Energy

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Did You Know Most Californians Aren’t Allowed to Choose Clean Energy?

Although California has a mandate to supply 33% renewable energy to the grid, many Californians may simply want more. California also has smart energy laws that allow customers to install their own renewable energy onsite and get credit on their bill for the production against what they use from the grid. But many homes and businesses can’t install generation onsite, because of shading, roof characteristics, or for lack of assets or credit.

Find out how we can change that by supporting the California Shared Renewables Bill. Read more

EE Retrofit diagram

The discounts with Energy Benefits Yolo– Group Buy are back and better in this second phase that begins this month and runs through June 30th.  Up to 250+ households will be eligible through-out Yolo County to participate in the program.  EBY is contracting again with REC Solar and Brower Mechanical.

This is a real opportunity for owners of single family homes who have been toying with the idea of Energy Efficiency improvements or adding Solar PV, to take action at substantially lower cost.  Read more

Cool California Challenge Extended through May 31st! Davis still in the lead!

Nearly 375 Davis households have been participating in a statewide Cool California Challenge competition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Davis has been firmly in the lead when the competition began in April of 2012, however, Chula Vista and Tracy are not far behind. The winning city will be awarded the title of “Coolest California City” in June. Read more

The tar sands oil glistens at night. Garth Lenz/Courtesy photo

This piece by Lynne Nittler is cross-posted from the Davis Enterprise. 

The grandeur and beauty of Canada’s untouched boreal forests and temperate rainforest — and the threats posed to them by the Alberta Tar Sands mines — will be showcased in a slide-show talk presented by environmental photojournalist Garth Lenz at Stephens Branch Library at 7pm on Tuesday, April 16.

Lenz will narrate the natural history of the region in his presentation, “The True Cost of Oil,” as he shows his photographs — most taken from the air — that demonstrate the massive scale and destruction of the tar sands tailing ponds and mines already in operation. While his talk is calmly factual, the visual impact is emotional. Read more

Investors and partners at the Youth Employment Partnership ceremony 12/11/12 in E. Oakland

By DAVID BORNSTEIN   If you wanted to get large numbers of people actively engaged in helping to solve global warming, how might you go about it? For years, the main approach in the environmental movement has been to sound the alarm bell and implore people to consume less, switch to green products, recycle, and speak up to companies and politicians. It hasn’t always been an easy sell. However, if the approach of a promising Oakland-based start-up takes hold, there may be another line of action that could become available to ordinary people: directly financing renewable energy. Read more

Cool Davis thanks all those who attended the recent Cool Home Workshop held at the Davis Library February 9, 2013.

Chrissy Bachman, Leslie Crenna, and Clara Perez offer their expertise

Organizers, volunteers, and participants gathered to take action towards lowering Davis’s carbon footprint.

Attracted by cool eats, cool prizes, and cool opportunities, 75 participants including 12 current and 13 new from the Cool California Challenge attended the event made possible by 20 fantastic volunteers from the UCD Regents Scholar Society, Cool Davis, and independent members of the community.

Survey results Read more

Asha Byrd conducted a survey to find out what makes people act to lower their carbon footprint.

Cool Davis is developing a campaign to engage 75% of Davis households in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2015.  It is imperative that we understand our community thoroughly, including the varieties of households, their present efforts (if any) toward reducing their carbon footprint, and the kinds of actions they might be willing to consider.

Only if we begin with carefully-researched information about our Davis residents and their carbon footprint can we effectively target carbon reduction strategies and options in the areas of transportation, home energy and consumption.

That’s where Asha Byrd, a Davis high school student now serving her third year as a representative to Cool Davis, stepped forward to create a useful tool.  Asha conceived and carried out on her own initiative a year-and-a-half-long research project that lays the groundwork for expanded surveys to inform the One Cool City campaign.

Read more

Chrissy Backman points to a graph of her energy use at the PG&E website. Learn how to access useful information about your usage at the workshop.

Cool Davis invites Davis households to drop-in to a Cool Home Workshop in the Blanchard room, Mary L. Stephens Library on Saturday February 9th 2013 from 10:30am to 1:00pm.

The event will feature fresh quality food, healthy play for the kids, and cool home prizes — the second Saturday in February!

Bike, walk, or ride to the library in Davis to learn home energy savings and assessment skills and help Cool Davis understand your resource wise accomplishments and needs through quick surveys and detailed checklists. Come get involved and get excited about lowering your home energy use! Read more