Green Education Prospectus
Green Job Growth
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009, based on the National Establishment Time Series Database; analysis by Pew Center on the States and Collaborative Economics.
Green Job Distribution
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009, based on the National Establishment Time Series Database; analysis by Pew Center on the States and Collaborative Economics.
Author Archives: michellelynn
Air Pollution Impacts the World – But Help is on the Way!
Presently industry officials are adamant on giving power companies some leniency and flexibility, because of the number of existing air regulations and more that are to come. The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) which comprises of a membership of all investor owned utilities and includes Duke and FPL group, were pushing for a climate bill that was released in May.
The climate bill released by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) concerns the power sector, major manufacturers and transportation. If Obama and Reid are successful in their plan to focus only on power plants then the power companies and EEI need leniency or some relaxation of the regulation. Both parties to the meeting are close mouthed and refused to divulge any details.
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Disagreement over Pollution affects Climate talks
Climate change legislation in the Senate may be dependent upon the secret meetings that have been going on between a select group of environmentalists and a number of electric utility executives. Chris Miller the top energy executive for Majority Leader Harry Reid initiated the meeting, with the hope of resolving more then a decade of dispute on Clean Air Act regulations. Another aim of the meeting was to cut down and limit greenhouse gas emissions.
From reliable sources, both groups are adamant and not budging an inch. The power companies are insisting on relief from air pollution rules, and want special dispensation applicable only to their industry.A failure to reach a compromise among the major players may cause Reid to eliminate the greenhouse limits altogether from the bill which is being submitted in less then two weeks. On Monday night, several prominent people were present at the Caucus Room restaurant to discuss key issues, from the allocation of valuable emission allocations in a utility-only climate bill to not using aging coal fired power plants anymore. Talks were not fruitful over the air pollution regulations. Continue reading
China greener and cleaner than the U.S.?
The U.N. Environment Program and Renewable Energy Policy Network (21st century) has disclosed in recently released reports that even though there was a financial recession in 2009, investments in clean renewable energy actually increased worldwide. The private and public sector contributed $162 billion for clean energy investments. It was noted that polices regarding a green economy with renewable energy and energy efficient businesses also increased.
By early 2010, more then 100 countries implemented policies related to renewable energy and energy efficiency. 38 developing countries had policy goals and 42 developing countries had a policy in place to promote renewable energy. Some did well, others failed. Continue reading
Posted in Green, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Sustainable Living, Wind Energy
Tagged biofuel investment, china, clean energy, cleantech, electric vehicles, energy efficiency, environment, global report, green, renewable energy, report, solar photovoltaic, u.s, unep, united nations environment program
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Leading companies look to Climate Bill for green job stimulus
NextEra Energy, Levi Strauss & Co., Tetra Pak Inc & Diversy again, make a call for the Climate Bill. As the senate begins its session on clean energy legislation, the country’s businesses are again asking for a limit on fossil fuel pollution. They say such a policy is crucial for creation of job opportunities and also for the provision of regulatory certainty, that businesses require for planning and investing in the long term. The CEO of NextEra Energy (parent company of Florida power and light), Lew Hay said the U.S is still in dire need of a long term national strategy despite years of debates and half measures. He said as a result the country lags behind other countries in construction and exportation of the clean energy economy of the future. He further said if the country is going to continue leading, there is a need for a new approach. The fist and crucial step of the American Power Act is to determine a price on carbon emissions. Continue reading
California versus Fannie and Freddie over clean energy stimulus
Fannie Mae ad Freddie Mac, mortgage finance companies have been taken to court by the California attorney general’s office. The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, because they have disrupted a popular green financing program. This finance program permits homeowners to pay for energy efficiency improvements to their house, through a surcharge on their property.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency which supervises Fannie and Freddie, issued guidelines on Monday. These guidelines given to lenders limited a homeowner’s ability to take part in the finance program called PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy). From the stimulus funding support from the Obama Government, $159 million has been utilized by twenty two states that have authorized the programs. A lien is put on the home, when the city or state spends on energy efficiency upgrades through the program. The lien similar to other property tax assessments becomes more important then the home loan if the homeowner defaults. Continue reading
Posted in Green, Green Collar, Property Assessed Clean Energy, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Living
Tagged california, energy efficiency, environment, fannie may, freddie and fannie, freddie mac, green, homeowners, housing agency, jerry brown, jobs, lawsuit, lien, mortgage, pace program, property assessed clean energy, sustainable living
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Oil bad guy goes eco friendly
On Tuesday, J.R Ewing will be on the small screen and the regulars at Cattleman’s Club will do a quick take when they hear what he is going to say. Larry Hagman who played J.R Ewing, a conniving Texas oilman on the popular TV show ‘Dallas’ is going to repeat his role as J.R. This advertising campaign is for the promotion of solar energy and a German photovoltaic module maker, SolarWorld. The TV commercial that will be shown on Tuesday at the Intersolar conference in San Francisco, is about giving up dirty oil for clean solar energy.
