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On Saturday, March 27 at 8:30 p.m. millions of people around the world will unite by turning off their non-essential lights for one hour, Earth Hour, to send a powerful message that the time to address climate change is now. By shutting off the lights in homes, at the workplace and at iconic landmarks we can show support for protecting Earth's natural resources, environment and climate. In 2009 alone, hundreds of millions of people turned out for Earth Hour - spanning 4,100 cities (Santa Monica among them) in 87 countries on seven continents. To learn more or to sign up, please visit http://www.earthhour.org/
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Solar Santa Monica Advisory Board
Over the past three years Solar Santa Monica has developed an ever-more committed and powerful Advisory Board, drawn from different segments of our commnity: academia, utilities, business. The Board focuses on making financing available to expand energy projects within the city, in particular:
· Sponsoring legislation for a California Feed-In-Tariff
· Making AB 811 or PACE financing available to residents
The Board is headed by Susan Munves of Solar Santa Monica and facilitated by Ted Flanigan, EcoMotion. Members include:
Gary Barsley, Southern California Edison Genevieve Bertone, Santa Monica College
Angie Brooks, Pugh Scarpa Kodama
Woodrow Clark, Clark Strategic Partners
John Ingersoll, Helios International
Dean Kubani, Office of Sustainability and the Environment
Wally McGuire, McGuire Associates (Flex Your Power)
Rhonda Mills, CEERT Cindy Norton, Community Corp of Santa Monica
Craig Perkins, The Energy Coalition
Jonathan Port, PermaCity Solar
Al Rosen, Real Estate Investor
Gene Rodrigues, Southern California Edison
Frank Spasaro, The Gas Company
Terry Tamminen, Seventh Generation Advisors.
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The City of Santa Monica has an ambitious goal to become a net-zero, energy independent city by 2020.
Solar Santa Monica is a program of the Office of Sustainability and the Environment.
Solar Santa Monica helps residents, businesses and property owners reduce energy consumption and generate clean, renewable energy onsite. Our Contractor Network is a tool to help you find a licensed,
reliable contractor.
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Rebate Rundown: Be ready for these!
April 22 - Cash for Appliances. Buy a new energy efficient refrigerator, clothes washer or room air conditioner, recycle the old one, and get a rebate check for $200, $100 or $50. Naturally, there's some paperwork that has to be filled out and sent in within 30 days of the purchase. For the Application, and more information, check out the Cash For Appliances website.
Already started! - Clean Vehicle Rebate Program. Buy a zero-emission or plug-in electric vehicles and get up to $5,000 ($20,000 for a commercial vehicle) as a rebate. The program details are being finalized: Check them out at the California Center for Sustainable Energy which is administering the program. May 1 - Solar Thermal Rebates begin. After a 2-year-long pilot, the California Solar Initiative has added a rebate for the installation of solar water heater systems. Depending on the size of the system, the rebate may be as much as $1,875 ($500,000 for commercial). Get more information about solar thermal and the program by clicking here and plan to attend the Solar Santa Monica Solar Rebates Workshop on May 12. |
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Mark your calendar now: New Solar Thermal Rebates for Homeowners
On the evening of May 12, join Solar Santa Monica at the library for an all-hands-on-deck meeting on rebates, with speakers on the new solar hot water rebate program. Get updates on solar photovoltaic rebates, too, plus information on potential new financing available through the City of Santa Monica. Solar thermal contractors will be there to answer your questions about how you can use the sun to cut your gas water heater bill.
Mark your calendar now: May 12, 6:30 p.m. for the expo, program starts at 7:00 p.m. We'll be sending more details soon, but if you can't wait, you can get more now on the Solar Santa Monica website! |
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Santa Monica Takes Grand Prize for Sustainability
When the California Sustainability Alliance announced its Sustainability Showcase awards for 2009, the City of Santa Monica took the grand prize as "the organization best exemplifying a holistic adoption of sustainability. " Santa Monica will be featured in a video documentary and will have a grove of trees planted by Tree People, an environmental nonprofit.
Among the City's accomplishments:
- Purchasing 100% post-consumer recycled content copy paper for municipal operations saving an estimated 1.2 million gallons of water, 158,000 pounds of CO2 and 1,700 trees annually.
- Transitioning eighty-two percent of the municipal fleet to alternative fuel and creating a 100% alternatively fueled public transit system.
- Launching the Solar Santa Monica Program, doubling the solar capacity of the city with 139 grid connected solar projects to date, which represent 926 kilowatts of solar capacity. (Note from editor: as of today, Solar Santa Monica has identified 189 projects representing 1,471 KW of capacity!)
- Diverting more than 1 million pounds of food waste and over 137,000 pounds of hazardous waste materials from landfills in 2008 alone.
- Recognizing and encouraging sustainable business through Green Building Certification and The City's own Sustainable Quality Awards.
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"Can you hear/see me now?"
CityTV has begun running "Energy Minutes," produced by Solar Santa Monica and featuring a cast of thousands (er, Michael Ware). Watch for them - and if you have a suggestion for a minute-long topic, or a longer segment, don't hesitate to pass it along! Email Michael Ware |
| New guide available for Solar PV Owners!
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Solar Santa Monica has developed a User's Guide to Solar PV Systems. Solar Champion Nina Girvetz wrote to say, "Susan, I wanted to thank you especially for the really terrific Users Guide. It's clear and very informative."
Download your copy today! |
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For questions and comments, please contact:
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Solar Santa Monica
1212 5th Street, First Floor
Santa Monica, CA 90401
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