Energy Issues Could Help Define the 2012 Republican Primary

Energy Issues Could Help Define the 2012 Republican Primary

Argues that energy and environmental issues, and the candidate stances on them, will play a large role in the 2012 presidential election. While president Obama’s position may be well known, for most Americans the platforms of the Republican candidates are just now coming into focus.

Why Does Energy Efficiency’s Promise Remain Unfulfilled?

Why Does Energy Efficiency’s Promise Remain Unfulfilled?

Among the many measures the world can take to wean itself off fossil fuels, few match the benefits of making homes, business, and cars more energy-efficient. But financial and psychological barriers have kept individuals, businesses, and governments from realizing efficiency’s great potential.

Local Green Jobs Roundup: Winsconsin, Iowa, Oregon, and Illinois

RecyGrow hopes to create 500 green jobs in WI. Culver Signs Wind Energy Bill to Bring 2,300 Green Jobs To Iowa. Oregon House Considers Green Jobs Legislation. Exelon and SunPower to Develop Nation’s Largest Urban Solar Power Plant Creating 200 Jobs in Chicago.

BIOFUEL UPDATE: Some Biofuels Worse Than Gas for Global Warming; Danforth Science Center Gets $15M in Stimulus for Biofuels; OriginOil Develops Better Way to Get Oil from Algae; FedEx: to Use 30% Biofuels by 2030

In this first post of the BIOFUEL UPDATE — a newly introduced feature of The Green Economy Post — I write about how so called first generation Biofuels such as Corn Ethanol that are derived from food crops or grown on land that otherwise would be used for food crops may be worse for global warming than burning gasoline is! This reconfirms in my mind the pressing need for the biofuel sector to move towards non-food biofuel crops that also are grown on marginal land; crops such as algae, switchgrass, jatropha etc. In other news the Danforth Science Center in Saint Ls. MO gets $15 million in federal funds. Fedex announces plans to get 30% of its fuel from second generation non-food crop biofuels by 2030. OriginOil has developed a simpler and more efficient way to extract oil from algae.

National ‘Green The City’ Initiative Announce by Black Mayors Group

The National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM) joined President Barack Obama’s national agenda to promote clean energy innovation and announced its “Green The City” Initiative on Earth Day. This initiative targets three primary areas: city conversion to clean energy vehicles, green-collar job creation and training, and the expansion of biomass energy production. This three-pronged strategy aims to reduce U.S. fossil fuel energy dependence, slow the pace of global climate change and establish a robust green economy in our cities. NCBM Mayors are aggressively moving to organize their communities to fully participate in the Green The City initiative.

Obama Brands Stimulus Projects with an Official Emblem

President Barack Obama unveiled a new emblem last week that will be used on projects funded by the economic stimulus package. Projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will bear a newly-designed emblem. “We’re also making it easier for Americans to see what projects are being funded with their money as part of our recovery, said President Obama.