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600+ environmental orgs say this is what they want in a Green New Deal

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The urgency to get to a fossil fuel-free future is growing. Now comes the discussion over just how to get there.

The Green New Deal is taking shape — not so much in Congress (at least not yet), but certainly among the nation’s environmental groups, many of which came together to outline want they do and don’t want to see in any future climate legislation.

On Thursday, more than 600 organizations submitted a letter to House representatives with a list of steps they say are required “at a minimum” for the U.S. to help keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

The message was signed by green movement heavyweights like 350.org, Greenpeace, Sunrise Movement, and Friends of the Earth — as well as many local grassroots groups, including Communities for a Better Environment in California and WE ACT for Environmental Justice in New York.

The recommendations include:

A complete shift to 100 percent renewable power generation by 2035.
An end to all fossil fuel leasing, extraction, and subsidies. That includes putting a stop to the export of crude oil and other fossil fuels.
Greater investment in renewable-energy-powered public transportation and better incentives for electric vehicles, with a goal of phasing out fossil fuel-powered cars and trucks by 2040.
More input from Native American tribes, workers, and the communities most impacted by fossil fuels. The letter says these groups should have the first say in what the transition away from fossil fuels looks like because a lot of energy infrastructure disproportionately impacts the places where they live.

Despite the sign-off from many environmental organizations, the letter may not strike a chord with all renewable energy advocates. It takes a stand on several topics that have ignited debate within the green community.

The letter demands a halt to nuclear energy, garbage incineration, and biomass energy. Such a move would throw a wrench in the green energy targets for several states which count these sources as “renewable.” Although there’s been some excitement for next-gen nuclear energy, these energy alternatives have posed health risks associated with toxic emissions and uranium contamination.

The letter also says the Clean Air Act should be used to rein in greenhouse gases. Traditionally, the act is associated with air pollution, not CO2. That said, carbon is often released with co-pollutants, and communities breathing the worst air say Congress should tackle pollution and climate change with one fell swoop.

The letter closes with a vow by the signing organizations to “vigorously oppose … corporate schemes that place profits over community burdens and benefits, including market-based mechanisms and technology options such as carbon and emissions trading and offsets, [and] carbon capture and storage.” (Carbon trading programs, like California’s popular cap-and-trade system, have been called out for making air quality worse in some communities, and critics of carbon capture say it takes the focus away from creating an economy that isn’t dependent on fossil fuels).

Browsing the 600+ organizations that endorsed the letter, there are still some big names missing, including the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council.

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600+ environmental orgs say this is what they want in a Green New Deal

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What You Need to Know About the Coming Jellyfish Apocalypse

Mother Jones

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More than 50 million Americans swim in the oceans every year (there are actual government surveys of such things). So if your summer plans involves stripping down and bathing in the sun and salt water of your dreams, read on, intrepid beach-goer. There’s something gooey and stingy that’s loving warm waters every bit as much as you are (maybe even more), turning those dreams…to nightmares: jellyfish.

Are there more jellyfish now than ever before?

In some places, yes. One recent University of British Columbia study concluded that “jellyï¬&#129;sh populations appear to be increasing in the majority of the world’s coastal ecosystems and seas,” and blamed human activity for these blooms. The areas most affected are the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, says Lucas Brotz, a PhD student and jellyfish expert at University of British Columbia’s Fisheries Center, and co-author of the report.

The influx of jellyfish can cause big problems. In October last year, a gelatinous swarm plugged cooling pipes for one of the world’s largest nuclear reactors, on the Baltic coast in Sweden, shutting it down. A swarm hobbled a coal-fired power plant near Hadera on the Israeli coast in 2011. Millions of bulging, translucent creatures descended on popular Mediterranean beaches in April 2013, freaking out the tourists. Jellyfish expert Lisa-ann Gershwin writes in her 2013 book Stung! that jellyfish caused the collapse of the $350 million Black Sea fishing industry in the 1990s. In 2007, a plague wiped out a salmon farm off Northern Ireland.

