Your Questions About Green Living

Will financial Aide help pay for two Associate Degrees?

I will be graduating from a community college with an AA degree. I will be getting this degree because I am very close to receiving it, only 4 credits away. But really I am interested in renewable energy development. Yes, I know I changed my mind at a really bad time. A nearby community college has this degree which is an associates, but will I still receive pell grants and stafford loans to get a second Associates degree? If I do not I was considering transferring to the other community college before I graduate from my current one and then after graduating with the associates degree in renewable energy I would pay out of pocket to take the last few credits for the AA degree. Would this work as an alternative?

what’s your opinion on the article Doer’s drive to clean the air ?

Doer’s drive to clean the air
NDP leader wants to model California’s crackdown on vehicle emissions

By Mia Rabson
MANITOBANS could have more than just sunny skies in com­mon with California if Gary Doer is sent back to the premier’s office next month. Doer marked Earth Day Sunday with a series of campaign promises to pro­tect the environment, including forcing all cars on Manitoba roads to spew out fewer greenhouse gases. “We want to work using the California method on vehicle emissions,” Doer said in the backyard of a private residence in Wolseley. California set tailpipe emissions stan­dards 41 years ago, and has long been the North American leader on the sub­ject, including recent plans by the state to cut by 10 per cent the carbon content of gasoline sold in the state.
Cars sold or imported in California must meet that state’s emissions standards or they aren’t allowed on the road, and Doer wants to set the same standards here.
He said he believes the federal gov­ernment should set a national standard for tailpipe emissions to ensure car man­ufacturers are forced to act.
“Having said that, just like California is not going to sit back and wait for Washington, we’re not going to wait for anybody else,” he said.
Doer said the tailpipe restrictions will not just be for new cars sold in Manito­ba, but also include incentives for people with older cars to cut back on emissions. “We believe carrots are the best in this regard,” said Doer.
Doer repeated his pre-election pledge to pass a law requiring Manitoba to meet its greenhouse gas reductions targets under the Kyoto Protocol by 2012. But, for the first time, he said he’d like to meet that goal with actual reductions, not by buying credits from other juris­dictions that have fewer emissions or have

Top

cut back more.
Manitoba’s Kyoto target requires a cut of 2.3 megatonnes of greenhouse gases. The province currently emits about 20 megatonnes a year, more than one third of which come from vehicles.
Other promises in his environment platform include building renewable energy sources for the communities in Manitoba that don’t have access to hydroelectricity, and requiring all land­fills to capture emissions.
Curtis Hull, project manager of the Manitoba-based environment crusader group Climate Change Connection, said overall the Doer environment platform “looks promising.”
But he said he’d like to see more ini­tiatives to get people out of their cars in the first place, including investments in public transit, particularly in rural Man­itoba, and higher gas taxes, though he acknowledged that is a hard sell.
“Increased gas prices won’t be popu­lar, especially at election time, but when it comes to getting people out of their cars, that’s the big one,” said Hull.
Doer was joined at the microphone by Lloyd Axworthy, who was once the senior federal Liberal in Manitoba and is now the president of the University of Winnipeg. Though Axworthy’s presence implied he was endorsing Doer’s cam­paign, he said that’s not true.
But he did laud Doer for showing lead­ership on climate change in Canada.
“I’m not here in a partisan way, I’m here because as a citizen of this province I think it’s important we continue to build on what’s been accomplished,” said Axworthy.
Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard, who also made environment announcements Sun­day but didn’t get the boost of Axworthy’s presence, sniped that he thought it was funny that Doer felt the only way he’d get credibility for his environment announce­ment was by having a Liberal present.

■

issues related to the environment!!!!?

1. Should national environmental policy focus on developing more oil resources, or developing renewable energy sources?
2.Should our national energy policy focus on building more nuclear power plants?
3.How does overseas oil dependency influence our economy/international policies?
4.Should the government offer tax credits (lower taxes) for the purchase of hybrid or alternative energy vehicles?
5.Should environmental studies become a mandatory part of science classes in public schools?
6.Should regulations on corporate pollution be increased, decreased or left the same? Why?
7.Should more civilian oversight be created to monitor government and military pollution?

Conservatives — Can you read this summary of the Cap and Trade bill without foaming at the mouth?

Summary Of The Waxman-Markey Climate Bill: American Clean Energy and Security Act.
June 27th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under

Some of the key points of the American Clean Energy & Security Act from Grist, since they know better than I do. You can head to their site to read the nitty gritty, but here is a general summary:

Renewable electricity standard

The bill creates a renewable electricity standard (RES) that would require large utilities in each state to produce an increasing percentage of their electricity from renewable sources. Qualifying renewable sources are wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, marine and hydrokinetic energy, biogas and biofuels derived exclusively from eligible biomass, landfill gas, wastewater-treatment gas, coal-mine methane, hydropower projects built after 1992, and some waste-to-energy projects.

Emission cuts

The bill would put a cap on emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases, and would require high-emitting industries to reduce their output to specific targets between now and the middle of the century. (This is the “cap” part of the “cap-and-trade” program.) The bill covers 85 percent of the overall economy, including electricity producers, oil refineries, natural gas suppliers, and energy-intensive industries like iron, steel, cement, and paper manufacturers.

Emission permits

Regulated industries would need to acquire permits for their emissions. (Emission permits are also referred to as “carbon credits,” “pollution allowances,” and various combinations of these words.)

