The creation of a Green Bank will encourage a long overdue integrated and strategic approach to clean-energy innovation, efficiency, and deployment in the United States. In combination with Senate action on clean energy—legislation that provides incentives for the research, development, and deployment of clean-energy technologies, and a market-based pollution-reduction program that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and reinforces a predictable price signal on carbon—the Green Bank will open credit markets, motivate private business to invest again, and create good, clean-energy jobs here at home.
New figures released recently show that the number of companies and other organizations publicly disclosing their performance against a range of key sustainability indicators has risen markedly over the last year. The Global Reporting Initiative is now tracking of over 1000 organizations worldwide who issued sustainability reports based on the GRI G3 Guidelines in 2008 – the highest number ever recorded. The figure represents an increase of 46 per cent on the 2007 figure of 685.
The United States has the potential to save more than $1.2 trillion in energy costs and cut consumption by 23 percent by 2020, according to a report released last week by global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The comprehensive energy-efficiency strategy cited in the report removes approximately 1.1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually — the equivalent of taking the entire U.S. fleet of light trucks and passenger vehicles off the roads. It also could produce savings that exceed California’s total annual energy consumption.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recently announced their list of the greenest cities in the United States and have released their findings on a new web site, called Smarter Cities. The survey includes all cities in the United States with populations larger than 50,000. Smarter Cities is considered to be one of the nation’s most comprehensive and robust database of U.S. urban progress toward sustainability. Seattle ranked number one and San Francisco ranked number 2 among the 67 large cities that were evaluated. Madison, Wisconsin placed firstand Santa Rosa, California came in second among the 176 medium cities that were surveyed. Among the 402 cities that were evaluated, Bellingham, Washington came in first place and Mountain View, California came in second.
Greenopia recently released a comprehensive ranking of 50 governors in the US and compared their policies, transparency, and interest group ratings to determine which governors were eco-leaders and reveals which state governments are most dedicated to preserving the environment. Topping the list is Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado followed closely by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California.
The first wave of green IT solutions failed to make sustainability benefits tangible according to a new study conducted on the sector by the independent research firm Verdantix. However, innovative IT sustainability solutions just released into the market or on the horizon for 2010 – will quickly demonstrate the tech sector’s role in supporting corporate sustainability strategies.
The Princeton Review, today released its second annual Green Ratings of colleges. In this measure of how environmentally friendly the institutions are on a scale of 60 to 99, the company tallied its Green Ratings for 697 institutions based on data it collected from the colleges in 2008-09 concerning their environmentally related policies, practices, and academic offerings. The Princeton Review also named 15 colleges to its “2010 Green Rating Honor Roll” – a list that salutes the institutions that received the highest possible score – 99 – in this year’s rating tallies.
A new MIT Energy Initiative report outlines clear steps the nation must take to develop cost-effective options for cutting carbon emissions at existing coal-fired power plants. According to the report, there is “no credible pathway” toward stringent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide without addressing coal-fired plants, according to the report released Friday at a press conference here. The recommend that any proposal must pass the “China test,” meaning its cost must be low enough “that China and other emerging economies can afford to implement it. The report reinforces the need to quickly start a cap-and-trade program; concludes retrofit technology is feasible but not enough is being done to implement it on a large scale; and provides action steps for policy makers.
In a presentation before national policymakers and analysts recently, leading clean energy venture capitalists, academics and CEOs unveiled the “Gigaton Throwdown,” an assessment of the nation’s clean energy potential that identifies seven industries capable of creating 5 million clean energy jobs and reducing CO2 emissions by 5-7 gigatons by 2020. The report, a collaborative effort between leading researchers at UC Berkeley, MIT, University of Michigan, Stanford, and Drexel University, and clean tech leaders, challenges Washington policymakers to remove obstacles that keep billions of capital investment dollars sitting on the sidelines.
