Green Options

The spotted seal, a sea ice-dependent Arctic species, has been denied Endangered Species Act protection by the Obama Administration.

Disappointment: The Center for Biological Diversity has announced that the Obama administration denied Endangered Species Act protection for the spotted seal, a species whose habitat is rapidly melting away due to global warming.

Obama’s auto emissions standard is a landmark success in improving fuel efficiency. But American consumers haven’t yet bought into the idea of a fuel-efficient car.

Last week’s “smoking gun” memo turns out to be not written by the Obama administration and not the evidence against the EPA that conservatives claimed it was.

For years politician have promised affordable housing. When the market delivers it, the politicians act like it’s the bubonic plaque!

China appears to be backing out of global efforts to address climate change, intensifying pre-Copenhagen debate.

A top China central government think tank yesterday released a framework for quantifying countries’ historical emissions. Under this proposed framework, the State Council Development Research Center (DRC) would create a “historic account” of past emissions, used to benchmark developing countries with lower accumulated emissions - like China - against countries with higher accumulated emissions and assign emissions “deficits” to countries who have emitted less. Using this quantitative assessment, countries with emissions “deficits” would get the green light to emit, or trade emissions credits with countries that have already exceeded their allowance.

The release of this plan supports external analysis that China believes it should have the right to develop free from carbon reductions until their accumulated emissions are on par with industrialized countries. A recent Brookings Institute report: “Overcoming Obstacles to US-China Cooperation on Climate Change” articulated Beijing’s stance, which included the conviction that:

Countries should be held responsible not only for their current emissions but also for their cumulative historical emissions, given that greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere over many decades.

This plan is Beijing’s most comprehensive effort to date to both highlight and quantify development inequalities as a justification for releasing China and other developing countries from emissions reduction expectations.

Good news for homeowners? Those with loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac could be eligible to refinance — even if they owe more than their home is worth.

From Green Car Congress:

Responding to a question from a city councilwoman about transportation and infrastructure in the stimulus bill during a town hall forum in Ft. Myers, Florida, President Obama said that the days of just building sprawl are over.

Want to add your two cents’ worth to the incoming Obama administration’s call for New Deal-type investments in the US? You can help ensure a better future — and a greener one at that — by endorsing the Post Carbon Institute’s new proposal: “The Real New Deal: Energy Scarcity and the Path to Energy, Economic and Environmental Recovery.”

Written by Post Carbon Instituters Richard Heinberg, Asher Miller, Daniel Lerch and Andrew Calvo, “The Real New Deal” calls on President-elect Barack Obama to completely redesign our economy and society to wean it from its dependence on cheap (and soon-to-be not-so-cheap) fossil fuels.

“Our 21st century nation’s dependence on 20th century fossil fuels is the root of the economic and environmental threats we face,” the report’s executive summary states. “A coordinated, comprehensive transition to an economy that is no longer dependent on hydrocarbon fuels and no longer emits climate-changing levels of carbon — a Real New Deal for a post-carbon world — will be the Obama Administration’s greatest opportunity to lead the nation on a path toward economic, energy and environmental recovery.”

A new federal/state clean energy partnership will result in the creation of green collar jobs and clean energy infrastructure in America, according to Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA), a national nonprofit organization that works with clean energy funds and state agencies to expand the nation’s clean energy infrastructure and advance markets for clean energy technologies.

I must admit that I was (and still am) a bit nervous about the Obama presidency due to age and experience, but today I discovered something that gives me renewed hope for the future. A new page has been launched on the Change.gov site called Open Government where the American people can ask questions and vote for their stance on all issues, including Energy and Environment.

President-elect Barack Obama will soon announce current head of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Steven Chu as his Secretary of Energy. Filling the slot for EPA Administrator will be Lisa Jackson, Carol Browner will serve as Obama’s “climate czar” - much better termed by the job’s official title of Energy and Climate Coordinator, and Nancy Sutley will head the White House Council on Environmental Quality.