Author: DELEITURAS

In December 2017, Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Chris Ballard announced the start of the Green Ontario Fund, a Government-funded program that will offer eligible homeowners rebates of up to thousands for energy-efficient home renovations such as windows and insulation. The cap-and-trade program aims to promote sustainable home improvements among Ontario residents, making them easier and more affordable, while at the same time aligning to the principles of the Climate Change Action Plan. According to the goals laid out in this plan, Ontario pledges to cut green house emissions by 15% before 2020 and by 37% before 2030. Because residential and commercial buildings account for a quarter of greenhouse emissions in the province, informing the population on the disadvantages of under-insulated houses and making energy-efficient upgrades more affordable was the best course of action. He also added that the funds are being re-invested in green programs that help businesses and homeowners combat climate change and enjoy a cleaner, healthier environment. The program is currently open to homeowners, as well as tenants who get the landlord’s permission to do home upgrades.

Applications for the Green Ontario Fund can be sent online via GreenOn.ca and, in order to be eligible for the rebates, homeowners, tenants and condo owners must work with an approved contractor. In addition to rebates on insulation and energy-efficient windows, they can also benefit from a $100 rebate on smart thermostats. Those who do not know if their homes are energy efficient and need more guidance on the topic are encouraged to contact the Green ON support phone line.

New rebates covered by the Green Ontario Fund

Homeowners who do the following improvements are eligible for considerable rebates:

• Energy efficient windows – homeowners who replace their existing windows with new, energy efficient ones that respect program requirements can receive $500 per window and up to $5,000 in total. Energy star windows are designed not only to reduce noise pollution and condensation, but also reduce the home’s carbon footprint and increase its resale value.

• Insulation – homeowners who insulate their properties are eligible to receive a total of up to $7,200 through the Green ON rebate. They are added as follows: $1,500 for insulating the attic, $1,900 for insulating the basement and $3,800 for insulating the exterior walls. Because uninsulated or under-insulated homes are the biggest source of greenhouse emissions in the province, adding a layer of insulation would make a considerable collective impact on reducing greenhouse gases. Insulation seals the small cracks in windows, doors, attics and roofs, sealing the building and preventing heat exchange. As a result, HVAC appliances no longer need to work 24/7 and greenhouse gases are reduced. For homeowners, insulation is good news because it reduces energy bills by up to 25% and increases thermal comfort. It can be done with several materials, depending on the desired R-value and insulated area of the house.

• Air sealing – up to $100 off. Sealing trouble spots that allow air leaks cuts heating and cooling costs. The most common trouble spots include the staircase framing, porch roof, chimney shaft, attic access and ducts.

• Heat pumps – homeowners who invest in a new ground source heat pump can get a rebate of up to $20,000, and those who repair their existing pumps are entitled to up to $4,500. These rebates only apply if the heat pumps are Energy-star certified.

• Air pumps – Energy-star certified air pumps installed by certified contractors can bring homeowners up to $5,800 in rebates.

Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Chris Ballard and Parminder Sandhu, chair of the Green Ontario Fund informed homeowners that they should inspect their homes regularly for signs of energy leaks, such as drafty rooms or house areas that stay cold despite HVAC appliances. Addressing these energy leaks isn’t only a matter of comfort, he adds. Under-insulated homes with low quality windows lead to higher energy bills and contribute to pollution.

The Green Ontario Fund is heavily regulated and Ontario residents do not have to worry about door-to-door contractors trying to sell them home improvements. In addition, all home improvements included in this program must only be carried out by approved contractors who meet the requirements.

This program has become an essential component in the province’s Climate Change Action Plan and it is expected to contribute to cutting greenhouse gasses considerably. It is funded by carbon market proceeds and includes other positive actions such as:

• Measures that encourage the transition towards electric vehicles: incentives, building a solid infrastructure of charging stations

• Gas emission reduction programs for small to medium sized businesses, as well as large enterprises

• Energy retrofits for residential properties

• Developing microgrid projects in First nations communities to reduce reliance on diesel fuel

• A cycling commuter network covering the entire Ontario province

• Social housing retrofits

Public reception on the Green ON rebates have been overwhelmingly positive so far, as building an energy efficient home can be quite costly and this program makes it more affordable. According to GreenON.ca, the program is currently closed as smart thermostats are being installed in participating houses, but will resume shortly, so applications can be submitted online.

