Get ready… National Green Week is only 7 days away!

Reblogged from Green Education Foundation (GEF):

Get ready! National Green Week 2012 is only a week away! For those of you who don’t know, National Green Week is the largest waste reduction campaign in history for K-12 schools nationwide.  This year’s event will be kicking off on February 6, 2012, but classrooms across the country can choose any week to be their green week between Feb. 6 and Earth Day (April 22, 2012).

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National Green Week 2012

Ameren Meeting-HCR 35 Hearing-3 environmental shareholder resolutions included

Per capita anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by country for the year 2000 including land-use change. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 3 environmental shareholder resolutions include:

• report on coal combustion waste
• report on coal-related costs and risks
• assessment and report on greenhouse gas and other air emissions reductions through customer energy efficiency and renewable energy programs

Labadie Environmental Organization (LEO) Clean Water and Sustainable Communities

LEO Blog from the Bottoms: Up to Date NEWS Launch of NEW Website Soon!

Support Ameren Shareholders in saying YES! Tell friends and family to vote YES on Coal Ash Resolution NEXT TUES, April 24th, Ameren shareholders will hear MCRI make a logical argument for why shareholders should expect Ameren policies to keep coal ash waste out of floodplains and to support comprehensive groundwater monitoring around coal ash sites. Ameren operates numerous risky coal ash ponds and landfills both in Missouri and Illinois. Responsible company management is even more important with Congressional Representatives voting this past week to disable EPA from regulating coal ash wastes.  How will Missouri protect communities from the toxins in leaching coal ash waste? Missouri fails to protect us as evidenced in the State of Failure report released last year. The largest Labadie pond has no liner, no groundwater monitoring and has had leaked for over 20 years under a MO DNR permit!If you have stock in Ameren you have every right to vote on directors, executive compensation and 3 shareholder initiatives (environmental) this year. You can vote in person at the meeting or choose to vote by proxy (internet).See the official notice of the annual meeting and details on how to vote (proxy or in person). The 3 environmental shareholder resolutions include: report on coal combustion waste report on coal-related costs and risks assessment and report on greenhouse gas and other air emissions reductions through customer energy efficiency and renewable energy programs Meeting Details: Date:  April 24th, 2012 Time:  9 AM Place:  Powell Symphony Hall, 718 N. Grand Blvd. St. Louis MO 63103  FREE PARKING Come down and support MCRI at the press conference likely to start about 8 a.m.  HCR 35 Moving Forward Help Us Get a Hearing Before End of Session! HCR 35 Coal Ash Monitoring and Cleanup Resolution has been assigned to the MO House Tourism and Natural Resources Committee.  Unfortunately, we are fast running out of time to get discussion on the issue and move it to a House vote.Contact YOUR MO State Rep if they are on the Committee and/or the Chair of the Committee, Don Ruzicka (R-132)to say all Missourians deserve the right to know if ash ponds and landfills are contaminating drinking water and if they are, we want them cleaned up! Rep Ruzicka is responsible deciding which issues will receive a hearing in his Committee. Rep Ruzicka was a former MO State Conservation Agent for 27 years with a BS in Wildlife and Conservation from Missouri State University. His job as a Conservation Agent was to “protect the natural resources of the state.” He should be our ally on this issue. Contact Info: Look up your State Representative contact info here. Compare to the list of Reps on the Committee here. Call Don Ruzicka directly to say “assign a hearing date” Phone: 573-751-4077 email:  don.ruzicka@house.mo.gov There are at least 12 Counties in Missouri with coal ash dump sites that could be contaminating groundwater. MO DNR does not require groundwater monitoring. See if your County is on the map.   Take a moment right now to call your State Rep and/or Representative Ruzicka to get HCR 35 assigned a hearing before the end of session on May 18th! We deserve this issue to be discussed by our legislators. Thank you for taking action. Follow events, activities and actions onLabadie Environmental Organization (LEO) and Save OUR Bottoms!!! Celebrate Earth Day TOMORROW April 22, 2012 Earth Day festivities in Forest Park SUNDAY, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Stop by the Ameren tent and DNR Booth and ask them what they are doing to protect the public from the risks of coal ash pollution. If you are available to help give out fliers at Earth Day St. Louis call Patricia at 636-402-8460 What do honeybees, fish and humans have in common? None of us do well when we ingest or are exposed to high amounts of metal pollutants.Could heavy metal pollutants be linked to colony collapse? Read the article below for more details. Selenium Toxicity to Honey Bees Forward the LEO e-newsletter to friends and family! They can become a FREE member and get on the monthly e-newsletter list by emailing:contact@leomo.info

