatingOil.com reported back in October, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced the Obama administration’s promise to install solar panels and a solar water heater on the White House roof by the end of Spring 2011. With Tuesday marking the first day of summer, the White House has officially missed its own deadline. In a blog post addressing the delay, the Department of Energy reassured that the project remains on track, promising to share details about the new timeline “after the competitive procurement process is completed.”
So why is this so important? Besides the obvious environmental and economic benefits, the administration’s commitment to the solar project also served to lead by example. Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said in October, “Putting solar on the roof of the nation’s most important home is a powerful symbol calling on all Americans to rethink how we create energy.”
Bill McKibben, founder of the grassroots movement, 350,org, has been fighting for solar panels on the White House through the organization’s Put Solar On It campaign. While the group saw the administration’s initial announcement as a victory, he said the project’s inertia is “disheartening,” though the group will continue to fight for the solar panels.
The Rooftop Solar Challenge is just “one component of the Energy Department’s larger, ambitious SunShot Initiative to reduce the total installed cost of solar energy systems by about 75 percent before the end of the decade,” wrote Ramamoorthy Ramesh, director of the SunShot Initiative and Solar Energy Technologies Program. The overall goal is aimed at accelerating the growth of solar and other green manufacturing technologies in the hopes of, one imagines, ultimately reducing our dependence on foreign oil and strengthening our periled climate.
Energy Secretary Speaks Out on Heating Assistance Cuts
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu: to continue cutting funding for clean energy research would be "tragic." (image: telegraph.co.uk)
At an organized breakfast on Friday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu discussed the developing plans and proposed budget cuts in store for LIHEAP, the Huffington Post reported. Originally, President Obama’s budget outline included a $2.5 billion cut to the program, which currently maintains a $5.1 billion budget to provide energy assistance to low-income households, especially those with elderly and disabled members. For now, House Republicans are only seeking to reduce the program’s budget by $390.3 million, about 8%.
When Obama introduced his budget plan in February, he reasoned that energy prices have gone down since he took office, so the assistance program wasn’t as vital. However, that logic didn’t apply to all heating fuels, including heating oil, and since then energy prices have risen. So, officials have had to devise new reasoning to justify cutting LIHEAP, which thousands of Americans rely on to survive the winter.
Secretary Chu said officials are examining ways to spread the thinning assistance budget to improve home heating efficiency through weatherization, insulation, and retrofitting. Such a solution could help cut people’s heating bills in the long run, but wouldn’t alleviate the immediate dangers of fuel poverty. Chu noted that the new approach would benefit “not only low, but also middle-income people.”
“We need to get [other] programs started. We need to work with the lenders in order to come up with things like, when you buy a home or try to convince lenders, it’s prudent to ask about the affordability of the home or for an energy audit…This will stimulate people who want to sell their home to make energy improvements in their home, so they increase the resell value. There are many, many things we’re looking through,” said Chu, a Nobel Prize winner.
“We’re looking at those things that are, with a very modest amount of funds, or remodeling funds, you can begin to promote weatherization of homes and buildings. Five billion dollars gets you, what, 750,000 low-income homes, but you can get two billion dollars to now get tens of millions of homes being retrofitted, which becomes highly leveraged. And so, this is what we’ve found.”
As pressure mounts for the government to finalize the national budget, with the future of LIHEAP still in limbo, state lawmakers have encouraged poor residents to take advantage of heating assistance while it’s still available.
LIHEAP Update: NJ Leaders Join the Fight Against Budget Cuts
As pressure to finalize a national budget mounts, LIHEAP clients and supporters across the United States are advocating for the program's continued financial support. (image: blog.jumpstartinc.org)
Several New Jersey community leaders from the Middlesex County Human Services Advisory Council held a press conference yesterday to protest President Obama’s proposed budget cuts to social service programs like childcare, job training, housing assistance, and home heating assistance, NJtoday.net reported.
Obama has said he has no intentions of abandoning his plan to financially gut the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, despite an outpouring of opposition from private citizens and lawmakers representing climatically cold states. Requests for federal energy assistance has been higher than ever this heating season, and activists recently asked Obama to release an additional $100 million in aid money to stave off fuel poverty brought on by high fuel prices, bitter temperatures, and the economic recession.
