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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is about 15 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable MP3 player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer’s media player each week. In this week’s show… White House Watch — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar cancels contested drilling leases granted under the Bush administration in Utah. Energy Secretary Steven Chu warns that California is in peril from Climate Change. Joe Biden heads up a new jobs task force. And a New York Times editorial suggests that the administration return to the Supreme Court’s 2007 ruling on the Clean Air Act. Hybrid power plants reduce fossil fuel usage by introducing concentrating solar power. FPL is working on one, and so is Israeli startup Aora. News from around the states: Wind power transmission in Texas; legislative initiatives in Michigan and Georgia. Plus, as always, a quick review of top cleantech stories from the week. ++++ The music in today’s program is from the CD Live Steamboat Bill Jr by Athens, GA-based experimental […]
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By Bart King I write in an office behind my house, and the comings and goings of my two cats are for the most part the only changes in my work environment. Thus, I was startled when a stranger knocked on my door a few weeks ago. It was a technician who had come to install a demand response device on my home air conditioner. About a month earlier, I signed up for Georgia Power’s Power Credit program, which gave me a $20 credit on my electric bill in exchange for the right to control my home’s air conditioner on the hottest days of the summer. So, next August, when the mercury is pushing into the high 90s, Georgia Power will remotely activate a load-control switch, and instead of running for 15-minute “on” cycles, the compressor will only run for 5 minutes at a time. The information pamphlet says my house may be a couple degrees warmer on the handful of days the switch is used, and I’ll get an additional $2 for my trouble each time. If enough people sign up for the program the utility can control the peak demand for electricity on the hottest days, reducing the […]
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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is about 15 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable MP3 player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer’s media player each week. In this week’s show… White House Watch — the first of what will hopefully be many segments on the Obama administration’s environmental actions, including news about the economic stimulus bill, the California EPA waiver and the appointment of a lead climate change negotiator. And update on the wind power industry’s record-breaking year that ground to a halt. And related solar news. Three reports: The long-term effects of climate change; a cost analysis of combating climate change; and decreasing public concern about climate change. Information about the "Running On Empty" exhibit curated by Bart King at the Athens Institute for Contemporary Art. Plus, as always, a quick review of top cleantech stories from the week. ++++ The music in today’s program is from the CD Live From the Make Believe by Athens, GA-based instrumental due Dromedary.
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DOE, USDA Offer $25 Million for Biomass Research Three More Airlines Complete Biofuel Test Flights DOE, GM Unveil 17 EcoCAR Challenge Designs; They All Plug In GM Tells Cities How to Prepare for Plug-Ins Clean Diesels Still Fall Short of Top-12 List of Green Vehicles Educational Site Launched for Progressive Automotive X Prize U.S. Petroleum Demand Dropped 6% in 2008 DOE and USDA Offer $25 Million for Biomass Research DOE and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week that they will invest up to $25 million over the next four years, subject to annual appropriations, for the research and development of processes that produce biofuels, bioenergy, and high-value biobased products. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) covers three technical areas: biomass feedstocks development; cellulosic biofuels and biobased products; and biofuels development analysis, including strategic guidance, analyses of the energy and environmental impact of biofuels production, and an assessment of the potential for biomass feedstock production on federal lands. The FOA is part of the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI), a joint effort between DOE and the USDA to accelerate research and development in bioenergy research and biobased products. It is open to higher education institutions, national laboratories, federal […]
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The Obama Administration has received policy recommendations from just about every trade association that represents green interests. Since they usually focus on energy efficiency, renewables and green buildings, here’s what Green America (formerly Coop America) suggests, which also includes support for green business in general. Read about what some of our thought leaders suggest for Obama’s first 100 days at Environment 360. Check out the Presidential Climate Action Project and the Apollo Economic Recovery Act. If you haven’t seen the details of The White House Green Energy Agenda, here it is. It’s posted on the White House Website. We’re also including details of Obama’s Green Stimulus Plan. Green America met with the Obama Transition Team, along with several of its members, including Priya Haji, World of Good CEO, Jeffery Hollander, Seventh Generation CEO, Seth Goldman, Honest Tea, Amy Domini, Domini Social Investments, Tim Freundlich, Calvert Foundation, and Don Shaffer, RSF Social Finance. They were impressed with the Transition Team members’ deep listening and smart questions about the priorities we see for a sustainable economy. All of the following priorities resonated with the members of the Transition Team, who asked for follow-up details. 1. Green energy and green jobs: Besides Obama’s […]