“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” - Aldo Leopold

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Missouri Tell Your Senator to Vote NO SB 759

Donate Now Become A Member Volunteer Forward to a Friend Follow us on: Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Tell Missouri Senators: Stop SB 759 Senate Bill 759 would erode two laws supported by Missouri voters unless you help us stop it. The first law under attack currently makes it illegal for monopoly electric utilities to charge ratepayers before a service is provided. Voters passed this law in 1976 as Prop 1. The second law under attack is the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) that mandates monopoly utilities produce 15% of electric generation from renewable energy sources by 2021. Voters passed this law in 2008 as Prop C. SB 759 would weaken both of them. Ameren Missouri, a utility based in St. Louis, is leading the lobbying efforts in Jefferson City to erode the will of Missouri voters. Ameren Missouri supports SB 759 so it can collect $55 million from electric ratepayers without providing a service. In a one-two punch Ameren wants to promote nuclear power while simultaneously watering down Prop C and shipping Missouri investment dollars for renewable energy to places like California. An editorial from St. Louis Post-Dispatch yesterday agrees with our position: "Lawmakers should reject Ameren’s greedy money grab" Contact your Missouri state senator and ask them to stop SB 759 today. You can get contact information for your senator at http://senate.mo.gov/ How bad is it? Ameren wants Missouri to look like Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina when it comes to financing nuclear reactor projects. You guessed it: big rate hikes, delayed projects, cost overruns, and no guarantee of completion. In short, money for nothing. SB 759 on nuclear power: Erodes a 36 year old consumer protection law. Creates zero jobs and zero investment in Missouri. Includes a $55 million rate increase for Ameren ratepayers with no new service provided. Does not include a plan for Ameren to actually finance and build a nuclear reactor. Bails out Ameren for millions spent on a nuclear license it filed in 2008. Forces ratepayers to pay Ameren in a way the free market would not support. SB 759 on renewable energy: No guarantee for new solar or wind projects in Missouri. Expands the definition of renewable to include forms of dirty energy, like burning municipal solid waste. Sends Missouri money out of state instead of investing in our local communities. Strips away the health and environmental benefits that should result from local renewable energy investment. Contact Your Senator: Call, write, email, or visit your Missouri state senators today and ask them to stop SB 759. And be sure to tell your family and friends to do the same! MESSAGE: Please oppose SB 759 because the people of Missouri have already spoken on these issues. Missouri voters opposed paying monopoly utilities before a service is provided in our state with 65% overall support. Missouri said yes to renewable energy investments in our state with 66% overall support. SB 759 erodes the will of Missouri voters twice in one bill. SB 759 is a gateway bill to turn captive monopoly utility customers into captive monopoly utility investors in the future. Missouri voters have spoken. Now help us make sure our senators hear what we’ve said. Thank you for standing up for Missouri’s safe energy future.

Missouri Coalition for the Environment | 6267 Delmar Blvd., Ste. 2E | St. Louis | MO | 63130

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Garden Screen Protector-City Garden

How I plan to protect the back-yard vegetable garden from the Birds, Squirrels, Rabbits, and other malicious garden destroying animals.

1. Deer Block Mesh supported by:
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Read about the City Garden Plot on my Facebook Page by Clicking Here

Do Squirrels and Rabbits Ravage Your Garden?

Varmit Garden Screen Protector Designed and Built by Scotts Contracting will protect your precious vegetables from the Vermin.

