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PG&E solar conference insensitive to union workers and the public
SF unions are picketing the Hyatt, where the Conference is being held. Hotel workers have been locked out of their jobs for weeks because they had the nerve to ask for economic security and health benefits. San Francisco is a union town. Why hasn't the conference been moved to another location? Is the confrence to help "We the people" or PR for Corporations?
PG&E solar conference insensitive to union workers and the public
By Barbara George and Maurice Campbell
You may have heard there’s a big solar conference in San Francisco this week10/18-21. Priced high for regular folks, it is designed for industry insiders. Do you wonder whether the San Francisco working person or the poor will see some benefit?
http://www.solarpower2004.com/category.php/17.html
• SF unions are picketing the Hyatt, where the Conference is being held. Hotel workers have been locked out of their jobs for weeks because they had the nerve to ask for economic security and health benefits. San Francisco is a union town. Why hasn't the conference been moved to another location?
link: Locked Out http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2004/10/1704134.php
• PG&E is co-sponsor, with SF's public power agency, SF Public Utilities Commission. Doesn't that seem a little strange? PG&E has opposed renewable energy development for 30 years and fought public power in SF for nearly 100 years, most recently in 2001 in 2002 elections clouded by ethical lapses linked to PG&E.
link: 2001 public power election http://www.sfbg.com/News/36/07/07edpge.html
2002 http://www.sfbg.com/37/17/news_fame.html
If you think PG&E may have had a change of heart, read on:
• There is nothing listed on the program about SF's Energy Independence Ordinance, passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors this year. It is designed to quickly provide 40% of SF's power from renewable energy & efficiency based on "Community Choice", a 2002 State law authored by Carole Migden (with rules to be decided very soon at the Calif. PUC). SF is the first of 60 Calif. cities and counties preparing to use the law to make their own decisions on what kind of energy to buy for their residents and businesses (while continuing to use utility power lines). A feasibility study for 26 cities shows Community Choice can provide 40% renewables with NO short-term rate increase and vast savings to ratepayers over time.
link: Local Power http://www.local.org/independ.html
• There is nothing on the program about SF Solar Bonds (Prop H), passed in 2001 which gives SF Supervisors unlimited bonding authority for solar, wind and other renewables and energy efficiency. Prop H is a companion to Community Choice. (The other Solar Bond measure, Prop B, was declared illegal, but there are no legal impediments to Prop H.)
link: http://www.localpower.org
• Lennar Corp. IS featured on the program. Lennar is the former Mayor's sweetheart choice to develop Hunters Point Shipyard — a non-union Florida company notorious for building housing on toxic dumps. Lennar is embroiled in scandal after illegally canceling a radio broadcast of a public meeting where "community benefits" were to be questioned and discussed. What are they trying to hide?
link: Developer Deception http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2004/10/1704168.php
• There is no panel on global warming or depletion of oil and natural gas — hot topics these days that lend urgency to the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency. US energy corporations have worked for decades to cast doubt on the international scientific consensus and prevent development of sane solutions. PG&E is currently fighting hard at the CPUC to restore its monopoly over energy efficiency and kill independent programs that save more energy — and cut into PG&E's profits.
links:Lessen the dependency on oil http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2004/10/1704048.php
http://www.whoi.edu/institutes/occi/currenttopics/climatechange_wef.html climate change
http://www.womensenergymatters.org current campaigns/ energy efficiency
contact Barbara George at bgwem [at] igc.org
contact Maurice Campbell at mecsoft [at] pacbell.net
By Barbara George and Maurice Campbell
You may have heard there’s a big solar conference in San Francisco this week10/18-21. Priced high for regular folks, it is designed for industry insiders. Do you wonder whether the San Francisco working person or the poor will see some benefit?
http://www.solarpower2004.com/category.php/17.html
• SF unions are picketing the Hyatt, where the Conference is being held. Hotel workers have been locked out of their jobs for weeks because they had the nerve to ask for economic security and health benefits. San Francisco is a union town. Why hasn't the conference been moved to another location?
link: Locked Out http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2004/10/1704134.php
• PG&E is co-sponsor, with SF's public power agency, SF Public Utilities Commission. Doesn't that seem a little strange? PG&E has opposed renewable energy development for 30 years and fought public power in SF for nearly 100 years, most recently in 2001 in 2002 elections clouded by ethical lapses linked to PG&E.
link: 2001 public power election http://www.sfbg.com/News/36/07/07edpge.html
2002 http://www.sfbg.com/37/17/news_fame.html
If you think PG&E may have had a change of heart, read on:
• There is nothing listed on the program about SF's Energy Independence Ordinance, passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors this year. It is designed to quickly provide 40% of SF's power from renewable energy & efficiency based on "Community Choice", a 2002 State law authored by Carole Migden (with rules to be decided very soon at the Calif. PUC). SF is the first of 60 Calif. cities and counties preparing to use the law to make their own decisions on what kind of energy to buy for their residents and businesses (while continuing to use utility power lines). A feasibility study for 26 cities shows Community Choice can provide 40% renewables with NO short-term rate increase and vast savings to ratepayers over time.
