
Solar Power Comes to West Virginia
West Virginia’s Solar Powered Dilemma

Solar Power Comes to West Virginia
West Virginia’s Solar Powered Dilemma

Grist has been following this negative development. Here’s a taste of Grist’s post on this development:
“On Tuesday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ended their radio silence nine weeks after sending cryptic letters warning lenders against permitting the use of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) — but it wasn’t the follow-up PACE advocates were hoping for.
FHFA’s letter amounts to a middle finger to PACE, which has drawn excitement from clean-energy advocates, home-improvement contractors, and homeowners who want to use the system to pay for projects like rooftop solar arrays and retrofits that cut energy waste.
The agency is arguing that reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, saving homeowners money on utility bills, and creating local jobs working on homes are not “traditional community benefits.” It’s making another argument too: That it should get to decide what projects have local-community benefits.”
For those interested in sustainability and Appalachia, have a look at Solutions special Appalachia issue. Here’s what the Folks at Solutions Journal have to say about the issue:
Together with a dynamic group of academics, business leaders, and activists—each living and working in Appalachia—Solutions will present a special issue dedicated to creating a brighter future for Appalachia. Appalachia is a special place—one of the most biologically diverse and culturally rich regions on the planet. But it is only one of several regions in the United States with an economy dependent on fossil energy production and where the people fear they will suffer when America makes its necessary transition to a low-carbon economy. The challenge in each of these regions will be to make the transition as deliberately and thoughtfully as possible. Central Appalachia has the potential to become a national model of the positive transition to America’s clean energy future. Our members will receive $5.00 off the low subscription rate that keeps Solutions going.
Read it online now!
This from NOW on PBS…Home to a worldwide summit on climate change in early December, Denmark is setting a global example in creating clean power, storing it, and using it responsibly. Their reliance on wind power to produce electricity without contributing to global warming is well known, but now they’re looking to drive the point home with electric cars.
See the segment on NOW’s website
The cities are part of an 11-city consortium called the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA) that is trying to meet the state’s progressive renewable energy mandates. All 11 cities are erecting recycled windmills that should be generating electricity by year’s end….
Read the story here…
http://www.startribune.com/local/west/64710607.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUr
Can’t wait ‘til Saturday! It’s the Second Annual Music on the Mountaintop in beautiful Boone, North Carolina on the headwaters of the New River. It’s time for some great music, some fun, fellowship, and a renewable energy revolution. Sam Bush is coming to town to help out. Telluride Bluegrass Festival, MerleFest, and now back to Boone for another amazing Music on the Mountaintop. Keller Williams, Acoustic Syndicate, Steep Canyon Rangers are also headline acts and some great local bands like Do it to Julia and Lost Ridge Band will also be performing on the three main stages.
Come on out for a huge day of soulful music. No “astroturfing” here. Your ticket purchase will help sustain the renewable energy movement. The event is a benefit for AIRE to help launch its One Megawatt Campaign for Watauga.
For tickets, information, and lineups go to Music on the Mountaintop.
Don’t forget that the 9th annual Southern Energy & Environment Expo (SEE Expo) in Asheville this weekend. Many great presentations and exhibitors. Runs August 21-23.
With all the discussion about wind energy in North Carolina these days, I just wanted to share a video that I think typifies the extraordinary possibility offered by the partnership of human creativity and wind energy - so with no further adieu I will submit for your viewing pleasure the story of a Malawian teen, who with no formal instruction or sophisticated workshop, constructed a wind turbine to provide power to his family and village. Please enjoy
RALEIGH - The N.C. Senate voted today to ban the commercial generation of wind energy in mountain counties. Supporters of the ban argued that the construction of large wind turbines on mountain ridges would ruin the natural beauty of the mountains. Environmentalists say that the state should be encouraging wind power, not limiting it. Read the news here in the Winston-Salem Journal.