Tag Archives: USA

South Dakota To Sport World’s Largest Windfarm

Windy Another plan for a large wind power generation facility has arisen and this time it’s in a state that’s never been mentioned before on Things Are Good: South Dakota, USA. South Dakota is now considering a plan for creating the world’s largest windfarm!

Clipper Windpower of Carpinteria, Calif., intends to erect enough wind turbines in several South Dakota counties to produce up to 6,000 megawatts of electricity, said Bob Gates, the firm’s senior vice president of commercial operations.

That would be eight times larger than the biggest wind farm in the world, a 735-megawatt FPL Energy facility with 421 turbines stretching across three Texas counties.

Fight for Your Right to Dry

This is an issue that I never put thought to before because in Canada we don’t have nearly as many as these bizarre closed communities and suburban housing boards. Anyway, in the states communities limit what you can do with your house in order to maintain an aesthetic of sameness. Environmentalists who want to air dry their clothing on clotheslines are getting in trouble becuase of community regulations.

Now there is a movement in America that is fighting for their right to dry.

The regulations of the subdivision in which Ms. Taylor lives effectively prohibit outdoor clotheslines. In a move that has torn apart this otherwise tranquil community, the development’s managers have threatened legal action. To the developer and many residents, clotheslines evoke the urban blight they sought to avoid by settling in the Oregon mountains.

Lawsuits Champion the Environment

In the coming months many companies could face large fines from the damage that they have done to the environment. There is a growing trend in the USA and Europe to sue those responsible for environmental damage that as resulted in damage that went beyond just the environment. Confused? This example from the linked article should help you out:

In the United States, there are currently about a dozen cases involving demands for tighter regulation and claims for damages. Among them is a case brought by property owners in Mississippi against oil and coal companies they accuse of playing a role in Hurricane Katrina, which struck the region with devastating consequences in August 2005.

Hybrid Highlights

The United States’ Department of Energy has concluded that hybrids save a LOT of gas:

The lab crunched all the statistics — number of hybrids on the road, new and old EPA mileage ratings, user-reported mileage figures, and the same mileage numbers for vehicles that most closely matched hybrids in terms of size, weight, and performance — and produced the following figure: To date, hybrids have saved 230 million gallons, or 5.5 million barrels, of fuel.

In Japan, Toyota has received approval to test their plugin hybrid:

While the car is still in testing phase, with eight plug-in OEM vehicles being manufactured and released for testing in Japan, hopes are high that Toyota will soon release this car to the general public.

US Congress Aims for Carbon Neutrality

The old saying “better late than never” comes to mind here as the United State’s Congress has decided to go carbon neutral by 2020. It is impressive that congress has decided to do this in a nation that has a leader that denies climate change. The fact that congress is trying to become green will hopefully send a message that being environmentally friendly is something that any institution can do.

What stands out for me is that they go beyond carbon neutrality and encourage a bike-to-work program. Good for your health and the environment!

Reducing energy usage is not all that is covered in the report, as it also calls for the use of non-toxic cleaning products, increasing water conservation, and significantly improving recycling, improving access to mass transit and car sharing for employees, changing the current fleet to hybrid vehicles, purchase locally and organically sourced food, changing to 100% recycled paper, and even implementing a bike-to-work program.