Shelby's blog

    If you want to know where the real environmental activism is taking place, you don’t have to look far. Local governments, frustrated by a federal administration that is woefully inactive on the issue of climate change, are tackling global warming from the ground up. Texas cities are taking matters into their own hands with aggressive local legislation that attacks everything from air pollution to waste management. How are they able to do this? It’s simple: the citizens expect no less. As Abraham Lincoln once stated in his famed Gettysburg Address, our governments are “of the people, by the people, for the people”, and only through the people will government take action and change.

We've all noticed the errant July weather we've been having (since when does it flood in central Texas in July??). But what you may not know is that bizarre weather has become a world-wide problem.

Just today I checked the headlines and saw three references to weather-gone-wacky:

China Rain Storms Claim 650 Lives

Floods, Fires Ravage South Africa

Hurrican Boost "Due To Warm Sea" 

Texas Interfaith Power and Light and Austin Area Interreligious Ministries (AAIM) are proud to announce the Kill-a-watt Interfaith Mini Challenge!

The Kill-a-watt Challenge, sponsored by the Austin Chronicle and Austin Energy, is a city-wide contest to encourage families, neighborhoods, businesses, and congregations to reduce their electric usage at this time of year when electric demand is especially high. Austin Energy customers can win recognition for cutting their electric consumption either in absolute numbers, or as a percentage of what they used in this same time-period last year.

Texas IPL and AAIM have convinced the contest sponsors to create a special category in the contest for congregations.

The Live Earth concerts were a series of music concerts held in major cities around the world on July 7th to raise awareness about global warming. They took place in New York, Washington D.C., London, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hamburg, and Sydney and included such high-profile music acts as Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins, Kelly Clarkston, Bon Jovi, Kanye West, Dave Matthews, Fall Out Boy, and The Police.

The event was largely credited to Al Gore, former Vice President and current Chair of the Alliance for Climate Protection that helped to coordinate the Live Earth concerts. He was the political and popular face of the concert event and so also became the brunt of most of the criticism surrounding it.

Check out this press release from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) for full, reliable information on how you can update your air conditioning unit. The release gives examples of the best models for your climate type and information on how to reduce the costs of a new unit by taking advantage of federal tax incentives.

For the website version click here.

Save Money this Summer by Taking Advantage of Efficiency Incentives