Green Options

One bright spot on the dark economic horizon is the number of companies across the U.S. poised for growth under a cap on carbon. EDF president Fred Krupp joined Vice President Joe Biden Friday in Philadelphia for the first meeting of Biden’s task force on middle class jobs.

At the meeting we unveiled our new interactive map highlighting more than 1,200 companies in coal country, the rust belt and other manufacturing regions. These companies all stand to benefit from the demand for clean energy technologies created by a cap on global warming pollution.

The economic downturn is making it tough to be a member of the middle class, now there’s evidence that ‘middle class’ coral reef fish are hurting too.

According to a new Wildlife Conservation Society study, reef fish levels along middle class coastal communities in Eastern Africa tend to be significantly lower– up to 4 times lower– than along areas bordering wealthy or poor communities.

Reasons for the disparity are numerous, and they involve a complicated interplay between traditional customs, economic development and population dynamics. But middle class apathy could also be to blame.