Juggling Dynamite

Environmental Defence Fund is driving a conservation movement on America’s farms and ranches through the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange. Every $35 donation sponsors one acre of habitat to help support the revival of monarchs. See how here.

In just two decades, the monarch butterfly population has plummeted by a heartbreaking 90 percent, primarily due to the loss of critical milkweed habitat. In this video, you’ll meet the Duncansons – a Minnesota farming family that has turned milkweed from a liability into an opportunity. “This is an opportunity, but it’s also a responsibility—to leave the land, the animals we produce, in better shape than how we found them,” explains Kristin Weeks Duncanson. Watch to learn why farmers and ranchers like the Duncansons are the monarch butterfly’s best hope for a thriving future. Here is a direct video link.

Many people believe there is a point at which one makes so much money, they must be able to afford anything and everything.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Life lesson number one:  if our bucket is full of holes, it doesn’t matter how much is poured in, we can still wind up empty.

The Johnny Depp saga offers warnings for everyone.  Lack of personal discipline, overspending, debt and bad financial advice:  classic ingredients for financial implosion.   See Johnny Depp:  A Star in Crisis.  The insane story of missing millions.

Today Tesla announced that its revolutionary Solar Roof is now available for pre-order, here on the Tesla website, with US installations set for this summer, and outside the US for 2018.  This is what smart looks like.

When paired with an integrated Powerwall, energy collected during the day is stored and made available any time, effectively turning a home into a self-sustaining personal utility:

Solar Roof is more affordable than conventional roofs because in most cases, it ultimately pays for itself by reducing or eliminating a home’s electricity bill. Consumer Reports estimates that a Solar Roof for an average size U.S. home would need to cost less than $24.50 per square foot to be cost competitive with a regular roof. The cost of Solar Roof is less.

The typical homeowner can expect to pay $21.85 per square foot for Solar Roof,¹ and benefit from a beautiful new roof that also increases the value of their home.

Solar Roof uses two types of tiles—solar and non-solar. Looking at the roof from street level, the tiles look the same. Customers can select how many solar tiles they need based on their home’s electricity consumption. For example, households that charge an electric vehicle every day may want more solar tiles on their roof…

At Tesla, we believe in transparency and putting the customer in control. That’s why we created a Solar Roof calculator that lets homeowners estimate the upfront price of Solar Roof, as well as the value of the energy it can generate for their home. The calculator is based on factors like roof size, the average local price of electricity, and how much sunlight a neighborhood receives throughout the year.