Garden Screen Protector Available at Scotts Contracting

Protect your Garden with a Garden Screen Protector Available at Scotts Contracting

1. Sunday March 18, 2012 Planted Back Yard Garden
2. Gambling on Spring Weather Conditions
3. First Plants to Germinate March 28
4. I couldn’t find a Functional Garden Screen Protector to suit my liking so I designed this Frame for the Protective Garden Screen.

Email Scotts Contracting for a Garden Screen Protector for your Home Garden

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Action Photos Added March 24, 2012- Garden Screen Protector

Overhead Garden Screen Protector

How I plan to keep the marauders out of the Garden

Help Support Renewable Energy in St Louis

Because, it’s healthier for the environment and people than pollution from power plants? Because a diverse energy portfolio protects ratepayers from steep rate hikes and fosters competition that keeps electric rates low? Or because installing solar panels and wind turbines creates good jobs that can’t be outsourced and will grow our economy?

Establishing a strong Renewable Energy Standard in Missouri will do all of the above, and more—but we need your help now collecting voter signatures to put this issue on the November ballot.

The deadline is in early May, so don’t wait! Please sign up to attend one of two trainings to collect signatures for this crucial ballot initiative.

Thursday, March 22, 6pm-7pm: Thornhill Branch St. Louis County Library, 12863 Willowyck Dr., Maryland Heights, MO 63146. (Off of Fee Fee Rd. between Olive and Bennington, across from Parkway North High School. We will be in either the main reading room or small conference room).

Tuesday, March 27, 7pm-8pm: Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 6267 Delmar Blvd, Suite 2E, University City, MO 63130 (in the Delmar Loop).

Be sure to RSVP so that we can have adequate materials on hand; call jill. Thanks!

Jill Miller
St. Louis Regional Organizer
Renew Missouri
(314) 359-4697
www.renewmo.org

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HB 1316: The $115 Million Ameren UE Bailout

Learn the Issues, Get the Facts

Missouri Nuclear Agenda and Fair Energy Rates

HB 1316: The $115 Million Ameren Bailout
Ameren is asking Missouri businesses and residents to bail them out for costs they have already incurred and plan to incur in the future which do nothing to produce energy or provide any service to consumers now or in the future.

• Ameren has already spent at least $25 million towards pursuing an early site permit. Ameren willingly spent its own money and as with any other business, Ameren ought to be spending its own money on this speculative venture, rather than seeking a bailout through HB 1316.
• HB 1316 does not guarantee customers will be paid back their money in the case that a new electric plant is never built.
• HB 1316 will cost Missouri businesses and residents $45 million plus interest and Ameren earnings for 20 years totaling an increase of $115 million.
• HB 1316 will produce ZERO watts of electricity. This legislation will not result in a new electric power plant.
• HB 1316 will create ZERO jobs. This legislation has nothing to do with building a new electric power plant that would actually create jobs.

A Plan with Consumer Protections: Senate Bill 406

• Ameren says it needs this legislation to maintain the option of seeking an Early Site Permit toward building a second nuclear power plant. At the same time the bill protects Missouri employers, businesses and residential ratepayers if Ameren proceeds as it has indicated it would.
• The bill also protects business and residential ratepayers if Ameren is wrong and holds Ameren accountable.
• The bill represents a compromise that gives Ameren everything it says is needed to obtain an Early Site Permit and that protects businesses and residential consumers who are being asked to pay for the Early Site Permit.
• This bill allows Ameren to recover from ratepayers financing costs on $40 Million of expenditures to obtain an Early Site Permit.
• Consumer protections include the same three requests that were made by consumer groups this past November:
  • A hard cap on expenses to ensure Ameren doesn’t charge consumers for cost overruns.
    • This is important to avoid the mistakes and huge overruns that have historically plagued the building of nuclear plants.
    • Consumers must be protected from cost overruns at all stages of the process.
  • A rebate to ensure consumers are refunded their money if energy is never produced or the Early Site Permit is never obtained.
    • Ameren has already spent $25 million dollars towards obtaining an Early Site Permit. A rebate is necessary to keep Ameren from shifting the gamble and all of the risk on getting the permit to consumers.
  • Assessment funding for the Office of Public Counsel
    • This takes the Governor’s proposal and makes sure legislative intent for funding the OPC is established and better secures the funding beyond FY 2012, which is the only year the Governor’s proposal ensures.
    • Consumers need an adequately funded independent OPC to ensure consumers are protected through the entire process of building the nuclear plant.

