Saturday, October 24, 2009

Colori is down with V-O_C

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Chicago's boutique paint shop launches new paint line this evening

Nothing can transform a room faster than a new coat of paint. But did you know that in addition to that fantastic new color is the immediate addition of pollutant levels up to 1,000 times outdoor levels! EPA studies have shown that VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) emitted from traditional household paint result in your living room having 2 to 5 times more pollutants than the air outside.These elevated pollution levels can have significant health ramifications including: eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, allergic skin reaction, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system and possibly cancer.
According to the Paint Quality Institute, VOCs are not just bad for your health, they are bad for the environment too. The industry group claims traditional paints make up 10% of the ozone depleting substances in the US.So how do you avoid these high levels of VOC's during your next decorating project? Click here to learn more.

Links for the Week
Local Events:
Oct 22 Mythic Paint Launch Party, 6pm to 9pm, Colori, 2243 W. North Ave.
Oct 25 Vert Couture: An Evening of Fall Fashion and Environmental Responsibility, 7pm Runway Show, Chicago Cultural Center, Yates Gallery 78 East Washington St.
Oct 29 Climate Control: A Shedd Eco-Social, 6:30pm to 9:30pm, Shedd Aquarium
Oct 30 Late Night Halloween Yoga Party, 9pm to midnight, 2201 W. Belmont

info@afreshsqueeze.com1030 W. Chicago Ave, Ste 300 Chicago IL 60607

Climate Change Action Protests by 350*

I can hardly believe my eyes.
16 hours ago, citizens in New Zealand gathered before dawn next to a wind turbine on a mountaintop. As local elders said prayers to bless the global event, banners and signs were held high to to greet the planet's first rays of sunlight on this most incredible of days. As the sun continues across the planet we've been receiving photos and video of rallies in Ethiopia, bike rides in Wellington, SCUBA divers in Australia, organizers planting 350 trees in Thailand, hundreds of students marching in India and Nepal and Mongolia. And we're getting reports from 350.org offices around the world that the phones are ringing off the hook with calls from the media who want to cover the story.
The day is just beginning and already it's larger, more powerful, and so much more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. I've been a writer my entire life and yet words truly cannot describe what you have accomplished already. To truly grasp today, please stay tuned to our website as more and more photos come in from across the planet, and especially our evolving photo slideshow.
And the best news of all? The day has just begun!
Bill
P.S. Have a photo to contribute? Just send a decent-quality picture to photos@350.org and make the subject "City, Country" and make sure that the body of the e-mail contains a description of the photo, any necessary photographer credits, and any other information you think we'll need. So many thanks.

Largest Solar Panle Plant in US rises in Florida

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO, Associated Press Writer Christine Armario, Associated Press Writer Fri Oct 23, 4:55 pm ET

ARCADIA, Fla. – Greg Bove steps into his pickup truck and drives down a sandy path to where the future of Florida's renewable energy plans begin: Acres of open land filled with solar panels that will soon power thousands of homes and business.
For nearly a year, construction workers and engineers in this sleepy Florida town of citrus trees and cattle farms have been building the nation's largest solar panel energy plant. Testing will soon be complete, and the facility will begin directly converting sunlight into energy, giving Florida a momentary spot in the solar energy limelight.
The Desoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center will power a small fraction of Florida Power & Light's 4-million plus customer base; nevertheless, at 25 megawatts, it will generate nearly twice as much energy as the second-largest photovoltaic facility in the U.S.
The White House said President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the facility Tuesday, when it officially goes online and begins producing power for the electric grid.
As demand grows and more states create mandates requiring a certain percentage of their energy come from renewable sources, the size of the plants is increasing. The southwest Florida facility will soon be eclipsed by larger projects announced in Nevada and California.
"We took a chance at it and it worked out," said Bove, construction manager at the project, set on about 180 acres of land 80 miles southeast of Tampa. "There's a lot of backyard projects, there's a lot of rooftop projects, post offices and stores. Really this is one of the first times where we've taken a technology and upsized it."
Despite its nickname, the Sunshine State hasn't been at the forefront of solar power. Less than 4 percent of Florida's energy has come from renewable sources in recent years. And unlike California and many other states, Florida lawmakers haven't agreed to setting clean energy quotas for electric companies to reach in the years ahead.
California, New Jersey and Colorado have led the country in installing photovoltaic systems; now Florida is set to jump closer to the top with the nation's largest plant yet.
The Desoto facility and two other solar projects Florida Power & Light is spearheading will generate 110 megawatts of power, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3.5 million tons. Combined, that's the equivalent of taking 25,000 cars off the road each year, according to figures cited by the company.
The investment isn't cheap: The Desoto project cost $150 million to build and the power it supplies to some 3,000 homes and businesses will represent just a sliver of the 4 million-plus accounts served by the state's largest electric utility.
But there are some economic benefits: It created 400 jobs for draftsmen, carpenters and others whose work dried up as the southwest Florida housing boom came to a closure and the recession set in. Once running, it will require few full-time employees.
Mike Taylor, director of research and education at the nonprofit Solar Electric Power Association in Washington, said the project puts Florida "on the map."
"It's currently the largest," Taylor said of the Desoto photovoltaic plant. "But it certainly won't be the last."
There are two means of producing electricity from the sun: photovoltaic cells that directly convert sunlight; and thermal power, which uses mirrors to heat fluid and produce steam to run a turbine power generator.
Taylor said a one- or two-megawatt project was considered large not long ago. The size has slowly increased each year.
Overall, the United States still trails other nations in building photovoltaic plants.
Spain and Germany have made larger per capita commitments to solar power because of aggressive government policies, said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. And China has announced plans to pay up to 50 percent of the price of solar power systems of more than 500 megawatts.
"If we don't get our market right and send the right market signals and really support growing this technology, we will be buying solar panels from other countries," Smith said.
In April, Arizona-based manufacturer First Solar Inc. announced plans to build a 48-megawatt plant in Nevada, producing power for about 30,000 homes. Even that pales compared to recently announced plans for a 2 gigawatt facility in China. First Solar has initial approval to build it.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091023/ap_on_bi_ge/us_solar_power_plant
posted by Mohan Jain

