Wild Plants of Maine book signing postponed

The Wild Plants of Maine book signing scheduled for this Saturday at our store has been postponed. More details as soon as I know when the new date will be. -Fred

Environmental Happenings

[Note: Our email newsletter had the wrong date for Gary Hirshberg's talk at Bowdoin College.  The correct date is Wednesday, April 13.]

Mon 4/11 - Wes Jackson, "Consulting the Genius of Place: An Ecological Approach to A New Agriculture", 7:30 pm, Kresge Auditorium, Visual Art Center, Bowdoin College, Brunswick.

Dr. Wes Jackson, founder and president of The Land Institute, has pioneered research in perennial grains, perennial polycultures, and intercropping.  All the grains that feed billions of people today -- wheat, rice, corn, etc. -- come from annual plants, which sprout from seeds, produce new seeds, and die every year. The plant breeders at the Land Institute are crossing modern grains with wild perennial relatives to develop crops with the deep, dense root systems that make perennial plants so resilient and resource efficient, without sacrificing too much of the grain yield that millennia of selection have bred into annuals.  Due to the high demand for this event a limited number of tickets will be available at the door. Additional seating will be in Beam Classroom where the talk will be projected. Audience members from Beam Classroom will be invited into Kresge Auditorium for the Q&A at the end of the talk.

Tue 4/12 - Green Home Lecture Series Session 3: Your Home's Core Systems, 6-8 pm, ReVision Energy Showroom, 142 Presumpscot Street, Portland.  If you're considering a home renovation, an upgrade to your home's systems, or just want to learn more about greening your home, then this series is for you!  The six-week lecture series is designed to help homeowners make good, green decisions about their homes. Cost $10/session.  For more information, and to register, visit: http://www.maineusgbc.org/

Tue 4/12 - Portland Greendrinks, 5:30-8 pm, Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress Street, Portland.  Portland Greendrinks is a chance to network with myriad Greater Portland eco-enthusiasts, support a local non-profit, and enjoy some (wallet-friendly) brews! Pay $2 at the door if you bring your own beer mug, $5 if you don’t: profits go to tonight’s featured non-profit organization, Cultivating Community. Extra Brownie Points if you commute green to Greendrinks: walk, take the bus, or visit GoMaine’s fun, interactive ride board, perfect for one time trips!

Wed 4/13 - Women's Bike Clinic Series: Bicycle Maintenance, 6 pm, Colonial Ridge (off East Hardscrabble Road in Auburn).  Back by popular demand, all you wanted to know about bike maintenance but were AFRAID to ask!  Enjoy a relaxed, knowledgeable,  basic, hands-on bike maintenance clinic and feel more confident about you and your bike.  Join the Maine Cycling Club for a 3 part series on bicycle maintenance (Wed 4/13), shifting gears (Tue 4/19) and road riding (Tue 4/26).  Hors D’oeuvres and wine will be served.  Cost: $40 for the series or $20 each.  RSVP to rufit@megalink.net or call Barbara at 240-9139 to reserve your spot.

Wed 4/13 - Geothermal Greenhouse Tour, 10-11:30 am, Hutchings Greenhouse, 445 Riverside Drive (new name for Bradley Road), Eddington, Maine. No registration required. Come and see an open-loop geothermal system that provides very efficient heating for a large greenhouse.  The system's installer, Dan Herweg from Airotherm in Brewer, will be present to answer technical questions.  Thanks to this geothermal system and wood-fired heating, Hutchings Greenhouse has not burned a drop of oil in two years!  For more information, please contact Claudia Lowd (cleanenergy@mainerural.org / 949-5106).

Wed 4/13 -  Antonio Rossmann, "The End of Western Water," 4 pm, ES Common Room, Adams Hall, Bowdoin College, Brunswick.  This lecture will explore the crunch that the Southwest and California find themselves in, and the difficult issues that crunch raises about water and land use decisions in particular, and questions about national development policy in general.  Antonio Rossmann is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and teaches water resources and land use law at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.

