Green Options

As layoffs and home foreclosures continue, many Americans are experiencing hunger for the first time. Though the issue of hunger is often associated with developing countries, food bank demand in the US increased by 30% in 2008 from the previous year.

The largest stimulus package in US history was signed today, and it’s putting a smile on the face of the solar industry. President Obama returned to Denver, where he accepted the Democratic nomination, to sign this landmark legislation–this time in front of solar panels, not neoclassical pillars.
“I don’t want to pretend that today marks the end of our economic problems,” Obama said before signing the bill. “We are laying the groundwork for a green energy economy that can create countless green jobs. We will transform the way we use energy.”

Solar is sexy, and many celebrities, including Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, and Will Ferrell, have already jumped on the bandwagon.


But many celebs have not, even though they represent a select group who own a disproportionate number of outrageously excessive homes located in sunny places, and they may want to consider re-decorating their roofs with energy-generating silicon.
>> Don’t forget to show your support by voting for this article above.

If saving money and resources, or doing the right thing aren’t enough, every time a celebrity installs solar with BP Solar Neighbors program, a low-income home in South Los Angeles will receive a system as well. It also wouldn’t hurt for any of these people to spearhead their local solar panel collective bargaining clubs.

For your viewing pleasure (and our own personal enjoyment), we’ve rounded up the top ten heinously huge celebrity homes that probably should attempt to redeem themselves by installing solar panels. We’ve added DC nameplate rating quotes for each roof to show the wattage that would fit on the usable roof space, which was estimated by our resident solar expert and former solar installer. (An average home can fit about 4 kW, for your reference.)

Here they are, ranked from the smallest to largest potential system:
10. Ashlee Simpson, Beverly Hills, California, 2.5 kW

Pete Wentz said goodbye to his $1.8 million bachelor pad and hello to this $4.5 million home with Ashlee. They now live right around the corner from Demi and Ashton. Though this house isn’t ideal for solar, the installation could be just the distraction Ashlee needs right now.

On Saturday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom hosted a discussion on his radio show about the “Green Collar Economy.” Appearing on the show were Van Jones, founder of Green for All and author of a new book on the topic, and Dave Llorens, founder of 1Block Off the Grid.

You can listen to the podcast here: .

Mayor Newsom’s guests had a lot to say about how the new green jobs sector of the economy is bending the corner from “inspiration to implementation”.

One in four New Yorkers is obese, and soda is America’s hottest scapegoat. New York City may implement an 18 percent sales tax on soda and sugary drinks in the name of reducing obesity and raising money for health programs.
This proposal has sparked debate about the the efficacy of the tax and the potential harm to businesses. According to the New York Times, this tax would decrease soda consumption by 5 percent and would raise over $400 million per year.

A Park Slope hardware store has pledged to spend 22% of Sunday’s revenue to make their store more energy efficient.
They have not made this pledge because of a mandate, a threat of punishment or an altrusitic love of the environment. Tarzian Hardware wants to make a direct profit.
This is because the Carrotmob is arriving in New York City. Started by Brent Schulkin in San Francisco, Carrotmob is a reverse boycott where similar businesses compete to see who will go the furthest to green themselves up. The winner is rewarded with a “mob”-hundreds of customers who arrive on the same day to buy up the store in order to support greener business.

23,000 cars will now be displaced onto the University of Pennsylvania’s campus and the surrounding neighborhoods.
Philadelphia’s South Street Bridge carried its last passenger on Monday morning, at least for the next two years. The decrepit structure, built in 1923, was declared “structurally insufficient” over twenty years ago, but has continued in operation under a close eye of weekly safety tests and vehicle weight restrictions.

The collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis last year heightened concerns about the integrity of our nation’s infrastructure. Chunks of concrete have fallen from the South Street Bridge into the river and onto the highway below, and the bridge was not expected to survive the winter months. The South Street bridge connects several residential neighborhoods in Center City and South Philadelphia with the University of Pennsylvania (the largest private employer in the city) and two major hospitals.