Supporting Alternative Energy: Government Uncaps Solar Power Tax Credit

In early October, President Bush signed a bill that extends the tax credits for solar energy systems and fuel cells to 2016. The 30% tax credit for residential Solar PV systems is currently capped at $2000. As of January 1st, 2009, the cap will be removed. This helps create a more significant positive incentive for Solar PV installations for homeowners. 

For example, in New York, a 5kw Solar PV system costs approximately $45,000; $20,000 of which is paid by the State as part of their incentive program. The net cost for the Homeowner is reduced to $25,000. Currently, this $25,000 Homeowner provides a capped Federal Tax Credit of $2000, but as of January 1st when the cap is removed, the 30% Federal Tax Credit will be worth $8333. This significantly reduces the net cost for the homeowner.

There are additional tax credits and depreciation incentives for Solar PV installations that we'll cover in the near future.

The Perils of Efficiency

by James Surowiecki, The New Yorker, Nov 24. 2008

This spring, disaster loomed in the global food  market. Precipitous increases in the prices of staples like rice (up more than a hundred and fifty per cent in a few months) and maize provoked food riots, toppled governments, and threatened the lives of tens of millions. But the bursting of the commodity bubble eased those pressures, and food prices, while still high, have come well off the astronomical levels they hit in April. For Americans, the drop in commodity prices has put a few more bucks in people’s pockets; in much of the developing world, it may have saved many from actually starving. So did the global financial crisis solve the global food crisis?

read more (The New Yorker)

President-elect Obama promises “new chapter” on climate change

More than 600 climate change leaders from across the country and around the world convened in Los Angeles earlier this week for the opening sessions of the Global Climate Summit, a 2-day event arranged by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to break gridlock on the issue ahead of next month's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland.

The President-elect told the Bi-Partisan Governors Global Climate Summit, "I promise you this: When I am president, any governor who's willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House. Any company that's willing to invest in clean energy will have an ally in Washington. And any nation that's willing to join the cause of combating climate change will have an ally in the United States of America."

In a short video addressed to the Summit's attendees, President-elect Obama promised that his administration would mark a "new chapter in American leadership on climate change. "Few challenges facing America -- and the world -- are more urgent than combating climate change," he said. "Many of you are working to confront this challenge....but too often, Washington has failed to show the same kind of leadership. That will change when I take office."

read more (Change.gov)

Time to Repower America

By Margie Alt, Environment America Executive Director

As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to move to the White House, it's time to get to work on the concrete plans to repower America with clean energy.

From the big cities of the coasts to the industrial heartland to our rural communities, the slumping economy is taking its toll.

We need to rebuild our economy on a sound foundation -- one that ends our dependence on oil, puts people back to work, contributes to long-term prosperity, rebuilds our communities and addresses global warming.Clean energy is the way to do it. Nationwide, we have the technology, the tools, and the know-how to use energy more wisely and to get more of our energy from clean, renewable sources.What's more, clean energy can be produced right here at home, freeing us from foreign sources of energy and creating new jobs in all sectors of the nation's economy -- after all, installing solar panels on your roof isn't a job that can be shipped overseas.But in order to see the change we need to repower our country with clean energy, we need to get started now -- even before the president-elect takes office, so that starting on day one of the new administration and new Congress, we can hit the ground running and start seeing the benefits of a clean energy economy.Will you join with us to call on President-elect Obama to do what it takes to repower America?

read petition (Environment America)

America's Unhealthiest City

(from Mother Jones)

The CDC recently ranked Huntington, West Virginia as America's unhealthiest city, leading the nation in rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes—even the percentage of elderly people who have lost all their teeth.

In interviews with the Associated Press, a number of Huntington residents said they didn't have the time, the resources, or the inclination to prioritize personal health. 

But Keri Kennedy, a state health officer, says the bigger problem is one of perception.

Poor people think they can't afford to buy healthy food, a belief encouraged by fast-food advertising campaigns. She explains:

She had just seen a commercial that presented "The KFC $10 Challenge." The fried-chicken chain placed a family in a grocery store and challenged them to put together a dinner for $10 or less that was comparable to KFC's seven-piece, $9.99 value meal.

"This is what we're up against," said Kennedy, noting it's an extremely persuasive ad for a low-income family that is accustomed to fried foods. "I don't know what you do to counter that."

KFC isn't the only fast food chain to capitalize on the belief that low-income people can't afford to eat better. But while there is a correlation between poverty and poor health, there doesn't have to be. Studies have shown that, given the opportunity and encouragement, low-income families will purchase and eat fruits and vegetables. And the rise of community gardens and farmers' markets, even in rural and low-income areas, suggests that a taste for fresh food crosses class lines. Given the right information—in a sense, permission to eat well—the citizens of Huntington could be thriving like their neighbors to the north, on their own terms.

USDA Rushing Through Dangerous New Rules on GE and Pharmaceutical Crops

(From Center for Food Safety)

In the waning months of the Bush administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has joined the ranks of federal agencies rushing through new regulations that weaken protections for human health and the environment. 

The USDA has released a proposed rule that would significantly weaken oversight of all genetically engineered crops, and which will continue to allow companies to grow food crops engineered to produce drugs and industrial chemicals.

The proposed rules could also allow companies to grow untested GE crops with no oversight whatsoever: “Over time, the range of GE organisms subject to oversight is expected to decrease...,” a move which USDA itself admits will make contamination of conventional/organic crops with untested GE material more likely. 

To add insult to injury, USDA has proposed to write into law its “Low Level Presence” policy, which excuses it from taking any action to remove untested GE crops from conventional or organic food, feed and seed.  This contamination often occurs through cross-pollination or seed dispersal, and has cost farmers hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales and lowered profits.

read more (Center for Food Safety)

Organic Food & Farming - Petition

President-Elect Obama: Please Support Organic Food & Farming 

A likely turning point in history took place on November 4th with the election of Barack Obama, a politician who has consistently voiced his support for family farms and organic agriculture, among other progressive positions. Organic consumers and farmers now have an incredible opportunity to shape the future of federal farm and food policy. 

President-Elect Obama is in the process of formulating policy, assembling his transition team, and considering nominees for Secretary of Agriculture, among other important positions. The Secretary of Agriculture is responsible for directing the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its $90 billion annual budget, including the National Organic Program, food stamp and nutrition programs, and agriculture subsidies. Obama throughout his campaign, and since his election, has stressed that he wants to hear from the public in order to formulate his policies. 

Let's all take him up on his invitation. Please sign the Organic Consumer Association's petition letter to President-Elect Barack Obama today and urge him to take a stand in support of organic food and farming. After you sign this petition, please forward it to everyone you know. We need to raise our common organic voice on a massive scale, if we are to move the new Administration and the nation in a healthy, just, sustainable, and organic direction.

Review Petition (quick form)