(Nov. 15, 2013)

Pope Francis holding up anti-fracking t-shirts following a meeting with a group of Argentinian environmental activists to discuss water and fracking issues. The shirts read “No To Fracking” and “Water Is More Precious Than Gold.”

I haven't seen this covered prominently here, but thought it's worth a mention when the guy with a direct line to 1.2 billion people's ears says that it's not cool to frack. This week the Twitterverse went ablaze <https://twitter.com/fernandosolanas>  when Pope Francis met with Argentine filmmaker Fernando “Pino” Solanas (La Guerra del Fracking -- The Fracking War) and environmental activist Juan Pablo Olsson at the Vatican to discuss fracking and water pollution. Olsson posted the photo of himself, Solanas and Pope Francis.

Finally, a logical pope. If your belief tells you that God gave us the Earth to be stewards of, then injecting millions of gallons of water and chemicals into the ground to fracture massive rocks for their extra oil and gas and in the process threatening the air we breathe, the water we drink, the communities we love and the climate on which we all depend, seems like a really bad idea.

For a pope who has demonstrated that he is able and willing to connect some serious dots by coming out against poverty <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24391800> , inequality <http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/09/22/2661561/pope-francis-income-inequality/> , and bigotry <http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/09/19/2650521/pope-francis-catholic-church/> , stepping into the environmental arena is the next logical move. After all, it is the poor and underprivileged who have not only been taking the brunt of <http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/08/23/892234/-EcoJustice-Coming-to-Ecuador-with-or-without-Chevron>  industrial pollution and environmental degradation that comes with the fossil fueled life but are also at the forefront of suffering <http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jun/19/climate-change-developing-countries-world-bank>  the consequences of climate change. He reportedly told the group he "is preparing an encyclical <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclical>  about nature, humans, and environmental pollution."

I'm really digging on Francis who is actually living up to his name as the patron saint of the poor. What I didn't know is that St. Francis was named <http://nation.time.com/2013/11/15/the-real-reason-pope-francis-posed-with-anti-fracking-activists/>  the patron saint of ecology by John Paul II in 1979, because of his theological connection to poverty.

“It is my hope that the inspiration of Saint Francis will help us to keep ever alive a sense of ‘fraternity’ with all those good and beautiful things which Almighty God has created,” Pope John Paul II later explained. “And may he remind us of our serious obligation to respect and watch over them with care, in light of that greater and higher fraternity that exists within the human family.”

And, of course, simply by pissing off Sarah Palin <http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/12/sarah-palin-taken-aback-by-pope-franciss-liberal-statements/>  you know you're moving humanity in the right direction.

According to one report of the meeting, His Holiness's concern was "clear" when hearing about the Chevron deal in Argentina and other environmental disputes in the region. On Tuesday, Sarah Palin said she was shocked by the pontiff's "liberal" statements. Wait 'til she hears about his new role as the face of Argentina's environmentalist movement.

 

What I'm thinking is why stop here? What if Francis became known as the Solar Pope? Advocating for Creation Windows and Heavenly Energy <http://sojo.net/magazine/2012/03/heavenly-energy> , like his Lutheran brother, Pastor Peter Hasenbrink, whose church in Schönau Germany has 431 solar modules on its rooftops, generating more than 40,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, enough for eight churches of its size.

Follow me below the fold for a few statements from my interview with Pastor Hasenbrink <http://sojo.net/magazine/2012/03/heavenly-energy>  about tying Christian theology into environmental action. Lutherans in Germany have long been on board with the Energiewende <http://energytransition.de/> , but their Catholic brothers and sisters are starting to get into it too. So this is some of the "theosolar" language Francis could use.

“God has put a lot of love into this creation,” Hasenbrink says, explaining what he considers the natural affinity between faith and environmental stewardship. “When you look around, you can only be in awe of how well-conceived everything is, and we humans are called upon to not only be beneficiaries but to intelligently and responsibly sustain this creation.”

In his sermons, Hasenbrink would point to the importance of combining inner and outer work, citing St. Paul’s letters in Romans 8—“For the creation is eagerly awaiting the revelation of God’s children”—as a call to action for us caretakers to relieve the strain on the earth, to signal our participation, and to move toward salvation. “Not that we humans can or should salvage the world—Christ himself must do this—but we are God’s collaborators in sustaining this work of creation.” Hasenbrink says. “For me, and for the Christian community, this is the task of our time.”

 

The name “Creation Windows” was a cinch. “We thought, wouldn’t it be a great metaphor of what a church should be doing anyway, transforming the power of God into energy for our daily life? Just as electricity is a symbol of light and power, faith is a symbol of the power that God gives us to have hope and trust in humanity, to help each other and to co-create.”

