Blogs

Staples, Starbucks, Nike, Levi Strauss & Co., Campbell Soup, Yahoo and other large corporate purchasers of renewable energy delivered a letter today to Congressional leadership asking for an extension of the wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC), currently scheduled to expire at the end of this year, but effectively expiring now for U.S. manufacturers.

This Fine Milburn electric car dates from 1921, the same year President Woodrow and Mrs. Wilson moved into their new home on Washington’s S Street. The Wilsons were early enthusiasts of the electric car. In fact, First Lady Edith Wilson, before she married the President, is thought to be the first woman in Washington to drive an electric car, which she purchased in 1904. Electric vehicles were especially popular with women during this period, as they did not require cranking and were virtually maintenance-free.

With thousands of wind-energy jobs in Colorado and Kansas hanging in the balance, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) are making a bipartisan push to extend the federal wind energy Production Tax Credit that is currently set to expire at the end of this year, but has already effectively expired for wind turbine and component manufacturers.

George here: the National Fork Blog recently ran a story that is truly eye opening. I don’t agree with the entire premise of the piece as it related to the influence of the Church being limited. But the fact was that our freedom to make beer and moonshine was taken away and the beneficiaries to this day will surprise you. From the piece:

The Renewable energy industry is fairly new. Solar panels, wind turbines and geothermal have been around for a long time. Hydroelectric energy is one of the most solid and dependable forms of energy on the planet. I could devote an article to clean energy every day and I would only scratch the surface. But the survival of our industry depends on a plethora of variables that will need to align for things to move as quickly and as smoothly as we need them to.

So far we’ve discussed how the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world. We talked about how the “food system” is everything required to produce, process, move, sell and consume food. The things used to grow food include land, fertilizers, pesticides, seeds and water – and our current industrial food growing system has resulted in pollution and animal waste.