A Lion’s Mane, the largest known type of jellyfish, has tentacles that can reach 100 feet in length. Alexander Semenov/REX/AP Photo

North America hasn’t seen as many jellyfish-related problems as Europe, says Brotz. Although some parts of the West Coast—northern California in particular—have seen spikes in jellyfish populations, “they tend to be smaller species that don’t really affect people very much.”

Is climate change to blame for the increase in jellyfish?

While it’s difficult to trace any single jellyfish bloom to climate change—”It’s really tough, there’s a lot of noise in the signal,” Brotz says—warming oceans appear to be playing a role in the emerging pattern. That’s because the warmer the water, the less oxygen it can hold. Unlike other sea life, jellyfish are very good at surviving in these low-oxygen environments, giving them a comparative advantage.

“Warmer water species are going to start to have more and more areas where they can expand their range into,” he says. Scientists have already observed this phenomenon in Australia’s jellyfish. Brotz expects that in the United States, especially on the East Coast, jellyfish will also begin “showing up earlier and sticking around for longer into the fall.”

While jellyfish appear to be really loving global warming, they could also be driving the change, writes Australian scientist Tim Flannery: “Remarkably, jellyfish may have the capacity to accelerate climate change,” he writes. “Jellyfish release carbon-rich feces and mucus (poo and goo) that bacteria prefer to use for respiration,” turning the bacteria into carbon-making factories, accelerating warming. A gelatinous feedback loop.

But scientists are split over the whether global warming is a dominant factor, and are desperate for more comprehensive datasets to fully understand the dynamic. There’s even an interactive website and smart phone apps developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute to encourage citizen scientists to submit their own sightings to help with a global tracking effort.

There are other factors driving population booms, of course, aside from global warming: Over-fishing has also killed off the jellyfish’s natural predators: fish. Pollution and ocean acidification may also be playing their parts in this complex story.

Should swimmers in the United States be worried?

Every year around the world there are an estimated 150 million jellyfish stings, according to recent research. In the United States, jellyfish are blamed for half a million stings in the Chesapeake Bay and up to 200,000 stings in Florida waters.

That sounds like a lot, but a jellyfish lashing in North America is “more the level of a bee sting,” says Brotz. “It’ll be quite painful and might even give you a little bit of scarring temporarily, but unless you have a severe allergy, it’s not going to be too dangerous.”

The most dangerous species of jellyfish—Chironex fleckeri and Irukandji—are found in the waters around Australia and the Philippines. It only takes three minutes for a sting from Chironex fleckeri, a species of box jellyfish, to kill you, with a tentacle laced with some of the world’s deadliest poison. Box jellyfish are outfitted with superior wits and senses to their jellyfish brethren, writes Flannery. For one, they can see: “They are also the only jellyfish with eyes that are quite sophisticated, with retinas and corneas… And they have brains, which are capable of learning, memory, and guiding complex behaviors.” (Shudder.) A single brush of the Irukandji jellyfish—in the box jellyfish family—can cause searing pain and cramps, inducing nausea and vomiting which can continue for 12 hours, and more insidiously, an existential dread: Victims are “gripped with a sense of ‘impending doom’.”

A box jelly fish photographed in aquarium. Daleen Loest/Shutterstock

“As the oceans warm,” Flannery writes, “the tropical box jellyfish and the Irukandjis are likely to extend their ranges.” That’s already the case, with Irukandji spotted in coastal waters from Cape Town to Florida.

Great.

How many people die every year from jellyfish stings?

We don’t know, because deaths can so easily be attributed to other causes, like drowning. But readers filled with terror about sharks chomping down on your leg while you swim should put this in perspective: the death toll from jellyfish is definitely more than from sharks. Sharks kill about eight to 10 people a year. Jellyfish kill at least 50, according to Brotz.

If you get stung, what should you do?

I’m sorry to say, despite everything you’ve heard, peeing on a sting is not going to help. We’ll get to that in a moment. But first, here’s what’s going on when a jellyfish stings you.

