I so love your columns. My husband makes breakfast and I read your column to him while he cooks.
I wish there were more opportunities for those on the lower income bracket to take advantage of solar. We have almost qualified, to be stymied by some wrench being thrown in at the last minute.
What Biden did was laudatory, but it seemed those already with higher incomes were the ones who got to take advantage, as few on the lower income scale could afford to.
Thank you again, for your uplifting and extremely informative posts.
Yes, I had the same issue with the incentives not providing enough for lower income folks, so I found some workarounds which also save me money on utilities.
I bought the RV style solar panels and simply put them in the yard and hook them up to camping style power station batteries which I got on sale. I then use them while they are charging as well as overnight and plug certain appliances into them.
Also, buy a watt tester for 15 dollars or less. This is good for finding out which appliances use more than they should. Most of my savings is from conserving.
Now, I live in a mild climate, so I am lucky.
I could not afford a heat pump, so I use a dehumidifier for heat in winter and ones that are large enough to heat a room run between 250 and 230 watts and cost between 150-200 dollars. I have smaller ones for summer since I live in a damp climate and they use 115 watts and keep my home dry but do not produce much heat, they are my biggest energy use appliances in summer since they have to run when it is foggy and damp. Because of my massive mature trees, I do not need AC, but I live in a mild climate, as well.
However, they do make portable heat pumps which are not expensive that you can vent out a window, but they use a bit more energy than a dehumidifier, but they also provide more heat, as well as cooling if need be, but I do not need more. If I need a bit more I pair my dehumidifier with a small 250 watt heater that I bought a thermostat for.
My largest home savings was simply turning off the water heater and by getting more efficient air cleaners since they run 24/7 at now about 8-14 watts each. Then it is using the dehumidifiers for heat in winter, of course.
I heat water on an induction cooktop for a shower in a 12 qt stockpot and use a camping USB showerhead pump combo. This is roughly 300 watts or less to heat and the pump is almost zero in energy use, I rarely have to recharge it. (compared to thousands of watts a day for a water heater). One can use the same stock pot to heat water for dishes or put water in a cup in the micro and use that to wash a few items.
Now, this may seem extreme, but it was nice to get a 12 dollar electric bill last summer.
Sadly, this year, they have added a service charge to my electric bill, more than doubling my electric bill, but still cheap-ish. I wish they would give us a free hour midday to charge up from solar from the grid like they do in Australia, and if they did that, I would get another battery.
So, right now I am using about 1 - 1.5 kWh from the grid per day and about 2-4 from my solar and batteries (since I can use while charging I get more). Like I said, they were cheap, so not much in kWh, but enough to run a small fridge long enough to freeze ice in 1 gallon bottles to use overnight and turn my fridge into an ice box.
For travel, I simply have set aside one day per week to make a loop for groceries and hardware and I seem to be getting it down to less than a week, meaning only 2 tanks of gas for the whole year in my economy ICE vehicle. I do dream of an EV though so I can go places again. I love to go places, but we can't be putting more in the air if we can avoid it at all.
What works for me will not work for everyone, since it depends also on the size of your household. For example, an induction cooktop runs at 1500 watts/5 = 300 watts for 12 minutes of heating for hot dish water or 1/5 of an hour of heating.
However, if you have a large number of people showering, obviously the savings starts to erode for heating on a cooktop, and simply getting a timer for your water heater and being more scheduled about it might work better. It depends on if your main concern is time or money, as well.
I have the time to do these things. Heating water hot enough for a shower is only abt 8 minutes or abt 200 watts.
These tips are also ways for some in mild climates who are still using natural gas for water heating and house heating to ditch the gas and shut it off by using a cooktop for water heating and dehumidifier for home heat in winter, as a way to not get a massive electric bill when switching to all electric, if you can't afford all the bells and whistles like rooftop solar, and a installed heat pump, etc. The small dehumidifiers can also be used to dry clothes hanging in the bathroom to replace a gas clothes dryer, but I often simply opt for the laundromat for larger items anyway. If you live where it is dry in winter, an ultrasonic humidifier (only 17 watts) paired with the dehumidifier works well, too and solves that problem, they are not expensive.
What you have done is exactly the sort of inspired adaptation that will be the most important force in moving to alternative energy. The fundamentals of energy use and technology should be included in every school curriculum. If even children can pick up how to use a smart phone they should easily grasp the basics of energy use.