 

With Germany’s recent decision to phase out nuclear energy by 2022 and switch to 100 percent renewables by 2050, the small church community suddenly finds itself at the cutting edge of a new energy age. Together with EWS, the Schönau energy rebels’ cooperative, which today employs more than 50 people, provides renewable power to 115,000 homes and businesses throughout Germany, and earned Sladek the Goldman Prize. They are leading the way in a shift of both policy and consciousness that few could have imagined just a decade ago. “If we wait until powerful leaders start to do good, the train will long have left the station,” Hasenbrink says. “You have to start wherever you’re at, but if it’s many of us, then one drop will turn into a big lake. And that’s what happened here.”

 

Six Stealthy Energy Hogs:

Are They Lurking

in Your Home?

Many household devices continue to draw power

even when they are not in use,

adding unnecessarily to electricity bills.

Brian Handwerk

National Geographic

August 26, 2013

Does your smartphone use more energy than a refrigerator? A recent report by the Digital Power Group <http://www.tech-pundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Cloud_Begins_With_Coal.pdf?c761ac>  claimed that an average iPhone uses more juice for battery charging, data use, and wireless connectivity than a medium-sized, ENERGY STAR <http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm>  refrigerator.

 

But an iPhone's power requirements vary dramatically depending on how it's used for video, gaming, and other apps. And estimates for just how much data the average owner uses a month also vary widely, so the controversial study has drawn critics <http://news.msn.com/rumors/rumor-an-iphone-uses-more-power-than-a-refrigerator>  who claim that the comparison is greatly overstated. (See quiz: "What You Don't Know About Electricity <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/great-energy-challenge/electricity-quiz/> .")

Whether your mobile phone's power use rivals your fridge or not, the chances are good that hidden energy hogs in your home are burning more power and money than that refrigerator—sometimes much more. Here are half a dozen surprisingly power-hungry devices that may be feeding your electric bill.

Set-Top Boxes

These familiar electronic arrays sit on or near many televisions to connect cable to our entertainment systems. But it's not just their clocks that run when no one is watching. These devices function much like mini-computers that communicate with remote content sources or record favorite shows while you're out. That means they require a lot of energy.

"The issue with set-top boxes is that they never power down and they are almost always consuming their full power requirements even when you think you've turned it off," said Noah Horowitz <http://www.nrdc.org/about/staff/noah-horowitz> , a senior scientist at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "If you have a DVR on your main TV, and a regular set-top box on a second TV, that could equal the energy use of a new refrigerator."

In 2010, an NRDC study found, the 160 million set-top boxes in the U.S. consumed the annual output of nine average coal-fired plants, some 27 billion kilowatt hours in all. That equals the total household electricity consumption of the entire state of Maryland. That kind of power costs money—more than $3 billion a year in electric bills—and most of that cash is spent on boxes running at full power while nobody is watching or recording their content. "We're spending about $2 billion a year in electricity bills to power set-top boxes when they are not even in use," Horowitz said. (See related story: "Who's Watching? Privacy Concerns Persist as Smart Meters Roll Out <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/12/121212-smart-meter-privacy/> .")

Marianne DiMascio <http://aceee.org/node/3277> , with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP), said while more efficiency gains are needed, the industry has set some voluntary efficiency standards and made some recent improvements. "Today you can ask your provider for an ENERGY STAR-rated set-top box <http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductGroup&amp;pgw_code=ST> , and that will help," she said.

Furnace Fans

"There's a major energy eater lurking in your basement," ASAP's Marianne DiMascio said. "Many people don't even realize that they have a furnace fan, or have any idea how much energy it consumes."

Furnace fans circulate air from your furnace or heat pump, through the duct system, and into every room in your home. In homes with central air conditioning, they circulate cool air through the same system. "It's on a lot, and it's a very high energy user," DiMascio said of the double-duty device.

In fact, though they are hidden away in the basement, these fans are among many households' biggest energy users, responsible for more than 12 percent of the average American household's total electricity use, or 1,100 kWh each year—double or triple refrigerator usage—according to ASAP stats. That total is split roughly evenly between heating and cooling costs.

Energy efficient motors, like brushless permanent magnet (BPM) models, can cut this daunting number by 60 percent. These motors aren't mandated by federal standards, at least not yet, but they are available on many condensing furnaces and an increasing number of traditional models as well.

Battery Chargers

Many of the devices we use every day, from mobile phones to power tools, run on rechargeable battery power. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that some 800 million such devices are sold in the U.S. each year, and the ultimate source of their power is the electric grid.

Many charging systems use outdated technologies that waste electricity. The state of California has tackled this problem by establishing tougher in-state efficiency standards. Currently the U.S. Department of Energy is working on its own regulations to make the devices more energy-efficient. If California's standards were adopted nationwide, the savings could be enormous, DiMascio said. "If we improve standards for these battery chargers and external power supplies we could save American consumers about $1 billion annually," she said.

