At the local level, though, energy independence may be realistic… and numerous communities around the United States are exploring available renewable resources, and the technology necessary to harness them. Here’s just a handful of towns creating models for clean energy production… and good old fashioned self-reliance.

Read more of this story »

By the middle of next year, the nine campuses that make up the nation’s largest community college system plan to be completely energy self-sufficient.

It’s a huge step, and it will begin saving money immediately.

The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) started down this path in 2001, the year voters approved the first part of $5.7 billion in bond funding to renovate the campuses.

The LACCD Board of Trustees was thinking about much-needed modernization work and its first new construction in 35 years, but it was also thinking ahead. It passed a sustainable building policy mandating that all new buildings that use 50% or more of bond funding be LEED certified. The board had previously developed a renewable energy plan that aimed for a minimum 10% renewable energy standard.

At the time, the trustees were afraid that anything beyond that would be too costly, says Larry Eisenberg, executive director of Facilities, Planning and Development for the LACCD.

The system’s chancellor and the implementation team saw greater potential, though.

Read more of this story »

San Jose, CA - Achieving a goal of 100 percent energy independence is a little closer for San Jose thanks to a momentous move by the City Council today. The City Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop potential lease terms and guidelines for developing an organics-to energy bio-gas facility.

The bio-gas facility, planned to be constructed and operated by Zanker Road Biogas, will be based on a 40-acre site near the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plan. The proposed facility would also be bound on either side by two solid waste recovery and recycling facilities owned and operated by Zanker Road Resource Management, Ltd.

The MOU, which was authorized today, will set forth the guidelines and work-plan for the potential lease terms of the bio-gas project. Pending successful negotiations for the MOU, San Jose will issue a lease to Zero Waste Energy Development Company, Inc., a partnership between GreenWaste Recovery and their sister company, Zanker Road Resource Management.

This project would also see the cooperation of GreenWaste and Harvest Power, Inc., a company that provides leading technology and project development capabilities for harnessing the renewable energy in organic waste.

Read more of this story »

The first phase of this shift was the transition from the phrase ‘global warming’ to ‘climate change’. As Secretary of State Clinton recently pointed out it has become increasingly difficult to preach about the dangers of global warming during a decade that has featured a significant reduction in the temperature increases that occurred in the 1990s.

The second phase of this paradigm shift has been a noticeable increase in skepticism amongst the general public about the causes and impacts of climate change and a general decrease in interest in the topic. Until recently that opinion has remained the domain of primarily right-wing media types - Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus to name a few. But there is a growing body of evidence that suggests a majority of Americans are now questioning the causes of climate.

Yet some recent polls in the US and Britain indicate that the tide may be turning in this regard. A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center ranked global warming as the least important issue amongst 20 political priorities that were included in the poll. And a January survey by Rasmussen Reports indicates that a greater number of Americans (44%) believe that long-term planetary trends are the cause of climate change than the number of Americans (41%) that believe human activity is the culprit. Less than a year ago the reverse was true – 47% of Americans blamed climate change on human actions while 34% believed it due to a long-term cyclical effect. And its not just in the US either – polls in the UK have shown similar doubt amongst a majority of Britons about climate change causes.

So how do those of us that are trying to promote reduced-carbon lifestyles and greener businesses deal with the public’s changing attitudes towards climate change?

I think the most effective communicators are the ones that are able to tailor their message to what the audience wants to hear. I honestly believe that a growing number of individuals and businesses are interested in making more sustainable choices. However, I think their reasons for doing so are not entirely based on fears of climate change, as they might have been just a year or two ago.

Unfortunately during the beginning of a potentially long and painful recession the environmental movement might lose some of the steam that it had picked up over the last five years. This just means the message has to be changed, even if the end goals are still the same. A renewed focus has to be made on energy security and reduced energy costs – the sky-high prices for gasoline, natural gas and heating oil from last year are still fresh in people’s minds. If green practices are promoted as a way for individuals and businesses to save money and reduce dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets, the momentum of the green movement should continue to grow.