It is ironic that in his stubborn determination to recreate the world of his childhood, Donald Trump is undermining the American strength he values so highly. He is doubling down on coal and oil just as the world leaves them behind, and abandoning the growth industries of the future, wind and solar. America will end up poorer and weaker for his efforts.
I'm not sure if he really values anything highly other than money, but if you mean what he pretends to value or an industrious prosperous nation, yes, the hypocrisy of them not embracing all of these wonderful new and green innovations is quite clear.
Good point. Geopolitical pressures will certainly be felt differently in energy-producing regions like Texas. Still, the definition of energy security itself may be changing.
Someday…SOME DAY…Republicans will pay a price for severely damaging America’s climate , economy and public health on behalf of the fossil fuel corporations
We are all one. One Planet. One climate. One World. One Earth. Not just America, but the whole planet. And those who contribute least and gain the least will be hit the hardest. But we will ALL pay the price. We go down together. ... or we can rise UP together too.
Good news (?) Bill, we here in Canada share American blindness to the trend of direction for energy. We are both on the wrong road, but at least we are not alone!
Yale found that lots of folks are alarmed but alarmed alone, with nearly nobody to talk to about it. And most aren't doing anything about it. They would if someone asked them to. Do you help people gather together for our climate? Do you ask people to do something specific?
How about a pitch for the soil carbon sequestrion of using organic no till with cover crops. It has worked for me for fifteen years. The increase of worms and improved soil texture added to the carbon which no till soils sequester could make a big reduction in our carbon polution. Added to this home or local no till provides a way to say no to profit maximizing corporations which don't care about our climate or healthy food.
Thank you for the link to Daniel Swain’s forecast. Greater possibility of heat domes plus already droughty conditions have me thinking I’ll see some smoky skies in Seattle this summer. We’ve had days when we had the worst urban air in the world. Looks like they may be coming back.
Outstanding Journalism. I am so grateful to be on your follower list. Thank you for the work you do to inform, inspire and shine a light, a beacon of hope.
The number of Americans who are very worried about climate heating is horribly low because of the mass production of ignorance by right wing media and lack of ethics and professional competence in “mainstream” media. Sadly, a critical mass of voters will not realize that right wing media and corrupt right wing politicians have been lying to them about the climate until there is overwhelming catastrophe. Mainstream media will not effectively educate the public until there are multiple overlapping catastrophes. This society is proving that appropriate policies to end the dominance of fossil fuels will not happen without numerous rapid-fire climate disasters. If this El Niño makes that happen, I will send it roses.
Wonderful compilation of stories that together - if you 10 minutes or more to read the whole thing, do more to increase optimism and wave headline gloom away in the US when every day there's a new outrage against the environment and common sense, which this administration utterly lacks with all its Trump lackey's stuffing his pockets and those of his fossil fuel enablers, along with their own.
That said, if this info doesn't come out on a daily website or emin as it happens, it should. I imagine some high percentage of news readers who care about many issues including the climate, don't even have time open all the emails they're interested in, and rarely finish any as long as this one. I am among that group news addicts who is trying to going done all the wells of info as a matter of health. Yours is one I choose as it doesn't come out often. But honestly, I'd prefer getting it in bites which will allow me to faster get through the long summaries every-month.
Edward R Devereux, Natick MA (EcoNatick volunteer and climate activist).
Will you help finance these 2 electric cars for African taxi drivers? $25 or more lent for 38 months lets you join the crowd funding these. The Africans will make more money and it steps us toward the moment when West Texas frackers cannot sell their oil.
I so love your columns. My husband makes breakfast and I read your column to him while he cooks.
I wish there were more opportunities for those on the lower income bracket to take advantage of solar. We have almost qualified, to be stymied by some wrench being thrown in at the last minute.
What Biden did was laudatory, but it seemed those already with higher incomes were the ones who got to take advantage, as few on the lower income scale could afford to.
Thank you again, for your uplifting and extremely informative posts.
Yes, I had the same issue with the incentives not providing enough for lower income folks, so I found some workarounds which also save me money on utilities.
I bought the RV style solar panels and simply put them in the yard and hook them up to camping style power station batteries which I got on sale. I then use them while they are charging as well as overnight and plug certain appliances into them.
