Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

November 13, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - The joint study from Stanford University and UC Riverside reads like a report card. The authors recognized that, “solar energy has one of the greatest climate change mitigation potentials” of all renewable energy sources. It can play a leading role in helping the United States reach its’ goal of reducing emissions to 80% of 1990 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This would require covering a great deal of land surface.  Using current technology, close to 71,428 square kilometres  (44,383 sq.  miles), or an area roughly comparable to South Carolina, could be covered with panels. Rebecca R. Hernandez et al examined more than 160 sites in California to find out how utility scale solar impacts the land.

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

May 28, 2015 (Santa Barbara) - It has been eight days since a 24-inch Plains All American oil pipeline ruptured. Though the pipeline was manually shut down after 45 minutes, approximately 105,000 spilled and 20,000 of that entered the ocean. Volunteers are combing 8 miles of affected shoreline, skimming oil from the ocean, and rescuing wildlife. Close to a thousand people are cleaning up the Santa Barbara Oil Spill.

Earthjustice attorney says tough questions need to be Asked

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

May 11, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - According to Earthjustice attorney Trent Orr, California’s current water crisis is a man-made phenomenon. It is the outcome of the mid 20th century notion that equates progress with giant public works projects and assumes that we can engineer our way out of all sorts of problems, including living on a drought-prone state. This doesn’t work.

Originally Published in the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

November 26, 2014 (San Diego)--It has been nine months since California approved a $10 million reserve fund, to reimburse mortgage holders if homeowners with Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) default. (The residential program has been moving in slow motion since 2010, when, concerned about the priority PACE loans had over mortgages, the Federal Housing Finance Agency ordered the government-sponsored enterprises to not underwrite mortgages for homes with PACE loans.)

Originally Published in the ECOreport

All photos are Courtesy of HERO PACE,

• Synthetic Turf – Courtesy HERO PACE
• Weather based irrigation systems – HERO PACE
• Gray water systems – Courtesy HERO PACE

Originally Published in the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

June 23, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE)program is spreading across the US. Maine offers single PACE loans for up to $15,000 and New Hampshire is preparing to life its cap to $1 million. There is a PACE program in Ann Arbor and another being formed to service the rest of Michigan. PACE programs are starting up in Arkansas , Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Eighty percent of the US is said to be adopting . However the program is still primarily Californian and, according to company spokesperson Severn Williams, more than 90% of residential PACE installations are made through HERO.