Sustainable North

From the L.A. Times, September 24, 2008: Seven Western states and four Canadian provinces proposed a sweeping regional crackdown on global warming emissions Tuesday in the face of continuing reluctance by the Bush administration and Congress to pass comprehensive climate legislation.  The Western Climate Initiative, endorsed by the 11 governors and provincial premiers, aims to [...]

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From Sealaska Corporation (www.sealaska.org), dated September 11, 2008 and retrieved Tuesday, September 23, 2008: Sealaska Corporation and Viking Lumber Inc. announced today that they have entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) to examine an alternate energy supply enterprise utilizing wood waste for Southeast customers. Production facilities will be on Prince of Wales Island in [...]

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From the Wall Street Journal, Thursday, September 18, 2008: Eager to lessen our carbon footprint and plan a responsible remodel, we undertook four so-called “energy audits” on our 1966 Seattle home, which has a finished 1,100-square-foot main floor and a partially finished 1,100-square-foot basement. We wanted to learn both how to improve the finished portion [...]

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From the Washington Post, Sunday, September 21, 2008: Bamboo seems like an environmentalist’s dream come true. It’s a self-regenerating plant that grows so fast (without pesticides and with little water) that it’s considered a weed, and it can be used to make products from furniture to coffee filters. But bamboo, like most things marketed as [...]

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On September 21, 2008, “AK,” an Alaska Public Radio Network statewide news and entertainment program, ran several features on heating and weatherizing the Alaskan home. Besides containing useful facts, the pieces highlights the challenges (and joys) of living in a cold climate. Listen to “Weatherization,” “Firewood Frenzy,” and “Firewood Health.” Click here to listen to [...]

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On December 19, President Bush signed H.R. 6, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, into law (Public Law 110-140). Among the provisions in the law is one that will outlaw incandescent lightbulbs by 2012. Click here to read a white paper on the law’s lighting provisions, produced by the Lighting Controls Association.

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From the Chicago Tribune, September 19, 2008: Mayor Richard M. Daley has announced a plan to dramatically slash emissions of heat-trapping gases, part of an effort to fight global warming and become one of the greenest cities in the nation. The plan calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to three-fourths of 1990 levels by 2020 through more [...]

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On September 18, 2008, the California Public Utilities Commission adopted the first Long Term Energy Efficiency Plan, which … advances a solid framework that incorporates energy efficiency into the standard for operating in California—for utilities, businesses, and consumers. It includes four “Big Bold strategies” strategies for significant energy-savings: All new residential construction in California will [...]

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The first of a two-part series, “A Greener Future”, from the LA Times, September 14, 2008: Innovations in designing green chemicals are emerging in nearly every U.S. industry, from plastics and pesticides to toys and nail polish. Some manufacturers of cosmetics, household cleaners and other consumer products are leading the charge, while others are lagging [...]

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BY: Ilya Benesch, Cold Climate Housing Research Center Energy Focus: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner September 18th, 2008, Section A3 Crawl spaces are one of those areas in the house that tend to get neglected. The old adage “Out of sight out of mind” might apply here. Unfortunately, this also means that crawl space problems can go [...]

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