Morial Confidant Pleads To Tax Count

According to the T-P, lawyer Roy Rodney, a member of former Mayor Marc Morial's inner circle whose business dealings have been under federal scrutiny for years, has agreed to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of failure to file income tax returns.

During Morial's tenure at City Hall, Rodney was the closest thing to an in-house lawyer for the former mayor's team of closest advisers.

Rodney helped incorporate businesses for many members of the group and served as counsel for Morial's political organization, LIFE. He also received several high-dollar legal contracts from Morial, performing work for the Housing Authority of New Orleans and acting as counsel for the Rivergate Development Corp., the city agency that acts as landlord to Harrah's New Orleans Casino.
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There is such a thing as attorney/client privilege. Who knows what Rodney may know...!!!

Looking For An Energy Efficient TV?

Presently, there is no data to campare the energy consumption of different models of TV sets; but that is going to change soon:

In a little-noted section of the energy bill just passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, the FTC has 18 months to come up with labeling or some other energy disclosure plan for televisions, personal computers, cable or satellite set-top boxes, stand-alone digital video recorder boxes, and personal computer monitors.

Another important development is on its way: In early February, the government will announce the final standards on which TVs will qualify for the Energy Star label. Previously, the Energy Star on TVs certified only that a set used little power when it was in standby mode and didn't take into account how much power it used when turned on!

But if all proceeds as planned, later this year consumers can begin looking for Energy Star if they want to choose a set in the top 25 percent of energy efficiency performers on the market. That will be timely, because an increase in TV buying is expected about then, with all-digital TV coming in February 2009.

A better viewing experience, so they say. But you may well be using more energy along the way, if you aren't careful.

New Book Highlights Global Warming Policy

What? Yet another book on global warming? Yes, and it is needed. While there are a number of excellent books explaining the problem of global warming, these are surprisingly devoid of actionable policy recommendations. The result is that the reading public is generally aware that global warming is serious and tough choices need to be made in the next decade. However, what the choices are and why we can wait a decade to implement them remains vague.

"Global Warming: The Answer (The Energy Dividend)" (published by AuthorHouse - http://www.authorhouse.com), the new book by Wilfred Candler, steps directly into the policy void with a simple philosophy: Get the prices right, and all else will follow.

Wal-Mart To Open 2nd. Efficiency Store

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. announced yesterday the opening of its second generation of High-Efficiency stores that will use 25 percent less energy than the baseline Wal-Mart Supercenter. The first store will open in Romeoville, Ill., on January 23.

The store combines what the company has learned from its successful first generation High-Efficiency stores with new state-of-the-art technologies. In addition to saving energy, the new stores will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by lowering refrigerant by 90 percent.

Johnson Controls To Supply Lithium-Ion Batteries

For those of you who have forgotten who Johnson Controls is, let me refresh your memory. Johnson Conttrols is the company that had an energy efficiency contract with the City of New Orleans under former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial's administration. Stan "Pampy" Barre, a confidant of the mayor, looted the Johnson Controls contract for his own personal greed.

Now Johnson Controls is in the headlines again:

The company will be supplying the People's Republic of China with lithium-ion batteries for its demonstration fleet of new energy vehicles. This fleet will help China usher in a new age of fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles.

This should turn out to be a huge success since they won't be dealing with a corrupt individual like Stan "Pampy" Barre.

Find Out What Your City Is Doing To Curb Global Warming

Today is day 14 into the new year and I have been discussing what some states and countries have been doing to curb global warming. I have also discussed how the City of New Orleans missed the mark when Stan "Pampy" Barre was allowed to steal from an energy savings contract under former Mayor Marc Morial's administration. The city really blew it with that one. I also urged all of my readers to find out what there city was doing to curb global warming.

It is time that you should ask that question because New Orleans is suffering right now and it may take years for the City to recover from Stan "Pampy" Barre's actions.

IBM Helps Retailers "Go Green"

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled technologies and services that are uniquely able to improve energy and operational efficiency across a retailer's entire IT operation. The IBM "Green Retail Store" portfolio includes high-performance point-of-sale systems, industry-leading IBM blade servers, and system management software that allow retailers to deploy end-to-end solutions from the front of the store to the back office that benefit the environment.