For those of us that have been writing about the cause and effect of climate change, this change in communication strategy should not be considered to be giving up. It is simply adapting to the current social and economic realities. Even the Rush Limbaughs of the world will have a difficult time arguing against increased profits and reduced dependence on foreign oil.

So the take-home message to my fellow citizens that are concerned about climate change: stop focusing on the polar bears. Start talking about saving money – and don’t forget to remind people that we are trying to avoid paying $4.50/gallon for gas like we did just last summer.

Stephen Boles is co-founder of Kuzuka, a marketplace website that will bring a new level of convenience and confidence to carbon offset customers. Kuzuka also provides consulting services to organizations that want to assess and reduce their corporate carbon footprint.

Image:

In Washington, D.C. today, governors from the 23 states that make up the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition released a report outlining the benefits of wind energy for their states and the country. At the crux of the governors’ policy recommendations is a national renewable electricity standard.

The report shows that a national renewable electricity standard would be an important step toward solving global warming and revitalizing our economy. To date, 28 states and the District of Columbia have passed renewable electricity standards, with California requiring 33 percent.

Read more of this story »

According to Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Naimi, renewable energy sources are not fully equipped to meet the world’s energy demands and that governments should avoid making huge investments in developing clean energy systems.

At a conference in Houston, Mr. Naimi argued that recent injection of billions of dollars by governments to develop renewable energy systems could lead to the collapse of the oil industry. He said that such steps would drive away investors which would hurt the oil producing nations as demand and prices of oil products has been falling sharply. His remarks were clearly aimed at the Obama administration which is reversing President Bush’s policies by openly encouraging massive investments in the renewable energy sector.

United States has been a ‘close friend’ and seeing President Obama acting on his promise of energy independence seemed to have alarmed the Saudis. Bills approving of oil exploration along the US coasts, massive subsidies for renewable energy projects and Obama administration’s intent to reduce carbon emissions means a medium to long-term decline in oil imports and which have left the Saudis (and OPEC) concerned. 

Read more of this story »

GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily talks with Jules Dervaes of Path to Freedom. Path to Freedom  is a grassroots, family operated, viable urban homesteading project established to promote a simpler and more fulfilling lifestyle and reduce one family’s “footprint” on the earth’s dwindling resources.It was established in 2001 in Pasadena, California by Jules Dervaes.

Click Play Below,or

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

I think the most effective communicators are the ones that are able to tailor their message to what the audience wants to hear. I honestly believe that a growing number of individuals and businesses are interested in making more sustainable choices. However, I think their reasons for doing so are not entirely based on fears of climate change, as they might have been just a year or two ago.

Unfortunately during the beginning of a potentially long and painful recession the environmental movement might lose some of the steam that it had picked up over the last five years. This just means the message has to be changed, even if the end goals are still the same. A renewed focus has to be made on energy security and reduced energy costs – the sky-high prices for gasoline, natural gas and heating oil from last year are still fresh in people’s minds. If green practices are promoted as a way for individuals and businesses to save money and reduce dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets, the momentum of the green movement should continue to grow.

For those of us that have been writing about the cause and effect of climate change, this change in communication strategy should not be considered to be giving up. It is simply adapting to the current social and economic realities. Even the Rush Limbaughs of the world will have a difficult time arguing against increased profits and reduced dependence on foreign oil.

So the take-home message to my fellow citizens that are concerned about climate change: stop focusing on the polar bears. Start talking about saving money – and don’t forget to remind people that we are trying to avoid paying $4.50/gallon for gas like we did just last summer.

Stephen Boles is co-founder of Kuzuka, a marketplace website that will bring a new level of convenience and confidence to carbon offset customers. Kuzuka also provides consulting services to organizations that want to assess and reduce their corporate carbon footprint.