State residents attending the press conference echoed the sentiments of other Americans opposing the budget cuts.
“I am deeply concerned about the cuts proposed for Fiscal Year 2011, especially as 11.5% of Middlesex County residents struggle with food insecurity,” said Rev. Lisanne Finston. “So many of us are facing hunger, rising food and fuel costs and continued unemployment. Now is not the time to make cuts which will tear at the vital safety net for so many.”
The Middlesex County Human Services Advisory Council, a coalition of New Jersey's religious, government, and non-profit leaders (image: njtoday.net)
And as we’ve seen before, state leaders acknowledged that the national deficit is certainly a very serious problem, but they don’t believe cutting programs designed to help the country’s elderly, poor, and disabled is the best way to curb national spending.
“We should not spend indiscriminately,” said U.S. Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District at the conference. “Wise, fact-based government action can reduce the deficit by avoiding wasteful and unnecessary spending and costly tax expenditures, while still increasing opportunity broadly, ensuring fairness, and enriching the lives of all Americans through smart investments.”
Arkansas House Weighs Bill on Natural Gas Regulation
The Arkansas Capitol Building, the 8th tallest building in Little Rock! (image: lobbycomply.com)
Arkansas police were forced to exercise crowd control at the state’s Capitol building this week, when hundreds of people showed up to a scheduled hearing to discuss and debate a bill that would affect the natural gas industry, the Associated Press reported. The bill, which will be voted on soon by the House Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development, is primarily designed to add environmental regulations to the industry’s gas harvesting methods. If passed, it would allow state agencies such as the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission to regularly test state waters, especially around drilling areas, for toxins and dangerous pollutants commonly linked to hydraulic fracturing and other natural gas extraction techniques.
Because public safety is clearly involved, the committee decided a public hearing with open discussion was the best approach.
“I am certainly not here to point fingers or to bash an industry that is so vital and important to us, but I have these letters and emails that came to me from people who have concerns, and they asked that we look at this legislation,” commented Rep. Homer Lenderman (D-Brookland), who sponsored the bill.
Water contamination is one of the biggest concerns about natural gas drilling – recently, high levels of radiation were found in fracking wastewater that was being dumped, unfiltered and unpurified, into Pennsylvania drinking water sources. Arkansans voiced concerns about their own water sources, and were particularly adamant about protecting and preserving the Little Red River.
“This river is one of the premier trout streams,” said Heber Springs resident Greg Seaton. “I hope that we do not surrender this main stay for the sake of the temporary money that the gas industry offers.”
People spilled into the hallways as over 30 speakers, both for and against the bill, made their cases.
“I will not pollute in my backyard or anyone else’s,” said natural gas employee Josh Spencer. Though he didn’t disclose which company he works for, he said his employers have spent millions of dollars in efforts to protect people’s property and health.
The committee is currently conducting interim studies on four other pieces of natural gas legislation, regarding bond requirements, annual inspections, and air quality and chemical disclosure to the public, that may also be put to a vote soon.
Pennsylvania Extends LIHEAP Deadline
Philadelphia, PA (image: khou.com)
The Pennsylvania Department of Welfare released a statement this week reminding low-income state residents that heating assistance is still available, newsworks.org reported. Though many Pennsylvanians are known to be struggling with fuel poverty this winter, officials said only 69% of the state’s share of LIHEAP aid has been given out. If the state doesn’t use its allocated funds, the funding goes back into the national budget.
“Any money remaining essentially reverts to the federal government, so it’s to our advantage to use the funding that is provided,” said Department spokesman Michael Race.
State policy makers are well aware that this year’s surplus is a luxury that may not be so readily available in the future. If President Obama’s proposed budget is passed, LIHEAP funding will be slashed by more than 50%. Many PA legislators and residents have spoken out with other protesters nationwide, arguing that cutting LIHEAP would be disproportionately harmful to Pennsylvanians and other cold region residents.
“There would be less money in the pot for Philadelphia, there would be less money in our economy, and it’s something that we’re concerned about,” said Cameron Kline, spokesman for Philadelphia Gas Works. “It is something that we’re all watching.”
MA Bishops to Boehner, Pelosi: Cutting LIHEAP Would Be Devastating
Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston (image: cardinalseansblog.org)
Massachusetts’ four Roman Catholic bishops collaborated last week on a letter to congressional leaders, asking the lawmakers to spare cuts to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Worcester’s Telegram & Gazette reported. The federal program helps low-income families, especially those with disabled and elderly members, pay their heating and cooling bills.
