AB 811 – Page 2 – Creative Greenius

Cisco Devries, the Godfather of AB 811, Shows Us The Money For Solar

May 27, 2009May 29, 2009climate change, environment, renewable energy3 Comments

A couple of years ago, Cisco Devries was the mayor’s chief of staff in Berkeley, California. One day he decided he wanted to get solar PV panels for his home’s roof so he could generate his own clean, green renewable energy. But he ran up against the same money wall the rest of us do – that huge up front out of pocket expense of $15,0oo-$25,000 you need to pay to get the solar.

So Cisco started looking for a better way for people to pay for solar and he started talking to other folks in Berkeley government.

Before too long they came up with the idea of creating special tax or assessment districts – just like the ones used when people have their utilities undergrounded. They created the innovative concept of selling bonds to finance loans for the solar installations and then letting property owners pay back those loans over 20 years as an assessment on their property taxes.

Continue reading ➞ Cisco Devries, the Godfather of AB 811, Shows Us The Money For Solar

Greenius & Obama Celebrate Our First 100 Days!

April 30, 2009May 1, 2009citizen volunteer, environment, green building, renewable energy, solar power, Yes We Can!Leave a Comment

Answering the President’s Call To Serve A Higher Purpose

hfh-intsall-4_14-080 — April 14, 2009 GRID Alternative solar install for Habitat for Humanity

That’s your Creative Greenius in the orange hardhat, and my buddy the Reverend Ron giving the Hang Loose salute, atop the roof of a Habitat for Humanity home we successfully installed a Solar PV system on. And when I say “we” I mean GRID Alternatives the non-profit whose mission is to empower communities in need by providing renewable energy and energy efficiency services, equipment and training.

That’s Steve from GRID on the far left. He’s a great guy, working for the modest Americorps paycheck he and the other GRID staff folks make. It was an honor to work with them and I can’t wait to do my next install with GRID.

Continue reading ➞ Greenius & Obama Celebrate Our First 100 Days!

The Greenius Goes Into Overdrive

April 12, 2009April 12, 2009carbon producers, citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, environmental legislation, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, green building, green education, renewable energy, Saving Energy, solar power5 Comments

img_5854-copy1 — The Greenius in Yosemite

As the climate change crisis goes from bad to worse (while the deniers get nuttier and more cult-like with each passing day) and Australia gives Californians an advanced sneak preview at what is without a doubt headed our way sooner than you expect, your Creative Greenius has only gotten more Fired Up, Ready to Go!

That’s right my friends, while others are cutting back, downsizing, slowing down and pulling back, your Creative Greenius is not only Ready to Go, I’m already going, baby, and I’m moving at Obama speed.

So buckle up and hang on while I take you for a little trip with the Greenius to the places I’ve been and the places I’m going…

Continue reading ➞ The Greenius Goes Into Overdrive

The Solangelist’s Vision Shines Brighter

March 22, 2009March 23, 2009environment, environmental legislation, politics, renewable energy, solar power2 Comments

The Greenius Plan To Spread Rooftop Solar Faster Then The Common Cold

If you’ve followed The Adventures of the Solagnelist thus far you know that I am seriously jonesing to generate all my electricity from my own rooftop solar power. The only thing stopping me – an even more serious lack of the do-ray-mi.

As the late great Woody Guthrie put it,

California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won’t find it so hot
If you ain’t got the do re mi.

Woody wasn’t kidding and neither am I. And just like Woody, I’d like to sing you a song about a better way…

Continue reading ➞ The Solangelist’s Vision Shines Brighter

Exxon/Mobil To Fund Solar Financing Bond For Torrance Homeowners

March 8, 2009May 25, 2009carbon producers, climate change, election, environment, environmental legislation, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, politics, recycling, solar power, Sustainability, water conservation, Yes We Can!2 Comments

In a deal brokered by the city’s newly commissioned Citizens Environmental Task Force, Exxon/Mobil, owners of the Exxon/Mobil Refinery in the City of Torrance agreed today to fund a bond that will make low cost financing of solar energy systems for home and apartment owners. The loans for solar power, authorized under California’s AB 811, are added as assessments to a homeowner’s property tax bills and are passed on to the new owner if a home is sold.

Without Exxon Mobil’s funding of the financing bonds the program would not have had the money to offer loans in Torrance. The city had no money in the budget to make the program possible and no plans to find any in the midst of the on-going economic crisis. But Exxon/Mobil had no such money problems. “We’ve had one record profit quarter after another,” said a spokesperson for the oil company.

“We are so cash rich at the moment that we’re spending money all over the place while everyone else is forced to cut back. We know carbon taxes are coming and we won’t always be floating in a sea of profits we made at your expense. So it seemed only logical that we give a little back to a community we’ve released an awful lot of carbon in. Hell, that entire property our refinery’s on will probably be a superfund site after they force us to stop producing our fossil fuels.“

Continue reading ➞ Exxon/Mobil To Fund Solar Financing Bond For Torrance Homeowners

Inside The Green Task Force

December 8, 2008October 15, 2009carbon producers, citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, green buildings, politics, renewable energy, Saving Energy, solar power, Sustainability4 Comments

main_image For more than a year now in this blog I’ve been researching and reporting on climate change, energy and transportation issues and related environmental stories covering them on both a personal and a global perspective. I haven’t been breaking any hard news, I’ve just been spreading the news that doesn’t get enough attention and adding my take on top of it for the majority of my readers who don’t have the time to dig as deep as I do.

I have to admit I’ve shared a pretty dire world view when it comes to the current and coming impacts of climate change.

That’s what happens when you start each morning reading blog’s like Joseph Romm’s Climate Progress and following the work of Dr. James Hansen and the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change.

But during this same past year, I’ve also been attending the meetings of the South Bay Cities Green Task Force.

I’m there as one of the only independent citizens – and of course as the Creative Greenius, but I’m mostly there because I’m an aspiring policy wonk and I eat the content of these meetings up. The truth is, I’m unabashedly fascinated by and truly interested in the work they’re doing. And the work they’re doing brings California’s leading edge fight against global warming right into my neighborhood and into my home. It is, as the cliche puts it, where the rubber meets the road, and the road is the street I live on.

Continue reading ➞ Inside The Green Task Force

The Further Adventures of The Solangelist

December 2, 2008December 3, 2008climate change, environment, renewable energy, Saving Energy, solar power, Sustainability1 Comment

As we move into the final month of the year 2008 I keep looking up at my rooftop longingly.

Even with the extension of the solar tax credit which came as an unexpected bonus along with the $700 billion bailout and the big increase in how much you can claim, I still think dipping into my cash reserve to the tune of $29 grand for the up front cost of my solar system would be loony tunes at the moment – and with the economy putting us into this Not So Great Depression I’m not really interested in adding that much in debt in order to pay for my panels.

Continue reading ➞ The Further Adventures of The Solangelist

The Greenius Reviews His Solar Bids

October 5, 2008July 24, 2010environment, green lodgings, renewable energy, solar power, Sustainability3 Comments

(written on September 19)

The Kaweah Cottage we’ve been staying in was designed to accommodate solar panels. The Cottage is perfectly situated for unobstructed power generation and James Seligman, the owner and our host has everything – including the wiring – in place for a solar system – everything that is except the financing. It’s not going to be cheap, but eventually he’ll get it done. That’s just another thing James and I found we had in common.

I really enjoyed meeting James and getting to spend some time talking with him. He’s a righteous dude, a fellow Mac user, filmmaker, peace lover and progressive environmentalist, just like your pal the Creative Greenius.

Continue reading ➞ The Greenius Reviews His Solar Bids