THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SEEKS A $17 MILLION CUT IN SOLAR FUNDING FOR 1979, according to an internal memo that puts the agency's fiscal-1979 solar budget at just $373 million (vs. $390 million for the current fiscal year). Funding for nuclear development would-if the Department had its way-remain at over $1.5 billion next year, while fossil fuel spending would increase to $924 million from the present $848 million. The Department employs more than 1,700 persons in nuclear-related projects, but less than 50 people in wind and solar research.
SOVIETS DOUBLE DOMESTIC GASOLINE PRICES. In an effort to reduce private driving (and thus ease demand for fuel), the Soviet Union last March raised the price of domestic high-octane gasoline to $1.30 a gallon from 65e per gallon, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal . Ironically, the Soviet Union is presently the world's largest producer of crude oil.
DOES YOUR POWER COMPANY PROVIDE "EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS" TO LOCAL SCHOOLS? If so, Ralph Nader's Center for the Study of Responsive Law would like to hear from you. CSRL is currently looking into attempts by utilities (and others) to influence learning in primary and secondary schools. If you have any leads to offer, get in touch with Sheila Harty, CSRL, P.O. Box 19367, Washington, D.C. 20036.
DON'T BE SURPRISED IF YOU SEE SOLAR HEATING HARDWARE IN YOUR NEXT SEARS CATALOG. Sears, Roebuck and Company has already entered negotiations with manufacturers of domestic water-heating systems, solar space heating equipment, and combination heating/cooling systems, and will begin mass marketing solar equipment this year (according to a report in Solar Age , $20/yr. from P.O. Box 4934, Manchester, N.H. 03108). Next in line: Montgomery Ward and J.C. Penney.
CLAMS PLAN NUKE BLOCKADE. Clamshell Alliance organizers are planning a blockade of Narragansett Bay, Cape Cod Canal, and Seabrook Harbor to prevent the delivery (by barge) of a 427-ton "reactor pressure vassal" to the site of the now-under-construction Seabrook Nuclear Station, near Seabrook, New Hampshire. (The exact date of shipment of the reactor pressure vessel is not yet known.) Anyone wishing to participate in the blockade-or in the planned June 24 occupation of the Seabrook plant-should contact the Clamshell Alliance at 62 Congress St., Portsmouth, N.H. 03801.
DIESEL-POWERED AUTOS CONTINUE TO GAIN IN POPULARITY as new-car buyers begin to appreciate the diesel's 25% fuel-efficiency advantage over standard gasoline engines. Oldsmobile plans to produce 600 diesel engines a day by year's end. Volkswagen expects to sell 45,000 diesel-powered Rabbits in 1978 . . . more than three times the number sold in 1977. Likewise, Mercedes-Benz concedes that this year, more than half of its U.S. deliveries will be diesel. One General Motors official has gone so far as to predict that by 1985, one-fifth of all cars coming out of Detroit will have diesel engines.
POWER FROM WOOD CHIPS: A $65 MILLION VOTE OF CONFIDENCE. Residents of Burlington, Vermont (pop. 38,800) recently voted-by a 70°7o margin-to approve $65 million in bond issues to build two power plants fueled by wood chips and other locally available materials. (One plant will supply steam and hot water . . . the other will provide the city with 50,000 kilowatts of electricity.) "The coal strike had a lot to do with the resounding vote to develop alternate fuel sources," says one Burlington spokesman.
THE MOST COMPLETE SOLAR EQUIPMENT CATALOG IN THE WORLD? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. All we know is that we've never seen a meatier, more informative alternative energy "wish book" than the 224-page 1978 Solar Usage Now Catalog. Shopping for collectors? Glazings? Parabolic reflectors? Thermostats? Heat exchangers? Books? Blowers? Water heaters? You'll find all these things-and much, much more-in the latest SUN Catalog. To get your copy, send $2.00 to SUN at Box 306, Dept. TMEN, Bascom, Ohio 44809. You'll be amazed!
ATOMIC ACRONYMS DEPT.: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has done away with its MUF (radioactive "materials unaccounted for") problems once and for all. Henceforth, missing uranium will be described not by the term MUF , but by ID ("inventory difference") . . . . State Representative John Galbraith has introduced A BILL IN THE OHIO LEGISLATURE TO ABOLISH WINTER. Says Galbraith: "This bill makes as much sense as many others relating to the energy crisis (that have been] enacted by the General Assembly" . . . . PEOPLE & ENERGY HAS CHANGED PUBLISHERS (AND ADDRESSES) . The $10/yr. alternative-energy newsletter is now put out by the Citizens' Energy Project, 1413 "K" St. N.W., 8th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005 . . . . The FBI is investigating the circumstances surrounding a recent attempt by "European commodity traders" to SELL WESTINGHOUSE CORPORATION 239 POUNDS OF BLACK MARKET URANIUM. The sellers reportedly wanted $288 million in cash . . . . THE FIRST LARGE WINDPLANT TO FEED AN AMERICAN UTILITY GRID since the 1941 Smith-Putnam windmill at Grandpa's Knob, Vermont went "on line" earlier this year in Clayton, New Mexico. The DOE-funded machine provides the town with 200 kilowatts of power . . . . DOMESTIC SHIPMENTS
OF HEAT PUMPS SOARED TO 48,495 UNITS IN JANUARY 1978, an increase of 51% over the number of shipments made by U.S. manufacturers a year earlier . . . . Nuclear America-a large (17" X 22" ) color poster showing THE LOCATIONS OF MORE THAN 200 NUCLEAR FACILITIES (OF ALL KINDS) IN THE U.S. -is available for just 75 cents from the War Resisters League, 339 Lafayette St., New York, N.Y. 10012 . . . . Speaking of nuclear odds and ends, we're told that Britain's Friends of the Earth (9 Poland St., London W1V 3DG, England) has come out with a T-shirt that says: "THE ONLY SAFE FAST BREEDER IS A RABBIT!"
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