Worcester Bishop Robert McManus penned the letter with input from Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, Bishop Timothy McDonnell of Springfield, and Bishop George Coleman of Fall River. They sent the letter to an array of bipartisan policy makers, including House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Like so many other groups and private citizens lobbying for LIHEAP’s continued funding, the bishops believe cutting the program would “be nothing short of devastating, especially in the Northeast, to these families and their communities.” And, like other protesters, they reasoned that the rising cost of home heating fuels and severely harsh winter weather would make gutting LIHEAP a particularly irresponsible and ill-timed move.
“Our plea is that, when considering how to navigate through this difficult budgeting process, Congress preserve a special place and regard for the most vulnerable of our citizens, particularly those whose precarious economic circumstances force them to choose between shelter and clothing or between heat and food,” the bishops wrote. “The recent economic downturn has created a punishing intersection of rising human needs and declining resources. This situation threatens the dignity of the human person and the stability of family life.”
The bishops also noted that while Catholic social service agencies are directly trying to address the problem, their efforts simply can’t meet the rising demand for heating assistance. Social service groups of other religious denominations across the United States have also been trying to prepare for the impending consequences if LIHEAP funding is reduced.
Chimney Rock Could Become National Monument
Chimney Rock, Colorado : a reminder of our rich cultural heritage, and of how great chimneys are. (image: marathonpundit.blogspot.com)
Colorado’s legislature introduced a bill this week that would establish Chimney Rock Archeological area as a national monument, the Colorado Independent reported. Archeological historians and heating system design enthusiasts praised the move, which seeks to preserve the ancient home of the Pueblo Indians and bring honor to chimney-like things everywhere.
Anyone who has played Oregon Trail might recognize Chimney Rock as the large landmark rock formation that looks like a chimney. Home heating aficionados generally agree that while chimneys currently have a mixed reputation for being dirty, out of date, and dangerous without proper maintenance, the chimney’s legacy in the history of home heating system design is untouchable.
Before chimneys, living spaces heated by fire were often filled with smoke and toxic gases. And, because airflow wasn’t being aimed in any direction, in-home heat circulation was very inefficient. We can all thank the Romans, who invented the first chimney-like devices.
Long after the Romans began sticking tubes in walls to draw smoke out of their bakeries, the Pueblo Indians were exploring southwestern Colorado and found a huge rock, reminiscent of a cozy, useful chimney – they knew it was a good place to settle down! They built over 200 ceremonial buildings and homes around Chimney Rock, making it a valuable American historical spot.
The bill to make Chimney Rock a national monument has full bipartisan support and is expected to be approved soon.
“Chimney Rock lacks a designation equal to its historically and culturally significant stature. Local leaders, economic development officials and environmental advocates all agree: it’s time to give Chimney Rock the designation it deserves,” said CO Senator Michael Bennet, who introduced the bill. “Working together, we will move this bill forward, providing much-needed protection – and much-deserved recognition – for Chimney Rock that will preserve this archaeological treasure for the enjoyment of generations to come.”
Minnesota Senators: Slashing Federal Heating Assistance “Unacceptable” and “Morally Repugnant”
If LIHEAP funding is gutted, around 45,000 Minnesota households will be forced to shut "their heat off, essentially during the height of winter and that to me is unacceptable," Minnesota Senator Al Franken said. (image: minnesota.publicradio.org)
Democratic congressional leaders continue to speak out against President Obama’s budget proposal to gut the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, as pressure mounts for the federal government to finalize and approve a national budget.
Minnesotan lawmakers recently joined protests against the cuts, according to StarTribune.com. If the budget passes, Minnesota will receive $67 million less than last year, even as more state residents than ever are applying for home heating aid. Officials said they received 5% more applications this heating season, and acknowledged the particularly cold winter and lagging economy.
Senator Al Franken said that while he believes Obama’s budget as a whole is headed in the right direction, he couldn’t support a move to cut LIHEAP funding.
“I worry some of the specific cuts to LIHEAP would mean that nearly 50,000 households in Minnesota could lose LIHEAP assistance. Anyone who’s lived through a Minnesota winter knows that you simply can’t go without heat,” Franken said. “As the budget process moves forward I will fight to make those changes.”