Image:

The Clean-Tech Investor Summit is over and the participants have gone home, taking with them impressions about the current state of affairs and forecasts for the year ahead.

Arguably the most memorable speech was one by T. Boone Pickens, oil-magnate-turned-clean-energy advocate, on Wednesday. In a speech peppered with anecdotes about politicians and Pickens’ trademark frankness, he called for the audience to press the Obama administration – as well as their state and local lawmakers – to take real steps toward more energy independence.

Read more of this story »

There will be many firsts during the course of Tuesday’s Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama, but mentioning the environment in the inaugural address will not be one of them: though pretty darn close.

[Update: While President Obama did not use the actual word "environment", he spoke both directly and indirectly about the environment more so than any of his predecessors. See those references.]

Past presidents like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman and Calvin Coolidge have referred to the development and wise use of our “natural resources.”  The language in these earlier environmental references was infused with the themes of conservation and preservation as opposed to pollution and ecological balance.

Conspicuously absent throughout the history of inaugural addresses have been allusions to the major energy and environmental issues of the time. In fact, only two presidents in this country’s history have even mentioned the word “environment” in this context; and they each used both of their opportunities.

Read more of this story »

Campaign politics dominated the headlines in 2008, making it a banner year for the armchair pundit and the politically uninitiated alike. 2008 was also a year that issues like energy use, climate change and carbon footprints came to the forefront of popular culture and political reality. And that’s where we came in.

In the tradition of more credible media outlets, we’ve compiled our most popular stories of the year into an easily digestible top 10 list. As it is based purely on pageviews, we realize that our list of the top ten environmental politics stories of the year is by no means scientific - and we’re okay with that.

Read more of this story »

Let’s be honest, construction companies and home builders are facing terrible times.  New building construction has ground to a halt and the subprime mortgage fiasco resulted in plummeting home values, leaving many builders with homes that were worth less than the cost of construction.   The longer the recession - some say through 2010, some say longer - the more companies will have to lay off employees or go under altogether.  There’s not much of a silver lining to this dark cloud, but one good thing looks to come out of it.  The green building market, which had been slowly increasing its share of the overall construction market prior to the market slowdown, is poised to provide a much needed spark in the construction market through a new public works program proposed by Barack Obama that will include a focus on energy efficiency in buildings.  With a national movement toward green building practices, there is a very real possibility that once the current recession is over, the majority of new commercial buildings and houses will be much more energy efficient, sustainable, and healthier than current building standards.

An Opportunity for Change

For those with long term vision, a market slowdown can be good for an industry.  It is an opportunity for a reevaluation of business practices.  When things are going well, there’s no incentive to change, even if those changes can mean greater energy efficiency and more of a focus on sustainability and health.  But a slowdown gives companies not only the time to research new innovations but the financial incentive to seek new revenue streams.  Consumer behavior is trending green, with 73% saying they would pay more for products that are better for the environment and 89% saying they’d pay more for products that will reduce heating and cooling costs, according to a survey done by the Opinion Research Corporation.

Read more of this story »

I just finished viewing all three videos which are under 2 minutes each:

Energy X Prize: Reduce Home Energy - This idea has communities competing against each other to reduce energy consumption. The winning community would get a hefty prize.

Read more of this story »

Earlier this year excitement and promise surrounded the possibilities of developing a domestic oil source through shale oil. Due to the current economic crisis much of these plans have been put on hold. The companies that were initiating these efforts are finding it difficult to borrow funds for their projects. In a November 10th EarthNews article Louis D’Amico, executive director of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of Pennsylvania states:

Read more of this story »

To start with, researchers at Iowa State University have found that, even though $1.3 billion was given to the corn ethanol farming industry in the form of subsidies in 2007, the government saved $3.45 billion on what are called loan deficiency payments as a direct result of these ethanol subsidies.

Loan deficiency payments were established in 1985 as a way to ensure farmers’ incomes remained steady even when prices for commodities such as corn were abnormally low. Since 1998 the loan deficiency payment program has cost taxpayers more than $29 billion.

