Everyone's Talking About Green Energy

The rising cost of energy and the actions available to reduce those costs continues to make news.

Courtesy of a nemasket participant, the following Brockton Enterprise article posted:

Kingston restaurant to unveil solar panels on longest day of the year
Charlie Horse to power up on sunshine
KINGSTON —
Just in time for the summer solstice, the Charlie Horse Restaurant will power up 54 rooftop solar panels today that are expected to pay for themselves in three-and-a-half years.

Charlie Horse operating partner and general manager Mark Beaton estimates the Evergreen Spruce solar panels will save the restaurant $3,150 in annual energy costs and prevent about 511,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from being pumped into the atmosphere over the 20-year lifetime of the system. Enterprise

Both the manufacturer and the installer are Massachusetts companies.

CapeCodToday offers the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) report that predicts continuing increases in energy costs, but includes:

The report says that consumers and the market likely will respond with demand response measures that help reduce energy consumption during times of peak prices, energy efficiency and conservation measures, and technological innovations that could usher in changes that help reduce costs and improve value, as they did in other competitive industries such as telecommunications.

CapeCodToday reports on the favorable ruling for Cape Wind:
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Major victory for Cape Wind against Alliance, others

As energy costs hit all-time record highs

Barnstable Court ruling favors Cape Wind
The relentless opposition to America's first offshore energy project by a group of super-rich owners of shore front homes as news reports indicate the heating the average home here will nearly double this winter, from $3,000 to $6,000, and as the cost of driving to work doubles as well, received negative reactions from many on Cape Cod yesterday. Some asked "where will I find the extra $6,000 next year?"

Hopefully, those lamenting the high cost of energy will empower themselves and reduce those costs within their control by employing the tips and techniques readily available to all.

From MSNBC, a commentary on state policy that has hampered development of alternative energy production:

State talks a great green energy game, but leaves production to neighbors

At last count, some 800 megawatts of renewable-energy projects were languishing in Massachusetts due to onerous permitting laws as well as public and political opposition.

For example, a 300-megawatt wind farm off Buzzards Bay -- first proposed in 2006 by a subsidiary of Jay Cashman Inc. -- is still waiting on the state to author an oceans-management plan to move the project forward.

Likewise, a decade-long battle over permits for a 15-megawatt wind farm on Brodie Mountain in the Berkshires has left a coalition of local utilities, the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Co., in limbo. A 50-megawatt biomass project in Russell faces similar problems, as it has struggled to secure some 25 permits and allay locals' concerns over transportation issues.

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And Global Warming Solutions is offered by Environment Massachusetts and explains the lack of speedy action on Beacon Hill.

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It is curious that Beacon Hill could address casino gambling so expeditiously, but fails to act on an issue of such grave importance to consumers to reduce the costs of energy and to reduce the impacts of global warming.