A jellyfish has “thousands or millions” of these really fascinating little cells with their own venom sacs that operate “almost like a hypodermic syringe,” says Brotz. “If you come in contact with them, each cell has it’s own little trigger hair. Once the trigger hair gets fired, basically this little harpoon will shoot out of the cell.”

“The more tentacle you come in contact with, the more of these cells, these nematocysts, the more severe the sting is going to be. Even when a tentacle breaks off from a jellyfish these nematocysts are still active.”

Here’s what to do, and what not to do, according to Brotz:

  1. If you find a jellyfish dead and washed up on the beach, don’t touch it because it could still sting you.
  2. Even if you’ve been stung already, you might still have bits of “unfired nematocysts” stuck to you. Don’t rub them; they might sting you further.
  3. Try to pick off any little bits of tentacle that are stuck to you, but avoid using your fingers. Again: they can still release venom. Brotz suggests a pair of tweezers, or even a stick.
  4. “After that it’s best to rinse it with sea water,” says Brotz. “You don’t really want to use freshwater because that can also chemically cause the nematocysts to fire.”
  5. That advice about seawater goes for urine, too.
  6. Vinegar, an acetic acid, has been used for years to prevent box jellyfish stingers from firing. But this remedy has been called into question with new research in Australia that says it could actually increase the venom load in the victim by 50 percent.

If there are too many jellyfish, what about eating them to control their populations?

People do eat jellyfish. It’s quite a common delicacy in parts of Asia, and the jellyfish-as-food business is booming, says Brotz, who estimates the annual global catch to be around one million tons. “I mean, that’s much more than the global catch of say lobsters, or scallops,” he says.

And while jellyfish fisheries are growing around the world to cater for the demand, Brotz warns that eating them won’t necessarily be a solution to overpopulation.

Dried jellyfish being sold in Hong Kong’s Sheung Wan market. Claudio Zaccherini/Shutterstock

Of the twelve types of edible fish, sand jellyfish and cannonball jellyfish are the most popular, and tend to be a “more meaty, a little bit more dense species,” says Brotz. Consumers “really like to have the final product to have a little bit of a crunch to it,” and there’s only a handful of species that can really deliver.

What does it taste like? “It’s this interesting line between crunchy and chewy,” Brotz says. “It sort of reminds me of under-cooked pasta, like al dente pasta, with crunch and chew at the same time. Of course, it depends on what market it’s heading for. Japanese prefer their jellyfish much crunchier than, say, the Chinese do.”

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What You Need to Know About the Coming Jellyfish Apocalypse

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Utility trying to bury solar in Arizona

Utility trying to bury solar in Arizona

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A battle between the solar-panel industry and a major utility in Arizona is heating up.

The fight is over net-metering rules, which require utilities to purchase excess electricity produced by solar panel–owning customers. Hearings to consider proposed rule changes are scheduled for next month.

A lot of money is at stake — for Arizona Public Service Co., the utility pushing the proposed rule changes, and also for solar installers and solar-panel owners.

APS wants to slash its payments to each solar-panel owner by between $50 and $100 a month. It says the payments are a burden on customers who don’t own solar panels. The solar industry, meanwhile, is saying the proposed changes would cripple its growth.

The Arizona Republic paints a picture of a utility desperate to sully solar’s reputation as it seeks to build support for its proposal:

As part of its strategy, Arizona Public Service Co. sent cash to two non-profit groups that support the utility’s goal to make solar customers pay higher bills. …

APS’ marketing campaign includes its own television ads explaining its commitment to solar. The cash sent to the two non-profits is helping to pay for ads and websites that use a more negative tone toward the solar industry. …

APS recently acknowledged to The Arizona Republic that it provided money to a Washington, D.C.-based conservative organization called 60 Plus, which focuses on seniors’ issues such as taxes, Social Security and Medicare.

It also gave money to another non-profit called Prosper, which was launched this year by Republican Kirk Adams, a former Arizona House speaker. …

60 Plus began criticizing SolarCity and Sunrun, comparing them with Solyndra, the California solar company that took more than $500 million in federal assistance and then filed for bankruptcy.

Soon after, Prosper joined the debate on the side of APS. Prosper has been running television commercials calling for changes to net metering.

