Energy Efficiency

Michael Sarbanes, a candidate for City Council president, plans to unveil a proposal today that he says would promote energy-efficiency measures to help residents reduce the impact of higher electricity rates, while also creating jobs. Sarbanes, a longtime community activist making his first run for public office, was to announce his proposal this morning, followed by a demonstration of an energy audit at a private residence. The proposal would encourage people to conduct an energy-efficiency audit on their homes, identifying passages where air escapes and targeting areas for sealing and insulation.

The city of Annapolis has announced a pilot program aimed at providing residents and small-business owners with funding for affordable, energy-efficient improvements to their homes and shops. The Annapolis Energy Zone, or EZ, program - formed with the help of the Maryland Energy Administration, the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce, and Commerce First Bank - will provide private funds to property owners interested in reducing the city's impact on the environment. "This will be a program that will allow the reduction of the carbon footprint and is one part of the city's overall program to increase energy efficiency," said City Administrator Bob Agee.

In a deal that could benefit Baltimore's air quality and its bottom line, city officials said yesterday that they will soon capture methane gas from a landfill and sell it to the Coast Guard as a source of energy. The 16,000 tons of methane generated by the Quarantine Road Landfill annually will be pumped to the Coast Guard Yard, which will use the gas to light and heat its 112-acre facility on Hawkins Point Road in Curtis Bay - reducing its reliance on traditional energy sources. Several local governments across the country and in Maryland - including Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties - are looking at ways not only to reuse methane, which is a greenhouse gas, but also to turn what gas they collect into a revenue source.

It's an ad man's dream -- state officials honoring the state capital for its efforts to make the air cleaner and the skies bluer by changing the kind of fuel that runs the city garbage truck.The Maryland Energy Department recognized Annapolis in a ceremony at City Dock yesterday for converting the garbage truck, two public works vehicles and a new trolley bus to alternative fuels and for using energy-efficient building lighting systems and computers.It was part of a ceremony to launch Energy Efficiency Month in the state.

WASHINGTON -- In their renewed campaign to abolish the Department of Energy, congressional Republicans have the right goal but the wrong reasons.The department should be terminated, not out of indiscriminate ideological animus against big government, but because it's a slovenly organization, a menace to public safety and incorrigibly immune to reform. Its important functions in nuclear-weapons storage, scientific research, energy efficiency and environmental cleanup must continue. But they should be put under the management of government agencies that can responsibly handle complex affairs.

KYOTO, Japan -- While world leaders meet this week to posture, horse-trade and bicker over how to combat global warming, a quiet revolution is under way in communities around the world that are not waiting for an international treaty before they act.The movement involves 100 million people in 202 cities that account for 5 percent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, the major byproduct of energy use blamed for destabilizing the climate.Such important greenhouse gas-emitters as Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Chicago have joined the campaign and have cut their emissions by installing new streetlights and reducing traffic.

IN THIS winter of ice and snow and record low temperatures, most people have been focused on keeping their body heat up and their energy budgets down.With the announcement of the federal energy budget for fiscal year 1995, President Clinton and Congress should seize this opportunity to dramatically shift federal energy research dollars toward energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy sources.For most Americans, using energy for whatever purpose is hard not only on the pocketbook; it's hard also on the environment because we are so dependent on fossil fuels and nuclear power.

St. Paul, Minnesota. -- The elections are shaping up to be a referendum. Not on Bill Clinton or even on the Democratic party, but on government itself. Maybe that's as it should be. For the fundamental difference between the Democratic and Republican parties is their attitude toward government.Democrats believe government can do good. Republicans don't. Rep. Dick Armey of Texas sums up the reigning Republican philosophy best: Government is always wrong; the market is always right.If I were running for political office as a Democrat, I'd offer voters a compelling instance of a government intervention that has worked marvelously well: energy efficiency standards.

People were urged to help save energy by changing their lifestyles and by writing to Congress about energy policy in a report released yesterday by the Maryland Public Interest Research Group (MaryPIRG)."With the ice and snow and frigid temperatures upon us, most people are just trying to keep warm. Unfortunately, staying warm is often hard on your pocketbook and on the environment," said Carl Perry, field organizer for MaryPIRG, a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer and environmental advocacy group.

Potomac Edison is introducing its first energy-conservation programs that include financial incentives for customers to participate.But the power company's Maryland customers -- in part of Carroll County and all of Western Maryland -- will have to foot the bill as builders and businesses enjoy most of the incentives.The programs give rebates for installing energy-efficient lighting and energy-saving devices, said Susan Tuckwell, director of customer relations for Potomac Edison."We've been encouraging energy efficiency and energy conservation for a long time," she said.

