Cambridge Thermal Imaging Project

Posted on March 15, 2012 by JesseGorden

This winter photo shows brightness where the most heat is escaping this home.

Cambridge! It’s finally here: a chance to vividly see the cool or warm air leaving your drafty home, without having to pay hefty fees to a thermal photographer. Thanks to the Thermal Imaging Project on which HEET has partnered with Sagewell Inc., Cambridge homeowners can request thermal (infrared) images of the outsides of their homes.

The images are taken with car-mounted cameras similar to those used for Google Maps street view, and taken on a “first come, first served” basis – with highest priority given to locations with highest demand. With the slight air of a Groupon deal, Sagewell has asked for 400 requests from Cambridge before they will release our thermal images for free.

Because of fossil fuel prices skyrocketing and scientists projecting Cambridge’s summer temperatures will soon start looking more like Atlanta, GA temps, everyone’s heating AND cooling bills are only on their way up. High efficiency in your home is valid for every season.

Even better, the easiest time to work on your home’s energy efficiency is spring and summer, when the wait for weatherization services is short!

Request yours on Sagewell.com now.
It should take about a minute to do so; just enter your address at the bottom of the home page, hit enter, and then enter your information on the next page that shows up by clicking the green “HERE” (see following photo).

This page appears after you enter your address at the bottom of Sagewell.com's home page.

There have already been over 100 requests for thermal images, so if 300 are generated in the next month, everyone will get to have this great service free of cost. Tell your neighbors! We all want to save money and live a little lighter on the planet, don’t we?

The Extra Goods
You and other homeowners, condo owners, and landlords can access their images and an individualized report free of charge online via a password-protected account when the images are available (Sagewell will email you a link). The individualized report shows what to work on, how much it will save you, and connects you with the needed free and rebated services. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.

Not all buildings can be analyzed (due to blocked views from trees, etc. or private way constraints), but Sagewell has agreed to image around 22,000 buildings in Cambridge!

The Thermal Imaging Project will enable residential and commercial building owners to lower costs while supporting our city’s climate and emission reduction goals. One more great tool to wield for average citizens and environmental warriors alike. Get to http://www.Sagewell.com now!

If you have any remaining questions, please contact Sagewell at info@Sagewell.com or HEET at heet.cambridge@gmail.com.

Water saving tips

Posted on August 31, 2011 by JSivaguru

What is common between the beach, the pool , cold showers and lemonades ?

Water !

Even though water seems like it is an unlimited resource, is in reality a limited resource because there are no known new sources of water. Americans consume about 150 gallons of water every day, which is twice the world average. Water needs energy to be transported and has a huge environmental impact. More water required means more dams and reservoirs, which in turn means more damage to marine habitat.

Check out National Geographic’s water footprint calculator to discover how you use water and calculate your footprint.

Here are things you can do to conserve water and do your part to save the environment :
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Go here for more products that help conserve water.

Fun Facts

Running a cold-water faucet for 5 minutes uses as much energy as letting a 60-W bulb run for a week !
Water supply and treatment facilities consume about 56 bn KWh per year, which is equivalent to powering 5 million homes for an entire year !

Save water, save energy, save the planet

A New Way to LEED Our Communities

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Dean Fogarasi

What does ‘green building’ mean? How can principles of sustainability be implemented in building design and construction and be certified as such? These were questions that the U.S. Green Building Council (www.usgbc.org) dealt with when they rolled out their first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) guidelines in the 1990s. Although LEED has received criticism for not incorporating measured building performance in its accreditation service, their guidelines have evolved over the years and are regarded as the leader in the world of green building certification [1]. Warm Home Cool Planet contributor John Bolduc reports that here in Cambridge–one of the nation’s most accomplished cities in sustainable practices–64 buildings have either been registered with LEED or accredited.

But for all the usefulness a green building certification system brings with it, it still doesn’t get at the need for sustainable developments on a slightly larger scale–that of a neighborhood or development project. After all, so much of our lives–and environmental impacts–are tied in with the nature of our neighborhoods. Things like transportation needs, population density, recreation space, air quality, and energy use are interrelated. This is what LEED’s newest volume of wisdom is all about. Known as LEED-ND (for “neighborhood development”), the set of guidelines and certification scheme has come out of a collaboration between the USGBC, National Resources Defense Council and the Congress for the New Urbanism. Sounds like a lovely idea, right? But in practice, not all locales have the luxury of cutting-edge environmental planning and certainly not all developers want to put the time and money into comprehensively green projects. That’s why I am so excited that NRDC just released “A Citizen’s Guide to LEED for Neighborhood Development.”