“Ameren Demands $263 Million Rate Hike”

With an unemployment rate of nearly 10%, Missouri families and employers are struggling. Rather than tightening their belts like Missouri’s working families, Ameren is asking the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC), the regulatory body responsible for policing the monopoly, to allow another Ameren rate hike which will:

• Raise electricity rates on Missouri’s working families and employers by $263 million.
• Drive up the cost of doing business in Missouri Ameren’s rate hike plan comes at a time of crisis for Missouri’s economy. Missourians are losing their jobs. Missouri businesses are being forced to downsize in order to stay afloat. Missouri’s employers and small businesses are already struggling to prevent layoffs of even more workers.
• Drive up the cost of living for already struggling Missouri families Ameren’s $263 million rate hike demand before the PSC comes at a time when Missouri’s employers and small businesses are hurting and at a time when Missouri families are hurting even more. In this fragile economy, thousands of families live on the brink of financial disaster.

Ameren has been awarded over $577 million in rate increases, a 26% hike, at the expense of Missouri ratepayers in less than two years. It’s time to ask Ameren to do the same, just like Missouri’s working families.

“The Nuclear Option”

It seems like common sense: the market should make decisions on whether a second power plant is financially viable, not the whims of politicians. In the midst of a recession and with unemployment at record levels, now is not the time to ask taxpayers and ratepayers to pay more money for energy investment. But that hasn’t stopped the big utilities from trying to push their financial gamble on us. Senate Bill 50 was crafted by the utility companies to create an exception in long-standing state law. It would allow large Missouri utilities to charge YOU for the costs associated with Early Site Permit (ESP), the first step in construction of a nuclear power plant.

The Situation

• The fact that Ameren is seeking money from ratepayers and cannot get private backing means that there is substantial financial risk in building a second nuclear power plant.

• Missouri’s other nuclear power plant was built without a rate-hike in advance of the plant.

• Ameren made over $600 million last year and is still seeking to raise rates on consumers.

• Ameren has already raised energy rates several times in the past few years, and is now looking to raise them again.

• Other states have allowed energy companies to pass on development costs to ratepayers, and consumers in those states have seen their electric bills skyrocket.

• The development of a new power plant is financially risky, which is why Ameren wants to raise energy rates to cover the costs, instead of using their own money.

• Ameren is seeking to transfer the financial cost of energy development to their consumers in order to appease their shareholders.

The Solution

Any proposal that were to meet General Assembly approval must have strong consumer protections. FERAF encourages you to express your support for consumers by insisting on pro-consumer provisions including:

• Robust Office of Public Counsel (OPC). Over the years funding for consumer protection has been greatly reduced impairing the ability of OPC and PSC to conduct adequate reviews of rate case filings. Legislation must include funding OPC that allows them to conduct thorough audits of rate cases filed with the Public Service Commission.

• Responsible Cap. Should the Legislature consider the utility’s proposed legislation allowing them to recover costs of construction while in progress, they must include a reasonable and fair cap on rate increases to keep energy costs from spiraling out of control. To ensure consumers money is well spent, each step of the construction process should be monitored and controlled.
• Rebate. If ratepayers pay tens of millions of dollars in rate increases and a plant is never built or the permit is sold at a profit, Missouri ratepayers deserve to be refunded in full. We believe these consumer protections to be essential for the health of Missouri’s energy future, and therefore, Missouri economy.

TAKE ACTION TODAY.