The solar industry is responding with its own campaign, which claims the utility’s proposal would “tax the sun.” The industry founded TUSK, or “Tell Utilities Solar won’t be Killed,” which has been criticizing APS and its proposal to change net-metering rules.

How far will APS go to get its way? A clue comes to us from another story in The Arizona Republic, which reveals that a plan was developed four years ago to engineer false controversies to wreck the reputations of members of the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates the utility:

The plan proposed that APS fund a $4.3 million campaign using out-of-state non-profit groups to generate “fake controversies” regarding the Arizona Corporation Commission. Those controversies could sway voters and lead them to elect new regulators, the plan suggested, or could influence legislators to add additional seats on the commission.

The plan, titled “The Institute for Energy Policy,” was drafted by Lincoln Strategy Group, a Tempe-based political-consulting firm. It was presented to the utility’s chief executive soon after a contentious APS rate-increase case was settled by the commission, which regulates rates for most of the state’s utilities.

APS officials said the utility did not solicit the 20-page plan, which was obtained recently by The Arizona Republic. A company official called it “absurd.” Don Brandt, company chief executive, said he “immediately dismissed” the proposal in 2009.

After the report was presented, however, APS hired one of the two Lincoln Strategy employees who pitched the report to Brandt. She now serves as the utility’s top lobbyist. The other executive who pitched the report also left Lincoln Strategy and is being paid by APS as an outside consultant.

“On its face it appears to be a very difficult goal to completely eliminate the (Arizona Corporation Commission), and a more long-term approach is suggested,” the plan stated. “We would propose using calendar years 2009 through 2011 to … begin to sway public opinion against the (commission) and use 2012 to implement the electoral strategy.” …

Some strategies described in the 2009 plan from Lincoln Strategy appear similar to those in APS’ current media campaign over solar.

As the Arizona Corporation Commission still hasn’t been eliminated, it plans to hold hearings on APS’s net-metering proposal in November. We’ll let you know what happens.

See also: Solar panels could destroy U.S. utilities, according to U.S. utilities — and more in our series on utilities and clean power


Source
APS lobbyist pitched plan to alter energy panel, Arizona Republic
APS, solar companies clash over credits to customers, Arizona Republic

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Utility trying to bury solar in Arizona

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Arizona Utility Tries Storing Solar Energy for Use in the Dark

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Be the Pack Leader – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

Bestselling author Cesar Millan takes his principles of dog psychology a step further, showing you how to develop the calm-assertive energy of a successful pack leader and use it to improve your dog’s life–and your own. Filled with practical tips and techniques as well as real-life success stories from his clients (including the Grogan family, owners of Marl […]

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Codex: Adepta Sororitas – Games Workshop

The Adepta Sororitas, also known as the Sisters of Battle, are an elite sisterhood of warriors raised from infancy to adore the Emperor of Mankind. Their fanatical devotion and unwavering purity is a bulwark against corruption, heresy and alien attack, and once battle has been joined they will stop at nothing until their enemies are utterly crushed In this b […]

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The Flower Recipe Book – Alethea Harampolis & Jill Rizzo

Flower arranging has never been simpler or more enticing. The women behind Studio Choo, the hottest floral design studio in the country, have created a flower-arranging bible for today’s aesthetic. Filled with an array of stunning, easy-to-find flowers, it features 400 high-resolution photos,more than 40 step-by-step slideshows,and tappable pop-tips thr […]

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The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete

For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t […]

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Codex: Adepta Sororitas (eBook Edition) – Games Workshop

The Adepta Sororitas, also known as the Sisters of Battle, are an elite sisterhood of warriors raised from infancy to adore the Emperor of Mankind. Their fanatical devotion and unwavering purity is a bulwark against corruption, heresy and alien attack, and once battle has been joined they will stop at nothing until their enemies are utterly crushed In this b […]

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Warhammer 40,000: The Rules – Games Workshop

