What state is the 2nd greenest state in the United States?  New Jersey!  Long the butt of environmental jokes about pollution, the garden state can take pride that they have outshined others in solar power generation.  This is all the more impressive when you consider that New Jersey is not a state generally noted for having lots of sunny days.  

Trailing only California, New Jersey impresses with its innovation and creativity.  By putting solar panels on the flat roofs of its many commercial buildings and on top of its utility poles they are generating more solar power than most of the so called “sunshine” states.

According to the article, since the solar panels are literally sitting right on top of customers, there is no need for major new transmission lines.

New Jersey’s goal is to get 3% of its electricity from the sun and 12% from offshore wind by 2020, part of a larger effort to meet 30% of the state’s electricity needs through clean sources.

“We don’t have the land to do big, grid-connected, utility-scale solar projects, so we’ve had to think more creatively,” said Ralph Izzo, chief executive of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. The big utility received regulatory approval this week to install 40 megawatts of solar panels on utility poles and another 40 megawatts at its industrial yards and on rooftops.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, The Garden State’s generous financial incentives for solar installation are helping to generate interest. “I’ve had plenty of people ask me, ‘Why New Jersey? Why not Arizona?’ ” said Paul Vicarro, a facilities managing director at FedEx. “The answer is: That is where the money is, that is where incentives are to make the deal financially viable.”

Today I passed by at least a dozen water bottles littering the park, open space and creek near our home.  While I pick up as many as I can on our daily walks, this brought to mind a recent conversation I had with a friend. 

He told me about a town in Australia that outlawed bottled water.  The more I think about this the more I think the good folks ‘down under’ are onto something.

Jon Dee, who helped spearhead the campaign in Bundanoon, a town of 2,500 about 100 miles south of Sydney said it best, ”It’s time for people to realize they’re being conned by the bottled water industry.”

To prevent lost profit in the businesses that sell bottled water, proponents suggest they instead sell reusable bottles for about the same price. Residents can fill the bottles for free at public water fountains, or pay a small fee to fill them with filtered water kept in the stores.

The fact is the matter is that the water sold in plastic bottle is rarely any better than straight tap water.  It is far healthier to drink water out of safe reusable containers than plastic #1, #3 and even the #7 Lexan  bottles which have all sorts of nasty things in them, including known carcinigens.

The nonprofit Berkeley Ecology Center found that the manufacture of plastic #1 uses large amounts of energy and resources and generates toxic emissions and pollutants that contribute to global warming. And even though PET bottles can be recycled, millions find their way into landfills every day in the U.S. alone. 

Better choices include aluminum bottles, such as those made by SIGG  and stainless steel water bottles.   I can tell you that cold water drank from a stainless steel canteen is some of the best water I’ve ever tasted.

Last weekend I went to Targhee Fest on the West side of Wyoming’s Teton mountains.  It was a great time where I got to hang out with some old friends from Colorado, Montana and Wyoming.

It was an outdoor rock festival that took place at the base of the Grand Targhee ski hill.  

Performers included:

• Jackie Greene
• James McMurtry
• Wallflowers
• Gov’t Mule
• Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
• Jonny Lang

My favorite perfomers were Grace Potter, James McMurtry and Jackie Greene.  They had camping and lodging and the weather was perfect, sunny and mid 70’s Friday and Saturday.

While my principal contribution to sustainability may have been reusing my beer mug all weekend, the event was really well run.  They had numerous recycling stations that were manned with people explaining what goes where.   I learned that there were items that could be composted that I would not have guessed would be compostable (if that is a word). 

Anyways, a good time was had by all and I hope more and more events are run in this manner.

Have you ever wondered who were the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence 233 years ago and what became of them after?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward. Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn’t. So please, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and remember why it is called INDEPENDENCE DAY and silently thank these patriots.

Remember: Our freedom did not come free.  God bless America!!

Amsterdam is known for many things. It has notoriety for its relaxed regulations on drug use and prostitution. It is a city with distinctive architecture where city dwellers live in tall narrow homes.  It is a city where many people ride bikes, not just for fun, but to get to school and work.  It is a city with beautiful canals and stunning bridges that really look like they are right out of a postcard.

Amsterdam will also soon be known as one of the pioneers of urban carbon reduction on a massive scale. Amsterdam will be rolling out smart grid technology to some 800,000 homes, in an effort to be 100% carbon neutral by 2020.

Amsterdam aims to be Europe’s first “Smart City” and will employ smart grids, smart meters, smart-building technologies and electric vehicles to reduce its energy consumption in housing, commercial properties, public buildings and areas, and transportation. While they acknowledge their efforts will not single handedly stop climate change, they will serve as an interesting test bed to see the benefits and pitfalls of proposed climate change solutions and to discover how they work out of the laboratory and in the real world.

The good Dutch folks have always been known for their thrift and that holds true for their carbon footprint as well. The average Dutch person emits just half of what someone in the US does. Are you amazed that they are looking to improve on this?

Don’t forget that much of Amsterdam is below sea level, so they have a vested interest in helping lead the world to save their city from the rising tides of Global Warming.