The ad shows Hagman wearing a 10 gallon hat as he goes outside in the sun and then looks at a solar array on the roof of the house. He then says though he quit oil, he’s still in the energy business which is a smarter choice. In his trademark J.R laugh, he says shine baby shine. Continue reading
Posted in Green, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy
Tagged environment, green, jr ewing, larry hagman, Solar Electric Light Fund, solar energy, solar panels, solarworld, tv ad, white collar
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A Grant of $5.9 million has been awarded to three Ohio energy research projects by the U.S Dept of Energy (DOE)
Because of their endeavors in research and creation of transformational changes in new energy technologies, three Ohio businesses have been conferred a grant of $5.9 million by the department of energy. Steven Chu, the Energy secretary said during a conference call on Monday, the Advanced Materials Group (ADMA) in Hudosn, Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland will be among 43 national projects that will get funding.
He further declared that the funding is a part of the $92 million fund backed by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E). ADMA got a grant of $3.2 million for the creation of a new dehumidification method that will increase efficiency of cooling units. Case Western received $2.2 million for its research in hybrid electric vehicles. Battelle was granted more than $400,000 for its experiments with cooling technology and achieving 50% increase in air conditioning energy efficiency. Continue reading
Posted in Green, Green Collar, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy
Tagged advanced research projects agency for energy, ARPA-E, carbon pollution, clean energy, eco friendly, energy, energy research projects, environment, green, green energy projects, increase efficiency, jobs, ohio, recovery act, white collar
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DOE awards $18.5 million to New England energy projects
The DOE announced on Monday that through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), New England energy projects will get $18.5 million funding. Some of the awards include $4.4 million for a power electronics project by MIT, $2.2 million for an energy storage project by Beacon Power Corp based in Tyngsboro and three other projects by United Technologies Research Center located in East Hartford, Conn totaling nearly $9 million.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the source of the funding and is worth nearly $92 million nationwide. In April, Massachusetts universities and companies got $22.1 million from the second round of energy research funding from ARPA-E. This is the third and last round of ARPA-E grants Recovery Act funding, which has come to a final total of $349 million in funding. In this round the New England projects that are funded are: Continue reading
The U.S Dept of Energy grants $1.8 billion for the creation of clean energy jobs
The Energy Department has granted $1.8 billion to Abengoa Solar and Abound Solar Manufacturing, to aid them in the construction new solar plants. This grant is a part of the Government’s policy to start a sustainable environment and also for the creation of more job opportunities for the American people. The grant is a part of the $862 billion stimulus bill set aside for environmental protection, creation of sustainable job opportunities and ending the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
Abengoa Solar, based in Arizona will build one of the world’s largest solar plants. It is reckoned that this project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions yearly by 475,000 tons which is equivalent to carbon dioxide emitted by 90,000 vehicles annually. Construction is expected to start by autumn and begin operations by mid 2013. Continue reading
Sustainable living and our car parts, we should have a close look at our car tires
When you think of sustainable living, first thing that you associate it with, is the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from your car. Automatically you tend to focus on the fuel system of the car. Other than choosing an electric vehicle over gas to make your car eco friendly there are many other ways to reduce your carbon footprint which are not related to car’s fuel source.
One such obvious and overlooked example concerns making gas powered cars more sustainable by making road trips less harmful to the environment. Before taking a road trip, you should make sure your tires are fully inflated to increase fuel efficiently. According to fueleconomy.gov, properly inflating your tires to their proper pressure can improve mileage by about 3.3%. Having under-inflated can reduce mileage by 0.4 percent for every one PSI drop in pressure of all four tires. Continue reading
Posted in Car, Green, Sustainable Living
Tagged car, eco friendly, eco friendly tire, efficient, environment, green, green car, green environment, green tire, sustainable living
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