If the energy, pun intended, in the Newburyport Public Library’s program room on Wednesday night was any indication of future streams, this city will shortly see its residents turn green so fast they won’t know what hit them.
January 30th was the kickoff date for the Energy Advisory Committee, a group formed out of the Mayor’s office and charged with a series of objectives in accordance with an August 2006 City Council resolution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Newburyport Current has a story about this committee and a wind energy subcommittee that was also recently formed to determine zoning ordinances for wind turbines. And more city projects are in the works.
Who wants the ozone layer to dissolve? Who wants the polar ice caps to melt? Who wants Plum Island to be underwater in 100 years? Who wants the Merrimack River to regress and turn dirty and polluted again?
I don’t want those scenarios, and I bet you don’t either. Unless we reduce our emissions, all of these scenarios will occur, some sooner than later but all inevitable.
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As a Newburyport resident, I receive a monthly consolidated electricity bill from National Grid. The utility provides transmission, distribution, and supply of my apartment’s electricity which averages about 200 to 250 kilowatt hours every month.
Putting my money where my mouth is (and will shortly be all over), I signed up last night for National Grid’s optional renewable energy program, called GreenUp. Starting with my next bill, I’ll see a new itemized $7.50 fixed cost, payable to a renewable energy supplier called Sterling Planet, added on top of my other electric costs. About 75% of this fixed cost will enable me to receive a federal tax deduction, and 100% of my cost will be matched by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative in the form of a matching grant for the city to use for green energy funding.
The more residential households that sign up leads to more money in the city’s pool. According to the Clean Energy Choice website that has details on how to sign up, the city has $13,000 of available grant money for energy projects. I hope to increase that amount exponentially, and I’m in the process of working with a bunch of residents–both on and off the Energy Advisory Committee–to make this hope a reality.
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Switching gears (another pun intended), check out the schematics for the XR-3, a hybrid electric car that is designed by a private group called Robert G. Riley Enterprises. The car has an energy efficiency of a whopping 225 miles per gallon! The catch is the car is not pre-assembled; the company sends you design plans for about $200 and then you need to build it yourself, or with the help of a mechanic, with about $20,000 in parts. Innovative, no?
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Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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