Green Options

Governor Schwarzenegger just gave solar power a boost in California, especially for relatively small-scale solar generators.

Taking notes from Europe, perhaps, Schwarzenegger signed legislation for a “feed-in tariff” earlier this week that requires Calfornia utilities buy solar power from relatively small generators and at higher than market-value prices.

Shortly after winning approval from the California State Senate, a controversial deal that would have allowed the first new offshore oil leases in California state waters in forty years, was rejected by the California State Assembly by a vote of 43-30.

The same state budget crisis that could shutter 220 of California’s state parks and beaches, may also open the door for the first new offshore oil leases in state waters in forty years.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has owned a Tesla Roadster for almost a year now, and while he has publicly praised the electric car manufacturer’s work, he’s not a fan of the car itself and has been looking to get his money back.

The news, disclosed by the tech gossip blog Gawker, seems to have been kept under wraps by both the governor and Tesla Motors. However, it’s unclear what exactly is delaying the transaction from happening.

To combat California’s third consecutive year of drought, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today declared a state of emergency and ordered immediate action to manage the crisis. But the governor fell short of instituting mandatory water rationing - at least for now.

Schwarzenegger asked President-Elect Obama to waive the National Environmental Policy Act requirements to help jump start the Nation’s flailing economy. He claims this could create 800,000 jobs for the Golden State alone.

If you’ve ever flown into LAX on a clear day, you have seen the miles of industrial buildings that stretch out into the desert. Edison International has seen it too, and has taken advantage of one of those empty rooftops to install the largest solar panel installation in the state.

Mounted on the roof of a distribution center owned by Prologis in Fontana, 50 miles east of LA, the 600,000 square feet of panels will produce about 2 megawatts, enough electricity to power up to 1,300 homes. The thin-film panels were installed by First Solar. Even better, this is only the first of about 150 similar projects planned for factory and warehouse roofs in SoCal.

Bay Area leaders are hoping that a combo of public and private investments can turn the region into The Electric Vehicle Capital of the U.S., by building out a $1-billion electric vehicle infrastructure. The group involves Silicon Valley’s Better Place and a group of wide-eyed politicians: California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the mayors of San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland.

Since it was announced last week that a deal had been reached for the probable removal of four dams on the Klamath River, I’ve been ecstatic.

On Tuesday, more than 600 environmental officials and activists, along with five U.S. governors and regional politicians from local and foreign regional entities gathered in Beverly Hills for a two-day Global Climate Summit, hosted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In an executive order signed on Monday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger committed to getting a third of California’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020.