Lately, the natural gas lobbyist have been slamming Josh and his documentary. Maybe it has something to do with his Oscar nomination and the fact that more and more people are learning about this process and becoming outraged; Outraged at the fact, this is possibly a huge experiment on the American people.

A natural gas lobby group, Energy in Depth, commented:

“While it’s unfortunate there isn’t an Oscar category for propaganda, this nomination is fitting, as the Oscars are aimed at praising pure entertainment among Hollywood’s elite. Without doubt, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated Gasland for its work in the field of art, not science.”

America’s Natural Gas Alliance commented,

“This nomination is particularly troubling because natural gas is routinely and safely produced across this country and holds such extraordinary potential to advance our nation’s clean energy economy. Contrary to the film’s claims, natural gas development can and does exist in harmony with our environment, and it can play a central role in improving our nation’s air quality and solving our energy challenges.”

Today Josh Fox speaks out about oil lobby’s effort to crush his film in an article from Joshua Kors:

“Josh Fox’s home sits in the woods of Milanville, Pennsylvania, near the rushing waters of the Delaware River. In May 2008, a strange letter appeared in his mailbox. A natural gas company was offering him $100,000 if he granted them permission to drill on his property.

Instead of signing, Fox decided to investigate. Armed with a video camera and a banjo, he set off on a journey up and down the Marcellus Shale, a massive reserve of natural gas that stretches 600 miles from Pennsylvania to Maryland, Virginia and into Tennessee. Known as the “Saudi Arabia of natural gas,” the shale contains billions of dollars in untapped fuel.

Fox wanted to know: What happened to other families who agreed to drilling on their property?

What he found was a heartbreaking collection of severely ill families whose aquifers had become so tainted by the gas, they could literally light their tap water on fire. He edited his footage into a modest documentary, Gasland, which was soon embraced by outraged viewers across the country. It won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the Lennon-Ono Peace Prize, and now has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary.

With the spotlight, Fox has been transformed from a mild-mannered art director at a Brooklyn theater company to a respected filmmaker to an outspoken activist on par with Erin Brockovich, a professional thorn in the side of the natural gas industry. A few weeks before his Oscar nod, Fox spoke with me about the unexpected acclaim and the oil lobby’s efforts to crush his documentary.”

Read the rest here…

Trailer for GasLand:

This project is the result of great people coming together to do a wonderful thing! The badge above is a link to purchase the album. Click on it and get yourself a great album! You’ll get 41 songs for just $9.99 or you can always buy them individually for $0.99.

The artists:

1% for the Planet exists to build and support an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet. All Green Things is a proud member of One Percent For the Planet. We strive to be good citizens within our industry, community, and the environment. That’s why when you shop with us; we give back a portion of all net profits towards causes in support of the arts, community, and environment. When people and businesses band together, 1% of hundreds of businesses’ profits amounts to a whole lot of good that can be done.

1% for the Planet promotional video – members mentioned from 1% for the Planet on Vimeo.

A zero energy house or zero-energy building (ZEB) is one that generates energy provided by on-site Renewable energy sources that are equal to the amount of energy used by the building. So if you could achieve a zero-energy building you would never use power from the grid, which means you would need a very good battery system to store energy captured during the day for energy use in the evening.The next best thing is net-zero energy and this means that although you may be using power from the grid at night (when there is no sun for your pv- Solar photovoltaic) the amount that you generate during the day is typically more than you use (the meter will spin backwards when you are generating power) and the rest goes back into the grid– give some, take some –at the end of the day your at net-zero energy. “This kind of home is healthier, more durable, and absolutely essential for saving large amounts of energy and effectively curbing climate change”, say the Schwolsky’s. I have now learned the difference between a “Green” house verses a “Zero-energy” or “Net-Zero energy” house. A green home may be certified green but this does not mean that it has an emphasize on zeroing the usage of energy. Don’t get me wrong, a “Green” home is great and it uses less water, energy, materials, and provides better indoor air quality but does not have an emphasis on zero-energy. So what I now understand is that both are important and should be a combined effort when building or renovating a home or commercial property.

The Zenergy House was created to implement the expertise known by the Schwolsky’s. Not only have they created this project but also they are the founders of REAS (Residential Energy Assessment Services). This is where I get even more impressed! The list of services that they provide is extensive and they have the knowledge to go with it. They provide Comprehensive Energy Audits, Energy Efficiency Retrofits and Green Remolding. They are  HERS, LEED, and GreenPoint Rated Certified. Why stop there? They offer Eco-Broker Real Estate and Green Financing Programs. This is what I call one-stop servicing!!! I think the most important point is that they are trustworthy, reliable and the most pleasant people you ever want to meet.

The Zenergy House, located in Studio City, CA, is a one-story home with 2450 sq ft of living space. It was built in 1950 and has 3 bedrooms and 3 baths. This prototype is a whole house remodel and was created to show the benefits of a high performance home. This includes improved health, safety, comfort and the ability to protect property values from rapidly escalating energy costs. You can take a peek here at what the property looks like:

When the project is complete they will host open home tours. The mission is to help homeowners recognize what truly determines a green home and to provide a roadmap for creating our own Zenergy House!! I took a sneak peek just before the Holidays. It’s a beautiful home and has inspired me to strive for zero-energy in my home. Stay tuned for more information on when the tours will begin.

In the near future REAS, Inc. will offer training curriculum for emerging green job markets.

Free Phone Consultation

Disclosure: All Green Things is a Zenergy House Sponsor

Basically Spencer is reinventing the cardboard box. He is changing the way people pack and move with his invention called The Recopack. It stands for Recycled Ecological Packing and it’s a replacement for using new or used cardboard boxes when you pack and move anything. It’s available in 3 sizes and delivered direct to your door on a fleet of super green eco-trucks powered by waste vegetable oil and bio-fuel.

Not only has he designed and manufactured the Recopak but he’s also designed many other products made from our trash. I get so excited when I look at what he has accomplished. 100 Recopak boxes use up 500LBs of our trash. They are designed to last up to 400 round trip applications and when the Recopacks wear out he grinds the boxes up and makes another Recopak. Brilliant!!

Another group of items in his list of designs are the Recocubes, Recopaper and Gemini Paper. The Recocubes are made from 100% recycled newspaper sludge. It’s a replacement for petroleum based styrofoam packing peanuts or corn based biodegradable packing materials. This sludge is usually dumped into the landfill but Spencer collects this end life cycle resource and adds sugars, starches and B-12 then compresses it into cubes and compostable packing sheets. The list does not stop here. Another great product is his Poo Poo Pallet. Yes you heard me! Each poopy pallet uses 700 recycled baby diapers. Wow, let’s hope they left the stink at the landfill!

I encourage you to visit Spencer’s site to check out his additional products made from our trash. What a genius!

Rentagreenbox.com is currently servicing every city in Orange County, Los Angeles County and select areas of the Inland Empire and San Diego County. If you do not see your area they are expanding as fast as they can. They are expanding nationwide so partnership opportunities exist!!!

The Story of Cap & Trade is a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the leading climate solution being discussed at Copenhagen and on Capitol Hill. Host Annie Leonard introduces the energy traders and Wall Street financiers at the heart of this scheme and reveals the “devils in the details” in current cap and trade proposals: free permits to big polluters, fake offsets and distraction from what’s really required to tackle the climate crisis. If you’ve heard about cap and trade, but aren’t sure how it works (or who benefits), this is the film is for you.