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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (257926)	8/9/2014 4:26:35 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541805

California Drought Fuels Boom in ... Lawn Painting DRYNESS IS BAD FOR LAWNS, GOOD FOR ODD BUSINESS By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff newser.com ( Has the time for sand lawn mandalas arrived? Or astroturf lawns?) Posted Aug 9, 2014 3:20 PM CDT (NEWSER) – Just because you're dealing with dry weather doesn't mean your lawn can't be pretty. Companies in California tell the National Journal that the lawn-painting business is booming amid the state's worst recorded drought. Following the lead of golf courses and realtors, the businesses spread dye they say is nontoxic over a customer's grass. "People think it sounds ridiculous when they first hear about it," says a manager for a grass-paint maker. "But they try it, and instantly they're hooked." He says his company's sales this year are more than twice last year's. Companies match the color of the paint to parts of the grass that remain green, CBS San Francisco reports. Parts of the grass stay alive, and when rain eventually comes, the natural color returns. Customers pay between 25 and 35 cents per square foot of grass, the Journalnotes. One lawn-coloring boss who's also an environmentalist has mixed feelings, even as his sales have jumped 75% to 100% in the drought: "When you notice that so many people want to have this done, you start to ask, 'What's going on here?'" (If you're not into dyed grass, you could always just surround your place with sand.)

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (257926)	8/10/2014 9:19:21 PM
From: bentway	Respond to of 541805

Solar Panels Now Being Offered as a Prebuilt Feature in California thedailybeast.com Homeowners may want them on their roofs—but not for $30,000 upfront. But now some home builders are installing them as standard features in middle-class homes using solar leases. Homebuyers have become accustomed to the accoutrements of modern life being listed as standard in newly constructed homes: granite kitchen countertops, USB outlets, energy-efficient lighting. But one small builder in the San Fernando Valley in California is adding a new standard: a dozen-odd solar panels. Since 2012, California Home Builders, a 20-employee outfit based in Canoga Park, has planted electricity-generating systems on the roofs of the scores of homes it has built. High upfront costs have been one of the great deterrents to more rapid adoption of energy-efficiency products, from hybrid cars to solar installations. Generally, they are presented as a purely discretionary buy. Presented with a choice, penny-pinching consumers often forgo such investments—even if they offer the opportunity for long-term savings. Homeowners seeking to add solar, until recently, had to kick in up to $30,000 upfront, clear space on the roof, and hire contractors to build the system and connect it to the grid. But the climate is changing. California’s Million Roof solar initiative is providing incentives and encouragement. Companies like Solar City offer leases, which allow people essentially to put solar panels on their roofs without splashing out the cash to purchase the system. And now in a few areas solar systems are starting to come as a prebuilt feature—not an option....