There is no time for peace. No respite. No forgiveness. There is only WAR. In the nightmare future of the 41st Millennium, Mankind teeters upon the brink of destruction. The galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man is beset on all sides by ravening aliens and threatened from within by Warp-spawned entities and heretical plots. Only the strength of the immortal […]

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Codex: Space Marines (Enhanced Edition) – Games Workshop

The Space Marines are the chosen warriors of the Emperor, and the greatest fighting force of the Imperium. Each Space Marine is a genetically enhanced super soldier, easily a match for a dozen lesser men, armed with some of the deadliest weapons in the galaxy and encased in formidable power armour. This codex explores the formations and Chapters of the Space […]

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How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes, […]

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Inside of a Dog – Alexandra Horowitz

The bestselling book that asks what dogs know and how they think, now in paperback. The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draw […]

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Trident K9 Warriors – Michael Ritland & Gary Brozek

As Seen on “60 Minutes”! As a Navy SEAL during a combat deployment in Iraq, Mike Ritland saw a military working dog in action and instantly knew he’d found his true calling. Ritland started his own company training and supplying dogs for the SEAL teams, U.S. Government, and Department of Defense. He knew that fewer than 1 percent of […]

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Arizona Utility Tries Storing Solar Energy for Use in the Dark

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How the Paint Industry Escapes Responsibility for Lead Poisoning

Mother Jones

The main focus of my story in January about the link between lead and crime was on leaded gasoline. That was mainly because the rise and fall of leaded gasoline following World War II tracks the rise and fall of crime between the 60s and 90s. However, lead is lead, and the lead in leaded paint has all the same ill effects when small children are exposed to it: it reduces IQ, increases learning disabilities, and affects parts of the brain linked to impulse control. Despite that, activist groups haven’t had much luck holding the paint industry accountable. Lilly Fowler reports for us today on what happened:

Apart from one settlement, the industry has successfully fended off roughly 50 lawsuits by states, cities, counties, and school districts over the past quarter century. Now, in a trial under way in San Jose, California, industry lawyers are seeking a final victory in a case brought by 10 agencies, including the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Diego, and the counties of Los Angeles and Santa Clara. The agencies want the industry to cover the cost of eliminating lead paint from all the homes in their jurisdictions; the price tag could exceed $1 billion.

….Defense lawyers have argued in a brief that the companies weren’t aware when they promoted lead paint that it would someday cause harm. “Scientific knowledge concerning lead exposure evolved over the decades,” it reads. What’s more, they claim there is no longer any widespread danger from lead. Today’s blood lead levels, according to their court filings, do not present “a current public health crisis” but rather “a public health success story.”

What’s more, they argue, California already has a well-funded lead poisoning prevention program that collects annual fees primarily from the gasoline industry, but also from makers of paint and other lead-containing products.

Unfortunately, the research linking lead to crime has probably come too late to have an impact in this case. Read the whole thing to learn how the paint industry has managed for decades to avoid responsibility for the catastrophic effects of their products.

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How the Paint Industry Escapes Responsibility for Lead Poisoning

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Herbicides linked to farmer depression

Herbicides linked to farmer depression

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Herbicide use is linked to depression among farmers and farmworkers.

Killing weeds with toxic chemicals might be making farmers clinically sad.

A study of more than 700 French farmers and farmworkers found that those who used herbicides were more likely to be treated for depression than were those who avoided the stuff.

From Reuters:

[W]hen the researchers took into account factors linked with depression, such as age and cigarette smoking, they determined that those farmers exposed to weedkillers were nearly two and a half times as likely to have had depression.

Furthermore, farmers who had greater exposure — either more hours or longer years using herbicides — also had a greater chance of having depression than farmers who had used weedkillers less.

The researchers can’t say whether chemicals in the weedkillers actually caused the depression. More work would be needed to make that link.

But the finding suggests that we should be paying more attention to the potential hazards of herbicides. Chemical weedkillers are being used in growing volumes in America, in many cases doused over crops that were genetically engineered by Monsanto and other agricultural giants to withstand their poisonous effects. Tom Laskawy told you in May that the EPA is increasing the amount of weedkiller allowed in our food — despite a growing body of evidence describing its dangers.