The Citizen’s Guide, which may be downloaded here, is just that–a very readable document intended to empower people to evaluate neighborhoods, whether they already exist or are only on paper. A wide swath of sustainability principles are embodied in LEED-ND, including “smart growth,” transportation, pedestrian-friendly streets and architecture, affordable housing, protection of natural resources, and climate change considerations. The guide includes a handy checklist so that anyone can get a rough idea of how well a neighborhood fares. Optionally, one can also try tabulating points to estimate what its LEED-ND score would be (in the formal certification assessment). Or, one can simply use the guide to ask better questions at a town meeting or push for more informed zoning policies–it’s all up to you!

[1] Keim, Brandon. “LEED the Way.” Stanford Social Innovation Review 8.2 (2010): 66-71.

Dresden Moving on Climate Protection

Posted on June 13, 2011 by John Bolduc

Dresden, a city of 220,000 in the eastern part of Germany, was the target of Allied firebombing in World War II that largely destroyed the city. The wonderful skyline of towers built by the Saxon kings was restored and the downtown area is vibrant. While the eastern part of Germany has suffered from emigration to other regions, Dresden has been growing modestly.

The City is bisected by the Elbe River and has a number of tributaries that flow into it. In 2002, Dresden saw a major flood that inundated the city center, including the central railway station. Over 1 billion Euros in damage was inflicted by the floods and some lives were lost. The flooding was the result of the Elbe River overtopping its banks, rising groundwater, and the Weisseritz River defying its re-direction and flowing in its historic route. The 2002 flood is at the front of City officials’ minds as they develop responses to climate change.

Dresden has a small climate protection office formed in 2010 and headed by Ina Helzig. The office focuses on climate mitigation initiatives. Dresden’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 2010 levels by 2030. The City sees their climate and sustainability program as part of their economic development strategy.

Work on adaptation has been centered in a regional initiative called REGKLAM that is funded by the federal government. The adaptation program is at the stage of assessing Dresden’s vulnerabilities in order to develop their strategy. But they have already taken action to prevent a repeat of the 2002 flood. The City’s strategy includes preventing additional development in floodplains, monitoring weather conditions, raising flood retention walls by about 1 meter, creating a system of temporary flood retention barriers to protect the city center, modifying the combined sewer system to store more water and reduce the frequency of sewage overflows to the Elbe, and lowering groundwater levels under key buildings. An underground retention facility was constructed at a central pumping station to hold 35,000 cubic meters of storm flows. The City has also installed additional gates in the combined sewer conduit system to shut down the pipes and use them for storage. Dresden believes the improved system will help them minimize the flooding effects of climate change.

One other climate-related strategy that Dresden, and some other German cities, employs is to protect air flow channels coming down from of the surrounding mountains. Most of the land within the city boundaries is open space. There are valleys that slope down to the Elbe River that bring cooler air to the Elbe and into the city. Land use changes and development that would reduce this effect are restricted. While this wasn’t done as an adaptation measure, I think this strategy will help Dresden cope with rising temperatures. This approach has not been taken in any American cities as far as I know. But it would complement other efforts to reduce the urban heat island effect.

Green Mobility in Freiburg

Posted on June 7, 2011 by John Bolduc

The Altstadt

Cars are prominent in Freiburg, but there is a different relationship between people, bicycles, transit and cars compared to home. Cars defer to pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit as they negotiate the city streets. Bicyclists and pedestrians move around each other fluidly. There is also a higher level of convenience in using non-automobile travel modes.

Freiburg has made the Altstadt – the old core of the city – a car-free zone. Only residents who live within the zone and service vehicles can drive in. Pedestrians, cyclists, and the tram are freer to move. Fraziska Breyer of the City government told us that when the car-free zone was proposed, businesses were very concerned that shoppers would shun the center. But the decision has instead made the old city a more attractive area for shoppers and visitors. The streets are bustling with people and cyclists are everywhere. To some degree there are too many cyclists in the old city. On the main street of Kaiser Joseph Strasse, the city had to prohibit bicycle parking near the area where the tram lines intersect because they were blocking walkers.

