Transforming Toronto, a citizens’ group working on energy issues, is encouraging supporters to attend a rally, march and “eco-fair” in downtown Toronto this Saturday, Dec. 8.
The rally, sponsored by the Toronto Climate Campaign, begins at 12:00 noon at Yonge and Dundas Square. At 1:30 p.m. a “March for Clean Energy” will head over to Hart House at the University of Toronto. At 2:00 p.m. the “eco-fair,” with a complimentary hot meal, will allow visitors to connect with non-governmental organizations, volunteer groups, and green businesses.
Climate change events are taking place in 60 countries to send a message to the United Nations Climate Conference, which began talks Monday in Bali, Indonesia, and runs for two weeks.
For complete information on the Toronto events, visit www.torontoclimatecampaign.org.
Showing posts with label green. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Incentives work to cut peak power use
Incentives work! Thirty per cent of residential customers and 24 per cent of businesses in Toronto cut their year-over-year electricity use by more than 10 per cent this summer, the Toronto Star reports. All received rebates from a special Toronto Hydro program. Click here to read the Star article.
Berkeley breakthrough makes home energy projects affordable
A brilliant new financing idea is about to put solar panels and solar-thermal water heaters on thousands of residential roofs in Berkeley, California.
On Nov. 6, the City of Berkeley passed a plan to create a “Sustainable Energy Financing District.” Under the plan, homeowners who invest in green energy solutions will be able to pay for them on their property tax bills. The city pays the upfront cost of the installation which the homeowner then pays off over 20 years using the money saved – or earned – from the upgrade.
The cost is attached to the home, not the homeowner, so people who move before the 20 years are up do not pay for energy savings for the next owner.
“With Berkeley's financing plan in place, just about any home or business owner who can afford to pay their utility bill every month should be able to go solar,” according to Gary Gerber, president of a solar installation company in Berkeley.
Transforming Toronto spokesperson David MacLeod learned about the Berkeley option on a fact-finding trip to California last month.
“Right now, homeowners who want to go green face big up-front costs at a time when home prices, and household debt, are at near-record levels,” say MacLeod. “By taking debt out of the equation, Berkeley is removing the number one obstacle facing homeowners who want to use less energy or generate their own.
“This is an idea we should bring to Toronto as soon as possible.”
Randy Robinson, MacLeod’s Logan Ave. neighbour, says the Berkeley option could be used to finance home heating upgrades as well as solar electricity generation and hot water heating.
“If a version of the Berkeley option existed in Toronto, I would already have a high-efficiency gas boiler in my basement,” said Robinson. “That would cut my greenhouse gas emissions for home heating by at least 38 per cent, according to the home energy audit I had done. But even with $1,200 in government rebates, I am still looking at borrowing eight or ten thousand dollars. Right now I just can’t absorb that cost – especially when a new boiler adds little if anything to the resale value of our house.
“Obviously, home energy upgrades are even further out of reach for people with more debt. That’s why the Berkeley option is such a breakthrough.”
The City of Berkeley plans to cover the upfront costs of residential solar installations by issuing a municipal bond or taking out low-interest loans. City staff and consultants are working on the details of the program now, with a view to having the program up and running by the summer of 2008.
For more information on the breakthrough in Berkeley and how it will work, check the following sites:
San Francisco Chronicle article.
Interview with Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates
Renewableenergyaccess.com article.
City of Berkeley streaming video:
Footage of the Berkeley City Council meeting that passed the energy resolution is available at here. Click on the 3 hour, 20 minute video for 11/06/07. Then jump to Item 30 – Creation of Sustainable Energy Financing District – on the pulldown menu.
On Nov. 6, the City of Berkeley passed a plan to create a “Sustainable Energy Financing District.” Under the plan, homeowners who invest in green energy solutions will be able to pay for them on their property tax bills. The city pays the upfront cost of the installation which the homeowner then pays off over 20 years using the money saved – or earned – from the upgrade.
The cost is attached to the home, not the homeowner, so people who move before the 20 years are up do not pay for energy savings for the next owner.
“With Berkeley's financing plan in place, just about any home or business owner who can afford to pay their utility bill every month should be able to go solar,” according to Gary Gerber, president of a solar installation company in Berkeley.
Transforming Toronto spokesperson David MacLeod learned about the Berkeley option on a fact-finding trip to California last month.
“Right now, homeowners who want to go green face big up-front costs at a time when home prices, and household debt, are at near-record levels,” say MacLeod. “By taking debt out of the equation, Berkeley is removing the number one obstacle facing homeowners who want to use less energy or generate their own.
