If it is clear in your area on Sunday it may be reasonable to spend some time looking for a potential aurora. Check spaceweather for current details.
This morning's walk found Dan Bern featured on the iPod. I've been going to his live performances for a decade recommend him as one of those singer/songwriter types to support directly.
http://www.danbern.com
For a good example of his work check out God Said No from New American Language (his best work in my mind)
http://www.danbern.com/newamericanlanguagelyrics.html#godsaidno
Witty and intelligent lyrics and a few nice songs - you will love or hate his work, This is not the vanilla pudding that drips from the major music companies these days. He probably isn't a Leonard Cohen or a Bob Dylan, but he is good enough that you can mention him in the same paragraph.
Home photovoltaics systems are becoming practical in many areas of the country. In the early days they were expensive and aimed more at being "off grid" than for supplementary use. Many states have incentives (including running the meter backwards) that make this practical economically and ecologically
In many areas of the country Home Depot is getting into the act with supplies and links to professional installers.
http://www.astropower.com/homedepot_expansion.htm
Pop up a level to check out their products - this is very mainstream compared to some of the projects one sees in Home Power
http://www.homepower.com/
Earlier this month a heat wave forced the production of 90640 gigawatthours of electricity.
http://www.eei.org/issues/news/releases/020807.htm
or an average of about 540 gigawatts. Note that a gigawatt sized powerplant corresponds to a fairly large nuclear facility and you begin to get a sense of the scale. Also note that peak energy prices soared to about thirty times normal (this is a semi-regulated market) and only stopped at that level due to price caps.
It would be nice if one could better match supply and demand to stay away from the peaks. It would be even better if peak demands could be lowered with locally generated power (wind, solar, etc). One hazards a guess that this might be economical (if a true market existed) in places like the Northeastern US in the Summer as well as some areas in California.
It is also interesting to consider what a bit of conservation would do. If you could squeeze 1% of efficiency across the board you would be talking about nearly a half dozen large nuclear facilities. Five to ten percent probably change the economics of the situation. One wonders where the level is for measurable ecological improvements.
Oh well - maybe we'll see more of a push when the current administration goes away and the emphasis on coal/oil drops (by definition it could only drop). Of course there are other issues, but this one may become very "interesting" in the next decade.
6:41:32 AM 
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