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Now Is The Time For All Good Texans To Come To The Aid Of Their Environment! And The Rest Of The World Is Invited To Put In Their Two Cents.

For over a decade, environmentalists accused the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) of lax regulation and urged the EPA to step in. Now the EPA appears to be agreeing with them and has given Texas until June 30 to change its approach or lose its oversight authority at potentially dozens of large industrial sites.

Enough is enough. Please sign the petition in support of the EPA fixing Texas’ broken air pollution permitting system: http://www.environmenttexas.org/action/clean-air/perry-petition2

Gov. Rick Perry continues attempts to block the EPA from (more…)

The Electric InterGrid – Why A Smart Power Grid is Essential

Source: LiveScience.com

On October 27, President Obama announced $3.4 billion in grants to help build a “smart” electric grid aimed at reducing blackouts and cutting utility bills. The grid, as envisioned, would do a better job incorporating wind and solar energy into the nation’s electricity supply.

The existing power grid is a patchwork of often antiquated systems that, under stress, can fail to deliver electricity where it’s needed. The grants will pay for better transformers at utility companies and also smart meters to help consumers manage their energy use.

“It is fair to say that the current (grid) system is certainly outdated. It’s dilapidated,” said Carol Browner, the president’s top adviser on climate change and energy issues. The new plan is expected to created tens of thousands of jobs, Reuters reports.

What’s a smart grid and why do we need it? Find out below.

The first video being:

America’s electric infrastructure is undergoing a massive make-over. It must develop Internet-style intelligence.

The second video being:

To create an Internet-style power system, every electric device has to learn when to listen and how to talk.

….  as the green world turns.

Energy efficiency boom leads 9 clean technology predictions for 2009

SHANGHAI, China, December 4th, 2008 – Continuing an annual tradition, the Cleantech
Group™, founders of the cleantech investment category and providers of leading global
market research and financial services for the cleantech ecosystem, today issued nine
predictions for clean technology markets in 2009, forecasting progress in some sectors,
but delays and setbacks in others.

A reflection of undercurrents in the global clean technology category from the company’s
conversations with industry and government leadership worldwide, the nine predictions
include a global focus on energy efficiency as a job creation and economic engine, and an
increase in valuations of global wind companies. (more…)

We Americans plug in, text, log on, tune in (tv) and tune out (music). We use
13 times the power than just 60 years ago. Electricity is truly the life blood
of the U.S. Economy. Back in 2003, New York and surrounding areas really realized
how important electricity is. 50 million folks lost their power in minutes.

Building a national grid may be on top of President Obama’s list of things to
do. One idea is a power network, modeled like the interstate road system
that was thought up by President Eisenhower. Some folks feel that moving
power the same way could help out in the long run. This system would supercede
the 200,000 miles of power lines and 500 different owners.

Wind farms that have been cropping up everywhere need to have transmission lines
to the surrounding cities, towns, and villages. The same is true for solar, (more…)