The tram (street car) system is excellent The trams do not for the most part run on separate rights-of-way. They run on rails in the street along with the cars and cyclists. Throughout the city, trams have traffic signal priority; the lights change as the trams approach to allow the tram to move through intersections. And the system makes it very easy to use the tram. Tickets can be bought at electronic vending machines and there are multiple choices – single rides, all day passes, group passes, etc. When you board the tram, there are no conductors or turnstiles to go through. Riders are expected to punch the tickets themselves to mark the time their use started. Conductors do spot checks and scofflaws can be fined. When waiting for the tram, there are electronic information boards that give riders real time information on when the next tram will arrive. There is also an extensive bus system, although I didn’t have the opportunity to ride a bus. To top it all off, the public transportation system is 100% powered by renewable energy – 80% hydro and 20% solar, wind, and other renewables.

There is an extensive network of bicycle lanes, paths, and roads. We were told there are 410 kilometers of these facilities. In some areas whole street segments are marked to give bicycles priorities. Cars can be on these bicycle roads, but they have to drive at similar speeds to cyclists and defer to them.

Traffic rules are enforced on cars and cyclists. A 30 kilometer per hour speed limit applies in the city center. It’s enforced by radar and photo. Cyclists are expected to follow traffic rules too. Frau Breyer said she once turned right at an intersection without stopping at a sign and was caught by the police. She received a ticket.

Freiburg has a non-profit car sharing association. It sounded like it has had a similar effect to Zipcar in Cambridge, providing an alternative for people who don’t want to own a car and eliminating the need for owning a second car.

Bike parking at the train station

Freiburg seems to take all modes of transit and weave them into a seamless system. Our study group took a bicycle tour of the city’s sustainability highlights. We rented bicycles at a shop housed in a building that also provided bicycle parking for a fee on two levels and car sharing below. The building was located at the main train station, which was intersected by the tram system. Buses and taxi stations were also located there. The whole system was reliable, flexible, safe, and enjoyable.

The transportation mode shares reported by the city in 1999 – the City said the data is being updated – is 23% pedestrian, 27% bicycles, 18% transit, 6% ride sharing, and 26% single occupancy driving. I’m not sure if that is all trips (I think that is so) or just commuting.

I wasn’t able to learn all the factors that enable Freiburg to have such a wonderful transportation system. I’m sure there are reasons why it is easier to have such a great system in Freiburg, but it makes you want to replicate it at home.

Next: Freiburg’s eco-villages – Reiselfeld and Vauban.

Freiburg – Greenest City in Europe?

Posted on June 3, 2011 by John Bolduc

Kaiser Joseph Strasse, in Freiburg Center

I’m on a personal study tour of Germany and Holland to see what German and Dutch cities are doing about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. The tour is organized by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, an organization that the City of Cambridge has been a member of since 1999. Our tour leader, Jade Jackson, is leading our group of 4 Canadians and 2 Americans through Freiburg and Dresden Germany, and then on to Bonn to attend the ICLEI Climate Resilient Communities conference. We will end up in Rotterdam in The Netherlands. I thought I would try to share what I see and learn along the way. I hope you find it useful and interesting.

In Cambridge, we often look to Europe for examples of how to make the city more sustainable given that we are a dense urban community that in many ways is more similar to European cities than American. On this tour, I’m looking to see how the cities here have implemented actions that we have thought about, and actions that we have not even considered yet, particularly in regard to adaptation.

Freiburg, of the Black Forest, is our first stop. It might be the greenest city in Europe [or the world?]. Renewable energy is a big focus here. But they also have a very admirable sustainable transportation system, waste management, and land use.

Freiburg’s old city center was largely destroyed in World War II. About 80% of the city center was bombed toward the end of the war. After the war, the city decided to keep the historic street pattern and re-build on the foundations of the destroyed buildings, reconstructing in the historic style. Much larger new development surrounds the old city, but within the city boundaries there are large areas devoted to farms, vineyards, and protected forests; about half of the city is open space. Today, Freiburg is a growing city of about 220,000 people with a major university and service base.

"Nuclear power, no thank you."

We met with Franziska Breyer, of the City’s environment agency, who presented the history and overview of the city’s sustainability efforts. Freiburg’s green movement began with anti-nuclear protests in 1973, when new nuclear plants were proposed just across the border in France and nuclear waste storage was proposed nearby in Germany. Those protests led to people thinking that they could not just be against nuclear power, but need to be for something. I visited Freiburg 30 years ago as I was involved myself during college in anti-nuclear protest at home and wanted to see what the fuss was about here. Ironically, as we arrived in Freiburg last weekend, there were again anti-nuclear protests taking place as the Conservative government reconsidered its nuclear policy in the wake of Fukushima and reversed course, deciding to plan to phase out nuclear energy by 2022. So I imagine the protests were part celebratory.