The “Bad Debt Surcharge” is Unfair to Consumers

Big gas companies have pushed the Missouri legislature to create a surcharge so they could raise our bills without going before the Public Service Commission, which currently sets utility rates in Missouri. This new surcharge would have allowed them to charge you immediately when other people don’t pay their utility bills. If this new practice had become law, what motivation would the gas companies have to track down customers skipping out on their bills when they could just stick you with their debt?

• Two bills before the legislature in 2010 (SB 705 and HB 1610) would have allowed increases on natural gas bills to pay the utility for the bad debts of its non-paying natural gas customers, overriding the current consumer protection against such single-issue ratemaking.
• This legislation wouldhave allowed energy rates to increase, even at times when Laclede Gas Company or Missouri Gas Energy’s overall cost of doing business was not going up!
• Bad debts are already included in rates. When a utility needs to adjust rates, including for bad debt, it may initiate a rate case. The Bad Debt Surcharge would allow accelerated increases without the protections of a full rate case audit.
• This Bad Debt Surcharge would have increased the volatility of natural gas bills, due to the correlation between wholesale gas rates and uncollectible accounts.
• The Bad Debt Surcharge would have been a hidden surcharge. By cleverly attempting to redefine certain bad debts as “gas costs”, it would have been disguised in the Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA), instead of being identified separately on gas bills.
• The legal purpose of the PGA is solely for recovering the wholesale cost of natural gas—not to compensate the utility for bad debt. In 2009, the Missouri PSC ruled unanimously that bad debt is not a “gas cost” [Case No. GT-2009-0026].
• This legislation would have decreased the utility’s incentive to effectively manage its bad debt accounts and increased the incentive to write off accounts early and pass those costs through the PGA. However, writing off accounts as “uncollectible” does not stop the utility from continuing to attempt collection from the customer who owes the debt.
• The Bad Debt Surcharge also reduces the utilities’ risk, and therefore increases their profits. These companies are already compensated for this risk through the return on equity (ROE) component of rates. Laclede and MGE are already permitted double-digit ROEs. In other states, it has been estimated that such surcharges would enhance earnings by 0.75% to 0.95%.

Single Issue Ratemaking

Single issue ratemaking is an unfair utility proposal whereby Missouri’s public utilities are allowed to increase electric rates on Missouri consumers through rate increase surcharges outside of the normal ratemaking process. As fuel charges have increased on Ameren as on all other consumers, for instance, Ameren has raised electrical rates via fuel surcharge increases. Often, Ameren has imposed these fuel surcharges even when their revenues are increase from other means such as off system sales. The result is that, while all Missourians struggle at times with increased fuel charges, only Ameren is able to pass those increased costs on to hard working families. FERAF opposes single-issue ratemaking for exactly these reasons.

Ameren Demands 18% Rate Increase

Missouri’s families and employers are struggling with a state unemployment rate of nearly 10%. In the face of this struggle, rather than tighten their belts like Missouri’s working families, Ameren demanded that the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC), the regulatory body responsible for policing the Ameren monopoly, allow another Ameren rate hike. Thanks to the efforts of concerned Missourians and FERAF the rate hike was cut nearly in half.

• Raise electricity rates on Missouri’s working families and employers by 18%.
• Resulted in an immediate rate hike on Missouri’s electricity users. If Ameren has their way, Missouri’s families and employers would have had their electricity rates raised immediately, during one of the most difficult economic downturns we’ve seen in decades.
• Ameren’s original request would have allowed them to raise rates more frequently.Despite the fact that they enjoy a monopoly, Ameren isn’t content with its profits. Buried in the fine print of of its 18% rate hike request was a plan to allow it to raise rates on struggling Missouri families more often through rate increase surcharges on customers’ electric bills. If Ameren had their way, Missourians would need to be prepared for more frequent rate increases!
• Cause Missouri job losses. Missourians are losing their jobs. Missouri businesses are being forced to downsize in order to stay afloat. Hiking rates on Missouri’s employers and small businesses when they’re already struggling will force many to lay off even more workers.
• Push already struggling Missouri families into poverty. Rate increases will hurt Missouri’s employers and small businesses but it will hurt Missouri families even more. In this fragile economy, thousands of families live on the brink of financial disaster. Electric rate increases will cause the number of Missouri families living in poverty to increase.

go Here to TAKE ACTION TODAY

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Reduced Solar Prices-March Madness Solar Prices!

