Historic Shift: Wind Cheaper than Coal in MD!

Like residents of most other states, Marylanders who wanted to buy 100% clean energy were used to paying a premium to be green. Starting this summer, the roles will reverse.

In Maryland, all BGE and Pepco residential customers (about 80% of the population or 1.73 million people) can now sign up for 100% wind power through Clean Currents at rates that are below Pepco’s and BGE’s rates for conventional coal-powered electricity!

CCAN director Mike Tidwell joined Clean Currents president Gary Skulnik (pictured at right) at a press conference last week to announce the historic shift. Standing before a gaggle of TV cameras, microphones and reporters, Gary began: “Usually renewable energy requires an upfront investment, but we’re in a unique situation where you can choose green power and save money at the same time. It almost never happens.”

And he’s right. This crossing of cost lines between wind and coal energy doesn’t happen often, but the shift is beginning. When a similar shift happened in Austin, TX three years ago, Lester Brown described it as “a milestone in the U.S. shift to a renewable energy economy.” A similar situation also unfolded in Colorado around the same time as in Austin.

So what happened in Maryland to make this price shift possible?
Here in Maryland, the decreased rates are the result of a steady decline in wholesale energy prices. Utility companies set their customers’ rates periodically and have not reduced them to reflect the lower prices they are now paying for energy to produce electricity. But Clean Currents and other companies have taken advantage of the downturn in the price and are offering residents as much as two years of power for 10 to 15 percent less than the utilities’ summer rates.

How do I sign up?
To sign up, simply go to www.cleancurrents.com and click on “residential.” It only takes a few minutes to complete the enrollment process (you will need your Utility Account #). Once switched, there will be no interruption of service. Power outages are still fixed by Pepco and BGE, and billing is still handled by the utility. The only difference is that you will save money and be supporting clean, renewable wind power.

One Tiny Step Forward, Two Giant Steps Back

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Yesterday Gov. Kaine applauded Virginia’s electrical co-ops for donating energy efficient lights to Virginia State Parks, hailing it as “a major step forward” for Virginia.

It’s great that Virginia is taking strides to be more energy efficient. Considering Virginia spent just $84,000 statewide on efficiency measures in 2006, compared with $400,000 in Alabama and Mississippi and $3.8 billion in North Carolina, we certainly need to be stepping up our commitment to efficiency.

It’s also great that this is a “major step.” What exactly does that mean? Continue reading

One Meat Lover's Low-Carbon Diet

From Mike TidwellCross posted from Audubon Magazinecow

Full disclosure: I love to eat meat. I was born in Memphis, the barbecue capital of the Milky Way Galaxy. I worship slow-cooked, hickory-smoked pig meat served on a bun with extra sauce and coleslaw spooned on top.

My carnivore’s lust goes beyond the DNA level. It’s in my soul. Even the cruelty of factory farming doesn’t temper my desire, I’ll admit. Like most Americans, I can somehow keep at bay all thoughts of what happened to the meat prior to the plate.

So why in the world am I a dedicated vegetarian? Why is meat, including sumptuous pork, a complete stranger to my fork at home and away? The answer is simple: I have an 11-year-old son whose future–like yours and mine–is rapidly unraveling due to global warming. And what we put on our plates can directly accelerate or decelerate the heating trend.

Read the whole story here.

This is Newt

Do you know Newt? I bet you do. He’s trying to hijack this Saturday’s Green Jobs Now event with his Drill Here Drill Now Campaign. Join us, not them here: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/campaigns/campaign_detail.cfm?id=91

GM Exec Denies Global Warming, Disses Own Car

Cross posted on theGreenMiles.

General Motors Vice Chairman of Global Product Development Bob Lutz was just on The Colbert Report blaming global warming on sunspots and dissing his own Chevrolet Volt as a weak, unattractive car. I’ll post the video here as soon as it’s online.

UPDATE: Here’s the video. Note to Bob for future reference – if you’re going to greenwash, it’s best not to come right out and deny the scientific consensus on global warming with a made-up number of people who believe in a kooky denial scheme. Kind of undercuts your alleged green credentials.

Want to See Climate Change? Look Out Your Front Door. It's here.

Has anyone noticed that our local weather in the D.C. region has turned truly screwy? We go from one bizarre weather condition to the next with almost no pause in between for “normal” conditions. It’s too wet, too dry, too cold, too warm, too windy – nearly all the time. Hmmm? And scientists and average people all over the world, from Japan to Argentina, report similar strangeness. Thomas Friedman of the New York Times recently wrote from Kenya that the Serengeti’s April rains, so critical to that famous ecosystem, haven’t shown up this spring. And they didn’t come last year. There’s just no normal weather anymore. Anywhere.

In the D.C. region nothing illustrates this better than the annual Martin Luther King parade. Last year, tired of the cold and grayness of January, the organizers decided to move the annual parade to early April. The result? This year on January 16th (the official King holiday) it was 70 degrees in D.C. Remember all that freakish winter warmth? Outdoor barbeques broke out all over the city on backyard decks still festooned with Christmas decorations. And on Saturday, April 7th, the date of the “warmer” and more hospitable MLK parade? There was actually snow on the ground. The parade majorettes and tuba players woke up to 34 degrees and a blanket of snow on the ground, the most April snow in DC since 1924.

And yes, I know: There’s always been weird weather that occasionally defies the seasonal norms, sometimes dramatically. It’s part of the natural unpredictability of weather. And if you listen to the dismissive climate rants of the Rush Limbaugh crowd, you’ll yield to that inner voice that wants to reassuringly say: Don’t worry. It’s all normal. Everything’s okay. Continue reading