Injured veterans and their guests empowered each other as they hit a rough hiking trail near Usery Mountain’s Wind Cave during a recent Wounded Warrior Project® event (PRNewsfoto/Wounded Warrior Project)

MESA, Ariz. — Injured veterans and their guests empowered each other as they hit a rough hiking trail near Usery Mountain’s Wind Cave during a recent Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) event.

“I needed to get out and spend time with other veterans,” said Army veteran Ruben Rojo. “It was a tough hike, but very worth it.”

Isolation is one of the most significant struggles wounded warriors deal with after serving their country. It can be difficult knowing how to overcome that challenge and rekindle bonds similar to those formed in the military.

Afterward, hikers gathered to get to know others from their community better and learn how they could eat out and be healthy at the same time by selecting fresh ingredients that don’t add up to major calories.

“I met some Army and Navy veterans and their families,” Ruben said. “These events mean a lot to me because they get me out, I meet new people, and I live.”

WWP program events like this give wounded warriors an opportunity to experience veteran peer support firsthand. These social gatherings get them out of the house and connect them with fellow service members and their communities.

“I’m always interested in learning about a new hiking site,” said Angelica Canez, wife of National Guard veteran Daniel. “I thought the hiking experience was great, and I totally enjoyed our lunch as a group, as well as meeting new people and learning about their stories and hiking adventures.”

Activities like hiking and socializing with other veterans can help injured warriors cope with stress and emotional concerns. In a WWP survey (https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/survey) of the injured warriors it serves, more than half of survey respondents (51.6 percent) expressed they talk with fellow veterans to address their mental health issues, and 30.3 percent indicated physical activity helps.

“Wounded Warrior Project, to me, means family and a community that helps me sustain not only myself, but my veteran as well,” Angelica said.

Geraldo Rivera continues his allegations that anyone claiming the Obama Administration could have mounted a rescue at Benghazi “is just preposterous!”  Geraldo appearing on Fox and Friends Friday morning, seems to have adopted the Left’s talking points, screaming at Co-Host Eric Bolling

“You are a politician looking to make a political point!” he added after Bolling challenged him, later repeating the point: “You are misleading the American people because you want to make a political point.”

Poor Geraldo, what is known is that Geraldo has always “leaned forward” championing this Regime’s talking points.  At one point,  he even goes after Charles Woods, Ty Woods’ Dad.  Pointing his finger and pontificating that Mr. Woods is being led down this path of misinformation, and declaring  how unfair it was to blame Obama for going to Las Vegas instead of saving Ty Woods was a “disgrace” according to Geraldo.   No Geraldo, what is a disgrace is for a journalist, who through his career has done his share of exploiting stories, is allowing his personal “leanings” to blind him”?  Stonewalling the American people is the disgrace, as Gretchen Carlson points out.

After we killed Bin Laden, the Obama Administration had no problem leaking out ALL the information just days after that event.  So what gives here Geraldo?   As for Geraldo’s claim that “he has consulted with four star Generals, and other military personnel and nothing could have been done to rescue those in Libya” —I’d like to point Geraldo to BlackFive.net.   Geraldo using the “Raid on Entebbe”, (in which a plane was hijacked by terrorists, kidnapping the Israeli passengers, and holding them in Uganda) as a comparison is pure hogwash!  Were the passengers being actively killed, and the LIVE feed being watched by the Israeli PM?  OF course not, Geraldo!  Geraldo stating it took the Israelis “seven days” to mount a rescue, is correct.   However, one of the big glaring differences Geraldo, is that Benghazi was an attack, not a hijacking, Benghazi was a battle happening in real time, not a hostage taking!  Thanks for trying Geraldo, but we get how the Left uses its talking points to confuse.

Let’s not indulge in fairy tales Geraldo,  your anger proves you are very invested and upset over the facts that your guy, Barack Obama, left men to die, facts you aren’t able to personally face yet.

The United States is expected to churn out far more oil this year than what international analysts originally forecasted.