Wed 4/13 - Gary Hirschberg, "Green Business: Doing Well by Doing Good," 7 pm, Kresge Auditorium, Visual Art Center, Bowdoin College, Brunswick.  Ahead of his time, Gary Hirshberg has led the way in merging business with social responsibility.  Since 1983, Gary has overseen Stonyfield’s phenomenal growth, from its infancy as a seven-cow organic farming school to $360 million in annual sales.  Before casting his lot with cows and becoming CE-YO of the world’s leading organic yogurt producer, Hirshberg directed the Rural Education Center, the small organic farming school from which Stonyfield was spawned. Before that, Gary had served as executive director of The New Alchemy Institute -- a research and education center dedicated to organic farming, aquaculture, and renewable energy. Prior positions include serving as a water-pumping windmill specialist and an environmental education director with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. He has authored books on wind-power and organic gardening and is author of the best selling: Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World (Hyperion Books, 2008).  In addition to receiving eight honorary doctorates, Gary has won numerous awards his corporate and environmental leadership.  This lecture is part of the Friends of Merrymeeting Bay Speaker Series.

Thu 4/14 - Protect Maine’s Children from Toxic Chemicals Lobby Day with the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, 8:30 am - 1 pm, Augusta State House.  The Environmental Health Strategy Center needs your help to show our legislators that Maine residents want to strengthen the Kid Safe Products Act, promote healthy school grounds, and keep toxic materials out of Maine landfills.  For more information, contact Laura Stevens, Community Organizer, Toxics Action Center, 871-1810, laura@toxicsaction.org.

Thu 4/14 - Food+Farm Series: Of Farms and Fables, doors 7:00 pm, show 7:30-9:30 pm, SPACE Gallery, Portland.  The annual sustainable food event with SPACE Gallery features films, talks, a meet-and-greet, and a work day at Turkey Hill Farm.  Of Farms and Fables is a performance that engages artists in farm work and farm workers in  storytelling and acting. This theatrical reading will create a dialogue about local agriculture, farming, and the future of small family farms in Maine.  For more information, visit http://www.space538.org/

Thu 4/14 - EcoCinema: The Fish Belong to the People, 7 pm, Frontier Cafe, Brunswick.  This documentary chronicles the lives of the fishermen of Port Clyde, Maine, as they work to save their fishing grounds from the government and a market structure that values destructive efficiency over sustainability.  EcoCinema features a periodic series of award-winning documentaries and dramatic films about life and work in resource-based communities that are struggling for sustainability and environmental justice. Each film is a timely and emotional portrait of a marginal or unconventional place whose aspirations and challenges convey a universal message.

Fri 4/15 - Food+Farm Series: An Evening with Anna Lappe, doors 7 pm, talk 7:30-9:30 pm, SPACE Gallery, Portland.  Join Anna Lappe for a discussion of her new book, Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It. Anne Lappe is a founding principal of Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund, and for more than a decade has been a key force in the growing international movement for sustainability and justice in the food chain.   For more information, visit http://www.space538.org/

Sat 4/16 - Food+Farm Series: Wake Up the Farm with Cultivating Community, 9 am - 12 pm, Turkey Hill Farm, Cape Elizabeth.  This free, all-ages work day is a great opportunity to help Cultivating Community get ready for the 2011 growing season. With activities for all ages and skill levels you'll be able to get your hands dirty and ask the CC staff about your farming and gardening questions. The morning concludes at noon with a soup and bread lunch to thank you for your hard work.  For directions, visit Turkey Hill Farm online at http://turkeyhillfarm.org/home.html.

Sat 4/16 - Wells Reserve EcoDay, 10 am - 3 pm, Wells Reserve at Laudholm.  This multi-faceted event is sure to have something for everyone! The EcoDay includes a Green Fair with environmental organizations and conservation-minded businesses, a beach cleanup from 2-3 pm, demonstrations by beekeepers on how to keep a hive, the Laudholm 5k (register here), volleyball tournament, nature walks, speakers, as well as fun activities for kids like face painting, geo-caching walks, and crafts.

Sat 4/16 - Green Fair, 10 am - 4 pm, Plants Unlimited, Rockport.  The annual Green Fair at Plants Unlimited in Rockport is being held this year to honor the volunteers that are working hard to make green contributions in the state of Maine.  Volunteer with one of the many participating organizations to receive a free meal ticket to the fun, family-friendly barbecue. Visit the Plants Unlimited website to see how you can get involved.

Sat 4/16 - Food+Farm Series: The Greenhorns' Young Farmers' Mixer, 3-5 pm, SPACE Gallery, Portland.  Are you a young farmer in Maine? (A "young" farmer is anyone under the national average of of 57!) The Greenhorns is an organization dedicated to recruiting, promoting, and supporting young farmers in America. This afternoon mixer is a great opportunity to meet your peers and enjoy some good eats from Local Sprouts, Flatbread Co. and Maine Root. There will also be volunteer massage therapists on hand (to work out those farming knots!), as well as representatives from The Greenhorns and MOFGA.

