Last night I attended an exciting presentation on the future of Solar Energy in New York City to a full house.
What is New York's Solar Potential ? was a fascinating discussion and the first in a series on the benefits of solar energy installation and renewable energy. I learned about SRECs (solar renewable energy credits), CCA or Community Choice Aggregation, how lobbyists can shape energy policy, "solar ivy" a cool set of photovoltaic panels used as design element in the conversion of homes and just how far behind the Empire State is behind Ontario in green tech job creation. (Way behind!) The knowledgeable and passionate panel consisted of Alison Kling from CUNY's
NYC Solar Map; Anthony Pereira of
altPower, Inc and Megan Matson from the Marin County chapter of
Lean Energy US that got their start as a grassroots group of concerned moms. Moderated by Ran Kohn of Cleantech Corridor, the take away was the urgency to transition to solar energy now rather than 2027 with a mixed use portfolio in wind and hydro.
What does this have to do with your health or skin care?
Well if skin is the third lung quite a lot. Greenhouse gas emissions or simply put air pollution in the form of
sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen dioxide make breathing difficult for even the healthiest and very difficult for those already suffering from asthma. The particles formed with moisture penetrate the respiratory system that causes inflammation leading to what we know as an asthma attack. Here in New York City we have seen a spike in childhood asthma in a direct corallary with new energy plants opening in the Bronx. It's a problem nationwide.
Here's the Good News
There are tremendous strides being made across the country in states like Illinois and Ohio working with LEAN Energy. Recently 22 cities in Illinois switched to rewables because they are seeing a savings in how they choose to generate power. In Utah,
Jeff Robertson the green tech coordinator at USANA Health Sciences has just completed covering the roof with solar panels. This means the manufacturing plant now generates 167 kilowatts of energy per year which is the equivalent energy produced by 24 households. That means that our
skin care line and nutritional supplements production are created using solar power. Now we can all breathe a little easier.
Tips:
Check out these cool links:
Solar Ivy University of Utah Grants for Solar Usana Solar Panels Water back by Meagan Perry Meagan we liked your mention of Germany.
About ReNew New York A Discussion Series on Renewable energy.Series Co-Sponsors: The Environmental Task Force of The Congregation of Saint Saviour; The Green Sanctuary Committee of the Community Church of New York, UU; NYC Friends of Clearwater; Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter Gas Drilling Task Force; Tri-State Food Not Lawns/Neighborhood Energy Network; NY Climate Action Group; Sane Energy Project; United for Action; WBAI’s Eco-logic