If a company cuts its emissions so much that it has more permits than it needs, it can sell excess permits to other companies or bank them for future use. If a company doesn’t have enough permits, it can buy more or borrow its future credits and pay interest on them. Non-regulated entities (banks, nonprofits, people like you) can also buy and sell permits. (This is the “trade” part of the “cap-and-trade” program.) If a company’s emissions exceed its permits, it would be fined two times the fair market value of the permits it should have purchased.

How permit auction revenue would be spent

About 15 percent of the pollution permits would be sold by the federal government in the initial years of the program. Here’s how the revenue would be spent (shown as a percentage of the value of all permits):

* 15 percent would be used to offset increased energy costs for low- and moderate-income households
* 5 percent would be used to prevent international deforestation, scaling back to 3 percent from 2026 to 2030 and 2 percent from 2031 to 2050
* 2 percent would be used to help the U.S. adapt to the negative effects of climate change from 2012 through 2021, scaling up to 4 percent from 2022 through 2026 and 8 percent thereafter; half would be spent on wildlife and natural resources and the other half on other adaptation concerns, like public health

Investments in energy technology

By 2025, the bill would direct an estimated total of $190 billion to energy technologies and efficiency measures:

* $90 billion to energy-efficiency and renewable–energy technologies
* $60 billion to carbon-capture-and-sequestration technology
* $20 billion to electric vehicles and other advanced automotive technologies
* $20 billion for basic scientific research and development

Offsets

Regulated companies would be allowed to purchase carbon offsets to meet a portion of their required emission reductions—meaning they could fund clean-energy projects elsewhere instead of cutting their own emissions. This could lower the cost of complying with the new law.

Coal-fired power plants

* New coal plants could be built between 2009 and 2020, though they would be expected to adopt carbon-capture-and-sequestration (CCS) technologies when they become commercially available
* By 2025, all coal plants built after 2009 would have to capture 50 percent of their CO2 emissions

Worker transition

* Workers displaced due to new emission regulations would be entitled to 156 weeks of income supplement (70 percent of their average weekly wages), 80 percent of their monthly health-care premium, up to $1,500 for job-search assistance, and up to $1,500 for moving assistance

Smarter cars and smarter grids

* The bill includes a “cash-for-clunkers” program that would provide roughly 1 million vouchers, ranging from $3,500 to $4,500 in value, to consumers who trade in older, less-fuel efficient vehicles for new vehicles that get better gas mileage

http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2009/06/27/summary-of-the-waxman-markey-climate-bill-american-clean-energy-and-security-act/
Apparently they can’t…

what’s your opinion on this article Doer’s drive to clean the air?

Doer’s drive to clean the air
NDP leader wants to model California’s crackdown on vehicle emissions

By Mia Rabson
MANITOBANS could have more than just sunny skies in com­mon with California if Gary Doer is sent back to the premier’s office next month. Doer marked Earth Day Sunday with a series of campaign promises to pro­tect the environment, including forcing all cars on Manitoba roads to spew out fewer greenhouse gases. “We want to work using the California method on vehicle emissions,” Doer said in the backyard of a private residence in Wolseley. California set tailpipe emissions stan­dards 41 years ago, and has long been the North American leader on the sub­ject, including recent plans by the state to cut by 10 per cent the carbon content of gasoline sold in the state.
Cars sold or imported in California must meet that state’s emissions standards or they aren’t allowed on the road, and Doer wants to set the same standards here.
He said he believes the federal gov­ernment should set a national standard for tailpipe emissions to ensure car man­ufacturers are forced to act.
“Having said that, just like California is not going to sit back and wait for Washington, we’re not going to wait for anybody else,” he said.
Doer said the tailpipe restrictions will not just be for new cars sold in Manito­ba, but also include incentives for people with older cars to cut back on emissions. “We believe carrots are the best in this regard,” said Doer.
Doer repeated his pre-election pledge to pass a law requiring Manitoba to meet its greenhouse gas reductions targets under the Kyoto Protocol by 2012. But, for the first time, he said he’d like to meet that goal with actual reductions, not by buying credits from other juris­dictions that have fewer emissions or have

Top

cut back more.
Manitoba’s Kyoto target requires a cut of 2.3 megatonnes of greenhouse gases. The province currently emits about 20 megatonnes a year, more than one third of which come from vehicles.
Other promises in his environment platform include building renewable energy sources for the communities in Manitoba that don’t have access to hydroelectricity, and requiring all land­fills to capture emissions.
Curtis Hull, project manager of the Manitoba-based environment crusader group Climate Change Connection, said overall the Doer environment platform “looks promising.”
But he said he’d like to see more ini­tiatives to get people out of their cars in the first place, including investments in public transit, particularly in rural Man­itoba, and higher gas taxes, though he acknowledged that is a hard sell.
“Increased gas prices won’t be popu­lar, especially at election time, but when it comes to getting people out of their cars, that’s the big one,” said Hull.
Doer was joined at the microphone by Lloyd Axworthy, who was once the senior federal Liberal in Manitoba and is now the president of the University of Winnipeg. Though Axworthy’s presence implied he was endorsing Doer’s cam­paign, he said that’s not true.
But he did laud Doer for showing lead­ership on climate change in Canada.
“I’m not here in a partisan way, I’m here because as a citizen of this province I think it’s important we continue to build on what’s been accomplished,” said Axworthy.
Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard, who also made environment announcements Sun­day but didn’t get the boost of Axworthy’s presence, sniped that he thought it was funny that Doer felt the only way he’d get credibility for his environment announce­ment was by having a Liberal present.