Sat 4/16 - Food+Farm Series: The Greenhorns Film and Q&A, doors 7 pm, film 7:30-9:30 pm, SPACE Gallery, Portland.  The Greenhorns is an organization that recruits, promotes, and supports young farmers in America ("young" being defined as anyone under the national average farmer's age of 57). This documentary film explores the lives of America's young farming community, and chronicles the promising beginnings of an agricultural revival based on an interest in sustainable lifestyles. The film will be followed by a Q&A with Greenhorns director Severine von Tscharner Fleming, a farmer, activist, and organizer based in the Hudson Valley, NY.  

Sun 4/17 - Food+Farm Series: Intensive Growing Workshops at Urban Farm Fermentory, 9 am - noon and 1 pm - 4 pm, Urban Farm Fermentory, Portland.  The folks at Urban Farm Fermentory have put together a couple of workshops for this year's Food+Farms series.  Session 1: 9 am to noon, Introduction to Urban Gardening; Session 2: 1-4 pm, Season Extension Techniques and Sheetmulching.  Cost: $15 per class.  For reservations and more information, visit http://www.urbanfarmfermentory.com/skills-classes.

Mon 4/18 - Multimedia presentation by Jacinda Martinez, Frontier Cafe, Brunswick.  Part of the Earth Week celebration at Frontier Cafe.  Artist Jacinda Martinez makes plant-based clothing.

Tue 4/19 - Local Foods Breakfast at Local Sprouts, 8 am, Local Sprouts, Portland.  To celebrate the rich local food community in Portland and throughout Maine, join Local Sprouts every third Tuesday of every month to eat a delicious breakfast cooked with all local ingredients and network with food organizers, advocates, and producers. This is a great chance to promote your work and organization to folks involved in the local food community.  For more information, search for Local Sprouts on Facebook.

Tue 4/19 - Green Home Lecture Series Session 4: Mechanical Systems and Alternative Energy Systems, 6-8 pm, ReVision Energy Showroom, 142 Presumpscot Street, Portland.  If you're considering a home renovation, an upgrade to your home's systems, or just want to learn more about greening your home, then this series is for you!  The Second Annual Maine Chapter of the US Green Building Council's "Green Home Energy" series continues through April and into the first week of May. The six-week lecture series is designed to help homeowners make good, green decisions about their homes. Cost $10/session.  For more information, and to register, visit: http://www.maineusgbc.org/

Tue 4/19 - Women's Bike Clinic Series: Shifting Gears, 6 pm, Colonial Ridge (off East Hardscrabble Road in Auburn).  Back by popular demand, all you wanted to know about bike maintenance but were AFRAID to ask!  Enjoy a relaxed, knowledgeable,  basic, hands-on bike maintenance clinic and feel more confident about you and your bike.  Join the Maine Cycling Club for a 3 part series on bicycle maintenance (Wed 4/13), shifting gears (Tue 4/19) and road riding (Tue 4/26).  Hors D’oeuvres and wine will be served.  Cost: $40 for the series or $20 each.  RSVP to rufit@megalink.net or call Barbara at 240-9139 to reserve your spot.

Tue 4/19 and Wed 4/20 - Film: Economics of Happiness, 6 pm and 7:30 pm, Frontier Cafe, Brunswick.  Part of the Earth Week celebration at Frontier.

Wed 4/20 to Sat 4/23 - Timber Framing Workshop, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson. Participants in the four-day workshop will learn the basics of timberframing in a hands-on setting, from harvesting the trees through the milling process, joinery techniques, and finally construction. For more information, contact gary@hvnc.org or call 586-6752.

Thu 4/21 - EcoCinema: On Coal River, 7 pm, Frontier Cafe, Brunswick.  Featuring co-director Adam Wood.  EcoCinema features a periodic series of award-winning documentaries and dramatic films about life and work in resource-based communities that are struggling for sustainability and environmental justice. Each film is a timely and emotional portrait of a marginal or unconventional place whose aspirations and challenges convey a universal message.

Thu 4/21 - Earth Day Extravaganza: I Am Part of My Environment!, 2-3:30 pm, Children's Museum, Portland.  The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine is turning their entire second floor into one giant ecosystem for Earth Day! Visit Snowshoe O'Hare to learn about animal homes, meet Ivy Sproutsalot and plant a seed in the greenhouse, and make a crafty bug or insect with Six-Legged-Sue. Kids will learn how they are connected to each character and the environment. The CMTM will offer eco-friendly snacks, games and a really good (really green) time at this Earth Day Extravaganza! The event is free with Museum admission (admission is $9 per person, children under 18 months free).