From the new study, which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology:

The possibility that environmental contaminants could affect psychological health has been generally underappreciated. Herbicide exposure in particular has received little research attention. If true, our findings have important public health implications for agricultural workers given the tremendous public health burden of depression and the fact that herbicides are widely used in agriculture and landscape management. In the United States, herbicides make up about 65% of all agricultural pesticide use.

Marc Weisskopf, the study’s lead author and an associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, told Reuters that the new research “raises concerns that need to be looked into more fully” and is a reminder that “we should not be ignoring herbicides” when considering pesticide hazards.

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Herbicides linked to farmer depression

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Chart of the Day: The War on Dodd-Frank

Mother Jones

Dodd-Frank was not exactly a brutal piece of financial regulation even when it first passed. In fact, it was so watered down that its overall effect was always likely to be pretty modest. Since then, though, it’s gotten watered down even more. Why? Because banks are very, very rich and very, very connected, while financial reformers….aren’t. The chart below tells the story at a glance, showing the number of meetings to discuss regulatory interpretation and implementation over the past three years. As you can see, the reform groups never had a chance.

This comes via Erika Eichelberger, who has more here. Note that Goldman Sachs alone accounts for 222 of these meetings.

Link: 

Chart of the Day: The War on Dodd-Frank

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Ability To Search For A Good Solar Panel Contractor Is Only A Few Steps Away

Even if you are patient, a good solar panel installation contractor wont just knock on your door and offer their professional services. You may dream about it, and hope it comes true in the morning. If you are crunched for time or don’t know where to look next you can follow these tips for a realistic way to find a good contractor.

Make sure all warranties as well as contact information for those covering the warranties are provided for any materials that fall into this category. This could include items such as refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, or other large appliances.

When reading online reviews on solar panel installation contractors makes sure you weed through the comments. The only reviews that should count are from people that have actually used the services of that specific contractor. There are some internet sites that allow anyone to post a review.

Depending on the size of your project, hiring each member of the work crew and solar panel experts can be an exhausting task. Usually the solar panel installation contractor will accomplish this on your behalf. They have a pool of workers they trust and have experience with the process of hiring, payroll and labor laws as well as other aspects of personnel management.

Material theft is quiet common, your solar panel installation contractor may be smart enough to simply leave the lights on past midnight so that the people assume that appropriate security is there. A good contractor makes sure that appropriate security is available at the site 24*7.

Confirm that your solar panel installation contractor has got an appropriate insurance cover for their crew against events of uncertainty lest you be held liable for their damages and injuries. The cover should be suitable and up to date plus it should able cover you in the occurrence of uncertain contingencies while at the job site.

Check to see if you live in a state that forces solar panel installation contractors to give you a three day trial period so that if you are uncomfortable in the first three days of the project you can fire your contractor without backing out of the contract. There may be addendums to this law in other states, check yours today.

A solar panel installation contractor is always responsible for hiring solar panel experts and supervising them. Therefore, they are important to have. They are also supposed to ensure that the project is completed by the deadline and within your budget. Many states require the contractor to have a license to do this type of business.

Keep your contract close at hand at all times. Whenever your solar panel installation contractor requests payment, check your paperwork. Your written estimate should include a cost breakdown that you can compare to the schedule. This way you know how much each phase should costs and can check payments accordingly.

Visit any large search engine and type in go green energy today into search box. You might find a few useful tips about solar energy you can use right away.

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Where to Find Mother Jones at Netroots Nation 2013

Mother Jones

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This Thursday through Sunday, the eighth annual Netroots Nation (NN) conference will take place in San Jose, California. The conference provides a venue where “each year, thousands of bloggers, newsmakers, social justice advocates, labor and organizational leaders, grassroots organizers and online activists come together.” From electoral politics and campaign finance to women’s health, gun reform, and more, the issues that we regularly cover at Mother Jones will be front and center at the conference. We’re excited to host several panels to highlight these important issues and provide a venue for dialogue about them.

