SEC Files Charges Over "GREEN" Ponzi Scheme
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged four individuals and two companies with running a $30 million Ponzi scheme that targeted elderly investors and people nearing retirement who were seeking environmentally friendly investments.
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In a civil lawsuit filed Monday in Denver federal court, the SEC accused Mantria Corp of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania and its principals, Troy Wragg and Amanda Knorr, of raising $122 million from more than 300 investors nationwide in a dozen fraudulent securities offerings.
The SEC said Mantria enlisted Speed of Wealth LLC, a Colorado firm, to encourage investors to liquidate retirement plans and home equity, and buy securities offering returns of 17 percent of "hundreds of percent" annually.
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According to the SEC, Mantria purported to use the securities to finance such projects as a "carbon negative" housing community in rural Tennessee and production of "biochar," a charcoal substitute made from organic waste. Instead it said Mantria overstated its own investment success and used much of the proceeds from new investments to repay earlier investors.
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"The only green these promoters seemed interested in was investors' money," said Don Hoerl, director of the SEC regional office in Denver.
New York (Reuters) Jonathan Stempel 11/16/09
Move Over Eggnog - Thieves Drunk on Napa Valley Winery Solar Panels
While Napa Valley wineries have been adding solar panels in unprecedented numbers, the solar arrays have posed an easy target for theives in the night.
From June of 2008 through September 2009, more than 400 solar panels have been stolen from Napa Valley area wineries, reports the Napa Valley Register. With each panel worth about $1,000, that amounts to $400,000 in losses. The thefts have come in 14 separate incidents. Law enforcement officials were able to stop two robberies in progress. To help stem the losses, state Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St.Helena), added provisions against solar theivery to the Solar Technology Roadmap Act. If adopted, the act would mandate a solar equipment serial number registry.
Having twice fallen victim to solar theft, ZD Wines began adding super-sticky "Property of ZD Wines" stickers to its panels. Brett de Leuze, President of ZD Wines, said "it was not in our consciousness to think people would steal them." Harris Ranch Napa Valley had 30 panels stolen in September, while Honig Vineyard and Winery has been hit multiple times. The thefts have benefited at least one area business. Sunlock Solar Security Systems has ben doing a "booming" business lately, said Dan Sullivan, owner. Sunlock's alarms cost anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000.
Solar owners are encouraged to install rooftop systems, instead of simple ground-mount solar panels, to discourage theft. Additionally, solar owners should consider chain link fences around their properties, as getting the bulky panels over the fences can be a deterrent. In the past several years, numerous Napa Valley wineries have added solar.
Environmental Leader 11/30/09
LEDs Light Up Boston Common
The city of Boston continues its "green" city initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by upgrading streetlights with new light-emitting diode (LED) lighting on the Boston Common. The city recently installed LED lights along the "Mayor's Walk" to showcase the technology and solicit community input.
Boston has also joined the national LED City program, an international initiative led by Cree, a manufacturer of LED lighting, to promote energy-efficient LED lighting. LED streetlights use less than half of the energy and last three to four times longer than traditional streetlights, which reduce replacement costs and the incidence of unlit streets, according tot he city.
Currently, Boston's streetlights generate 34,000 tones of carbon emissions annually, which accounts for about 8 percent of all municipal emissions. By converting to LED technology, the city estimates it would cut its emissions from streetlights by about half.
It's also expected to reduce lighting costs. As an example, more than 11,000 traffic signals and 1,800 pedestrian crossing lights in Boston were gradually replaced with LEDs over the past ten years, which has saved the city nearly $400,000 annually in energy costs.
Other cities across the nation, including Flint, Michigan and Los Angeles, CA are also making the move to LED lighting. Stimulus grants for energy-efficient improvements will help to fund these projects.
Source: LED Project
Thoughts from Thomas L. Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded:
"In the next twelve years alone, the world's population is expected to swell by roughly another billion people, and many of them will become new consumers and producers...What if we gave each of them a sixty-watt incandescent lightbulb?" David Douglas, VP at Sun Microsystems explains that, "If they're all on at the same time, it'd be 60,000 megawatts, but luckily they will only use their bulbs four hours per day, so we're down to 10,000 megawatts at any moment. Yikes! Looks like we'll still need twenty or so new 500-megawatt coal-burning power plants- just so the next billion people can turn a light on!
All of us at Impact Energy Solutions wish you and yours a happy, healthy and efficient New Year!
