Energy & sustainability forum: a series?
I've been thinking about helping to organize an energy & sustainability forum. However, I've been wondering how best to approach it.
Given the volume of information available on "energy issues," there needs to be some sort of starting point... just to begin imparting useful information. Simultaneously though... it needs to be presented in a digestable format. And while some people could certainly stand up and offer three or four hours of extemporaneous comments on compressed natural gas or fuel cells... it wouldn't necessarily help most people understand how to begin saving money on energy.
So following a conversation today with someone who is deeply involved in renewables in Connecticut... I'm beginning to think that one forum that touches on 12-15 topics... each for three or four minutes... may not even be worthwhile for people who are trying to save money on energy. And it definitely would be a deterrent to finding people willing to present their case.
So now I'm thinking along the lines of breaking the forum down into three topics on three nights. Perhaps each forum could have 4 or 5 presenters, each speaking for ten to 15 minutes. The three topics would be:
1) clean energy power sources for homes (wind, solar thermal, geothermal, photovoltaics and wood stoves)
2) transportation (including fuels, conservation and alternatives, such as buses, carpooling & telecommuting) and
3) energy efficiency for homes
What do you think?
Additionally,
1) based on discussions, both the Energy Commission and Council seem to support the idea of this forum (Esty, Hall, Ruocco, Sima & Slocum have all voiced support to varying degrees... with Elizabeth being a very strong supporter) and...
2) assuming the Energy Commission wants to sponsor these forums, I tentatively reserved Council Chambers for Tuesday July 29 and...
3) Henry Chase has said he is available to televise the forum on July 29 and...
4) I've briefly discussed contacting "energy services companies" with the Chamber President to see if they'd be interested in booths at the fall festival.
Tim White
4 comments:
Martinez Has Plan For Lower Gas Prices
Monday, June 16, 2008 1:33:20 PM
Sen. Mel Martinez on reducing gas
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Additional Information
* Sen. Mel Martinez
* Cheaper Gas Prices In Central Florida
ORLANDO -- Florida Sen. Mel Martinez has a plan to reduce gas prices, but he said it means making changes in how you get around.
Speaking to United Parcel Service truck drivers in Orlando, Martinez proposed his fuel saving plan, which would start with the military.
Martinez said he is in talks with the Defense Department to reduce military fuel use by 3 percent.
According to Martinez, that the reduction would not affect operations in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it could have a big effect on fuel supplies. What's more, he said, once that's done he'll ask every American to reduce their fuel usage by 3 percent.
"Let's see if we could use 3 percent less. If that commitment was not only present from our armed forces, but every American family, I think we could really make a difference in what the speculators anticipate is an ever-increasing demand for fuel," Martinez said.
Martinez said high fuel prices are especially hurtful to Florida's economy. He said the high gas prices keep people from driving and flying to the Sunshine State.
"Families trying to make a decision in the Midwest on whether they're going to come down to Florida for a vacation. They may decide to vacation closer to home. So this is going to hit our tourism economy and have wide impact on all of our economy," Martinez said.
As for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico or up in Alaska, Martinez said that could help, but is not an immediate solution. It could be years before the fuel ever reaches consumers.
Martinez is pushing things like carpooling, hybrids and finding new fuel sources to cut down on oil use.
The senator said he has already started driving a hybrid car himself. He also said the nation should be looking into other fuel sources such as coal and natural gas.
Submitted by: Mike Rocci
Comments anyone?
Tim,
There also many devices available to both residential and commercial customers that can help them reduce energy usage. I have at least one device installed in my home and may add a second onto my electrical service. We are talking about 10-20 percent savings.
Aaron B
so some numbskuli senator wants to endanger troops to save gas...feh..
We need a system-wide energy audit and HVAC replacement strategy for the Cheshire public schools. If we replace one boiler at a time we will have an inefficient antiquated system incpable of addressing the challenges of peak oil and global warming
How can you have sufficient renewable resources and still allow an uncontrolled population explosion.
Whether you want to believe it or not the human race is using up limited resources at an alarming rate and nobody is admitting that the biggest problem we face today is population growth. They just aren't making more oil, water, land or any of the other resouces that we are burning up.
The sad part is that religions are the main proponents of population growth. It's time mankind to develop a real strategy for a sustainable human race.
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