[sustainable_tompkins-l] From Energy Nerd to Energy Navigator

[Sasha Paris]

Article at https://sustainabletompkins.org/signs-of-sustainability/
tompkins-weekly-column/from-energy-nerd-to-energy-navigator/

>From Energy Nerd to Energy Navigator

Tompkins Weekly 12-26-16

By Karim Beers

Ronald Booker’s interest in energy efficiency and renewables is clear from
his Ithaca home’s solar panels, passive solar room and wood stove that
satisfies nearly all of his home’s heating needs. After taking these
personal steps to reduce his energy use, “Booker,” as he is known to his
friends, realized that there was an opportunity to share his expertise by
helping others navigate the sometimes complicated process of evaluating
energy choices. Through Get Your GreenBack Tompkins’ Energy Navigator
program, Booker gained strategies and tools to help convey his passion and
knowledge regarding energy conservation to others looking to take similar
energy and money-saving steps.

Booker, a self proclaimed “energy nerd” and Cornell University biology
professor, has been interested in energy conservation for decades and
credits his scientific background for his initial interest in the subject.
“Energy efficiency, heat transfer and stuff like that, building a tight
house, and being concerned with heat transfer kind of comes naturally,”
Booker said. “I know that sounds a little strange.” Through conversations
with his some of his custodian colleagues at Cornell, Booker realized that
his knowledge of energy efficiency could be useful to others facing high
energy costs, who may not have access to information on different options.

“A lot of building care workers live out in the country and don’t have
access to natural gas, which is a relatively cheap and efficient form of
energy,” said Booker. “Most of them heat with oil or propane which is very
expensive.”

One particular experience offered Booker a look into the benefit that could
come from sharing his knowledge with others. In conversation Booker learned
that a building care worker at Cornell, a single mother of two, was living
in manufactured housing and spending thousands on propane and electricity
to heat her home in an outlying community.

“She was using propane with electric heat as a supplement and, at the time,
the cost of electric heat and the cost of propane was the same,” he said.
“She had no idea that they were the same, she thought electricity was
cheaper.”

After Booker helped her to analyze the possible cost savings from other
kinds of heat, she ended up getting a wood pellet stove that greatly
reduced her heating bills.

“Issues like that, helping people think about what their options are and
whether or not they are viable considering their goals,” he said. “That’s
the sort of thing I’ve been interested in for awhile.”

Last year after having made the choice to reduce his role as a professor,
the idea of devoting more of his time to educate others about energy
conservation provides appealed to Booker. Through a friend he learned of
the Energy Navigator program offered by Get Your GreenBack Tompkins. The
Energy Navigator program consists of 10 training sessions, covering local
resources and information about sustainable steps including solar, heating
with wood, and local food.

This training program is intended for “concerned and capable residents who
help their friends, neighbors and other community members make
environmentally and financially sound energy decisions by providing them
with useful, locally relevant, unbiased, research-based information and
resources,” according to the Get Your GreenBack website
.

After participating in the training program and becoming an Energy
Navigator, Booker credited the structure of the program with enhancing his
ability to help others with their energy efficiency needs.

“I think the most important thing was a better understanding of the
resources that are available and the discussion and development of
strategies to help get the word out,” he said. “Having a formalized view of
the whole process: What agencies offer what kind of support? What do you
need to do in order to get the support?” Armed with the tools from the
Energy Navigator program, Booker is now in the midst of organizing meetings
with some of the service workers at Cornell in order to spread awareness of
energy conservation options. “We did two meetings with about 60 custodians
and now we’re in the process of working with the administrators and the
union that represents food service workers and custodians to set up a
series of meetings to help hundreds of others go through our program,” he
said.

These actions aimed at reducing energy costs also address issues
surrounding housing inequality in Ithaca, according to Booker.

“Generally, the lower the cost of housing, the higher the costs for heating
because of the quality of the building envelope,” he said. “When you drive
through Ithaca you see lots of houses with solar panels because people have
the money, interest, and desire to 

[sustainable_tompkins-l] The Lithium Rush or How Indigenous Peoples Get Screwed Again

[Tony Del Plato]

“There’s a good side and a bad side to mining,” Donigian said. The good
side is the economic benefit; the bad side is potential pollution and water
shortages. Even beyond that, many worry what will have been accomplished in
20 or 40 years once the lithium companies exhaust the reserves.
from Washington Post Article

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/batteries/tossed-aside-in-the-lithium-rush/?utm_medium=email_source=digg

-- 

*“The only way we can endure man’s inhumanity to man, is to make our own
lives an example of man’s humanity to man.” Alan Paton*

For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please 
visit:  http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
If you have questions about this list please contact the list manager, Tom 
Shelley, at t...@cornell.edu.

[sustainable_tompkins-l] Building our courage

[Elan Shapiro]

*Building our Courage*

How do we build the courage we need in this time of crisis? Here are some
ideas. *Please share your ideas and/or experiences*. We really need each
other now, even more than before.

***To find the courage we need in this new era, consider where in your life
  *=>  you already act courageously*   <=  and what holds you back from
extending that courage to other areas.



***Find courageous and learning-to-be-more-*courageous people* to hang out
with. Join with them in circles of Learning, Support, and Action. And it
could even just be one *buddy*. It helps *to share* our common & unique
strengths - and areas of challenge -  when risking and sacrificing for
justice

C o u r a g e o u s   *v*i*s*i*o*n*st r a n s f o r m   C o u r a g
e o u s   behavior is   c o n t a g i o u s.



**Notice what *major barriers *: internal/personal  :
intimate/social  and    larger systems    come up when you think
about  *one or two* kinds of helpful actions you might take, and
commitments you might make, in the next period of time . List those
barriers.

Which of the  *I n n e r   and   o u t e r   o b s t a c l e s  *on your
list  seem less compelling when looked at with care and which ones include,
at least in part, real concerns that you *can* address?



(Examples of action paths:  nonviolently resisting autocratic and
destructive political leadership and actions; racial and gender justice;
resisting fossil fuel development ; building a just & clean local economy;
immigrant and refugee rights;  religious, lgbtq, disability, children’s and
elders’ rights; participating in progressive local politics;  etc.)



***Consider *which ONE challenging action path* you might s t r e  t   c
h a  little (or a lot!) past your comfort zone to try out  SOON!



***Don’t give up after what seem like the first “mistakes” or “failures.”
Keep learning from each attempt, keep being open to constructive feedback,
even if it comes with a little kick in the guts, until you’re less fearful
and more confident;  less self- preoccupied, and more enjoying the work
together.



***Imagine how much more alive and connected we would all feel if we were
rising up together to resist tyranny and embody a just and sustainable
world






Elan Shapiro  12-26-16



-- 

Elan Shapiro
Building Bridges Coalition
Frog's Way B
www.frogsway-bnb.com
607-592-8402
elanshapiro...@gmail.com
211 Rachel Carson Way
Ithaca, NY 14850



*HAPPY CHRISKWANZNUKAH!!!*

*THIS HOLIDAY SEASON   *G*I*V*E*  *P*R*E*S*E*N*C*E**

For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please 
visit:  http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
If you have questions about this list please contact the list manager, Tom 
Shelley, at t...@cornell.edu.