While other products offer homeowners a chance to realize their own savings by product choice, she argues, these devices are an example of where regulation plays the key role.

"Nobody right now is going to go out and buy a computer or a cell phone according to how efficient the battery charger is. So in this case the standards are overcoming a market barrier of people not really being able to go out and buy efficient chargers for all of these devices."

(Energy-wise or an energy waster? Test yourself with our Personal Energy Meter. <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/great-energy-challenge/personal-energy-meter/> )

Microwave Ovens

You'd expect your microwave to eat up electricity when it's popping popcorn or heating up last night's leftovers. But the truth is, these appliances consume most of their electricity when they're simply sitting in your kitchen doing nothing.

"You only use a microwave a tiny part of the time," DiMascio said. "But when it's not in use, it's consuming standby power because it's always sitting there ready to go."

An Appliance Standards Awareness Project study found that the typical microwave is only used about 70 hours a year. During the other 99 percent of the time, or 8,690 hours, it burns as much as 35 kilowatt hours in "vampire power" to illuminate the clock and keep electronic push button controls in standby mode.

"There are ways to make that standby power lower," DiMascio added, and new U.S. Department of Energy regulations announced in June may help do just that.

 

The new standards coming into effect in 2016 will cut that wasteful consumption by 75 percent for most microwaves by upgrading efficiencies in power supplies, control boards, and cooking sensors.

Sara Mullen-Trento of the Electric Power Research Institute <http://www.epri.com/Pages/Default.aspx>  said smaller, cheaper electronics mean that more appliances will likely boast electronic features like those on microwaves.

"You'll probably see this kind of technology incorporated to enhance their feature sets," she said. "Things like a digital display on a clothes washer. But I think with those consumer electronics playing a bigger role in consumption, we'll also see the newer efficiency standards recognize that this has an impact when you have ten of these devices in the home. In fact, some of those same feature sets may allow you to operate an appliance in a more energy-efficient way by using different settings."

Game Consoles

Powerful game consoles like the Xbox360 and PlayStation 3 have important power-saving features, but also some significant issues, said Noah Horowitz.

"They feature an on/off button, which puts the console into a standby mode with less than one watt of power usage, which is what it should be—they work great," he said. Unfortunately many users don't turn the units off, or turn off the television but leave the console powered up—a costly mistake.

"If you run the console 24/7 because you don't turn it off, it could cost you an extra hundred dollars a year," he said.

Newer consoles now ship with an auto power-down feature that launches the standby mode after periods of inactivity. Older units have the feature too, Horowitz explained, but require users to visit the menu and make sure the device's power-saving mode is turned on.

Game consoles also hog power when they are used to stream movies, something makers like Sony and Microsoft are increasingly encouraging their users to do. "Streaming movies on a console like PlayStation 3 uses twice as much energy than if you stream the same movie with Netflix over a set-top box and about 30 times more energy than if you streamed the movie on Apple TV." The problem, Horowitz said, is one of power-scaling, and it's a challenge for console manufacturers.

"You'd like the console to turn off unused features. You don't need that powerful game processor when you're just streaming a movie, but right now the consoles are not designed to differentiate between those tasks."

(How much can you save by switching lighting at home? Try the Light Bulb Savings Calculator <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/great-energy-challenge/light-bulb-savings-calculator/> .)

Pool Pumps

Americans love to stay cool in their swimming pools and dig more than 150,000 in-ground units each year, adding to a total that's already more than 5 million. While some bemoan the heating costs for some pools, another, larger expense often goes unnoticed: the pool pump accounts for 70 percent of a typical pool's energy use and seven times that of a refrigerator.

The pump keeps pool water circulating and passes it through filters. Single-speed pumps always run at the same maximum speed, burning extra energy. But multi-speed pumps can be scaled up or down as needed for tasks like filtration and cleaning.

Using an ENERGY STAR-certified pump with multiple or variable speeds can cut energy use by over 80 percent and save hundreds of dollars a year. According to ENERGY STAR stats, these pumps will pay for themselves in five years and save owners more than $1,000 over the pump's lifetime. Some utilities are offering cash incentives to purchase them and, in California, sales of new standard single-speed pumps have been banned outright.

"An average refrigerator uses around 500 kilowatt hours a year, while the average pool pump uses 3,500 kilowatt hours a year," Marianne DiMascio said. "So we're looking to get these more efficient pumps into pools."

(See an interactive view of how countries around the world generate their power <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/great-energy-challenge/world-electricity-mix/> .)

This story is part of a special series <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy> that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge <http://www.greatenergychallenge.com/> .

Organic Pacesetters

October 31st, 2013

La Crosse Tribune (WI)

By Nathan Hansen / Lee Newspapers

http://www.cornucopia.org/2013/10/organic-pacesetters/

While Jim Riddle and Joyce Ford only farm a few acres on their organic Blue Fruit Farm in Winona County’s Wiscoy Township, their impact to local, sustainable and organic agriculture has had international impact.

