By Robert Reich

And now there are five — five Wall Street behemoths, bigger than they were before the Great Meltdown, paying fatter salaries and bonuses to retain their so-called”talent,” and raking in huge profits. The biggest difference between now and last October is these biggies didn’t know then that they were too big to fail and the government would bail them out if they got into trouble. Now they do. And like a giant, gawking adolescent who’s just discovered he can crash the Lexus convertible his rich dad gave him and the next morning have a new one waiting in his driveway courtesy of a dad who can’t say no, the biggies will drive even faster now, taking even bigger risks.

What to do? Two ideas are floating around Washington, but only one is supported by the Treasury and the White House. Unfortunately, it’s the wrong one.

The right idea is to break up the giant banks. I don’t often agree with Alan Greenspan but he was right when he said last week that “[i]f they’re too big to fail, they’re too big.” Greenspan noted that the government broke up Standard Oil in 1911, and what happened? “The individual parts became more valuable than the whole. Maybe that’s what we need to do.” (Historic footnote: Had Greenspan not supported in 1999 Congress’s repeal of the Glass Steagall Act, which separated investment from commercial banking, we wouldn’t be in the soup we’re in to begin with.)
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By Chris Wade
Vermont is known for skiing, maple syrup, fall foliage, liberal politics, and to some – cloudy days. In an average year Burlington Vermont only enjoys sunshine 49.4% of available daylight hours. It is no surprise that other areas of the country are considered better suited for solar energy such as Phoenix, Arizona which receives 85.4% of potential sunshine.

However solar energy is a growth industry in Vermont. The latest and largest example has just been installed adjacent to a former maple sugarbush and has been commissioned in Hinesburg, Vermont. This system consists of 36 20′ x 16′ photovoltaic panels combined with GPS controlled AllSun Tracker panels that repositions the array to optimize performance as the sun moves across the sky.
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This fall Rinnai Corporation has released new produces featuring high efficiency condensing technology.

First, Rinnai has added 4 new condensing gas tankless water heating models. These new units feature the operational benefits of their current tankless water heater line including continuous hot water, but also provide improved energy savings and environmental benefits. Rinnai’s condensing water heaters are Energy Star qualified and deliver efficiencies up to 95%. (more…)

The University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) won the hot water contest at recently concluded Solar Decathlon by being the only team to get a perfect score in the category. They were ranked second overall and was the best American team in the contest.

Their winning design used heat pump water heater technology from a Houston-based company, AirGenerate. Their flagship product AirTap™ can be retrofitted onto any existing water heater tank to reduce the water heating bill by upto 70%. It runs on a regular 110V outlet so can be powered by solar panels as well.

“We are excited to win the hot water contest. AirTap™ heat pump water heater played a pivotal role in that. We looked at several technologies but made the right choice with AirTap™. Besides being extremely efficient and capable of running on solar, AirTap™ also helped us with its cooling and dehumidification capabilities.” said Alan Mellovitz, Solar Decathlon team member from University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).

The Solar Decathlon is an educational program undertaken by the Department of Energy to promote and encourage energy efficiency in building and operating houses. The competition features twenty US and international university-led teams. The Decathlon gets its name from the 10 specific areas of competition: architecture, engineering, market viability, communications, comfort, appliances, hot water, lighting, energy balance, and transportation. The ‘hot water’ segment of the contest requires teams to simulate average household hot-water consumption and deliver 15 gallons of water at 110°F in 10 minutes or less.

To visit the University of Illinois Solar Decathlon Site Click Here

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The number of Americans who believe there is solid evidence the Earth is warming because of pollution is at its lowest point in three years, according to a survey released Thursday.

The poll of 1,500 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that only 57 percent believe there is strong scientific evidence the Earth has gotten hotter over the past few decades, and as a result, people are viewing the situation as less serious. That’s down from 77 percent in 2006, and 71 percent in April 2008.

The steepest drop occurred during the past year, as Congress and the Obama administration have taken steps to control heat-trapping emissions for the first time and international negotiations for a new treaty to slow global warming have been under way. At the same time, there has been mounting scientific evidence of climate change – from melting ice caps to the world’s oceans hitting the highest monthly recorded temperatures this summer.

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