Fri 4/22 - Earth Day Tour with Jerry Therrien, 10 am - noon, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson.  Join naturalist Jerry Therrien at the Hidden Valley Nature Center for an Earth Day walk. April is the month when wildflowers start blooming and vernal pools are exploding with life, so the tour is sure to be exciting. $5 suggested donation. To make a reservation or for more information e-mail gary@hvnc.org or call 586-6752.

Fri 4/22 - Earth Week Live music: Zemya, 7 pm, Frontier Cafe, Brunswick.

Fri 4/22 - Urban Earth Day, 11 am - 6 pm, Monument Square, Portland. This year, MENSK, Flintstonecar, and The City of Portland are hosting Urban Earth Day, a celebration to promote a more healthy, sustainable future. The day's events in Monument Square will involve activities for children, street performers, local farmers, craftspeople, and vendors.

Sat 4/23 - Earth Week Film: Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?, 2 pm, 4 pm, 6 pm, and 8 pm, Frontier Cafe, Brunswick.

Sat 4/23 - Wild Plants of Maine book signing, 11 am - noon, F.W. Horch, Brunswick.  Author Tom Seymour is scheduled to be on hand to sign copies of his book, Wild Plants of Maine.  The book is a guide, including recipes, to wild plants that are edible or otherwise useful and found in Maine.

Sat 4/23 - The Great Cloth Diaper Change, noon - 4 pm, Peekaboo Children's Center, Westbrook. The Great Cloth Diaper Change is a global event being held Saturday, April 23rd, to break the Guinness Book record for most diapers changed simultaneously. Be sure to register for the event to put Westbrook in the running and contribute to raising awareness for eco-friendly cloth diapers.  

Sat 4/23, Earth Week Films: Red Gold and Eastern Rises, Frontier Cafe, Brunswick.  In collaboration with Fly Fishing in Maine.

Sat 4/23 - Dogwood Tree Planting, 9 am - 1 pm, Bayside Trail, Portland.  Meet at the Elm Street trailhead (behind Trader Joe's) to help Portland Trails plant 101 dogwood trees.  Rain date is May 7th, for more information and to sign up, call 775-2411 or e-mail Portland Trails at info@trails.org.

Mon 4/25 to Sun 5/1 - 2011 Midcoast Sustainable Living Fair, Round Top Farm, Damariscotta. The goal of the Fair is to encourage sustainable products and practices and to educate the public on the need for them. This will be the fourth annual Midcoast Sustainable Living Fair where consumers can learn about energy-saving and affordable options for a more environmentally responsible lifestyle.

• A movie and four workshops are scheduled from 6-8 pm each evening, Monday through Friday.
• On Saturday, tours of the Chewonki Foundation campus will be conducted at 9:30 am, 11 am and 1 pm.  The movie Deep Green will be shown at 11 am and 1 pm.
• On Sunday, a local food picnic will be held from noon to 4 pm at Round Top Farm.

Although all events are free, donations are appreciated. For more information, visit the Midcoast Green Collaborative online.

Tue 4/26 - Coyote: America's Songdog, 6:30-8 pm, Topsham Public Library, Topsham.  Biologists say the coyote is the most persecuted animal in the country.  Geri Vistein of Project Coyote will discuss the history, biology, and misconceptions of this animal.  The focus of her talk will be on progressive management strategies that will allow humans and

coyotes to coexist.  Brought to you by the Cathance River Education Alliance.  Free and open to the public.

Tue 4/26 - Green Home Lecture Series Session 5: Healthy Homes and Green Kitchens and Baths, 6-8 pm, ReVision Energy Showroom, Portland.  If you're considering a home renovation, an upgrade to your home's systems, or just want to learn more about greening your home, then this series is for you!  The six-week lecture series is designed to help homeowners make good, green decisions about their homes.  Cost $10/session.  For more information, and to register, visit: http://www.maineusgbc.org/

Tue 4/26 - Women's Bike Clinic Series: Road Riding, 6 pm, Colonial Ridge (off East Hardscrabble Road in Auburn).  Back by popular demand: all you wanted to know about bike maintenance but were AFRAID to ask!  Enjoy a relaxed, knowledgeable,  basic, hands-on bike maintenance clinic and feel more confident about you and your bike.  Join the Maine Cycling Club for a 3 part series on bicycle maintenance (Wed 4/13), shifting gears (Tue 4/19) and road riding (Tue 4/26).  Hors D’oeuvres and wine will be served.  Cost: $40 for the series or $20 each.  RSVP to rufit@megalink.net or call Barbara at 240-9139 to reserve your spot.