Over the decades, the husband and wife team have helped set up Winona’s farmers market, influenced organic inspection and training, and even had a say in crafting federal organic standards and regulations. But all that started with a desire to farm without chemicals and a place to sell their produce for good prices.

Local impact

Jim and Joyce first started farming their land in the early 1980s and have always farmed organically, even if it wasn’t certified.

The fruit farm is a new venture for Jim and Joyce. When they first started the farm, they grew organic produce, and the Winona Farmers Market grew out of a need they and three other farmers had to find a better way to sell their product.

“We wanted to bring fresh food to the people,” Jim said. “We also wanted to give the growers a chance to sell their produce at a retail price. I feel good about the energy we put into it. It became a thriving local foods market.”

Today, Winona’s farmers market has more than 50 vendors and the state boasts more than 160 markets, including one in La Crescent, according to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s most current directory. But in the 1980s, Jim and Joyce were one of the early promoters of locally grown food.

“We were definitely ahead of our time,” Jim said. “We set rules and started an association.”

But the market wasn’t an overnight success. Joyce said it took a lot of hard work to get support and advertise the market in an era before social media and Facebook.

“It was always a challenge to get enough shoppers,” Jim said. “We had to do a lot of creative promotion.”

Jim said he lined up a deal with KWNO radio. He would do a 7:30 a.m. spot on the radio and would walk over to Prime Steak and Cake to use the payphone, praying someone else wasn’t on it. He would then do a small promo spot outlining deals and new produce for sale. And it worked.

“Crowds would come down to get what they were hearing about on the radio,” he said. “They would say I heard you have fresh sweet corn or cucumbers.”

International impact

Jim and Joyce’s farm was certified organic in 1987. It was also around this time both decided to learn about organic inspections. Jim said the inspectors make sure farms follow the rules, but it was also interesting to see other farms’ unique solutions and ways of doing things.

“It was interesting to go to farms where they do things differently,” Jim said. “They open up their farms to you.”

But while Jim and Joyce had a collegial attitude to the inspections, they also noticed a lack of professional qualifications for inspectors. Quality could be all over the place, and many times, neighbors would just inspect each others’ operations.

“It was very informal,” Jim said. “If this market was going to grow, we needed to up our game. We needed to be more professional.”

As a result, they founded the International Organic Inspectors Association in 1991, and remain members. The organization was born in their Wiscoy farmhouse, developing curriculum and writing training manuals for organic inspections. They codified and unified professional training that is used around the world.

As the amount of work grew, Jim and Joyce spent more and more time with the IOIA, and carving out time for their family. By 1993, the vegetable farm had become a garden, and the couple had stopped selling at the farmers market.

Both had also started to branch out in terms of the organizations they were involved with and projects they spearheaded.

Joyce stayed active as an organic inspector, and authored the Organic Trade Association’s 2001 “Good Organic Retailing Practices” manual, which provides guidance to retailers on how they should handle organic products.

In 2003, she joined the board of the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, and also implemented Minnesota’s Agricultural Impact Mitigation Plan, which helps protect organic farms from the negative impacts of pipeline and power line construction and maintenance.

“I try to give back at least a little bit,” Joyce joked. “I like to get things done.”

Jim stayed heavily involved with IOIA training all over the world, including China, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and other countries. And it was during a training session he was leading in Finland in 2001 that Jim got an offer for the next chapter in his work with organic farming.

Jim was appointed that year to the 15-member National Organic Standards Board, and served on the board until 2006. It was here that he helped craft federal guidelines and standards about what was allowable in organic farming and processing.

The first farm bill to mention organic standards was passed in 1990. By 1997, the standards were being fleshed out, but Jim felt they were overly permissive in what they allowed in organic farming and processing.

“It was a bad first draft,” Jim said. “I wrote a series of comments on it, and those became the core of the new rules and standards.”

Teaching the next generation

 

After nearly two decades involved in policy and professional work, Jim and Joyce are now mainly involved in education. Joyce still trains organic inspectors and from 2006 until earlier this year, Jim was the University of Minnesota Extension organic outreach coordinator.

As part of that position, Jim has written publications, designed websites, planned educational events and manned booths providing resources and education on organic farming.

Most recently, Jim took a position with the Ceres Trust, a private organization with a focus on organic agriculture, to manage their research grant programs. This year, he has worked to give out $2 million in grants to academic and private researchers across the central United States.

But in all they have done over the years, the focus has been on three things: local, sustainable and organic agriculture.

“We’ve always tried to produce good, healthy food, educate and empower others to do the same, make sure that the word “organic” has meaning, and protect the beautiful planet that we’re lucky to live on,” Jim said.

“I see organic as our roots,” Joyce added. “It’s been fun and it’s been an adventure.”