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Editorial: The End of Waste

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By Bart King News of a potential collapse in the U.S. recycling industry is beginning to spread. The industry has enjoyed record-setting growth in the last five years, driven by rising commodity prices for oil and metals, as well as increased demand for post-consumer materials in China, where rubber and paper are given second lives as shoe soles, shower mats and packaging for thousands of other products manufactured in the country. But as the effects of economic downturn have spread around the globe in recent months, demand for consumer goods has fallen and the bottom has dropped out of the market for oil and metals. As a result, the demand for recyclables is drying up. The New York Times reported last week that scrap cardboard, plastic and metal are piling up across the nation. Recycling contractors are warehousing these materials, because they are either unable to find buyers or they hope prices will soon rebound. Awareness is beginning to flow up the recycling stream to families and businesses who dutifully set their recycling bins curbside each week: recycling is driven by profit, not principle. And if municipalities begin directing cans and newspapers to the dump, I expect there will be […]

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The World of Green Economy Stimulus Packages

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The in-coming Obama Administration is hearing from just about everyone in our field on variations on the theme of a green infrastructure build-out. Everyone supports Obama’s plan to use the economic crisis to kick-start an energy-efficient, energy-independent infrastructure. Variations include banning new coal plants, creating strong incentives to trade in gas guzzlers for hybrids, and a "Clean Energy Corps," which would provide job training for people to transition into a variety of green industries. One way to fund this plan would be through the creation of a green National Infrastructure Bank, that would provide direct federal spending, tax credits, and financing to states, municipalities and the private sector. Deutsche Asset Management discusses the concept in its report, Investing in Climate Change 2009: Necessity and Opportunity in Turbulent Times. Alongside supportive policies, Deutsche sees the Bank as a way to fund commercialization and scaling of green technologies that are past the demonstration stage. The Bank would augment government infrastructure spending with private capital. Through public-private partnerships, it could tap into private capital by offering government-backed loans – in effect, provide preferential financing rates. Architecture 2030 says their 2030 Challenge Stimulus Plan creates at least 8.5 million new jobs and a $1.6 […]

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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup: December 17, 2008

California Approves Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Federal Regulators Approve an In-Stream Hydrokinetic Project Dow Corning to Invest Billions in Solar Materials Manufacturing U.S. Driving Decreases for the Twelfth Straight Month U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Increased by 1.4% in 2007 California Approves Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a plan last week to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The climate change "scoping plan" is a central requirement of AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which was signed into law in September of that year. The plan addresses roughly 85% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions with a cap-and-trade program, which will be developed in conjunction with the Western Climate Initiative (WCI). The WCI comprises seven Western states and four Canadian provinces that have committed to cap their emissions and create a regional carbon market. The plan also includes a variety of measures that will help that cap-and-trade program succeed, while also addressing emissions not included in the program. The CARB now faces the task of developing detailed strategies to implement all of the recommended measures that must be in place by 2012. Most of […]

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