Wed 4/27 - Stop the Madness: The Attack on Maine's Environment, 7-8:30 pm, One Longfellow Square, Portland. Our legislature has introduced over 50 bills that are putting development ahead of the protection of our health, wildlife, and natural resources in Maine. We are all at risk from declines in our air and water quality and loss of our natural places. Participants will be joined at One Longfellow Square by Pete Didisheim, the Natural Resources Council of Maine's advocacy director, who will outline harmful bills and explain how we can help. Space is limited, so please register by contacting Todd Martin at tmartin@nrcm.org or (207) 430-0115.

Thu 4/28 - EcoCinema: Shelter in Place, 7 pm, Frontier Cafe, Brunswick.  EcoCinema features

a periodic series of award-winning documentaries and dramatic films about life and work in resource-based communities that are struggling for sustainability and environmental justice. Each film is a timely and emotional portrait of a marginal or unconventional place whose aspirations and challenges convey a universal message.

Sat 4/30 and Sun 5/1 - 5th Annual Organic Workshop at O'Donal's Nursuries, Gorham. The 5th Annual Organic Workshop is a weekend-long event, with free workshops ranging from composting, planting and growing organically, natural pest and weed control, benevolent bugs for your garden, solar and wind power - and the list goes on!  To see times and descriptions of workshops, visit the O'Donal's Nursuries website at http://www.odonalsnurseries.com/.

Tue 5/3 - Green Home Lecture Series Session 6: Landscape, 6-8 pm, ReVision Energy Showroom, 142 Presumpscot Street, Portland.  If you're considering a home renovation, an upgrade to your home's systems, or just want to learn more about greening your home, then this series is for you!  The six-week lecture series is designed to help homeowners make good, green decisions about their homes. Cost $10/session.  For more information, and to register, visit: http://www.maineusgbc.org/

April's Tip: Best Ways to Save Power

Japan's ongoing nuclear crisis has focused attention on our country's dependence on nonrenewable, radioactive uranium for 20% of our electricity. This month's tip explores ways to cut the typical residential power bill in half, which would allow us to safely and quickly power down all of our nuclear plants without needing to build new power plants to replace them. I also discuss why former nuclear power advocates (such as me; I worked for Pacific Gas & Electric during law school) no longer support public subsidies for fission power, now that we have better technology for managing the grid.

In a nutshell, here's what each of us would need to do to cut our household power bill in half:

1. turn off lights when you leave a room
2. install motion sensors on outdoor lighting so it automatically turns and off as needed
3. remove unnecessary lights
4. install task lighting so you use energy to focus light just where it's needed
5. replace all incandescent light bulbs with CFLs or LEDs
6. replace wasteful refrigerators with Energy Star models
7. use a drying line or a drying rack instead of an electric or gas clothes dryer
8. if you must use a machine to dry your clothes, use high-efficiency washing machines with a high-speed spin cycle or use a spinner to wring most water out of clothes before drying
9. in homes with air conditioners and electric heaters, condition a smaller space or accept a wider range of indoor temperatures (a little hotter in summer and a little colder in winter)
10. in homes with electric water heating, do the following:
• wash clothes in cold water
• install low-flow showerheads
• install aerators on all sinks
11. in homes with well pumps, do the following:
• check for leaking toilets
• install low-flow showerheads
• use a rain barrel for exterior watering
12. replace wasteful desktop computers with laptops
13. replace wasteful televisions with Energy Star models
14. turn off and unplug electronic devices when not in use
15. cook with microwaves instead of electric ranges or ovens
16. use solar chargers for recharging personal electronic devices (cell phones, etc.)
17. use solar chargers for rechargeable batteries
18. replace wasteful night lights with efficient LEC or LED models

Let's start by imagining the impact if we were able to cut the typical residential power bill in half. Residential electricity use is 38% of our country's total (the commercial and industrial sectors are responsible for 37% and 25% of electricity consumption, respectively). Cutting residential power bills in half would save almost 20% of our total electricity demand, just about the amount of energy the nuclear power plants across America supply. In other words, cutting our residential power bills in half and improving efficiency in our commercial and industrial sector by just a few percentages would allow us to shut down all of our nuclear power reactors without needing to build new power plants to replace them.