"Retailers are looking for ways to differentiate and build customer loyalty in a fiercely competitive environment, and consumers are increasingly showing preference for retailers who are environmentally responsible," said Steve Ladwig, General Manager, IBM Retail Store Solutions. "IBM technologies and services not only help retailers appeal to consumer requirements, but also help protect the environment and save money by making their operations more efficient."

We All Can Do Our Part

Wal-mart now has bags in its' stores that you can purchase and use instead of the old plastic baggies. My sister, Charmaine, came up with her own novel idea of going green in order to help save the environment. She made cloth grocery and shopping bags for friends, family and neighbors this holiday season.

Everyone loves those bags since they are washable and you can take them with you whenever you go shopping. I love to use mines and I have totally left plastic grocery and shopping bags alone.

Weatherize Your Home To Conserve Energy

Tired of high energy bills?

Now's the time to do something about your leaky house.

Oncor Electric Delivery is expanding its energy-efficiency efforts and plans to spend more than $300 million over the next five years to help North Texas homeowners plug leaky doorways, insulate attics and change out light bulbs.

At the same time, the Dallas-based utility will help businesses shore up their conservation measures, targeting big users such as data centers.

NIPSCO Offering Energy Incentives

Before you buy your next water heater or furnace, taking the time to find one that's energy efficient could mean more money in your wallet.

The Northern Indiana Public Service Co. has introduced a new energy efficiency initiative for all NIPSCO natural gas customers that rewards them for buying with the environment in mind.

The program, called EnergyHarvestSM, offers cash rebates to encourage customers to purchase certain energy efficient appliances, including water heaters, Energy Star furnaces and programmable thermostats.

Nexsan Introduces First High Density Energy Efficient Storage

Nexsan, a leading provider of energy efficient disk-based storage systems designed for the long-term storage of information, today announced the SATABeast Xi, the first high density, energy efficient storage solution built and optimized for the Apple Xserve and Mac Pro markets.

The SATABeast Xi is the highest density storage solution available today, providing up to 42TB of storage in only 4U of rack space, and the only one of its caliber in the Xserve market featuring AutoMAID (Massive Array of Idle Disks). AutoMAID allows SATABeast Xi to place its disk drives in an idle state to conserve energy yet provide near-instantaneous access to data.

Hewlett Packard to Reduce PC Energy Usuage

Do you want to cut your energy bill while still browsing the web? Then Hewlett Packard may have the product for you.

Today at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show, Hewlett Packard has committed to reduce the energy consumption of its volume desktop and notebook PC families by 25 percent by 2010. As a result, HP also now leads the industry in the number of Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT(TM)) Gold listed products with the introduction of more than two dozen PCs registered in North America at either the Gold or Silver rating levels.

HP has long focused on developing products designed with the environment in mind, and it was the first PC manufacturer to register an EPEAT Gold product with the HP Compaq rp5700 Long Lifecycle Business Desktop PC in 2007.

UK Companies Seeks To Improve Energy Efficiency Technologies

The Technology Strategy Board has launched a funding competition that it believes will stimulate UK companies to address the challenge of improving the efficiency of lighting while at the same time reducing energy consumption. The Technology Strategy Board believes that this investment will help to accelerate the development of new technologies, bringing them quickly into use in the UK and around the world.

Explaining the background to the decision to invest in this area, Technology Strategy Board Chief Executive Iain Gray said: "Lighting accounts for up to 20% of the UK's power. As we move towards a lower carbon economy, and recognise the need for more efficient energy use, developing advanced light sources becomes increasingly important."

Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama's, Plans For The Environment

Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, has the best laid out plan concerning preserving our environment: Obama's plan includes:

1. Supporting cap-and-trade programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with 100 percent of permits auctioned; proceeds would go to job training, helping workers and industry adapt to clean technologies.

2. Setting "green job corps" for disadvantaged youths.

3. Investing $150 billion over 10 years in climate-friendly energy supplies, bio-fuels, plug-in hybrids, large-scale renewable energy and "clean coal" technology. Would set aside $50 billion for a clean-technologies venture capital fund.

4. Seeking a reduction in deforestation, a program to capture and store carbon emissions, the doubling of energy research funding and the establishment of a national low-carbon fuel standard. Opposes drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

5. Backing 52 mile per gallon fuel economy standard by 2026. Would offer tax credits and loan guarantees to encourage retooling by domestic automakers. Would set national building efficiency standards and offer grants to states and communities that implement building codes that emphasize energy efficiency.

6. Would propose a global energy forum of the world's top energy consumers.