Guest Post: Energy Saving Tips for the Summer Holidays

Solar-heated pool. Photo credit: Solstice Solar of Baja www.solsticesolarofbaja.com

(Guest post from U.K.-based renewable energy product comparison Web site Enerfina.)

Believe it or not, summer is a time when a lot of extra energy is used. Due to extra electricity required to cool our homes, or extra water required to make sure our gardens look fresh and green, energy is expended every day. However, there are plenty of tips that you can put into place as soon as today to ensure that you are doing your part in making sure that extra energy is not going to waste.

Many of us might have swimming pools in our yards, and whilst they are a wonderful way to cool off on those hot summer days, swimming pools are also a massive use of energy. The best thing to combat this is to be aware. Many homeowners concerned with sustainability are looking directly to their swimming pools as the first place they can make a change. The major reason behind this is that most pools are heated. Running your pool heater night and day is a massive waste of energy, especially if no one might even be going in the pool when you are on holiday!

Washington, D.C. is America's Construction Capital

CityCenterDC construction cranes with Capitol dome in background.

In the nation's capital, construction cranes are as familiar to the city's skyline as the Washington monument and Capitol dome. Recession? What recession? It is boom times in Washington, D.C. If anti-government, anti-growth Republicans in Congress ever decided to work with President Obama to get the economic recovery moving faster (or if moderates and progressives take over this November), it would be amazing to see the rest of the country build housing, retail, office and infrastructure at the rate D.C. is doing right now.

In these troubling times, construction cranes carry much symbolism. A construction crane represents jobs, progress, innovation, hope for the future. Construction cranes are the antidote to awful austerity and a stalled economy. Construction cranes are brilliant reminders that when the public sector and private sector team up for the benefit of the country, then the future of the United States of America is bright indeed.

Guest Post: The Rise of the Eco-Friendly Community

Tianjin Eco-City

(Guest post by UK-based eco-friendly roof company MyRedlandRoof)

Despite the continual stream of advancements made in the fields of technology and science, we appear to be no closer to resolving the environmental and ecological issues that blight our world. Notwithstanding a significant global drive to reduce each individual’s carbon footprint and teach environmental responsibility, there remains a significant chasm between what citizens know and how they live their everyday lives.

With this in mind, the rise of the eco-friendly community is occurring at an ideal time for the world’s population, and provides them with viable tools to put their knowledge and environmental principles into practice. With a number of structures being built and planned across the nation of China, the country is taking significant steps towards easing its environmental concerns and laying the foundations for a prosperous and sustainable future.

American High-Speed Rail Moving Forward

Despite shortsighted right-wing Republican opposition, high-speed rail (HSR) is moving forward in the United States of America. Soon we won't have to fly across the Atlantic or Pacific to experience world-class passenger train service. President Obama and Vice President Biden get much of the credit for revitalizing passenger rail travel by demanding a federal allocation of $8 billion for high-speed projects as part of the 2009 economic stimulus package.

While conservative Republican governors like Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Rick Scott of Florida have denied their residents high-speed rail by rejecting federal funding, and right-wing House Republicans like Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) passes a meaningless anti-California HSR amendment to the Fiscal Year 2013 Transportation, Housing & Urban Development (THUD) bill, progressive states like California are pushing ahead into the 21st Century with ambitious HSR projects. The latest good news for HSR advocates comes from The Golden State where last Friday in Sacramento, lawmakers in the Senate approved SB 1029 -- $4.5 billion in construction financing through the sale of bonds, including $2.6 billion for the initial segment in the Central Valley for the bullet train line between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The legislative victory means that California will now qualify for another $3.2 billion in federal funding.

Tesla's Model S Sedan: A Beautiful Electric Car

Electric car company Tesla Motors' Washington, D.C. showroom is located directly across the street from the condo where I've been living for the past two years (this green blogger is moving to the greenest city in America -- New York). So when I look out the window of my tenth floor bedroom, I stare down upon one of the most beautiful sites in the world -- Tesla's new Model S Sedan.

You don't have to be an electric vehicle lover to appreciate automobile designer Franz von Holzhausen's sleek design, plush interior, gee whiz gadgetry and enormous storage space of the Tesla Model S. I was given a brief tour of the car and walked away even more impressed.

Right-Wing Libertarians Attack Bike Sharing

Reason TV correspondent Kennedy enjoying a ride on Capital Bikeshare.

Right-wing libertarian think tanks like Reason choose to go after the little guys getting a small piece of the government pie while ignoring the government-subsidized big players like the fossil fuel industry. This makes sense considering the climate change-denying, oil-rich Koch Family Foundation partly funds Reason. 

Now Reason TV and washed up former MTV VJ Kennedy are bullying bike sharing, in this case the wildly successful Capital Bikeshare program in the Washington, D.C. area. A recent video report makes a mockery of the Capital Bikeshare program as a wasteful subsidy for rich educated white kids.

'Avengers' Delivers Powerful Clean Energy Message

The Tesseract. Image credit: Marvel

Unemployment. Austerity. War. Terrorism. Climate Change. The world needs superheroes now more than ever. Along comes Marvel's "The Avengers" to rave reviews and boffo box office. In tough times, movie audiences crave escapist entertainment and larger than life superheroes, which could help explain why "The Avengers" set a box office record for the biggest opening weekend ever in North America, tied for the fastest film to reach $1 billion and is currently the third highest grossing film of all time with a worldwide haul of nearly $1.4 billion.

That's a lot of people that are absorbing the film's clean energy message -- the sustainable energy source called the Tesseract. There have been different reactions to the film's renewable energy message -- some positive, some critical.