link: Local Power http://www.local.org/independ.html
• There is nothing on the program about SF Solar Bonds (Prop H), passed in 2001 which gives SF Supervisors unlimited bonding authority for solar, wind and other renewables and energy efficiency. Prop H is a companion to Community Choice. (The other Solar Bond measure, Prop B, was declared illegal, but there are no legal impediments to Prop H.)
link: http://www.localpower.org
• Lennar Corp. IS featured on the program. Lennar is the former Mayor's sweetheart choice to develop Hunters Point Shipyard — a non-union Florida company notorious for building housing on toxic dumps. Lennar is embroiled in scandal after illegally canceling a radio broadcast of a public meeting where "community benefits" were to be questioned and discussed. What are they trying to hide?
link: Developer Deception http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2004/10/1704168.php
• There is no panel on global warming or depletion of oil and natural gas — hot topics these days that lend urgency to the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency. US energy corporations have worked for decades to cast doubt on the international scientific consensus and prevent development of sane solutions. PG&E is currently fighting hard at the CPUC to restore its monopoly over energy efficiency and kill independent programs that save more energy — and cut into PG&E's profits.
links:Lessen the dependency on oil http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2004/10/1704048.php
http://www.whoi.edu/institutes/occi/currenttopics/climatechange_wef.html climate change
http://www.womensenergymatters.org current campaigns/ energy efficiency
contact Barbara George at bgwem [at] igc.org
contact Maurice Campbell at mecsoft [at] pacbell.net
For more information:
http://www.womensenergymatters.org current...
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Mayor Gavin Newsom has ordered that no one crosses the picket lines. The main events have already been moved to other sites where the Union is not picketing. The exhibits are for free and open to the public. While it is true that too much publicity has not been given to this Solar Event - it has been known to those who are educated and educate themselves on current Solar Events that this event organized by the lead organization in Washington DC has gone out of its way to bring a good Solar Conference to San Francisco. When the Solar Conference was chosen to be held in San Francisco the current Hotel Strike could not be predicted. Right now all the key events will be held at City Hall and at 77 Beale. The politics behind Solar Energy should be handled by those who oppose it ouside this Solar Conference. The politics of San Francisco should NOT be mixed up with this Solar Conference. Check it out for yourself and you will see for yourself. This confernce will give the lay person an opportunity to see for themselves nearer to home some of the best current technology. It will also afford them an opportuntiy to learn. We should move forward and the best way is by educating ourselves. Here is one of many opportunities. Screw the local politics which we have to deal with as and when they prop up on a case by case bases. I can say so loud and clear because I attend most of the meetings. The good thing about the City and County of San Franciso is we all are afforded to dialog at the LAFCO, before the BOS, CEE, CAISO, SFPUC, CPUC you name it. Our duty is to educate the people and have thousands who can think for themselves and help the cause. Too many arm chair critics who do not want to approach the masses and spend time with them, listen to them, and educate them with real practical facts. Solar Energy is here to stay and we will fight for what is good. This can only happen through education and this Solar Conference with its free exhibits in just the tip of the iceberg. The other alternative is to sit and bitch and we do not have time for that. Good leaders know the way, show the way, and go the way.
It is a positive step to know the conference has been moved; however the exhibits are still at the Hyatt. The history links show very clearly a less than open and fair policy to Alternative Energy and Community Aggregation by some of the very corporations named. In this time of concern of Global Warming as reflected by the Conference at Stanford this weekend and a diminishing oil supply and from emerging countries coming on line. All alternative energy supplies need to be examined including energy efficiency to reduce the dependence on oil. The consumers need relief with energy prices at runaway highs eating up any discriminatory income they may have. It is time for the rubber to meet the road not time for a lot of hot air or BS.
For more information:
http://www.mecresources.com
As a San Francisco resident living in an apartment, please explain to me how solar will help reduce my electric bill? I make a little over minimum wage, between health care cost, car insurance, taxes, food, gas and my utility bill I have nothing left, am I the only consumer in this position. I have watched my income degrade over time. What can I do to reduce my bills now? Or is this only for large consumers of power?
1. Community Choice: http://www.local.org
2. Energy Independence Ordinance: http://www.local.org/independ.html
3. H Bonds: http://www.local.org/hbondlnk.html
2. Energy Independence Ordinance: http://www.local.org/independ.html
3. H Bonds: http://www.local.org/hbondlnk.html
For more information:
http://womensenergymatters.org
FedEx will build the state's largest private solar power array to meet electricity needs at its hub at Oakland International Airport.