The International Energy Agency, a Paris-based organization that helps coordinate energy policies for industrial countries, released its latest oil market report on Friday, noting exceptional numbers for the U.S. fossil fuel industry.

The agency reported that U.S. oil production is expected to rise by 1.3 million barrels a day this year. While this number is lower than the record-smashing 2.1 million increase producers enjoyed in 2018, it’s more than double what the IEA initially expected to see in 2019.

The forecast illustrates the latest in the country’s shale oil boom, which has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years thanks to the emergence of hydraulic fracturing and an administration that has fostered a more conducive environment for fossil fuel development. Already, the U.S. is the largest international crude oil producer, with output expected to top 12 million barrels per day this year and reach 12.9 million by 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration’s latest report.

Analysts predict the U.S. will keep blowing past its global competitors.

“By the middle of the year, US crude output will probably be more than the capacity of either Saudi Arabia or Russia,” read a portion of IEA’s report, meaning they expect American companies to churn out more oil than what Saudi Arabia or Russia are even capable of producing.

President Donald Trump has hailed the U.S. energy boom as glaring proof that he isn’t secretly in cahoots with the Russian government — a conspiracy theory long repeated by his critics.

“‘Gas prices drop across the United States because President Trump has deregulated Energy and we are now producing a great deal more oil than ever before,’” the president tweeted on Monday, attributing the quote to Fox and Friends. “But this is bad news for Russia, why would President Trump do such a thing? Thought he worked for Kremlin?”

The Russian economy — which is entirely dependent on its energy exports — stands to lose with increased global production, which ultimately lowers the price of oil.

The IEA went on to say that, even if global economic growth slows, oil demand will continue to rise.

“Our expectation for slightly faster global demand growth in 2019 is maintained even though economic growth is likely to be slower than in 2018,” the agency stated. “The impact of higher oil prices in 2018 is fading, which will help offset lower economic growth.”

Don’t miss the next episode of The Walking Dead, Sunday, March 26 at 9/8c.

With the Euro-zone embattled in a financial crisis that has seen the heads of the governments of Greece and Italy ousted, it certainly appears that there will be more leaders of financially insolvent countries to also be ousted from office in the very near future. One of the most recognizable signs of an economy in trouble is generally considered to be found in the host country’s unemployment numbers. With the creation of the Euro-zone and the one-region monetary currency of the Euro, the huge disparities between Euro-zone economies was supposed to be equalized, to hear the globalists that forced the Euro onto the countries of Europe tell it. Once again, it appears that the creation of the euro-zone has resulted in more of what it was promised to prevent: Countries such as Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal have now suffered immensley, compared to the economies of, say Germany. The following chart showing Unemployment numbers across the Euro-Zone, with U.S. and Japan included as a reference) compiled from Eurostat, shows just how Germany has thrived while other countries are suffering today. Germany has seen it’s unemployment remain stable around 5% right through the major EU financial crisis, while Spain’s has shot up to over 23% today.

In an article from Reuters and posted on MSNBC.com we see that Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Nicholas Sarkozy are calling for a new European treaty that would mean “stricter controls on each nation’s budget.. and harsh punishments for those who don’t stick to them.”

President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel said their proposal included automatic penalties for governments that fail to keep their deficits under control, and an early launch of a permanent bailout fund for euro states in distress.
They said they wanted treaty change to be agreed in March and ratified after France wraps up presidential and legislative elections in June. “We need to go fast,” Sarkozy said. (emphasis mine)

The question still remains unanswered as to just where the funding for this “permanent bailout fund” will come from. In looking at the unemployment numbers above, and the Merkel/Sarkozy refusal to the issuing of bonds in theory guaranteed jointly by all euro zone countries, but in practice by the bloc’s strongest member, Germany. “We reject the idea of euro bonds,” she said.
Sarkozy rallied behind her, saying it would be absurd for France and Germany to cover the debts of countries on whose debt issuance they-Zonehad no control. The two biggest economies that have inserted themselves as power-brokers over all of the Euro-zone now refuse to put up any of their funds to bail out the smaller countries. Again from the above-linked MSNBC article, we see the following tidbit from the UK government:

Several governments, notably Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands, oppose treaty change because it might not win public backing in a referendum.
The British government said the changes proposed by Sarkozy and Merkel did not mean a significant transfer of power to Brussels and would therefore not require a referendum in Britain, which does not use the single currency.

