Sonya: Canât

Showing posts with label Canât. Show all posts

Friday, November 11, 2016

Can’t afford solar panels Heres How You Really Get Solar Panels Installed for Free

The solar energy is one of the fastest growing renewable sources of electricity, with several advantages over the other forms of electricity generation. In fact, solar energy is a resource that is not only sustainable for consumption indefinitely renewable ( at least until the sun runs out in billions of years). Solar energy also doesn’t require fossil fuels, producing clean energy with limited impact on the environment and smaller investments in production and transportation.

For these reasons and so many more, the government would like people to switch to solar because it's clean and better for long term economic strength, So what's the hold up?

The cost of the installation of solar energy is typically high. In order to encourage more people to go solar, governments around the world are setting up programs to incentivize the use of solar and other renewable energy sources to help fight global warming.

The Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) in the U.S., for example, currently provides a 30% federal tax credit claimed against the tax liability of residential, commercial, and utility investors in solar energy property. It allows the homeowner to apply the credit to their personal income taxes. “This credit is used when homeowners purchase solar systems outright and have them installed on their homes. In the case of the Section 48 credit, the business that installs, develops and/or finances the project claims the credit,” a statement on Solar Outreach explains.

There are various other initiatives working to ensure solar powered energy continues to makes its way into everyone’s homes. Oakland, California nonprofit Grid Alternatives, for example, is an organization that implements solar power and energy efficiency for low-income families. They currently have ten regional offices and affiliates serving all of California, Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. They also have staff on the ground in Nicaragua.

One California resident, Kianté London, used the program to put panels on his three-bedroom home.

“It helps me and my family a great deal to have low-cost energy, because these energy prices are really expensive,” explained London. “And I wanted to do my part. It’s clean, green energy.” He had wanted solar for years, but couldn’t afford it before. This new program paid the entire up-front cost of his array, however.

“These systems are saving families money every month for food, for clothes, for medical expenses,” noted Julian Foley, communications director for Grid Alternatives.

The organization, which targets working-class communities, is using $14.7 million raised through California’s cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “That system forces factories, power plants, oil refineries and other large businesses to buy credits for every ton of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases they pump into the atmosphere,” reported David R. Baker. Grid Alternatives plans to install arrays on more than 1,600 California homes by the end of 2016.

Most homeowners are asked to provide small contributions for the installation, like feeding the crew or agreeing to help with the process themselves. But otherwise, it’s completely free. And the arrays are thought to save homeowners anywhere from $400 to $1,000 per year on electricity, depending on where they live.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Boy With Autism Makes His First Friend Ever And His Mom Can’t Stop Crying

Her son wouldn't even hug his own mom, but he cozied right up to his new, furry friend.

Approximately 1 in 68 children has an autism spectrum disorder, making the disorder more common than it used to be and a force to be reckoned with. There are even service dogs that are specially trained to handle some of the symptoms that people with autism experience that are a hindrance in their daily lives.

Since there are such a variety of symptoms that present in differing severities, there is a spectrum that parents consult when they believe their child could be suffering from the disorder. Shanna Niehaus’ son, who is five years old, has had it pretty rough his whole life because of his autistic symptoms.

With his lack of social skills, he has never had a true friend and has lived an isolated life. That all changed when the two were finally able to secure a service dog for the little boy. Shanna and her son made their way “across the entire ocean, stopped in multiple states, and uprooted his entire routine to travel the globe” and meet his new service dog, Tornado.

The encounter was astonishing and emotional, to say the least. A photo was snapped by the dog’s provider, 4 Paws For Ability, and Shanna added this moving caption to accompany the photo:

“See this moment? I’ve never experienced a moment like this….

“This picture was taken near the end of the day after my autistic five year old was finally able to sit down with his new Service Dog Tornado…. This boy is the strongest child I have ever met; he has faced countless rude and ignorant adults and children who do not understand him, who have hurt him, and who have not valued him because he is different. This picture captures the face of a mother who saw her child, who she can’t hug, wash, dress, snuggle and touch freely lay on his new Service dog of his own free will, with a purposeful unspoken attachment. This is the face of a mom who has seen her son experience countless failed social interactions on the playground in an attempt to have a friend. Any friend. Any kind of connection. She has sat with her son while he has cried at night for months because he has no consistent connections outside of the family no matter how hard he tries and no matter what he works hard on in his Autism therapies. It doesn’t transfer to the natural occurring world for him. And now she is sitting behind her son silently watching this moment, with the air sucked from her lungs, and no words to say.

“Holding her mouth and silently crying because she doesn’t want to distract him from the moment and break him away from a pure, honest, and truly fulfilling moment for her son-of his own free will. This is truly magic. Words cannot explain it.

“I have cried so many times for this boy, but this is the very first time I have cried for a reason like this.”

It’s heartbreaking to hear of her son’s challenges, but it’s heartwarming to know that he is now on his way to coping with his symptoms better with his new friend Tornado by his side.

What are your thoughts on this news? Please share, like, and comment on this article!

**This was originally featured on trueactivist.com