Also, buy a watt tester for 15 dollars or less. This is good for finding out which appliances use more than they should. Most of my savings is from conserving.
Now, I live in a mild climate, so I am lucky.
I could not afford a heat pump, so I use a dehumidifier for heat in winter and ones that are large enough to heat a room run between 250 and 230 watts and cost between 150-200 dollars. I have smaller ones for summer since I live in a damp climate and they use 115 watts and keep my home dry but do not produce much heat, they are my biggest energy use appliances in summer since they have to run when it is foggy and damp. Because of my massive mature trees, I do not need AC, but I live in a mild climate, as well.
However, they do make portable heat pumps which are not expensive that you can vent out a window, but they use a bit more energy than a dehumidifier, but they also provide more heat, as well as cooling if need be, but I do not need more. If I need a bit more I pair my dehumidifier with a small 250 watt heater that I bought a thermostat for.
My largest home savings was simply turning off the water heater and by getting more efficient air cleaners since they run 24/7 at now about 8-14 watts each. Then it is using the dehumidifiers for heat in winter, of course.
I heat water on an induction cooktop for a shower in a 12 qt stockpot and use a camping USB showerhead pump combo. This is roughly 300 watts or less to heat and the pump is almost zero in energy use, I rarely have to recharge it. (compared to thousands of watts a day for a water heater). One can use the same stock pot to heat water for dishes or put water in a cup in the micro and use that to wash a few items.
Now, this may seem extreme, but it was nice to get a 12 dollar electric bill last summer.
Sadly, this year, they have added a service charge to my electric bill, more than doubling my electric bill, but still cheap-ish. I wish they would give us a free hour midday to charge up from solar from the grid like they do in Australia, and if they did that, I would get another battery.
So, right now I am using about 1 - 1.5 kWh from the grid per day and about 2-4 from my solar and batteries (since I can use while charging I get more). Like I said, they were cheap, so not much in kWh, but enough to run a small fridge long enough to freeze ice in 1 gallon bottles to use overnight and turn my fridge into an ice box.
For travel, I simply have set aside one day per week to make a loop for groceries and hardware and I seem to be getting it down to less than a week, meaning only 2 tanks of gas for the whole year in my economy ICE vehicle. I do dream of an EV though so I can go places again. I love to go places, but we can't be putting more in the air if we can avoid it at all.
Wow, you are so ambitious and industrious. Good for you!
Good tips, thanks.
I hope it helps.
What works for me will not work for everyone, since it depends also on the size of your household. For example, an induction cooktop runs at 1500 watts/5 = 300 watts for 12 minutes of heating for hot dish water or 1/5 of an hour of heating.
However, if you have a large number of people showering, obviously the savings starts to erode for heating on a cooktop, and simply getting a timer for your water heater and being more scheduled about it might work better. It depends on if your main concern is time or money, as well.
I have the time to do these things. Heating water hot enough for a shower is only abt 8 minutes or abt 200 watts.
These tips are also ways for some in mild climates who are still using natural gas for water heating and house heating to ditch the gas and shut it off by using a cooktop for water heating and dehumidifier for home heat in winter, as a way to not get a massive electric bill when switching to all electric, if you can't afford all the bells and whistles like rooftop solar, and a installed heat pump, etc. The small dehumidifiers can also be used to dry clothes hanging in the bathroom to replace a gas clothes dryer, but I often simply opt for the laundromat for larger items anyway. If you live where it is dry in winter, an ultrasonic humidifier (only 17 watts) paired with the dehumidifier works well, too and solves that problem, they are not expensive.
My home is now electric only, as well.
What you have done is exactly the sort of inspired adaptation that will be the most important force in moving to alternative energy. The fundamentals of energy use and technology should be included in every school curriculum. If even children can pick up how to use a smart phone they should easily grasp the basics of energy use.
Sounds to me like your husband drew the short straw, Mary. Bill McKibben is indefatigable.
It is ironic that in his stubborn determination to recreate the world of his childhood, Donald Trump is undermining the American strength he values so highly. He is doubling down on coal and oil just as the world leaves them behind, and abandoning the growth industries of the future, wind and solar. America will end up poorer and weaker for his efforts.
I'm not sure if he really values anything highly other than money, but if you mean what he pretends to value or an industrious prosperous nation, yes, the hypocrisy of them not embracing all of these wonderful new and green innovations is quite clear.