The alternatives Freiburg has come up with encompass energy efficient construction, solar energy, district energy, wind energy, biomass, a well-integrated, multi-modal transportation system, and waste reduction practices. I’m sure we didn’t hear about everything.

Freiburg has set a goal in 2007 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1992 levels by 2030. As of 2009, the city has achieved an 18.6% reduction. The municipal government has a climate protection budget of 1.2 million Euros, which is largely funded by annual payments from utilities for use of public space for infrastructure. The budget does not include additional funds set aside for energy efficiency subsidies provided to residents (21 million Euros since 2003), investment in public facilities and infrastructure, transportation, and other services.

Frau Breyer talked about the sustainability concept that the city’s efforts are based on. While it is common to think of sustainability in terms of balancing the 3 “E’s” – ecology, economy, and equity, she said in Freiburg they see sustainability as fundamentally based on ecology and that this is not negotiable. Without a sound ecology, there cannot be a viable economy and equitable society. The economy and social welfare flow from this sound ecological base.

The city is working to grow its green economy. The green city initiatives are seen as a factor in attracting green businesses to locate in Freiburg. There are about 1,500 green businesses employing about 10,000 people. Of those ten thousand, about 1,500 people are employed in the solar energy sector.

The energy strategy is based on energy saving, efficient generation, and renewable energy. About 10% of the electricity is supplied by nuclear in Freiburg. About half is produced by co-generation units that also provide heat through district heating systems. In addition to larger co-gen units, there are about 90 small CHP units around the city.

Badenova Sports Stadium roofs covered with Solar PV

Solar energy is very visible around Freiburg. Currently 12.3 MW of solar capacity is in place, producing over 10 million kilowatt-hours annually. For context, the City of Cambridge consumes about 40 million kwh of total electricity annually,which is a small percentage of total use in Cambridge. Cambridge has close to 1 MW of solar PV in place. In Freiburg, solar thermal panels cover about 15,000 square meters. Solar PV has been ramped up by very generous feed-in tariffs created by the federal government, which pays owners for the electricity production. The federal government is now moving to phase out the feed-in tariffs as they believe they have served their function of creating a solar industry. We were told that while the feed-in tariffs have been successful in expanding the use of solar PV, the price of solar PV has not really decreased, which was one of the goals of the policy. And while solar panels are a common sight in Freiburg, they are installed on a minority of buildings.

There are 5 medium sized wind turbines installed on the hills around the city. They produce 14 million kwh every year, more than produced by all the solar PV panels.

Bugginger StrasseHi-Rise, first to meet Passivhaus energy standards

We were told that increasing efficiency in existing buildings remains a challenge. The City has invested 21 million Euros since 2003, which has leveraged an additional 23 million Euros. Generally the funds have been used toward efficiency improvements when buildings are undergoing major renovations. This investment has reached about 3 to 4% of the building stock.

The Vice Mayor said they see the future trend being toward more short-distance district heating, noting the high cost of installing infrastructure, and more micro-CHP.

There is more to admire in Freiburg’s energy practices, including their eco-villages with buildings meeting Passivhaus standards and Plus Energy houses.

Upcoming: Sustainable Transportation and Freiburg’s eco-villages – Vauban and Rieselfeld.

A New Kind of Sustainability Workshop

Posted on May 26, 2011 by JesseGorden

Cross-posted from the Sustainable Business Leader Program blog.

On May 23rd the Sustainable Business Leader Program, Cambridge Local First, and the Cambridge Energy Alliance hosted a new kind of business sustainability workshop: a business-to-business conversation featuring the Cambridge Brewing Company, a handful of business-centered sustainability services, and a score of small business representatives curious about their own green options.

By having many of the players in the room at the same time, small Cambridge businesses were able to comfortably learn how they could make their businesses more environmentally friendly while saving valuable natural resources and money.

The workshop featured a presentation by Phil “Brewdaddy” Bannatyne, owner of Cambridge Brewing Company, who highlighted the steps that his business took to “go green,” including much praise for the Sustainable Business Leader Program, and shared insights into the challenges and benefits of doing so.

After the presentations, business representatives had the opportunity to meet and hear from various organizations about the many programs and incentives that are available to them to make their own journey of sustainability and energy efficiency easy, rewarding, and fun. Arrow Paper, New Generation Energy, Prism Consulting, Save that Stuff and ThinkLite were on-hand to showcase their services and answer questions during the networking portion.