The shipping giant and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown announced the new solar plan Monday under a cloudy sky. When the panels are up and running next year, they will produce almost enough electricity to run FedEx's Oakland hub.
"FedEx is proving that solar power works for business," said Brown, an advocate of solar power since the 1970s when he was California governor.
"Thanks to the vision shown by FedEx, we're adding nearly one megawatt of zero-pollution electric generating capacity to Oakland," Brown said. "With this project, we're well on our way to my administration's goal of adding five megawatts of solar power in Oakland by the end of 2005."
The mayor has set the ambitious goal of generating all of Oakland's electricity by renewable energy by 2030.
In June, Brown presided over the dedication of a 68-kilowatt solar power system at Open Hand Manufacturing Inc., a wood processing shop in the Fruitvale district, and a 30-kilowatt system at a new residential building in the Temescal district in North Oakland.
When the FedEx project is complete in May, the new solar panels will cover the roof of the company's two buildings at the airport, where 1,700 employees work.
The 904-kilowatt FedEx solar array will provide approximately 80 percent of the peak load demand for the shipping company's Oakland operations.
It will include 5,769 photovoltaic modules, composed of more than 300,000 solar cells that convert sunlight directly into electricity. The electricity generated by the FedEx system will be the equivalent to that used by more than 900 homes during the daytime.
The Oakland array in the second largest in California -- only the 1.1- megawatt system at Alameda County's Santa Rita Jail is bigger -- and one of the nation's largest.
The FedEx solar array will also produce the most energy at times when California's electrical grid is most taxed -- during the hottest, sunniest days of summer.
"Harnessing the sun's power to generate electricity is a good investment, both financially and environmentally," said Dan Shugar, president of PowerLight, the Berkeley firm that is designing and building the array.
"By outfitting this airport facility with solar power and incorporating energy efficiency measures, FedEx will be generating clean power and helping offset peak power costs statewide -- which benefits all California utility customers."
This is FedEx's second major "environmental innovation" this year. In March, FedEx became the first national shipping company to make a long-term market commitment to develop and use hybrid electric delivery trucks. The hybrid trucks were first introduced in Sacramento and will gradually be phased- in in other U.S. cities.
Monday's announcement at the Oakland airport came as what is being billed as the nation's largest solar energy conference, Solar Power 2004, began in San Francisco. Because of skyrocketing oil prices, many businesses are looking at solar alternatives for the first time.
The shipping giant and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown announced the new solar plan Monday under a cloudy sky. When the panels are up and running next year, they will produce almost enough electricity to run FedEx's Oakland hub.
"FedEx is proving that solar power works for business," said Brown, an advocate of solar power since the 1970s when he was California governor.
"Thanks to the vision shown by FedEx, we're adding nearly one megawatt of zero-pollution electric generating capacity to Oakland," Brown said. "With this project, we're well on our way to my administration's goal of adding five megawatts of solar power in Oakland by the end of 2005."
The mayor has set the ambitious goal of generating all of Oakland's electricity by renewable energy by 2030.
In June, Brown presided over the dedication of a 68-kilowatt solar power system at Open Hand Manufacturing Inc., a wood processing shop in the Fruitvale district, and a 30-kilowatt system at a new residential building in the Temescal district in North Oakland.
When the FedEx project is complete in May, the new solar panels will cover the roof of the company's two buildings at the airport, where 1,700 employees work.
The 904-kilowatt FedEx solar array will provide approximately 80 percent of the peak load demand for the shipping company's Oakland operations.
It will include 5,769 photovoltaic modules, composed of more than 300,000 solar cells that convert sunlight directly into electricity. The electricity generated by the FedEx system will be the equivalent to that used by more than 900 homes during the daytime.
The Oakland array in the second largest in California -- only the 1.1- megawatt system at Alameda County's Santa Rita Jail is bigger -- and one of the nation's largest.
The FedEx solar array will also produce the most energy at times when California's electrical grid is most taxed -- during the hottest, sunniest days of summer.
"Harnessing the sun's power to generate electricity is a good investment, both financially and environmentally," said Dan Shugar, president of PowerLight, the Berkeley firm that is designing and building the array.
"By outfitting this airport facility with solar power and incorporating energy efficiency measures, FedEx will be generating clean power and helping offset peak power costs statewide -- which benefits all California utility customers."
This is FedEx's second major "environmental innovation" this year. In March, FedEx became the first national shipping company to make a long-term market commitment to develop and use hybrid electric delivery trucks. The hybrid trucks were first introduced in Sacramento and will gradually be phased- in in other U.S. cities.
Monday's announcement at the Oakland airport came as what is being billed as the nation's largest solar energy conference, Solar Power 2004, began in San Francisco. Because of skyrocketing oil prices, many businesses are looking at solar alternatives for the first time.
For more information:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...
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