“This is an idea we should bring to Toronto as soon as possible.”
Randy Robinson, MacLeod’s Logan Ave. neighbour, says the Berkeley option could be used to finance home heating upgrades as well as solar electricity generation and hot water heating.
“If a version of the Berkeley option existed in Toronto, I would already have a high-efficiency gas boiler in my basement,” said Robinson. “That would cut my greenhouse gas emissions for home heating by at least 38 per cent, according to the home energy audit I had done. But even with $1,200 in government rebates, I am still looking at borrowing eight or ten thousand dollars. Right now I just can’t absorb that cost – especially when a new boiler adds little if anything to the resale value of our house.
“Obviously, home energy upgrades are even further out of reach for people with more debt. That’s why the Berkeley option is such a breakthrough.”
The City of Berkeley plans to cover the upfront costs of residential solar installations by issuing a municipal bond or taking out low-interest loans. City staff and consultants are working on the details of the program now, with a view to having the program up and running by the summer of 2008.
For more information on the breakthrough in Berkeley and how it will work, check the following sites:
San Francisco Chronicle article.
Interview with Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates
Renewableenergyaccess.com article.
City of Berkeley streaming video:
Footage of the Berkeley City Council meeting that passed the energy resolution is available at here. Click on the 3 hour, 20 minute video for 11/06/07. Then jump to Item 30 – Creation of Sustainable Energy Financing District – on the pulldown menu.
Funny climate video
The Alliance for Climate Protection (Al Gore is chair of their board) and Current TV have announce the winner of their “Sixty Seconds to Save the Earth” Ecospot Contest. The winner is Dave Schlafman for his video entitled Sky is Falling. Watch it now.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
East-enders oppose transmission line, support “cleaner, greener”
TORONTO – Residents of several east Toronto neighbourhoods are banding together to fight construction of a giant electricity transmission line now under consideration by the Ontario Power Authority.
“If built, the East Toronto Transmission Line [ETTL] will cost electricity users $600 million that would be much better spent on cleaner, greener energy alternatives,” said David MacLeod, spokesperson for a new community group called Transforming Toronto. “Now is not the time to be pouring our energy into yesterday’s technologies.”
The group has written to Ontario Energy Minister Dwight Duncan, calling on him to issue a legal directive to the Ontario Power Authority that will remove the possibility of the ETTL and invest the $600 million in conservation measures and locally-generated power.
“We’ve heard some general statements from the Minister suggesting that the line might not be built, but ‘might not’ is not ‘will not,’” said MacLeod. “This transmission line is still very much a live issue. We want to see it dead, not just sleeping until the provincial election is over.”
Transforming Toronto plans to make the ETTL an issue in the Oct. 10 election, MacLeod said.
“We’re just a group of citizens, but in the next three months we feel we can reach a lot of people, not only in ridings along the proposed route of the line, but right across Toronto,” he said.
“The future of our city, and our planet, demands strong, progressive leadership on energy issues,” MacLeod said. “What is needed now is a bold approach that says ‘Yes, we can.’ Local power is the answer.”
The group invites all concerned citizens to get involved with the campaign by visiting www.transformingtoronto.ca.
“If built, the East Toronto Transmission Line [ETTL] will cost electricity users $600 million that would be much better spent on cleaner, greener energy alternatives,” said David MacLeod, spokesperson for a new community group called Transforming Toronto. “Now is not the time to be pouring our energy into yesterday’s technologies.”
The group has written to Ontario Energy Minister Dwight Duncan, calling on him to issue a legal directive to the Ontario Power Authority that will remove the possibility of the ETTL and invest the $600 million in conservation measures and locally-generated power.
“We’ve heard some general statements from the Minister suggesting that the line might not be built, but ‘might not’ is not ‘will not,’” said MacLeod. “This transmission line is still very much a live issue. We want to see it dead, not just sleeping until the provincial election is over.”
Transforming Toronto plans to make the ETTL an issue in the Oct. 10 election, MacLeod said.
“We’re just a group of citizens, but in the next three months we feel we can reach a lot of people, not only in ridings along the proposed route of the line, but right across Toronto,” he said.
“The future of our city, and our planet, demands strong, progressive leadership on energy issues,” MacLeod said. “What is needed now is a bold approach that says ‘Yes, we can.’ Local power is the answer.”
The group invites all concerned citizens to get involved with the campaign by visiting www.transformingtoronto.ca.
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