The answer to the enemies of net metering: Battery Powered Homes

The answer to the enemies of net metering. But then they would declare it constitutional to charge self sufficient residents a fee for not using an utility...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxABosWfuus

Tesla's Power Wall might even offer a better deal: https://youtu.be/FHswxauDGVg

Michigan Passes Legislation to Boost Renewables Mandate, Retain Net Metering - for now

First I read https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/michigan-passes-bills-to-boost-renewables-mandate-retain-net-metering and got really excited, then I read a more detailed article by David Eggert, Associated Press, online at: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Energy-legislation-appears-to-be-in-reach-on-10797759.php which was also mirrored by the Daily Telegram the past Friday (12/16/2016), In this article, the details of a proposed change in net-metering of residential and business renewable energy producers were provided as such:
"— not apply — for now — a "grid" charge to new customers participating in a net metering program, instead requiring a study to determine an appropriate fee. These are residents and businesses with their own wind turbines, solar panels or other types of renewable sources that reduce their electric bills."
This is good news for now - but an appropriate fee may come at any time and with much less public notice. I fear they (DTE, Consumers and their lobbyists) will try to slip this in as sneaky as the registration penalty for environmentally conscious drivers of electric and hybrid cars that just came in the mail. I will have to pay $60 more a year because my Prius uses less fuel and therefore I would not be paying my fair share on the improvements of Michigan streets and roads. A crooked logic that got the environmental movements divided and was introduced in a very sneaky - and delayed way to reduce resistance to almost nonexistent levels.

Justin Trudeau Approves Oil Pipeline Expansion in Canada

And after the carbon tax decision I expected that Canada would show more leadership...

OTTAWA — In a decision that will almost surely prompt showdowns with environmentalists, indigenous groups and some political allies, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada approved on Tuesday the expansion of a pipeline linking the oil sands in Alberta to a tanker port in British Columbia.

Full Story: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/world/canada/canada-trudeau-kinder-morgan-pipeline.html?post_id=10209155423986639_10212109270870965#_=_

Trump promised to bring back coal. Now some worry he will take away miners’ black lung benefits

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DAVID GOLDMAN/APA coal miner in a West Virginia mine.

By ERIC BOODMAN @ericboodman

NOVEMBER 28, 2016

A

gain and again, President-elect Donald Trump presented himself as the coal miners’ candidate. During the campaign, he promised to bring coal back into the economy, and jobs back into struggling Appalachian towns.

But now some in coal country are worried that instead of helping, Trump’s first actions will deprive miners — and their widows and children — of the compensation they can receive if they are disabled by respiratory problems linked to breathing coal mine dust.

That’s because buried in the Affordable Care Act are three sentences that made it much easier to access these benefits. If Trump repeals Obamacare — as he vowed to do before the election — and does not keep that section on the books, the miners will be back to where they were in 2009, when it was exceedingly difficult to be awarded compensation for “black lung” disease.

Full Story: https://www.statnews.com/2016/11/28/trump-black-lung/

Trump Digs Coal - let him dig it up personally!

Environ Health Perspect; DOI:10.1289/ehp.124-A13

A Scourge Returns: Black Lung in Appalachia

In the early 1970s, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, or black lung, affected around one-third of long-term underground miners. After new dust regulations took effect, rates of black lung plunged. Today, however, they are once again rising dramatically, and the new generation of black lung patients have disease that progresses far more rapidly than in the past.
© Tyler Stableford/Getty

Background image: Arthur Rothstein/Library of Congress

Carrie Arnold is a freelance science writer living in Virginia. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Discover, New Scientist, Smithsonian, and more.

About This Article open

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Once a month, a group of men in t-shirts, jeans, and baseball caps gather around a long table at the New River Health Clinic. The clinic, a small, one-story yellow clapboard building, is located in the tiny town of Scarbro, nestled in the bituminous hills of southern West Virginia. The members of the Fayette County Black Lung Association greet each other by name while they pour bitter black coffee into small Styrofoam cups.

Full Story: http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/124-a13/

Trump: This is NOT what "Draining the Swamp" looks like

Interesting Collection by Corporate Accountability International

Trump's cabinet is a swamp full of corporate lobbyists.

Donald Trump railed against corporate power all through the election season. He promised to “drain the swamp” of special interests in Washington. But you need look no further than his cabinet appointments to see that he has no intention of draining the swamp.

In fact, his actions promise to flood the swamp, entrench corporate power, and deepen conflicts of interest between the White House and corporations.

Help block the expansion of corporate power. Donate now and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

Here are just a few of the swamp creatures that Trump has nominated:

REX TILLERSON: OIL BARON
Photo Credit: William Munoz, Flickr, creative commons.	Currently the CEO of Exxon Mobil, Tillerson is Trump's nominee for Secretary of State. With business dealings around the globe, he will run the State Department like an extension of Exxon's business development department. Donate now and double your impact!

SCOTT PRUITT: CLIMATE DENIER
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr, creative commons.	Pruitt, a close ally of the fossil fuel industry, is Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. As Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt has been the force behind the legal battles against President Obama’s climate change policies. Donate now and double your impact!

MIKE PENCE: BIG TOBACCO'S BEST FRIEND
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr, creative commons.	Trump's VP has received more than a hundred thousand dollars from the tobacco industry and actively opposed tobacco control measures throughout his time as a member of Congress. Donate now and double your impact!

ANDREW PUZDER: FAST FOOD MOGUL
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr, creative commons.	Trump's nominee to head the Department of Labor is currently the CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns Carl's Jr. and Hardees -- both of which have been accused of stealing wages from their workers. He is against raising the minimum wage, expanding overtime pay, and more. Donate now and double your impact!

STEVEN MNUCHIN: BIG BANK BULLY
Photo Credit: greatagain.gov.	Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary profited from the housing meltdown of 2008. A former Goldman Sachs partner, Mnuchin ran a bank that made its money by foreclosing on the homes of tens of thousands of people. Donate now and double your impact!

Together with you, Corporate Accountability International is building a people-powered movement to block the expansion of corporate power under the Trump administration. We cannot let up for a moment on our campaigns to protect our climate, our public water systems, our food system, and people’s health from corporate abuse. Give today to strengthen this movement. Your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

Vigilance and Monitoring of Trumps Actions are Needed to Build a Case Against Him at the International Criminal Tribunal for Committing Crimes against Humanity and the Earth Community

If Trump is continuing to put climate change deniers on his cabinet, if he is dismantling the few climate mitigations that the Obama administration enacted, if he is withdrawing the US from the Paris treaty and by doing so discourages China and India to continue on the path of the Paris agreement, then the international community should file a law suit at the international tribunal of the UN and charge him and his cabinet for crimes against humanity and the Earth community! We do not have time for oblivion and denial! We are at a tipping point to lose good neighborly relations to other countries, a humane society and a healthy planet. We have to stand up against this insanity and take serious actions to reverse climate change!