Attendees (and organizers) enjoyed this informative and relaxed night, and folks left with a clear understanding of how and why to green their small business, after enjoying conversation, food, and free local brews.

Please browse the links throughout this article to make use of the resources presented that evening.

The Sustainable Business Leader Program, a program of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston, supports locally owned independent businesses in improving their environmental business practices, reducing their carbon footprint, and saving money. Visit http://www.sustainablebusinessleader.org to learn more.

Wild & Scenic Film Festival comes to Boston!

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Tara Holmes

For those of you itching to see some good, quality short films on everything from climate change, to sustainable, local farming to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for charity, then look no further — the Wild & Scenic Film Festival is in Boston March 25th and 26th!

The event, sponsored by e-inc, consists not only of the film festival itself, but a series of panels, fund-raising events and guest speakers, including Robin Young, host of WBUR’s “Here and Now”. Panelists include: David Cash, Undersecretary of Policy, Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; Howard Herzog, Senior Engineer, MIT Energy Initiative; Namrita Kapur, Director Corporate Partnership, Environmental Defense Fund; and Alexander Taft, Climate Officer, National Grid. There will also be a locavore tasting menu of foods and wine and a showing of Carbon Nation with a question and answer session with film producer Artemis Jouzinsky.

I saw the film festival when it came to Maynard last week and was thoroughly impressed by both the high quality of artistic expression and subject matter depth. I highly recommend going if you can! Tickets for the Boston showing range from $10 to $30 depending on which day and events you chose to attend. For more information go to http://www.e-action.us/.

Ultimate Greening Your Home Seminar

Posted on March 1, 2011 by JesseGorden

Residents of Cambridge, MA were introduced to a new opportunity on February 8th, 2011. Energy efficiency is on the minds of renters, condominium owners, and homeowners alike as the environmental, financial, and physical benefits become more prominently appreciated. Usually when energy efficiency information is available, it is more general and further discussion with specific professionals is suggested, since the process of making home energy efficiency improvements is tailored to unique home and ownership characteristics and often entails several detailed levels of complexity. On February 8th, those professionals were brought together in one place for an evening of sequential enlightenment for curious attendees, with an added bonus of networking amongst their industry peers and less-assumed partners, Green real estate agents.

When the Cambridge Energy Alliance and Coldwell Banker Agents Amy Tighe and Robin Miller designed this new collaborative seminar, their focus was on approaching one seemingly under-served demographic: condominium owners and associations. [This group will, luckily, begin to be served more as the NSTAR 5+ unit (“Multifamily”) energy assessment program rolls out.] That said, this successful design would clearly be valuable to other demographics (e.g. home owners) in addition to condominium owners/associations.

Beginning with the simplest in-home steps and leading to discussion of assessments, retrofits, and financing of projects, Sustainable Life Solutions, Next Step Living Inc., S & H Construction, CPCU Credit Union, CEA, Robin, and Amy engaged enthusiastic condo owners and association representatives in energy efficiency learning in a way that simply made sense. Speakers explained each of their areas of expertise thoroughly in their limited time, intermittently questions were asked and answered comprehensively, sometimes by the several professionals that were in the room, and when presentations were through, meaningful inquiry-fueled conversation rounded out the evening. A happy closeout to the seminar was the drawing of the raffle winner, who took home a wonderful green-living package that was generously donated by Whole Foods.

The results of this innovative event were remarkable: A valuable seminar was put together by unprecedented collaborators in a replicable format; speakers were able to answer significant questions jointly, and see how they might work together effectively in the future; seminar attendees were able to walk out with a mental arsenal of energy efficiency tools, feeling utterly aware of a previously mysterious process, with proper contacts in hand, and ready to share with their peers. This type of event is unquestionably beneficial for all involved, so watch out for announcements of the next installment in months to come!

The World Where Oil Flows Free

Posted on July 12, 2010 by JesseGorden

The Gulf Oil Spill has been the event at the top of everyone’s mind for many weeks now, almost to the point of our adapting to the initially shocking concept. The images that have surfaced have been heartrending enough, though, that the shock factor hasn’t been allowed to completely fade. Predictions of the results to come in the next weeks and months are concerning to say the least, and the estimate of how much has been leaking each day continues to rise. BP comes up with a new method to “fix” the problem every few weeks, each seeming promising with a side-serving of bad news. Effects on humans are starting to surface, some gruesome news and some simply tragic projections. With all of this on our plates, it’s understandably hard to think about, let alone discuss, other similar issues.