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By Bart King For the last six months I’ve been working as a guest curator at a local non-profit art gallery, preparing an exhibit called “Running on Empty: the fossil fuel addiction.” The exhibit opens to the public Saturday night, and earlier this week I was interviewed by a reporter who asked me, “What do you hope to gain from the exhibit?” I gave a truthful, if somewhat boring answer about wanting to raise awareness of decreasing oil supplies and the environmental consequences of falling back on coal and natural gas reserves instead of aggressively developing renewable energy and efficiency measures. I explained that I hoped the paintings, photographs, prints and other pieces of art would encourage community members to reduce their energy consumption and to insist that our political and business leaders take the difficult steps to secure a low-carbon future. I explained to her that I believe burning the lights in the gallery (newly installed CFLs), shipping of art work and drawing a parking lot full of cars is worth the carbon emissions, if the message hits home with a group of people and starts a ripple effect. Unless the vast majority of the public and politicians are […]
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President Obama Issues Orders on Fuel Economy & GHG Regulations 75 Nations Join New International Renewable Energy Agency New American Home Demonstrates Energy-Saving Technologies Surging Utility Investment in Smart Grid Technologies Energy Star Labels for Energy-Wasting Set-Top Boxes Wind Power Provided the Majority of Added Capacity in 2007 President Obama Issues Orders on Fuel Economy & GHG Regulations President Barack Obama issued a pair of memoranda on Monday to address the fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions of our nation’s automobiles. The president directed the Secretary of Transportation to publish higher fuel economy standards for model year 2011 cars and light trucks by the end of March and to reevaluate the proposed standards for future model years. Automakers will generally begin selling model year 2011 vehicles in the fall of 2010. President Obama also directed the U.S. EPA to revisit the California waiver request that would allow that state to implement its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rules for vehicles. The federal Clean Air Act only allows California to set emission standards that deviate from federal rules, and any California standards require a waiver from the EPA. But once California enacts its own standards, the act allows other states to […]
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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is about 15 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable MP3 player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer’s media player each week. In this week’s show… A list of the Top 10 ‘Green’ Jobs for the next decade. An update on the two projects vying for the title of first offshore wind farm in the U.S.–Cape Wind of Massachusetts and the Deepwater project in Rhode Island. A breakdown of the funds for alternative energy and environmental projects in the proposed economic stimulus package. And Bart’s take on Obama’s inauguration speech. Plus, as always, a quick review of top cleantech stories from the week. ++++ The music in today’s program is from the CD Union Park and Magnolia Street by Athens, GA-based singer-songwriter Jason Beckham.
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By Bart King Let it be clear, when Barack Obama said in his inauguration speech: “We will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age,” he was talking about sustainability. When he pledged to work with poor nations “to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds,’ he was talking about sustainability. When he said, “Our economy is badly weakened” and “Our health care is too costly,” he was talking about a lack of sustainability. And of course, when he said, “We will harness the sun and the wind and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories,” that too, is sustainability. The Internet is littered with critical commentary claiming that sustainability is some vague term on equally poor footing as buzzwords like “green.” Yet, it is clearly definable as an attribute of human actions that promote economic, social and environmental health in the near and long terms. It requires the understanding that these three elements are interconnected and cannot be successfully manipulated as independent entities. The concept was born during the economic growth following World War II and developed in step […]
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President Obama Calls for Greater Use of Renewable Energy Bureau of Land Management to Establish Renewable Energy Offices USDA Guarantees $80 Million Loan for Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Offshore Wind Moves Ahead in Massachusetts and Rhode Island Northeast Greenhouse Gas Allowance Auction Raises $106.5M 2008 Among 10 Warmest Years on Record President Obama Calls for Greater Use of Renewable Energy President Barack Obama’s inaugural address called for the expanded use of renewable energy to meet the twin challenges of energy security and climate change. Noting that "each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet," President Obama looked to the near future, saying that as a nation, the United States will "harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories." Those were the first references ever to our nation’s energy use, to renewable resources, and to climate change in an inauguration speech of a U.S. president. President Obama later circled back to the subject of climate change, proclaiming that "with old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to … roll back the specter of a warming planet." See the inaugural addresses of […]
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