LAH solar ordinance a bright idea
Los Altos Hills officials are currently working on the draft of an ordinance that could require homes larger than 6,000 square feet to be more energy efficient - exceeding state standards by as much as 25 percent.
Doing this would require design features that incorporate such efficiency or nudge homeowners into using energy-efficient solar power to generate electricity.
This is groundbreaking stuff and shows considerable foresight by town leaders. Many energy experts note that the world’s oil supplies may have already peaked, or certainly will by the end the decade. Solar is the one bright spot, if you will, among a host of alternative energy sources. Los Altos Hills’ initiative is also reflective of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s goal to have 1 million solar-powered homes in the state by 2018.
Surely, some will accuse the town of being too regulatory and forcing residents to do something they may not want to do.
But big homes have big power demands. And homes in the hills are not getting any smaller.
The best point about all this is that residents ultimately contribute to energy conservation and the environment. They’ll even save money: Many of these solar systems pay for themselves within five years of installation.
The state’s energy crisis is not going away anytime soon. A lack of power plants and still-growing population have put strains on the power grid, particularly during the summer months. It’s encouraging to see Los Altos Hills take a lead in the solar power movement.
Remember the needy locally, too
Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in Louisiana, Mississippi and beyond is also bad news for all the local non-profit groups who address the many needs of our community’s needy.
The nation as a whole is currently in hyper-focus mode coping and dealing with the carnage that Katrina has wrought. Justifiably so.
But while the focus and outpouring of donations goes to Katrina survivors, the coffers of many worthy non-profits will likely suffer. After Katrina, there may not be enough left in residents’ wallets for the usual donations to such vital non-profits as the Community Services Agency. A similar result occurred after the outpouring of support for 9/11 victims.
We ask that you keep a little left over this year for your regular charities, many of which are helping people who are not Katrina victims, but have sizable problems nonetheless. The Town Crier Holiday Fund will be ramping up again later this year in support of local charities.
The problems brought by Katrina are immense and will take years to address. But they don’t make the problems of our local needy go away.
