skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Spring Cleaning? Get Cash for That Old Fridge

play audio
Play

Tuesday, March 12, 2013   

ST. LOUIS - Missourians who've caught the spring-cleaning bug may want to think about getting rid of old appliances that are no longer energy-efficient. John Hickey, chapter director of Sierra Club Missouri, got rid of his old heater, patched up the leaks in his attic, and reduced his bill by 30 percent.

According to Hickey, this year, for the first time, Ameren will give you cash for your clunker appliances.

"The utility will come out and pick up an old refrigerator, 2001 or older," he said. "And they will pick it up for free and they will give you a $50 rebate."

Getting rid of old appliances not only saves money but it cuts down on pollution. For example, "The Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings" says that if you replace a 20-cubic-foot 1998 fridge with a new energy-efficient model, you'll prevent 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions from polluting the air.

With summers getting hotter in Missouri, Hickey remarked, it pays to make sure you have a good air conditioner.

"Ameren also offers a program to give you a rebate for tuning up your air-conditioning unit, to make sure it's running at peak efficiency and that it's not leaking," he said.

With air conditioners, bigger is not always better. Energy experts say that if your unit is too big it will cool the room so quickly that it doesn't have time to remove maximum humidity and it doesn't work as well. So it's important to make sure to measure the room accurately. Also, if the room is in a shaded part of the house, you can decrease the unit size by ten percent.

Missouri apparently has a lot of room for improvement. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) ranks Missouri near the bottom of the states when it comes to energy efficiency, 43rd out of 50.

Hickey said being energy-inefficient has its consequences.

"Over 1000 people in Missouri die every year, die a premature death, because of the impact of air pollution," he declared. "And as we increase our efficiency in Missouri, we have to burn less coal for electricity. And that cleans the air, and that improves public health."

Another easy way to help is to change your light bulbs. The Sierra Club estimates that if every home in America replaced one outdated incandescent light bulb with a CFL bulb, it would eliminate as much pollution as removing one million cars from the road.

More information is at content.sierraclub.org, at tinyurl.com/afx6ues, and at ACEEE.org.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021