Thousands Gather Worldwide on day of Climate Protests

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091024/ts_afp/environmentclimatewarmingaction

Sat Oct 24, 2009

PARIS (AFP) – Kicking off with thousands gathering on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera House, global warming protests took place around the world Saturday to mark 50 days before the UN climate summit.
From Asia to Europe via the Middle East, activists staged lively events addressing world leaders and to mobilise public opinion around climate issues.
Many waved placards bearing the logo 350, referring to 350 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 in the atmosphere which scientists say must not be exceeded to avoid runaway global warming.
France's politicians received a "wake up" call from several hundred Parisians who chose clocks as their symbol.
Protesters who met in a central square had set their alarm clocks and mobile phones to ring at 12:18 pm (1018 GMT) in reference to the closing date of the summit, which lasts from December 7-18.
The summit is considered crucial as world leaders will try to thrash out a new treaty to curb greenhouse gas emissions in place of the Kyoto Protocol which will expire in 2012.
However, Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said Saturday that preliminary discussions are not moving fast enough for an international decision to be concluded in Copenhagen.
"It is time to give full speed to the negotiations," Rasmussen said, adding that he wanted a legally binding international agreement to be in place by January.
There is growing concern that a treaty deal in Copenhagen could be hampered by issues including US domestic politics and the problems of securing agreement between developed and developing countries.
Rasmussen underlined that progress had been made on climate issues but that these "key political questions" still had to be resolved ahead of the December meeting.
In Berlin, some 350 protesters wearing masks with the face of German Chancellor Angela Merkel came together in front of the Brandenburg Gate in the city centre.
In London, more than 600 people gathered beneath the London Eye Ferris wheel by the River Thames to arrange themselves into the shape of the number five, according to organisers Campaign against Climate Change.
An aerial photograph of the event will be added to pictures of a giant "three" and "zero" from around the world.
"Hundreds of thousands of people are taking part (globally) and for us that's so important, to have people out on the streets," campaign activist Abi Edgar told AFP. "We want serious action on climate change and we want it now."
Across the Thames, some 100 musicians playing trumpets, trombones, saxophones and clarinets gathered outside parliament to play the same note -- an F, made by the frequency of 350 Hz -- for 350 seconds, organisers said.
In the Lebanese capital Beirut hundreds of activists, many wearing snorkels, held demonstrations in key archaeological sites.
They gathered around the Roman ruins in central Beirut, in the ancient eastern city of Baalbek and along the coast, carrying placards bearing the logo 350.
"It's not the first time Beirut will have gone under water," Wael Hmaidan of the IndyACT group organising Beirut's protests said to AFP, explaining the goggle-wearing, "but this time it's going down because of climate change, and not earthquakes."
In Jakarta, around 100 students from the London School of Public Relations also gathered to form the symbolic number 350, coordinator Candy Tolosa said on Detik.com news website Saturday.
In central Madrid, the Spanish capital, members of the Platform Against Climate Change, grouping social organisations, ecologists and unions, acted out parodies of the "catastrophic consequences of climate change on the planet", the Platform's press release said.
Environmental activists in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul staged their protest in a boat, unfurling a banner reading "Sun, wind, right now!" under the main bridge linking Asia and Europe over the Bosphorus Strait, Anatolia news agency reported.
They then sailed to the ancient Maiden's Tower, which sits on a tiny islet in the Bosphorus, and unfurled another banner reading "Jobs, climate, justice," the report said.

Sent by Jaya Kamlani, Writer, Atlanta