As the deadline to approve the budget approaches, the future of LIHEAP remains unclear. Last month a group of 31 senators from both parties drafted a letter requesting the deep cuts to LIHEAP be removed from the $3.73 trillion plan, but Obama has said he has no intentions of altering the proposal. Franken’s Democratic colleagues asserted that cutting heating assistance for poor, elderly citizens would be disproportionately harmful to climatically colder states.
“It is morally repugnant to me to do something like this,” said Rep. Keith Ellison. “We tell the richest Americans we can extend your massive tax cuts, and then we tell poor Americans to get an extra blanket at the Goodwill.”
MA Congressmen: LIHEAP Cuts “Just Wrong”
Joe Kennedy II with Katherine and Joe Olivera outside their East Boston residence (image: boston.com)
While President Obama was visiting a school across town, Massachusetts’s lawmakers met on the porch of Joe and Katherine Olivera, a local elderly couple who depend on federal heating assistance, to speak out against Obama’s proposal to slash LIHEAP, the Associated Press reported this week.
U.S. Reps. Jim McGovern of Worcester and Michael Capuano of Somerville held a news conference with Joseph Kennedy II in East Boston, in an attempt to get Obama’s attention on the home heating assistance issue while reassuring constituents they’ll do everything they can to see that the budget proposal doesn’t get passed. Kennedy is the chairman of nonprofit Citizens Energy and a former U.S. Rep. for the Boston area.
“The first thing they put on the chopping block was fuel assistance. At the same time, they protected the richest people in this country from any kind of tax give-back a trillion-dollar deal to preserve tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans,” Kennedy said. “This is just wrong.”
Obama’s budget proposal seeks to completely gut LIHEAP, reducing its federal funding from $5.1 billion to $2.5 billion. The Oliveras, both in their 80s, said if the budget cuts are approved, they won’t have enough money for food and medication.
“They worked their entire lives and they have no pension. They get by on Social Security alone. This family helped build this nation and this neighborhood up,” Kennedy said. “It’s the Oliveras that are the heart and soul of our nation and to say to them that they’re going to have to be cold in their homes because we need to balance the budget, are you kidding me?”
When asked for her reaction to Obama’s proposed budget cut, Mrs. Olivera said simply, “He’s bargaining with our health.”
Kennedy concluded the conference by asking Obama and Republican Congressional leaders to recognize the crippling impact cutting LIHEAP will have on low-income American families. Earlier this week White House press secretary Jay Carney stated that currently, the President has no plans to reverse his proposal. To see a video clip of the news conference, click here.
Democrats Follow Obama to Boston to Protest LIHEAP Cuts
While Obama visits TechBoston Academy, fellow Democrats will be speaking out against his proposed LIHEAP cuts. (image: blackwaterdog.wordpress.com)
Democrats have scheduled a news conference in Boston to protest Obama’s proposal to slash federal funding for LIHEAP, just a few hours before President will visit TechBoston Academy today, the Associated Press reported.
Accompanied by Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Melinda Gates, who helped launch the school through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Obama will stop at TechBoston Academy on his way to a fundraiser. Obama has said he seeks to bring attention to education reform and promote education innovation. His administration commented that the school was selected because it encourages students to take courses at local colleges while implementing technology in the classroom.
"Families would be forced to decide once again between heating and eating," said Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA). (image: politico.com)
However, on the other side of town, members of Obama’s own party will gather to send the President a message about his federal budget plan to dramatically reduce heating assistance for poor households. Representatives Ed Markey, James, McGovern, and Michael Capuano will join former congressman and chairman of Citizens Energy Joseph Kennedy II in East Boston at the home of Joe and Katherine Oliveri. The couple faces a 30% reduction in their LIHEAP assistance. The news conference will address how slashing LIHEAP will impact America’s low-income families and senior citizens.
Within the last month, angry and dismayed citizens across the country have been reaching out to their respective lawmakers to plead the case for LIHEAP. Markey has been a particularly strong voice in the effort to stop the potentially dangerous budget cuts from being approved.
“Targeting the poor is the wrong direction and I think President Obama is making a huge mistake in singling out the poor,” Markey commented last month.
