Updated 3/16/23
Elders Action Network (ECA’s parent national organization) Elders for Regenerative Living team is doing an excellent podcast series on REGENERATIVE LIVING. HERE
Besides and beyond the Third Act led national day of action to stop dirty banks on March 21, 3.21.23 [PLEASE take pictures and send to toddnLiL@mac.com!!!] — if you live in or near the SF Bay Area and Climate Anxiety is making your feet itch to get out there on the street in direct social protest action, one of the groups keenly focused on enabling strong public intergenerational actions is Sunflower Alliance. See/sign up for their weekly newsletters to keep up with the where and when of the many events happening. HERE Remember to also checkout the AMAZING Green Change Calendar HERE
What’s up intergenerationally Internationally lately?
- A new report “Mapping the Global Youth Climate Movement” HERE
- A UNESCO document “Youth demands for quality climate change education” HERE
There are 21,000 pieces of plastic in the ocean for each person on Earth…and plastic pollution has been doubling every six years. HERE
The way we eat could add nearly 1 degree of warming by 2100. Greenhouse gas emissions from the way humans produce and consume food could add nearly 1 degree of warming to the Earth’s climate by 2100, according to a new study. HERE
Greenland temperatures surge up to 50 degrees above normal, setting records. The record-breaking warmth is raising concerns about melting summer ice HERE
Fossil fuels kill more people than Covid. Why are we so blind to the harms of oil and gas? Were we able to perceive afresh the sheer scale of fossil fuel impact we might be horrified, but because this is an old problem too many don’t see it as a problem. By Rebecca Solnit. HERE
Hurricane, flooding, wildfire, heat and wind damage will increase in surprising new places in the coming decades. See where it’s trending higher. Those changes are exposing more people and properties to hurricanes’ damaging winds, according to a new report from nonprofit organization First Street Foundation HERE Download the report HERE and check your location’s risk level from flooding, wildfire, heat and wind HERE
Home of the future: Climate-friendly, electrified and closer than ever. The technology and policies are falling into place. But we’ll need a revolution in U.S. home retrofit business models and financing to scale up enough to meet the climate challenge. HERE
To discuss with your local officials!
- World Resources Institute and RMI published a detailed guide for cities pursuing federal funding and financing for decarbonization projects, including newer sources in the Inflation Reduction Act. View the report HERE
- Model Laws for Deep Decarbonization in the United States from Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and the Widener University Commonwealth Law School. It contains over 70 model laws. In addition, they provide more than 2,000 other laws that state and local governments have adopted or proposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. HERE
Report: Getting Politics Out of Utility Bills. How policymakers can protect customers from being forced to fund utilities’ political machines HERE You can download the report HERE and listen to a Volt’s podcast on this issue HERE
Updated Carbon Removal Action Tracker: This Action Tracker is a tool designed to track and highlight the incorporation of carbon removal approaches into the climate actions of private sector companies. The aim of the Action Tracker is to bring attention to and enable better assessment of carbon removal pledges and activities. Check out the updated tool HERE Yes indeed annual Shareholders’ Meetings season is upon us – learn more HERE
New fabric coating could help prevent microplastics from shedding in washing machines HERE
One Million Square Feet of LA Roadways are being covered in solar reflecting paint – The initiative covers roads, playgrounds, and parking lots, and it has already cooled the surface by 10 to 12 degrees. Still another way to fight climate change! Read about it.
Amory Lovins on The Future of Diablo Canyon
Read his blog – Lovins is the founder of The Rocky Mountain Institute who states “Our vision is a world thriving, verdant, and secure, for all, forever.” and whose website states: Transforming the global energy system to secure a clean, prosperous, zero-carbon future for all.” Further ‘”We identify the interventions and work to scale transformative change in the global energy system to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 50% by 2030.”
Electric cars too costly for many, even with aid in Climate Bill. Battery-powered vehicles are considered essential to the fight against climate change, but most models are aimed at the affluent. HERE
No one owes Joe Manchin anything. Acting on climate doesn’t entitle him to the pipeline of his choice by Bill McKibben HERE
Striking graphs show humanity’s domination of the Earth. An easy-to-use database quantifies our shake-up of the planet, from fossil fuels to farming to plastics. But there are a few bright spots. HERE
Explore the most recent edition of World Resources Institute’s Hot Science. It contains studies published in May and June 2022 which highlight the most significant climate science literature compiled from leading peer reviewed journals. HERE (Reader beware: “not for the faint of heart”)
Beware of this fake pro-climate group: A GOP-linked dark money organization is running deceptive ads on Google and other platforms in an attempt to kill historic climate legislation. HERE
How one political party is ‘Weaponizing’ public office against climate action. A Times investigation revealed a coordinated effort by state treasurers to use government muscle and public funds to punish companies trying to reduce greenhouse gases. HERE
The Journey from Conventional Gas Water Heater to the Hybrid Heat Pump by Beth DeVincenzi
January 21, 2021 In our journey to Electrify Everything we elected to replace our conventional gas-powered water heater with a hybrid electric heat pump water heater. Unfortunately, we waited until our old unit stopped working to get started with this change, which meant we were without hot water for a few weeks while I interviewed contractors and investigated rebates that were available; brrr…not a recommended way to go. 🙁
Although this model of water heater is more expensive to purchase and install, the good news is that the city of San Jose has a wonderful program that subsidizes this change. And the further good news, is that it is a much more energy efficient and cheaper way to provide you with hot water. Do a google search on Electrify San Jose (https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/environmental-services/climate-smart-san-jos/electrify-san-jos) and visit their site for all the forms and details on the rebate. For additional savings, you may stack the Electrify San José rebate with BayREN Home+‘s rebate of up to $1000. If your electric panel cannot handle the additional 220 wiring needed, they also provide an additional rebate to upgrade your electric panel! Suffice it to say, that although our cost to install the new system was about $5,000, after the rebates our cost was reduced to about $1880. We estimate we will save about $500 per year now that we have switched from using gas to heat our water, so in less than four years, the total cost of our installation will be recovered. So, what is a hybrid heat pump water heater? Well, the technology isn’t new. In fact, our refrigerators cool with a heat pump. The heat pump in the refrigerator pulls any heat out of the refrigerator and exits it into your kitchen. For the water heater it does the opposite; it pulls the heat from your garage and uses it to heat the water. On cold winter days, it may also activate the hybrid part of the water heater which runs a small amount of electricity to warm the water.
Of course, at your end, your hot water continues to come out of the tap just as it used to. If you are considering this change, this is a great time to do your research. Visit Electrify San Jose and familiarize yourself with the process. You need to get approval for the rebate before you do the installation (I got my approval fairly quickly). Get estimates from the list of contractors they suggested. You need a city permit but usually your contactor will arrange for that; not cheap, ours was $377. After the installation, you need to send in a post-installation packet basically documenting the installation so keep close track of your documents. Because city employees are working from home, I scanned in the documents and sent them via email. The rebate came within a few weeks.
So, here it is, and, you are right if you think it doesn’t look much different from what you have. But it decreases our use of fossil fuels and helps us preserve our planet’s health for our Children, Grandchildren, and all Life. 