Archive for growth in green economy
California looks to pass bill that would increase renewable energy to 33%
Posted by: | CommentsAn encouraging piece of news this week has emerged from Sacramento, CA but not for the first time it leaves me scratching my head as to how state policies are often far more in keeping with what I feel needs to be done than national policies. On the other hand the fact that California is raising the bar when it comes to renewable energy may perhaps encourage other states to follow suit when they see it’s possible.
The state Senate in Sacramento have acted more aggressively than predicted by requiring California utility companies to ramp up their use of renewable energy; whether it be via wind, hydro, solar or other sources with the goal of reaching one third of all energy supplied by the year 2020. I’m hoping that other legislatures both on a state-by-state or an international basis will follow the lead of Denmark (who are aiming for 100 percent renewable energy use by the year 2050 read more about that here at energymap.dk) or examples such as California in the very near future. Green power, despite providing obvious environmental benefits, will only grow more rapidly with the support of governments at either national or regional levels. California currently already requires that the state’s utility companies must source 20 percent of their power from renewable energy supplies, the increase to a third is seen as a benefit to both green concerns and the economy of the state which continues to struggle forward post recession. If approved it will make the state the leader in commitment to renewable sources of energy. The bill passed easily in the house although opposition was heard stating that increased dependence on green energy will only drive
up the price of utilities. As I’ve written before that may be true in the short term but logic suggests changing the infrastructure now will always provide longer-term fiscal benefits than waiting for the need to grow even greater. Opponents to greener energy warned that a significant spike in energy costs would slow the economy and drive manufacturing jobs out of the state. Supporters of the bill argued that the initial campaign to reach 20 percent renewable energy was filled with warnings that energy costs would spike by as much as 15% although that has not come to pass.
Naturally the transition will take significant investment and time with the anticipated investment needed reaching $115 billion which in turn would generate some 100,000 to 200,000 new jobs in the state. When I was researching this story I realised that the cost estimates were comparable to the long-term predictions earmarked to make Denmark operate 100% on renewable energy but then accepted the fact that California’s population is over 37,000,000 compared with Denmark’s 5,600,000. I hope that both reach the goals being laid out for the conversion to greener energy.
Tags: cost of green energy, energymap.dk, green economy, green energy, growth in green economy, growth of jobs green energy, hyrdo power, planet forward, renewable energy, renewable energy bill california, renewable energy bill denmark, renewable energy news, solar power, sustainable choicesGreen Gazette (Issue 26) Danish Dilemmas, Eco Books, Green Job Growth
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome back to the Green Gazette at Planet Forward. I hope your weekend is going well and you’re still following events at the Copenhagen Climate Summit as it enters its seventh day. As predictable as it was annoying; a fringe element made sure that the demonstration today which attracted between 25-60,000 people (depending on which source you believe) resulted in arrests for the black flag brigade who somehow think smashing windows in Copenhagen will somehow lead to slower deforestation in Brazil. The result is that the gains made by 99% of the attendees will be offset by the boorish behaviour of a tiny minority. I’ve always maintained that they should be allowed their own separate demonstration in a rock quarry the day after the civil protests are complete. Violence only creates the chance for the the negatives to say that you’re dealing with radicals, which is a shame as I feel what is really radical is doing nothing and taking a wait and see approach. Needless to say when the conference is over I’ll do some research of the outcome and ideally share mostly good news with you!
Like her or not you have to accept that Martha Stewart has an ability to greatly influence the shopping public. With that in mind it is worth announcing that Home Depot will have exclusive license (beginning in January 2010) to the new Martha Stewart Green line of household products. The eco-friendly product line, consists of 10 products for laundry, kitchen, bath and household cleaning, is being developed and marketing by the Hain Celestial Group, Inc. I’m confident it will be a success and to that end the reduction in traditional harmful cleaning products is a positive to be applauded. If you don’t want to tackle the snow to visit a Home Depot don’t forget we also offer the MIY Green Home Cleaning Kit which offers affordability and versatile applications. Read more about this on our site.
Holiday gift ideas are always useful and in this Ipod/Wii age I often wonder if parents are still remembering to purchase buy their children books to encourage reading? We have a Christmas budget rule in our house that at least a certain percentage of all gift budgets should be spent on books as we think every effort to help a child become an avid reader will only help them in later years. We also try and set aside a few hours each weekend when the kids are encouraged to relax with a book and just get lost in the stories. It’s promising to see that childrens books are developing a strong stable of green themed books to encourage children to become informed about environmental issues. Eco-issues are almost certainly going to be amongst the largest of global concerns for our current generation of children as they grow up and I think nurturing an inherent interest many kids display about animals and nature is a natural progression. This article in the L.A. Times reviews some of the best titles that you might want to consider putting under the tree along with the video games and hot wheels cars.
Also from the L.A. times this story reveals how green jobs are bucking the trend in a difficult labour market and are in growth as predicted. 
Throughout the US election last year there was much talk about how making the economy more green would create jobs and some stimulus within the economy and employment market. Twelve months later it is encouraging to read that the theory is becoming an actuality in California. As you read the article you’ll see that the trend hardly outweighs the overall difficult job market but if you are in a position to retrain or at the beginning of your higher education it provides some strong evidence that making a step toward a growth industry such as alternate energy or home/business retrofitting would be a wise move.