If you’re attending NN this year, be sure not to miss Mother Jones at the following panels:

Thursday June 20, 10:30 a.m. PDT: What Political Consultants Don’t Want Donors to Know: How to Win Elections with Data-driven Field Operations
While political consultants in Washington rake in hefty paychecks for multi-million dollar ad buys, many elections in 2012 were won not by way of expensive ad buys, but with sophisticated field operations, the most effective of which were largely volunteer-powered. The panelists will discuss how data-driven field campaigns that use research to determine tactics are not only cost-effective, but have a much stronger impact on influencing voters and winning elections. The panelists will discuss the strategies they employed to identify and move the voters who can actually make an impact on the outcome of an election without breaking the bank. Mother Jones Dark Money reporter Andy Kroll will moderate this panel that will include president of CREDO Super PAC and political director of CREDO Mobile Becky Bond, executive director of NOI Ethan Roeder, and deputy director of the Analyst Institute Regina Schwartz, and executive director of the League of Young Voters Biko Baker.

Thursday, June 20, 4:30 p.m. PDT: How to Break a Game-Changer: The Case of the 47 Percent
In the 2012 election, Mother Jones broke “one of the important campaign stories of the year” with David Corn’s reporting of the 47 percent video. The story exploded and took the news cycle, social media, and both campaigns by storm. Many observers, including Romney himself, indicated that the video had a significant and negative impact on his campaign. The story won David Corn the George Polk Award for political reporting, as well as a National Magazine Award for video. However, the decision to release the video and the thought process behind making it public were not taken lightly. Come hear directly from MoJo-ers, some who helped break this massive story, on how they pulled it off, for the next time you’re faced with your own game-changer. Participants will include: Mother Jones co-editor Monika Bauerlein, managing editor Clint Hendler, multimedia producer Brett Brownell, and associate interactive producer Jaeah Lee. Also, be sure to read David Corn’s “The Story Behind the 47 Percent Video.”

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Where to Find Mother Jones at Netroots Nation 2013

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What To Consider When You Need A Solar Panel Contractor

How can you know that the solar panel installation contractor you’re considering can give you the results that you want and need? Take your time. Don’t just hire the first prospect that you talk to. You need to talk to several contractors and research all of them to find the one who fits your needs. We’ve put together some things that can make your search go smoothly.

Most improvement work takes place in warmer months so solar panel installation contractors tend to take on lots of work simultaneously. Ask your prospects how many other works are occurring at the same time and if resources for your project can be guaranteed. Nothing is worse than expecting a team of workers and only have one arrive. This can also slow down your whole project and create havoc.

You will need to determine right away if you trust your solar panel installation contractor or not. Do not decide that it is fine to let them pay for some things on the project but not others. Either take full control of all payments on the budget from the beginning or let the contractor handle it.

Remember the golden rule: Always treat others as you would like to be treated – and especially the person who’s building your project for you! We all know how terrible it feels when we have forgetful, indecisive, nasty or dishonest bosses. Don’t be that boss! Try to put yourself in the solar panel installation contractor’s shoes whenever you interact with them.

Make sure you read the document carefully and attentively before signing the contract and it provides the procedures for resolving any conflicts with the solar panel installation contractor that might arise. Disagreements are the normal part of life and usually happen between perfectly good people all the time. But what matters is that to be protected in a situation where you and the contractor are irreconcilable. If you can afford it, it is recommended to add a clause in the contract which states to consult a mediator or attorney in the case of a dispute.

When you develop your budget, allot for at least 10% extra in case of unanticipated issues that may come up during your project. Also, do not pay your solar panel installation contractor if he/she is not on time or does not finish each step according to your specifications.

When looking to remodel, you should engage the services of a quality solar panel installation contractor. In the event your selected contractor is not willing to get the proper permits, you should be prepared to hire a back-up contractor who is more willing to work with you. This ensures that you can avoid delays in getting your job completed.

Putting all of the costs that will be covered by you into the contract is a good way to cover yourself in the event that your solar panel installation contractor turns out to be bad. Also check references prior to hiring and inspect the site regularly.

Just visit any large search engine and search for solar panels if you need more helpful suggestions about solar power.

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