Saturday, July 17, 2010

Renewable Energy: The left hand giveth while the right hand taketh away.

by jpmassar

PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) is an acronym for a set of programs designed to allow homeowners to finance renewable energy systems in their homes.

It is conceptually quite simple: Instead of a homeowner having to borrow $20,000 for a solar energy system (or come up with it out-of-pocket), and then get partial rebates or tax credits, the city, county or state where the owner lives would front the money (using funds typically raised from bonds).  The homeowner would pay back the money so lent over a period of years through an additional property tax assessment, so much per year.  If the property is sold, the tax assessment remains -- the debt is transferred to the new owner.



continued at Daily Kos....

Dreaming the World into Being

by citisven

I recently interviewed author, visionary teacher and healer Sandra Ingerman about how to tackle the difficult yet enormously important challenge of integrating the spiritual issues of our time with the ecological crises we’re facing.

After reading her most recent works, How to Thrive in Changing Times and Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation, I wanted to find out more about Ms. Ingerman’s intriguing ideas for healing both our soul and our planet. A couple of weeks ago we got to chat about everything from how to overcome despair and defeatism in light of the tremendous problems humanity is faced with to the shamanic symbolism found in the Gulf oil disaster.



continued at Daily Kos....

Animal NUZ: A Daily Kos Exclusive Comic Strip #3

by ericlewis0

strip 3 panel 1post



continued at Daily Kos....

BP Ecocide v10.0: One Swab, No Mask

by vets74

Your pics and videos are welcome here. Between the Deadly Sins and incompetence, BP and Halliburton have loosed a massive petrochemical killing zone.

Mitigation efforts use booms, sand bars, humans walking around with pick-up bags, burnings and skimmers. So far... the "make work mindlessness" of these efforts come down to this:

one man no mask

Gulf Coast "cleanup" and "recovery" are addressing less than 1% of the petrochemical spew. Putting these guys out there for "cleanup" without protective breathers is similar to these:

-- Putting an employee inside an auto body paint box without a breather

-- Putting the World Trade Center workers in the burning ruins without breathers.

These are are not getting the simple $29.99 N99 Standard safety masks for particulates.

BP is as bad at protecting workers as Rudy Giuliani. Next they will be selling a corporate symbol "Mr. Cleanup," parallel to Giuliani stumping as "Mr. 9/11."

Holes.

More on the ecocide BTF :::



continued at Daily Kos....

BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 53

by Gulf Watchers

Please rec the new Mothership #54 here. This one has expired.
The current ROV DIARY: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #218 - Darryl House

Rules of the Road

  • We take volunteers for subsequent diaries in the sub diaries or ROV's as we have playfully coined them.
  • Please rec this mothership diary, not the ROVs.
  • Please be kind to fellow kossacks who may have limited bandwidth and refrain from posting images or videos.

PLEASE visit Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier's diaries to find out how you can help the Gulf now and in the future. We don't have to be idle! And thanks to Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier for working on this!



continued at Daily Kos....

Fundraiser and Drawing for Community Quilt Project

by Sara R

Orange stripes
Orange!

The Community Quilt Project has been making message quilts for beleaguered Kossacks (thirty-two so far, and counting) and  signature for causes we care about – the star quilt is garnering money for INDN’s List now – and beginning Aug. 15, the next quilt will go to support a Senate candidate.



continued at Daily Kos....