Energy Efficient TVs

By Grace and Julie






One way to save money and energy is to buy an energy efficient TV. Standard TVs consume over 50 kilowatts of energy each year, which averages as 4% of households' energy use. Energy Star qualified televisions can use up to 30% less energy than regular TVs. You can find any type of television in an energy efficient model. There are standard TVs, High- Def TVs, and even flat plasma screen TVs.

Yucca Mountian

By Greg Ortiz

Yucca Mountain is a mountain in Nevada about 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas. It is the proposed site for putting all the nuclear waste from nuclear reactors. Nuclear waste can't be treated with as other solid waste is. Nuclear waste has to be stored because the only way of destroying it is waiting until it is deteriorated into nothing. That is where Yucca Mountain comes in. This mountain is actually a extinct volcano that has a series of underground caves. That is where the nuclear waste is to be stored. But as the Obama administration was elected into office the new secretary of the Department of Energy, which is the government agency that was head of the Yucca mountain project, proposed to shut down Yucca Mountain and put the nuclear waste somewhere else. The project was opened in 1982 when congress told D.O.E. that they had to find a site to store nuclear waste. Yucca mountain was planned to be ready to recieve spent uranium rods on January 31, 1998. Over a Decade later they proposed that the opening date would be off to March of 2017. But unless Congress changes the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, that was enaceted by Congress in 1987 that made Yucca Mountain the site to put Nuclear waste, Obama and The Secretary of D.O.E. ,Steven Chu, can not shut down the project. If the Ammendment is changed and Obama and Chu get there way then where would the Nuclear waste go? And if it was shut down millions of dollars would go to waste. And that is tax money that is being spent for this project, our money right out the window.

Electromagnetic Pulse

Tito the Flying Asian



Scientists are finding new ways to build WMDs. This new weapon is known as the EMP or electromagnetic pulse bomb. As the name suggests it emits a powerful electrommagnetic pulse that shuts down all the electronic devices within its range. With new deploying tactics HEMP or high altitude electromagnetic pulse, there is the potential to knock out all of the electronics in America.

Cities That Are Taking Action!

By zim?

In the town that is quite possibly the only town that is not a town and is in a state that it is not in, Unalaska, Alaska has a list of things that you can do to save energy. This is very vital to the town due to the harsh winters and the tons of snow Alaska is commonly known for. during the Alaskan winters it is dark almost 24/7. This and the daily snow storms make traveling nearly impossible so supplies are very limited in the winter and have to be used with discretion. The tips are so simple that they require about as much effort as typing on your computer. The tips include: checking to make sure your fridge seals tightly, keeping clean air filters in your air conditioner,and there are other tips on there too. This is just a small step but small steps like these can make a big difference in the future, both for your wallet and the environment. Now, here is something for you, if such a small town is putting forth an effort this large compared its size, what is your town or community doing??

A Green World.

By: Chaaya

Nowadays no one can go anywhere with out billboards, ads and people on the street talking about how to go green. This one color has become a part of our daily life. Have you ever wondered why they chose the color green to symbolize the movement? Maybe because green is the most common color in nature, or they put all the colors in a raffel and picked one. Well I can't tell you why they picked that color but what I can tell you is that you can do your part. Everything is helpful especially when it comes to making a better future. Even if your part is telling a friend about this world-wide movement and what they can do to help, it's still doing something. In school we are learning about being more energy and environmentally friendly each and every day. Since the schools are doing the job of educating the new generation about the world they will live in, what are you planning to do to help with the movement? Food for thought...

New Honda Hydrogen FCX Car

There is a new hydrogen car made by Honda called the FCX. This new car, powered by a fuel cell is putting hydrogen powered cars out of the laboratory and into the real production world. Unlike other cars though, this car doesn't compress the fuel inside the cylinder to make it combust and power it like gasoline cars. Instead the hydrogen is fed into a device that combines it with oxygen to make water. At the same time, it is making electricity. This electricity is stored in batteries to run the electric motor that powers the car. This makes it much more efficient and green than any other car that runs on gas. The only problem is that it is kind of a problem to find the hydrogen because it is usually with another element. In spite of this the new Honda Hydrogen car has great possibilities.

Offshore Wind Farms

By Julie and Grace

The need for clean power generation is extreme. In order to meet the demand Siemens Power is working to solve the issue by onshore, coastal, and offshore wind turbines. Since the winds at sea are more powerful and constant than on land, offshore wind turbines will be more effective than onshore turbines. Unfortunately, offshore turbines are harder to install and maintain due to the harsh conditions sometimes encountered on the sea. There are also many constraints relating to fishing, bird migration, and shipping lanes. Some people also believe it will cause environmental disturbance and interfere with the view.

There are many offshore wind farms off the shores of Europe and a American wind farm off of Cape Code is being proposed. This can be a huge benefit to the economy because it will provide much needed jobs while helping the environment.

April 28 legislation passed to build a wind farm off the Massachusetts coast. Previous efforts to do so had been blocked by Senator Ted Kennedy.

Positives of Uranium

by Hezikia

Uranium might seem like it is all bad but there are some good sides to it, too. For instance, the only mining required to get it is for the uranium. It also creates unimangible amounts of energy when compared to other forms of energy like coal and oil. The main thing that we have to look for is managing it safely to make sure it does not get into our water supply. Another bonus is that uranium used to make nuclear energy is not the same type that is used to make nuclear weapons. So if a terrorist gets their hands on it they cannot use it for a weapon thus making it safe in that aspect as well .

It It Really "Green"?

By Greg Ortiz

Many things that are used to save energy. But are they really "Green"? For example the curly lightbulbs that are energy star. They are not entirely good. Those lightbulbs contain mercury that is a highly toxicable element. It is in the lightbulb and if the lightbulb is cracked or broken the mercury will leak out of it. You are not supposed to just through them in the city dump. But how many people actually know that. You can recycle them at your local Home Depot.

Mining Hazards

by Greg Ortiz

Mining has an everlasting effect on the enviroment. First of all it totally ruins the enviroment. Nearby ecosystems are destroyed. Especially ones by a streams or rivers. In the American west there are about half a million abandoned mines that were once mined for gold, silver, and copper. Many of the old mines are draining lethal acids into nearby streams and rivers. It is expensive to clean these rivers. what is supposed to be done with mines is reclamation which is cleaning the mines. Another reason why it ruins the environment is that it ruins the landscape of the land. Entire mountains are being taken down to mine for coal and other minerals. As you can see in this picture mining has a huge impact on the environment.

Uranium a history

First used as a weapon against the Japanese urainium is now a great source of energy but not without its drawbacks. Infact it has far more bad things than good going for it. Uranium is one of the most radioactive elements on the planetm and thus is extremely dangerous. Infact in my own homw town of Fruita the dangerous parts of the uranium boom is still around. When many of the schools in the valley were being created uranium tailings were used as a foundation, the result was an extremely dangerous situation. Many of the schools had to be torn down because of this. The tailings were also used in many other structures. For more info on uranium keep looking on this website.

By- Hezikia

Solar Windows

By: Deputy Johnson

New Energy Technologies is developing a new Solar Window Technology. This technology enables see through windows to produce electricity by spraying the window with the world's smallest known organic cells. These cells measure to be 1/4 the size of a grain of rice. For the first time ever, scientists have successfully developed eco-friendly compounds onto glass to collect the solar electricity. Before now scientists could only produce electricity collecting devices with limited or no transparency. In regular solar power collecting devices there has been metal, which is not transparent. This important breakthrough replaces visibility-blocking metal with environmentaly-friendly and more transparent compounds.