Top 25 Least Wasteful U.S. Cities
Nalgene, the water bottle company, conducted a study of people in America’s 25 largest cities to determine which cities were least wasteful. San Fransisco came out on top and Altanta ended up on the bottom.
New York Governor Announces High Speed Rail Plan
Gov. David Paterson announced a new $10.7 billion state rail improvement plan that calls for improving service between New York City and Niagara Falls and increasing freight rail usage by 25 percent. Under the proposed plan the speed of intercity passenger rail service from Albany to Niagara Falls would be increased to 110 mph by adding a third track to the existing rail corridor. Previous studies have estimated that new tracks allowing speeds of up to 110 mph could bring the trip time under 4 hours a significant improvement over the more than 5 and a half hours the trip currently takes.
Green Grid Bill Introduced in Senate
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has introduced legislation to support president Obama’s vision of a green grid. The Clean Renewable Energy and Economic Development Act will promote investments in transmission to facilitate access to renewable power, and also establish a streamlined planning and siting process for transmission lines. This legislation will make it easier for renewable energy suppliers to deliver clean energy from the often remote areas where it is harnessed to major population centers across the country.
Schwarzenegger Launches California Green Corps
California’s Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last week that the state was creating a California Green Corps that will work to protect the state’s ecology, and provide valuable experience and training to the young people who go through the program, to help them prepare for employment in the emerging green economy. The program will provide at least 1,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 24 with jobs and training. The governor stressed that the program is targeted toward youth considered “at-risk” of failing academically, foundering in the workplace or getting into trouble with the law, and will consist of a minimum of 10 regional Green Corps throughout California.
The UN’s Five Sectors Key to Sustainable Recovery and The Global Green New Deal
The United Nations has issued a Global Green New Deal Policy Brief by economists in the run of the G20 meeting of world leaders in London in early April. Among the findings of the brief is the assertion that investing one per cent of global GDP, or around $750 billion, into five key sectors could be the key to a Global Green New Deal.
Which Country Has The Greenest Stimulus Package? Updated June 1, 2009
The US is not the only country looking to renewable energy as a way to boost its economy by providing opportunities for increased investment, building low carbon efficiency into the infrastructure and creating millions of jobs. Australia, The European Union, South Korea, China, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, France and the United Kingdom
New Report Shows That California Leads in Green Jobs, Investments and Innovation
The 2009 Green Innovation Index, which was released last week, showed that in spite of the global financial crisis, that total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) produced per unit of energy (energy productivity) is 68 percent higher in California than the rest of the nation. This generates billions for the economy. Since 2005 green jobs in California have grown at a rate ten times faster than total job growth. Green tech venture capital investment nearly doubled in one year, hitting an all-time high of $3.3 billion in 2008, capturing 57 percent of the national total.
Dell Powers Oklahoma City Campus with 100 Percent Green Energy
Dell recently made the announcement that it is partnering with Oklahoma Gas and Electric to powers its 240,000 square-foot Oklahoma City campus with 100-percent wind energy as part of its plan to reduce its worldwide facilities’ greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2015. The company expects to to avoid nearly 5,100 tons of CO2 emissions per year at the Oklahoma facility.