Merkel and Sarkozy’s “treaty change” will not require a referendum in Britain, who was smart enough to see this train-wreck of a powerplay for the disaster it was a long time ago. Meanwhile Germany and France enrich themselves while demanding stiff penalties for the smaller countries that have suffered directly from the EU Globalists massive power-grab. This situation is far from over, regardless of what Merkel and Sarkozy tell the world.

House Democrats defeated a Republican-led provision to deny raises to federal employees who have been disciplined for sexual misconduct.

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to give civilian federal employees a 2.6 percent pay raise this year. However, Democrats successfully blocked a GOP provision that would have withheld raises for employees penalized for sexual misconduct.

“During calendar year 2019, no increase in pay as authorized under this Act may be provided to any Federal employee who has been disciplined for sexual misconduct under chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code, or any other provision of law,” read the text of the provision.

The proposal, despite receiving support from 189 Republicans and 17 Democrats, was ultimately defeated by a vote of 216-206.

“As Washington Democrats continue their ill-advised push for unilateral pay raises for federal employees, regardless of their performance, Republicans continue to ask Democrats to amend their legislation,” Erin Perrine, a spokeswoman for House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, said in a statement provided to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Currently this bill treats victims the same as their harassers. That makes no sense.”

Among the Democratic lawmakers who voted against the proposal was California Reps. Tony Cardenas, Eric Swalwell and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Cardenas, who chaired the vote for the Democrats on Wednesday, was sued in 2018 for allegedly drugging and molesting a then-16 year old girl in 2007 when he was a member of the Los Angeles City Council. Gabbard stands among as the first House Democrat to officially mount a 2020 presidential campaign. Swalwell is also mulling a presidential run.

Kelly, a college student, also works full-time at a nearby grocery store. But her hours were just cut to 29 per week. Why? Because of a new regulation on employers imposed by the Affordable Care Act; a regulation harming millions of working Americans.

Marvel Studio released the trailer for the next chapter in the Avengers line, Avengers: End Game, that will complete the story left adrift in the previous release, Avengers: Infinity War.

The trailer begins with a hopeless message as Tony Stark records a message to Pepper Potts as he expects to die the next day.

“Food and water ran out four days ago,” Stark says while floating in a ship in outer space. “Oxygen will run out tomorrow morning. That’ll be it.”

“When I drift off, I will dream about you. It’s always you,” he added.

The remainder of the trailer paints a bleak picture with members of the Avengers universe talking about the loss of friends and family due to Thanos’ use of the Infinity Stones to kill half of all living things.

Only at the very end is there any hope as Captain America and Black Widow discuss a plan that they believe will work.

“This is going to work, Steve,” Black Widow says to Captain America.

“I know it is. Because I don’t know what I’m going to do if it doesn’t,” he replies.

Avengers: Endgame hits theaters April 26, 2019.

The Defense Department announced Friday that it will provide $200 million to Ukraine in security cooperation funds for additional training, equipment and advisory efforts to build the defensive capacity of Ukraine’s forces among its ongoing struggle with Russian-supported forces in Crimea.

“This reaffirms the long-standing defense relationship between the United States and Ukraine, and brings the total U.S. security sector assistance to Ukraine to more than $1 billion since 2014,” the statement reads.

The added funds will provide equipment to support ongoing training programs and operational needs, including capabilities to enhance Ukraine’s command-and-control, situational awareness systems, secure communications, military mobility, night vision and military medical treatment.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) who founded the Senate Ukraine Caucus, applauded Friday’s announcement which he called “a clear message that America stands with the Ukrainian people in their struggle…against Russian aggression.”

The Trump administration announced that the U.S. military would begin sending lethal aid to Ukraine in December 2017, which marked a major departure from Obama White House policy. Obama administration officials frequently refused to supply Ukraine with lethal aid.

The decision to increase military aid for Ukraine comes after President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Finland in which the president was accused of being weak on Russia. Trump was further accused of siding with Putin over his own intelligene agencies.