By Leslie Quigley •
August 30, 2009
According to the title of an article published in The City of Lancaster’s Outlook (Fall 2009) magazine “The Future Looks Bright for Solar Power in Lancaster”.
My small town, all 475,000 of us, are at the forefront of solar energy! On August 5, 2009, eSolar unveiled the 5 MW (mega watt) demonstration plant known as Sierra SunTower. The solar power plant has 24,000 mirrors and two giant tower house boilers. The boilers create what’s known as “thermal solar” which is said to be more cost-effective than the standard photovoltaic approach used in solar cells. The process creates steam to drive the turbine generators. The project was completed in 14 month time frame and has already begun to distribute power to Southern California Edison.
eSolar’s site says “Sierra SunTower will supply 5 MW of clean, renewable energy to the grid. This full-scale power plant, the only one of its kind in the U.S., produces electricity for Southern California Edison (SCE) and will power up to 4,000 homes.”
By Heidi Suydam •
May 2, 2008
A recent report by NPR news tells of a teacher at Lewis County High School in Weston, West Virginia who is determined to teach Environmental Science and keep politics out of her classroom at the same time. Tiffany Litton holds an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science. She decided to forgo pursuing a career in law to become a high school teacher. Why? Her goal is simple. She wants her students to be better stewards of the environment and felt she could have a bigger impact as a teacher than a lawyer. “My science class is not the place to promote any agenda, its the place to promote facts…” states Miss Litton to NPR news when being interviewed for this story. She has won the trust of her students by respecting their views and not preaching to them. Encouraging even those students who hold a different view than her own, she has been known to award A’s to those who can bring a well researched counter argument to the table.
The students are listening and learning. One father (who happens to be a coal mining equipment distributor) candidly remarked that he does not want his daughter influenced and becoming one of those “tree huggers”. His daughter, a student of Miss Litton’s, respectfully comments that in her opinion her father’s generation does not understand the damage that has been done to the environment.
