The biggest limitation on electric cars, as we know, are the batteries. They take hours to charge, and cannot travel nearly as far as gas-powered engines. So while California may be the center of the “green movement,” traveling the almost 400 miles between Los Angeles and San Francisco is impossible on electric power. Until now.

SolarCity has announced an EV charging corridor spanning the 382 miles between LA and San Fran featuring four stations, with a fifth station opening in October.

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A new report ranks ten leading world cities on their greenhouse gas emissions. It also examines how and why the emissions differ.

As the report says, over 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas. Leading cities of the world, global cities, are the places where greenhouse gas emissions really need to be cut. The greenest city from the study is Barcelona and the worst is Denver.

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WWD Centerfold grazing amazing husband/wife design team Alkemie creates adornments for the body, all constructed of 100% reclaimed metal. Every Alkemie piece is made by hand, with love, in Los Angeles.

I like this owl ring as “the owl has long been thought of as a symbol of wisdom & a symbol of the feminine.” Interesting, enchanted myths, and ancient stories accompany each elegant piece.

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A measure calling for 400 megawatts of solar power on city-owned property in Los Angeles has officially failed. After a final tally, the city clerk’s office announced Thursday evening that voters rejected Measure B by a narrow 1 percent margin, with “yes” votes trailing 2,644 votes behind the “no” votes.

The announcement ends more than two weeks of suspense. Voters went to the polls March 3, but the result of the solar measure remained too close to call as provisional, late and write-in ballots had to be carefully counted.

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Last night was a long one for Los Angeles solar aficionados, and the wait’s not over yet. The fate of Measure B, which calls for the LA utility to install 400 megawatts of solar power on city-owned property, is still too close to call after Angelenos cast their ballots Tuesday.

At last count, the measure appeared to be on the verge of failing, with the “No” votes ahead by 1,322 votes — a narrow 0.6 percent — and only one precinct, with about 156 ballots, left unreported. But supporters still have a chance, as thousands of late, provisional and write-in ballots have yet to be tallied.

At stake is the only piece of Solar LA, an ambitious 1.3-gigawatt solar plan that newly reelected Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled in November, put to a public vote.

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The city of Los Angeles intends to retrofit 140,000 streetlights with LED light bulbs. If successful, this will be the nation’s largest lighting retrofit, and it comes with a price tag of about $57 million.

With nearly 35 million streetlights in the United States, it’s estimated that they use 1% of all the electricity is consumed nationwide.

The initiative was announced in Los Angeles by former President Bill Clinton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. That’s because LA is getting help with the retrofit from the Clinton Climate Initiative’s Outdoor Lighting Program. Part of the funding also comes from a $14 million rebate from the Department of Water and Power. The Clinton Climate Initiative has become an increasingly active arm of the Clinton Global Initiative.

>>More RGB News On Greening LA: Los Angeles Giving Out FREE CFLs

“If you have ever been to Death Valley National Park and looked up on a clear night, you would see that the stars seem to be dimmer than they were when I was a child. But they are not getting dimmer, really–the rest of the sky is getting brighter because of all the lights from Los Angeles and Las Vegas and other surrounding cities and communities,” President Clinton said.

“This is the best place in the world — in the U.S. at least — to lead this,” Clinton went on to say, citing the city’s ongoing environmental efforts. “This is like taking 6,000 cars off the road. “If every major city followed your lead, we could eliminate 2 1/2 coal-fired power plants.”

Once the overhaul is complete, the city will get an energy savings of about 40-percent and reduce carbon emissions by 40 tons/year. It is expected this will save the city $48 million, and reduce carbon emissions by 197,000 tons, over a seven year period.

The program is scheduled to start in June. Initially 20,000 bulbs will be replaced, and 30,000 with each following year.

While the program will start before New York City’s own efforts to provide LED streetlights, but NYC hopes to replace up to 300,000 streetlights with LEDs. Oh snap!

Photo: © Kineticimagery | Dreamstime.com

Despite extensive opposition and the rallying of animal activists and Hollywood celebrities alike, Los Angeles City Council voted today to go ahead with a $42 million elephant exhibit. About $12 million has already been spent towards the completion of the new exhibit, which is now 30 percent done.

Council also decided that the city will continue to keep Billy the elephant confined at the zoo instead of sending him to an animal sanctuary where he would have been afforded more space to roam. The planned six acre exhibit would be seven times larger than Billy’s current enclosure and feature approximately four acres of open space. Opponents argue that this falls far short of an elephant’s space requirements.

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After representing 20% of all solar installs in San Francisco in Q4 2008, 1Block Off the Grid (1BOG) is now bringing major solar community purchasing discounts to Los Angeles, CA.

1BOG began building its solar community in San Francisco (as depicted in the takeover of the map above). The original pilot campaign brought in 184 San Francisco residents who signed up for solar discounts from RealGoods, and 42 of them followed through to buy a system—double the normal adoption rate. The latest 1BOG campaign in the Bay Area has already brought in 1,070 sign ups, a 6x increase over the pilot. SolarCity has been selected as the installer for this round.

Definition, 1BOG: a nationwide, community-based program that organizes residents locally and negotiates group discounts with solar installers, using a comprehensive vendor selection process.

