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West Seattle Tool Library
We Need Your Help!

Ever borrow a tool from your neighbor? Ever wish they had a better selection? Sustainable West Seattle has won a grant from the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and has set up a tool lending library. You can find out more information or check out our inventory!

Energy Blog: Superheroes Without Cape: NW Energy Group Ponders Efficiency, Grids

by Andy Silber Not All Superheroes Wear a Cape: Energy Wonks in Seattle for NWEC’s Fall Conference

Thirty years ago a group of intrepid energy wonks realized the solution to our energy needs was not building a bunch of expensive nuclear power plants, but to aggressively capture the cost effective energy-efficiency measures available at a fraction of the cost, risk and environmental impact. These champions of truth, justice and the Northwest way continue their struggle. Few know them: they do their work in the meeting spaces of government commissions, utility boardrooms and wherever ..continue reading

Energy Blog: Coal Export Ports Dumbest Thing We Can Do

Why building coal export ports in Washington is about the dumbest thing we could do

By Andy Silber

There are two proposals to build coal-export terminals in Washington: one in Longview and the other just north of Bellingham. Building these terminals is akin to building a road through a wilderness area to a bridge you just torn down. Washingtonians didn’t pass I-937 (the initiative that requires utilities to increase their use of renewable resources) so that we could export more coal to China. Our state legislature didn’t ..continue reading

City Light’s New Community Solar Program Open to All SCL Users

Seattle City Light has a new program which is open to any SCL customer.

You are invited to help build Community Solar today!

How can one person help build a sustainable energy future? Seattle City Light is inviting you to make that difference today — by becoming a Founding Member of Seattle’s first Community Solar project.

Community Solar is an innovative, shared resource approach for using clean, renewable solar energy for power.

As a Founding Member ..continue reading

Sierra Club Publishes Clean (& Dirty) Air Map of US

How Clean Is Your Air?

Take a deep breath. How clean is the air you just inhaled? It all depends on where you call home.

The Sierra Club Beyond Coal campaign has launched an online air pollution map that shows how much air pollution there is where you live, how many people are at risk for health problems from coal pollution, and how many asthma attacks and premature deaths are caused by coal-fired power plants.

Want to ..continue reading

Tools To Help Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle for Earth Day, Everyday

In honor of Earth Day 2011, here’s some useful tools to help you assess your carbon footprint, determine if there are ways you can cut down on energy use, help you find ways to contain storm-water runoff, and other useful items from a wide variety of organizations including King County and Seattle public utilities.

How big is your footprint and what can you do to make a difference?

King County EcoConsumer Waste Calculator..continue reading

Energy Blog: NW Wind Power – Too Much of a Good Thing?

By Andy Silber

Too Much of a Good Thing? The Challenges of Wind Development in the Northwest

It was recently reported that the Northwest power grid operators (primarily the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)) plan to instruct wind farm operators to turn their turbines off occasionally this spring, because our grid can’t handle all of the power. Why are we turning off wind farms now and not shutting down Washington’s only coal power plant until 2025?

We often hear ..continue reading

Energy Blog: What Does Earth Day Mean?

By Andy Silber

What does Earth Day mean?

Pardon my rambling; I just have some thoughts on the environmental movement on the 41st anniversary of Earth Day that I want to share with you. There’s a homework assignment at the end. Don’t worry, only the fate of our civilization depends on the answers. You will be graded.

In many ways the movement has come a long way: rivers don’t catch on fire; the manufacture of ozone depleting chemicals have been stopped; ..continue reading

Energy Blog: Smart Grids & True Energy Efficiencies

By Andy Silber

A Tale of Two Talks: Smart Grid and Reinventing Fire

In the last week I’ve attended two talks: a breakfast meeting hosted by the Washington Green Tech Alliance on the Smart Grid and a talk by Amory Lovins founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute on their Reinventing Fire plan. These talks reminded me of the opening of one of Dickens great novels (great as in big), not because one ..continue reading

Solar Nerd: Community-owned Solar Factory, Why Not?

Meaningful Solar Idea o’ the Day Because Good Ideas Should Be Freed

I am so tired of having these huge ideas floating around my head and no one to share them with….so here we go. I’m opening my book to you, the sustainable community. Let’s see what happens when I turn on the idea faucet! Who’s got a bucket?

Idea 1: Non-profit, Community Owned Photovoltaic Factory

Don’t you dare scoff! Read on! The gist is this; you can’t compete with China when it comes to manufacturing anything ..continue reading

Energy Blog: Wind Power Needs Transmission Line Help

By Andy Silber

The Poorest County in the Country is in the middle of the Saudi Arabia of Wind

The latest rankings show that the poorest county in the Country is Ziebach County, South Dakota. Two Indian Reservations make up this very rural county with a population density of 1.3 people per square mile (as compared to  816 people per square mile for King County). This is a place where more than 60% of the people live at or below the ..continue reading