Yes, but he will end up richer.
History may remember this period as the moment when clean energy ceased to be merely an environmental choice and became a geopolitical necessity.
Yes, but that will happen first in countries that mostly import their fossil fuels. That's most countries. But not my place, Texas.
Good point. Geopolitical pressures will certainly be felt differently in energy-producing regions like Texas. Still, the definition of energy security itself may be changing.
I'm so glad the NSA reversed course on that ocean monitoring system.
Thank you for another fine report, Bill.
Someday…SOME DAY…Republicans will pay a price for severely damaging America’s climate , economy and public health on behalf of the fossil fuel corporations
We are all one. One Planet. One climate. One World. One Earth. Not just America, but the whole planet. And those who contribute least and gain the least will be hit the hardest. But we will ALL pay the price. We go down together. ... or we can rise UP together too.
Good news (?) Bill, we here in Canada share American blindness to the trend of direction for energy. We are both on the wrong road, but at least we are not alone!
Your blog today goes to the mayor of my city. He may well want a tip on where to seek info on solar panels.
Thanks so much for every word you write and then we can read and then do what we must‼️
Yale found that lots of folks are alarmed but alarmed alone, with nearly nobody to talk to about it. And most aren't doing anything about it. They would if someone asked them to. Do you help people gather together for our climate? Do you ask people to do something specific?
https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/segmenting-the-climate-change-alarmed-active-willing-and-inactive/
Thanks for the great e-newsletters.
How about a pitch for the soil carbon sequestrion of using organic no till with cover crops. It has worked for me for fifteen years. The increase of worms and improved soil texture added to the carbon which no till soils sequester could make a big reduction in our carbon polution. Added to this home or local no till provides a way to say no to profit maximizing corporations which don't care about our climate or healthy food.
Yes, as the oil age ends, the soil age begins. Here's a way to support sequestering carbon in soil in Africa.
https://www.kiva.org/lend/3179522
Thank you for sharing this link!!! I LOVE this. I will be participating in this one.
Thank you for the link to Daniel Swain’s forecast. Greater possibility of heat domes plus already droughty conditions have me thinking I’ll see some smoky skies in Seattle this summer. We’ve had days when we had the worst urban air in the world. Looks like they may be coming back.
Outstanding Journalism. I am so grateful to be on your follower list. Thank you for the work you do to inform, inspire and shine a light, a beacon of hope.
The number of Americans who are very worried about climate heating is horribly low because of the mass production of ignorance by right wing media and lack of ethics and professional competence in “mainstream” media. Sadly, a critical mass of voters will not realize that right wing media and corrupt right wing politicians have been lying to them about the climate until there is overwhelming catastrophe. Mainstream media will not effectively educate the public until there are multiple overlapping catastrophes. This society is proving that appropriate policies to end the dominance of fossil fuels will not happen without numerous rapid-fire climate disasters. If this El Niño makes that happen, I will send it roses.
You are right. It is the movie Idiocracy in real time.
Wonderful compilation of stories that together - if you 10 minutes or more to read the whole thing, do more to increase optimism and wave headline gloom away in the US when every day there's a new outrage against the environment and common sense, which this administration utterly lacks with all its Trump lackey's stuffing his pockets and those of his fossil fuel enablers, along with their own.
That said, if this info doesn't come out on a daily website or emin as it happens, it should. I imagine some high percentage of news readers who care about many issues including the climate, don't even have time open all the emails they're interested in, and rarely finish any as long as this one. I am among that group news addicts who is trying to going done all the wells of info as a matter of health. Yours is one I choose as it doesn't come out often. But honestly, I'd prefer getting it in bites which will allow me to faster get through the long summaries every-month.
Edward R Devereux, Natick MA (EcoNatick volunteer and climate activist).
Balcony solar may be an avenue for you. Here is a gift link to New York Times article.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/14/opinion/solar-panels-balcony-backyard-plugin.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rVA._oCC.JUbqrgk3OQz2&smid=url-share
Will you help finance these 2 electric cars for African taxi drivers? $25 or more lent for 38 months lets you join the crowd funding these. The Africans will make more money and it steps us toward the moment when West Texas frackers cannot sell their oil.
https://www.kiva.org/lend/3192962