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that BMW is giving the city a fleet of MINI Es as part of a feasibility test. In fact, BMW will be testing 500 electric MINIs worldwide. Other cities included in the program are Los Angeles, London and Berlin.

MINI E is the first product from BMW’s Project i program. Project i takes aim at vehicle and transportation strategies for the world’s mega-cities. The cars will be loaned to both customers and the cities for a full year.

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San Francisco is usually designated the green capital of California, but now LA is trying to take the City by the Bay’s crown with the world’s largest solar plan. Yesterday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a long-range plan to gather enough solar power to meet 10 percent of LA’s energy needs by 2020. This will be a major upgrade for the city, which currently derives less than 1 percent of its energy from solar power.

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Serving up grass fed beef and free range turkey, all of the new burger joint’s menu items are organic and tasty. Grass fed beef makes the meat richer with omega 3, beta carotene, vitamins A & E and CLA, a newly discovered “good” fat, and even the delicious shakes are made with healthy ingredients, such as Aseel dates, bananas, chocolate and live culture yogurt.

“From Ray Kroc to Alice Waters, California has a long, rich history of launching exciting and groundbreaking restaurants,” said co-owner Martha Chang, a former film producer.  “With O!burger we hope to combine the best practices of these visionaries and offer diners the greatest possible eating experience.”

O!burger is also implementing eco-friendly pracitices by using packaging that’s recyclable, compostable or biodegradable and cleaning products that are green and non-toxic.

In what some called a crazy stint, this April the LA crew of riders who call themselves the Crimanimalz hit the highway to make a statement in a city renowned for its hours and hours of commuter traffic. The ride through the city’s Friday commuter traffic jam, also dubbed the “If You Rode a Bike You’d be Home by Now Ride,” is now a monthly event. Check out images of the bold event to bring the car city bike freeways, bike paths and safe bike routes here and video here. The ride even has it’s own Wikipedia entry.

Imagine a high-speed rail line that could get you from San Francisco to LA in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

That dream appears to be coming true, thanks to work by the California High-Speed Rail Authority. After getting a green light by State environmental impact assessors, they’ve begun implementation of an 800-mile bullet-train system that will connect Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego. Trains traveling at 220 mph on the systems are forecast to carry up to 100 million passengers per year by 2030.

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After looking forward to it for several months, the Opportunity Green Conference is now just around the corner. To be held November 17 at UCLA, the conference’s organizers are asking a question that seems to be on everyone’s lips: “Is green the new gold?”

The conference will bring together those involved in all aspects of green business, from visionaries and entrepreneurs to executives and investors, all of whom are dedicated to building socially conscious, sustainable, and profitable enterprises.

Organizers have put together an impressive list of speakers, all well-known in the socially-conscious world of business, including

• Kevin Wall, Founder of Live Earth
• Jonathan Greenblatt, Co-founder of Ethos Water
• Josh Dorfman, Author/Producer of “The Lazy Environmentalist”
• Max Schorr, Publisher and Founding Editor of GOOD Magazine
• Graham Hill, Founder of TreeHugger.com
• Gunther Lie, Director of Interactive Media for Method Products
• Ellen Strickland, Founder/Owner of Livingreen

The agenda features a panel discussion entitled, “Real World Green Business: Challenges, Mistakes and Opportunities” moderated by sustainability consultant and visionary John Picard. In addition, the schedule provides many options for break-out sessions, including Green 2.0: Connecting to Our Community, The End of Cars: The Future of Mobility as We Know It, and Venture Capital in the Green Marketplace.

There are also significant opportunities for networking, most notably before the event even starts. Through EventVue, registrants receive a login that allows you to upload a short bio, picture, etc. Once in, you can see who else will be at the event, including their areas of expertise and what they are “seeking”. A bit like a personal ad, but perfect for networking – you can even contact other registrants through the system before the event.

With more than 500 expected to attend, this conference is certain to help business people learn how to make gold from their green.

1. Identify your environmental goals: You may have different concerns if you want to focus on organic food, versus alternative energy. Figure out what areas you most want to impact, and go from there.
2. Location: If you’re renting a spot, make sure that they have a recycling program in place. Consider an unusual venue that also has a social benefit, like a museum or historic building.
3. Spread the word: Of course, e-vites are more eco-friendly than paper and snail mail.
4. Food: According to Sarah, food at an event often involves a lot of waste. Look for organic caterers, reduce packaging waste by using large containers versus single servings, and use real glasses, plates and utensils. Not only are they nicer to the environment, they are just nicer!
5. Power/electricity: For events outside or in older spaces that require generators, check into bio-diesel options. Even better, hold your event during the day and you get solar power, the old fashioned way!
6. Offset that carbon: Considering purchasing credits to offset the carbon emissions generated by your party and guests.
7. Vendors: Almost every industry has green alternatives these days, so look for suppliers that employ these measures. One example: there are alternatives to common floral foam (a form of Styrofoam), including using live plants – you can even rent these just for your event.
8. Be creative! In general, a minimalist approach that emphasizes the people in attendance is sure to make an event memorable.

Lastly, if you need help, ask for it…Pink Cloud can assist with everything from designing cool electronic invitations to lining up the greenest vendors in Southern California, ensuring that your event goes off without a hitch.