Shedding 20% of our load and shutting down our nuclear power stations permanently would free up resources to invest in improving our transmission and control infrastructure. Engineers, managers, and lawyers currently required by our nuclear power industry could use their time more productively to make the transition to a fully sustainable power system. We would also stop producing nuclear waste in the commercial power sector, limiting the scope of that problem to the military, medical and other industrial sources of radioactive waste. Plus, we wouldn't need to open lands around the Grand Canyon to uranium mining, as is being proposed now.

The average household in the United States uses 920 kilowatt hours of electricity per month. Here in Maine, we use on average 500 kWh per month. In England, the average is 390 kWh per month. My family uses between 250 and 380 kWh per month, depending on the time of year and who's visiting.

If you are a typical family, your lighting and appliances account for the majority of your electricity consumption. In 2008, according to the Energy Information Administration, lighting and appliances accounted for about 60% of residential energy use. Air conditioning was just 16%, water heating was 9%, refrigerators were 8% and space heating was 6%.

Maine leads the nation in showing what happens when you shut down a nuclear power plant. Now that Maine Yankee is closed, we have higher electricity rates and lower household electricity consumption. We replaced nuclear power with efficiency and natural gas. Although it seems likely that we will be storing nuclear waste in Wiscasset for generations, we are no longer importing large amounts of radioactive materials through our communities and our risk of a nuclear catastrophe is much lower. (By the way, even though we no longer have a nuclear power plant in Maine, most Maine electricity rate payers are still paying each month for nuclear power plants in other states. CMP's standard offer is 19% nuclear, for example.)

My personal experience in our home shows that it is not difficult to cut household electricity consumption in half. We expect to be able to stay below 250 kWh per month on a consistent basis once we switch all of our household lighting to LED. (The recent improvement in light quality of LEDs now makes this a viable option for us.)

Given that we could shut down all of our nuclear powers plants just by taking relatively easy and common-sense steps to improve the energy efficiency in our own homes, why do energy experts say nuclear power is a necessity? Are nuclear power plants needed for the reliability of the grid? Do they help prevent climate change?

Since nuclear power has never been economically viable, the industry has developed through political connections. Experts who claim nuclear power is necessary do so for political reasons.

In terms of grid reliability, hydropower is the best reserve because it can be almost instantly turned on and turned off. Nuclear power, in contrast, provides significant challenges to grid operators because it is very difficult to adjust the output. Once a nuclear power plant is up and running, it is typically intended to run at nearly full power for months, producing roughly the same amount of power day and night, whether the power is needed or not. Grid operators must bring in or drop off other power generators to match the supply to the load to maintain a constant voltage for every power customer.

Nuclear power makes much less sense in today's world than it did in the 1970s. As communication and computing technology has improved, we are much better able to manage a diverse mix of power sources.Today, nuclear adds almost nothing in reliability to a grid that combines hydropower, coal, natural gas, biomass, and distributed sources such as solar and wind. Nuclear is a relatively inflexible power source that other power generators must accommodate. Maine's section of the grid, for example, dropped nuclear power and still maintains a high level of reliability.

In a few months, we could shed 20% of our total electricity load, begin decommisioning our nuclear reactors, and enjoy the same level of reliability in our electricity grid as we have now. Shedding loads can happen very quickly. In my house, for example, we were able to shed 25% of our load the day we moved in by replacing the refrigerator and installing CFLs. Similar efficiency opportunities are available to every homeowner in America. There really is no good reason Americans are wasting so much electricity and paying for nuclear power plants to supply it.

In terms of climate protection, the question is whether it would be better to shut down our coal power plants instead of our nuclear power plants. My personal feeling is that we would be in a better position to make the transition to a fully sustainable power grid if we shut down all the nuclear power plants first, and then tackled the coal power plants. The nuclear industry is a huge distraction from the research and engineering work that needs to be done to improve the way our grid operates so that we can power our homes, businesses and factories entirely by clean, renewable sources.

Looking to the future, we have plenty of other clean and sustainable power sources we can develop to supply all the electricity we need. Solar and hydropower could supply our needs many times over.

In the end, whether we continue to expose ourselves to the expense and risk of nuclear power is a political choice. The industry depends on tax payer support to operate now; it will require enormous new government subsidies to grow.

Each of us can do our part to make it possible to choose a nuclear-free future by bringing our household electricity consumption down to half the national average. I hope this article has given you some ideas you can try in your own home.