Read more of this story »

And suppose we just forget about what to do with the nuclear waste from the reactors, lethal to all life for more than 10,000 years. Even if we can contain the nuclear waste (a big “if” for many of us to swallow in these days of unforeseen financial market meltdowns), why pass this waste on to future generations, on to our great, great, great grandchildren?

That we’ve been unable to agree politically on a safe place to store nuclear waste (in Yucca Mountain, Nevada) masks the fact that we still need to move this toxic waste from as many as 104 currently operating nuclear reactors scattered throughout the continental U.S. Nice targets for those terrorists we’ve been unable to locate or perhaps for the swelling homegrown terrorist types as of late, folks who have come on hard times and can think of better things to do with a $700 billion bailout package and don’t like the way things are headed in Washington D.C. By the way, these nuclear reactors with a 40 year lifespan aren’t cheap, therefore they’ve been partially subsidized by American taxpayers for years.

What Senator McCain and Senator Obama seem to leave out in all their debates and public discourse is that America is no more energy independent with nuclear power than it is with oil. A key rationale for expanding nuclear power generation touted by those concerned about climate change – including both Presidential candidates: Nuclear power plants generate energy by splitting uranium atoms, resulting in no carbon dioxide emissions, standing in stark contrast to those CO2 emissions created by burning coal or oil. But the U.S., as it turns out, has even less uranium than oil as a percentage of domestic production.

Read more of this story »

Read more of this story »

Connie Hedegaard is a Danish blogger, journalist, and politician. She serves as Minister of Climate and Energy in Denmark, one of the countries leading the world in forward-thinking renewable energy policies.

Denmark benefits as alternative energy leader

Denmark is an exemplar of successful sustainable energy policy. Today, around 20% of Denmark’s energy is supplied by wind power. Not only is the country energy independent, its energy consumption hasn’t risen since the ’70s, despite 50% economic growth, according to Flemming Hansen, former Minister of Transport and Energy.

Read more of this story »

1. Obama had a three point strategy:
2. 
   
3. 1. To continue exactly as he has been without making any mistakes now.

2. To close the stature gap; to prove wrong those who still believe that Obama does not have the experience or judgment that McCain has.

3. To show America how he would address the issue of economy

McCain’s debate strategy:

1. To attack Obama’s association with William Ayers without being offensive to the extent where he would turn people off

2. To show America how he would address the issue of economy

After another tumultuous day in the market with the worst one-day percentage declines since the crash of 1987, addressing the state of the U.S. Economy was supposed to be foremost for both candidates in an effort to win the votes of undecided and independent voters. Advisers for each candidate said that he would use the final debate to lay out his vision for the country and promote his economic policies while drawing differences with his opponent.

Read more of this story »

The recent $700 billion bailout package has extended tax credits to wind and solar energy companies. However since mostly all renewable energy projects depend upon project financing, it is suspected that only large utilities will actually benefit from the tax credits. However, companies such as Carbon Sciences, Inc. (CABN) are proving otherwise.

Transforming CO2 to Fuel

Carbon Sciences, the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) into high value, earth-friendly products such as precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) is now developing a breakthrough technology to transform CO2 into the basic fuel building blocks required to produce gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other portable fuels.

Read more of this story »

The world economy might be in recession, however, carbon emissions are at an all time high. According to a new analysis by the nonprofit and nonpartisan Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) of data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) U.S. power plant CO2 emissions jumped 2.9 percent in 2007, the biggest single-year increase since 1998. More than ever, companies need to commit to taking steps against global warming.

The $700 billion bailout package recently issued by the U.S. government favors supply-side economics. The bailout package included tax credits for renewable energy industries most notably for wind and solar energy manufacturers. The general view is however that larger utilities will benefit as opposed to smaller renewable energy players that remain dependent upon project financing.

Read more of this story »