One more brick was added to the weight of environmental concern when, on June 11th, another oil spill was reported, this time in Utah. How could an oil spill happen in the middle of the continent? This time it wasn’t an oil rig that failed; in the mountains south of the Great Salt Lake, an oil-transporting pipeline was breached around 10pm. Residents who reported a strong petroleum scent around 7am the next day allowed for the leak to be stopped less than 24 hours after it began. Regardless of the speed with which it was stopped, 33,000 gallons of crude oil were leaked into Salt Lake City creeks and a pond- but not the Lake. Because of the national disappointment with and disdain for the oil giant BP, Chevron responded quickly and aggressively with cleanup devotions.

This leak was obviously a dramatically smaller scale than the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Instead of a pipeline tapped directly into natural oil stores being busted, a quarter-sized hole was melted in the controllable pipe transporting oil in UT, and it was all over in 24 hours.

The BP underwater pipe has been gushing tens of thousands of gallons each day, for two and a half months. In the UT spill, around 300 Canada Geese and ducks were covered in oil, and fewer than 10 were killed; one endangered fish species was threatened by the spill. The Gulf of Mexico’s biota are threatened in a much, much broader sense- as you might imagine, considering the unimaginable quantity of poison being spewed into the ocean.

While much of the oil spilled in Utah has been cleaned up, the efforts in the Gulf of Mexico have comparatively only just begun. The estimated clean-up time is months, possibly years; the truth is that the effected coastlines (their ecosystems, their businesses, their citizens), especially those closer to the epicenter, may never recover.

While the Gulf oil spill eclipses other fossil fuel issues in the eye of society at present, it also brings an important topic right to the surface of the pile of important current issues, and in some cases inspires reflection.

Would we still be discussing the Utah oil spill, were the BP tragedy not over-shadowing its significance?

The answer is “Maybe not;” spills are not uncommon, mishaps at drilling sites are not uncommon. What makes the BP spill different is the enormous individual scale, proximity to affluent nations, and resulting publicity.

We do not often hear about the ill effects of the oil industry that are happening in less-fortunate regions of our world.

If we ignore the intense sociological disasters surrounding the oil industry in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, there are statistics to look at that might make the president of BP’s hair curl. It’s estimated that from what are technically Shell and Chevron operations, there are three hundred small and large oil spills in this area each year, due to various factors including oil piracy, aging equipment, and worse-than-poor regulation. In this undeveloped region where locals see no benefit from the industry, oil spills surround the villages. An image of the ruined environment was painted potently by one BBC article;

“Visitors to the Nigerian village of Kpor, deep in the Niger Delta, are greeted by strange sights: silver frogs blink from gleaming puddles, sunlight bounces from an eerie black lake, and dragonflies hover over cauldrons of tar.”

This is a generally unillustrated tragedy, an example of what we are not seeing through the corporate veil. Information is not exposed for many reasons- too many to discuss here- but these events are significant enough to spend time digging for.

—-

Discussed above are only the results of our addiction to oil. What about the other common fossil fuels that we depend on? If we disregard the carbon emissions and their effects, related to burning any fossil fuels-

Coal mining means mountain tops destroyed, geology and topography both obliterated as removed mountain tops are filled into valleys; this is not to mention the pollution nightmares that come along with mining, or the health risks: 11,000+ injured (lowest number ever recorded), 69 killed most recently.
Natural gas mining–hydraulic fracturing/fracking— creates air-polluting ground-level ozone, poisons the surrounding groundwater and has severe effects on surrounding communities.

Maintenance of our presently strong socioeconomic bonds to fossil fuels are already fatal, both to operators and the surrounding environment. What will it be like when these limited resources begin to truly dwindle, when, if we haven’t changed the juice our society runs on, we are mining every potentially coal-filled mountain and drilling into every oil deposit the earth’s crust has left to offer? We can be assured worker safety and environmental health will not be more of a priority then, in the hour of desperation, than it is now.

It seems that now is time to start using the information we have already to start making changes in the way our energy system works.This is not to say that there won’t be risks associated with other energy practices, but after looking at the information surrounding the above-mentioned options, I would argue that finding an environmentally-friendly energy option that posed the same level of human and environmental health risks would be difficult. Environmental safety is an inherent property of an environmentally-friendly product, afterall.

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