Focus on efficiency, not nuclear plant Sunday's Sun editorial claims the Constellation Energy Group-Electricit? de France deal will help ratepayers, in part because EDF might construct a new nuclear reactor that will increase Maryland's supply of electricity ("PSC's power play," Sept. 20). The cost of a new nuclear reactor is in the billions, and the electricity generated by the reactor may not be available for a decade. The problem is that ratepayers are suffering high energy costs now. The best and most immediate solution to our high energy costs is investment in energy efficiency.

Spring is the season to start thinking about air conditioning, or at least to put in a call and have the gizmos looked over. What you really need to think about this year is that the inner workings of cooling systems in this country are due for a big change come Jan. 1 - in an effort to comply with an international green treaty and spare the ever-depleting ozone layer. There are at least five things you should know in the cooling department. What's Montreal got to do with it? There's an international treaty - the Montreal Protocol - that, if adhered to, could lead to the recovery of the ozone layer by 2050.

President Barack Obama announced yesterday his intention to nominate Kristina M. Johnson, provost of the Johns Hopkins University, to be undersecretary of energy. Johnson, 51, has been provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Hopkins since 2007. Before that, she was dean of engineering at Duke University. An award-winning electrical engineer, she holds 129 U.S. and foreign patents or patents pending and is the co-founder of several startup companies. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be responsible for leading administration initiatives in energy efficiency, solar and wind power, geothermal energy, clean-car technology and other forms of renewable energy.

Think your BGE bill is high? Meet the Glaun family of Owings Mills. Their electricity bill last month topped $900. And that was a major improvement over January, when they had to pay a whopping $1,151. "It's quite embarrassing," said Kim Glaun, who says she turns off lights in empty rooms and lowers the thermostat at night. "We feel like there's a big hole in our house." Turns out, their house is full of little holes that appeared last week as purple splotches captured by an infrared camera that "sees" invisible cold pockets - evidence that chilly air is invading a home as warmth escapes.

Officials with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., the largest energy provider in Maryland, told regulators at a hearing yesterday that home-heating bills have skyrocketed this winter mainly because of significantly colder weather, greater household consumption and, to a lesser extent, spikes in commodity costs for electricity and gas. Company officials also noted other factors - including longer billing cycles in November and December and the proliferation of...

President-elect Barack Obama's energy team is in place, and he has ambitious plans to reform the nation's energy system. Where should he start? How about with the nation's largest consumer of petroleum - the Pentagon. Historically, the Department of Defense and national security concerns drove innovation and inventions that have changed the world. The issue of energy reform presents a timely opportunity for the department to reclaim that critical role. Mr. Obama has laid out a "Plan for Energy and Environment" acknowledging that our addiction to foreign oil undermines our national security.

Teach kids the skills to resolve conflicts I was touched and saddened by two articles in Thursday's Baltimore Sun. A page one article told of a 16-year-old Baltimore girl who unintentionally caused the death of her grandmother in an argument over pictures on the wall in her room ("Baltimore teen charged in her grandmother's death after argument," Nov. 20). She's charged with second-degree murder. A second article told of a 16-year-old Glen Burnie boy who was succeeding in school ("Teen accused in killing praised by social worker," Nov. 20)

Maryland and five other states launched a pioneering effort to combat climate change yesterday by auctioning off rights for power plants to release Earth-warming carbon dioxide into the air. How much Maryland and the other states got for their pollution credits won't be announced until Monday, but the proceeds will be used for energy efficiency programs and other efforts designed to offset any resulting increase in rates - and, proponents argue, eventually...

The city of Annapolis has announced a pilot program aimed at providing residents and small-business owners with funding for affordable, energy-efficient improvements to their homes and shops. The Annapolis Energy Zone, or EZ, program - formed with the help of the Maryland Energy Administration, the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce, and Commerce First Bank - will provide private funds to property owners interested in reducing the city's impact on the environment. "This will be a program that will allow the reduction of the carbon footprint and is one part of the city's overall program to increase energy efficiency," said City Administrator Bob Agee.

It's unlikely that officials with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. expected the Maryland Public Service Commission to reject most of the company's energy-efficiency programs. After all, what the utility had proposed - the customary package of consumer incentives and rebates - reflects what's been done in the past and continues to take place elsewhere. But the PSC move last month was right if for no other reason then simple cost-effectiveness. Traditional approaches such as offering rebates to buyers who use Energy Star appliances are unduly expensive (though potentially lucrative to the utility)