March Madness Solar Prices!

On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 3:51 PM, Scotty-Scotts Contracting, St Louis Renewable Energy <scottscontracting> wrote:

March Madness Solar Prices!Our BEST PRICING EVER is now available for our industry leading Westinghouse Solar AC 235watt module, complete with an integrated Enphase microinverter: Westinghouse Solar AC 235watt Panel (w/Built-In Racking) + Enphase microinverter (Built-In)   Our BEST PRICING EVER is now available for our industry leading Westinghouse Solar AC 235watt module, complete with an integrated Enphase microinverter: Westinghouse Solar AC 235watt Panel (w/Built-In Racking) + Enphase microinverter (Built-In) ————————————————– As low as $1.93 per watt! Hurry – offer ends March 31, 2012. To Order - Contact Scotts Contracting, St Louis Renewable Energy Your Westinghouse Solar Account Manager for the St Louis Region

Health Benefits of Plants in the Work Place

Introducing living plants into your work place can actually have a large positive effect on your psychological and physical health.

Keywords: Flowers, Bouquet, Volatile Organic Compounds, Pollution, Office

Having plants in your work place does more for you than simply providing something pretty and refreshing to look at. Introducing living plants into your work area will actually have a large positive effect on your psychological and physical health by reducing stress, improving the air quality and providing a positive energy to your surroundings. Not only will you feel better while at work, but having plants nearby may also help to motivate you and boost your creativity. Here are a few examples of how plants can have this positive effect in your workspace.

Lower Stress

Having some greens in your work place does a lot for lowering the stress and tension that you might not even realise you have. Many studies have concluded that plants such as a Dragon tree, Bamboo palm, Snake plant, Chinese evergreen or Arrowhead vine can actively reduce your systolic blood pressure, and are even effective in low-lighting or windowless offices. Additionally, plants create positive energy in the office, which increases the attentiveness, motivation, concentration, creativity and efficiency of the workers, resulting in a much more productive work area.

A fresh <a href=" http://www.1300flowers.com.au/">bouquet</a> of <a href="http://www.0800flowers.com/">flowers</a> is also quite effective at keeping people calm and happy, and the pleasant fragrances make us feel relaxed. When strategically placed, plants can physically improve a workspace by creating natural barriers between cubicles that gives workers more privacy and reduces their stress, also helping drown out perpetual office noises that may subconsciously increase anxiety.

Improve General Health

Australians these days spend a significant amount of their lives indoors, which is a problem when you consider that sealed indoor air can house up to 10 times as many pollutants as the air outside. Toxic emissions from building constituents, airborne mould, dust mites, volatile organic compounds – from cleaning supplies, printers and paint – and viruses, are a few of the things floating around in an average office building, and become concentrated due to the lack of air flow in most buildings.

Green and flowering plants naturally clear the air of most toxins, and replace it with the clean, fresh oxygen that we need in order to have healthy, long lives. Some examples of great air filtering plants include the Janet Craig, Spider plants, Sweet Chicos, red edged Dracaenas, peace lilies and kentia palms. Some plants are also more effective at releasing larger amounts of oxygen such as sprouts, snake plants and areca palms.

Prevent Colds and Respiratory Problems

Dry, stale air is a large perpetuator of office colds, coughing, allergies, dry skin and eyes, sore throats and irritated nasal passages that together are known as "sick building syndrome". Leafy plants have been found to increase the humidity of a room by up to 5%, and so are quite effective in soothing our dried-out respiratory systems. The plants that are most effective at relieving us of dry air include English ivy, heart-leaf philodendron, fragrant dracaena, peace lily and African violet.

Not only do plants help us relax on an instinctual and unconscious level, but they also act to physically improve the quality of air we breathe. Most of us spend enough of our time stuck in an office, but that doesn’t mean that we have to let it negatively impact our personal health and happiness.