Emphasis on Weatherization Represents Shift on Energy Costs

Did you know that spiderwebs around intrusions in your basement ceiling may indicate an energy leak? I didn't.


Read on in today's New York Times for more on the topic of the season: WEATHERIZATION.

Passive Houses

New York Times: No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in 'Passive Houses'


Innovative homes pioneered in Germany are encased in such an airtight shell that barely any heat escapes.

For more information on passive houses in the U.S. Click on PHIUS.

Learn more about similar design principles in Alaska at the Cold Climate Housing Research Center

Next Administration Choices for Climate, Energy and the Environment

Carol Browner, Steven Chu, Lisa P. Jackson

(photo courtesy of the New York Times)

Read more at:

Obama Team on Environment, The New York Times

Juneau Non-Motorized Transportation Plan Update

Hey Walkers and Bikers!

The Non-Motorized Transportation Plan is all about you!

COMMENTS ARE DUE BY DECEMBER 31ST!

The current plan was completed in 1997 and needs updating to reflect today’s conditions and priorities for biking and pedestrian routes. The purpose of this plan is to provide safe and efficient links between community destinations and to encourage the community to choose active forms of transportation.

What you can do....

Come to a public meeting in your neighborhood!

Five public meetings will be held between December 1st and December 15th, 2008. Each meeting will focus on a specific Juneau sub-area as well as area-wide commuting routes. At each meeting, we will discuss current non-motorized routes, review recommendations from existing plans, and ask residents about walking and biking destinations, missing links, safety concerns and other obstacles along the routes.

Mendenhall Valley to Echo Cove area – Monday December 1, 2008
Floyd Dryden Middle School Library, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm
Douglas Island – Wednesday December 3, 2008
Douglas Library, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm
Downtown and Thane Road – Wednesday December 10, 2008
CBJ Assembly Chambers, 155 S. Seward St, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm
Mendenhall Valley to Echo Cove area – Saturday December 13, 2008
Mendenhall Mall, Mendenhall Library, 1:00 pm-3:00 pm
Twin Lakes and Lemon Creek area – Monday December 15, 2008
Dzantik’l Heeni Middle School Library, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm

COMMENTS and Planning Schedule
After the meetings during the first part of this coming December, comments will be accepted by the public through DECEMBER 31. A draft of the plan will be completed and available for public review in February 2009.

The final plan is set to be completed for adoption by the CBJ Assembly by April 2009.

Contact Information
If you have questions, comments or wish to be added to a project contact list, please call Zoë Morrison at Sheinberg Associates at 586-3141 or zmorrison@gci.net. For more information, go to www.juneau.org/parkrec and click on the link under ‘plan updates’ or download the current Non-Motorized Transportation Plan.

UAS EVENING AT EGAN NOVEMBER 14 7PM

An Energy Plan for Alaska without Oil:

The Technology. The Possibilities. The Plan

PRESENTED BY: Greg Brown

This easy to understand presentation will show the possibilities for Alaska and the rest of the United States to get off our oil addiction by using alternative energy. History, practical applications of alternative energy, and basics for a plan in Alaska that can be implemented and completed within ten years.

Presentation includes pictures, diagrams and demonstrations.

Egan Lecture Hall, University of Alaska Southeast Campus

Want to Know What's Going on in Your Local Government?

Check out the new blog, http://assemblydiary.blogspot.com/. A great way to keep track of what's happening at City Hall!

Host and Assembly Member Jonathan Anderson writes:

"Juneau citizens sometimes feel they are not informed about what goes on in the Borough. While some information gets into the news, a lot does not. To partially meet this need I have been keeping a Assembly Diary/Blog which will try to note the various issues I am aware of happening. It won't get everything, but I think you will find it useful to track."

Thanks, Jonathan!