Environmental, Business Leaders Support Call for 100% U.S. Green Grid by 2020

Green energy advocate Tom Weis is riding 2,500 miles from Colorado to Washington, DC on a human-powered, electric-assist "rocket trike," calling for a national goal of a 100% U.S. renewable electricity grid by 2020.

The ride and goal are backed by prominent environmental and business leaders demanding urgent action from Congress and the White House in response to a deteriorating global climate.

The ride began at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's wind technology center on Sunday, the 48th anniversary of a historic speech by President Kennedy calling on the U.S. to land a man on the Moon within a decade. "The urgency of our economic and planetary meltdown demands a modern-day green energy 'moon shot' for America," Weis said. "We need a call to action from our President today challenging America to once again do something great."

Over eight weeks, Weis plans to visit a dozen states to profile solar, wind, geothermal and efficiency solutions, as well as polluting energy problems like coal burning, nuclear power and mountaintop removal mining. A petition issuing the 100% by 2020 demand is posted at: www.ClimateCrisisSolutions.com.

Sponsor Lester Brown, President of Earth Policy Institute and author of Plan B 4.0, says the 100% by 2020 goal is "achievable," citing precedents for such rapid economic conversions. "During World War II, America mobilized its resources at a stunning pace, leading the Allied Forces to victory in three-and-a-half short years," he said. "We need a similar, American-led green energy mobilization today to save civilization."

Citing the job-producing benefits of renewable energy development, David Blittersdorf, CEO of AllEarth Renewables, Inc., another ride sponsor, said, "Our industry is uniquely poised to put Americans back to work greening the grid. It is time for renewable energy leaders to embrace this bold national goal."

Ride backer Dr. James Walker, past president of the American Wind Energy Association and vice chair of enXco, Inc., agreed: "The wind industry needs to support a crash program to responsibly deploy as much wind power as humanly possible between now and 2020." He cited the industry's creation of 85,000 jobs in the last five years, as well as its cost competitiveness with coal, as reasons to favor wind over polluting energy sources.

Phil Radford, Executive Director of Greenpeace, another sponsor, addressed the urgent need to end coal burning, saying, "Contrary to what the coal industry would have you believe, coal is anything but clean or cheap. Each year, more than 23,000 Americans die prematurely due to coal-fired power plant pollution. No one should have to die to keep the lights on."

"Congress and the President need to endorse this bold goal now," said author and supporter Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and the "world's best green journalist," as described by TIME magazine. "Fossil fuels are wrecking the planet and scientists are telling us we have very little time to act if we want to keep living on Earth."

Actor and activist supporter Ed Begley, Jr. added, "If China can produce 100 million electric bikes, America can produce a new fleet of green-grid electric cars and kick our addiction to oil."

"Nobody can tell me America can't do this," Weis concluded. "We have a long history of fresh, entrepreneurial thinking that uniquely suits us for this historic task. It is time for us to once again step up and help protect the world."  Source: Newswire







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E.P.A. Makes The Case For Affordable Climate Legislation

The United States Environment Protection Agency has confirmed that the proposed climate bill could help bring down global carbon emissions at safe levels by 2050 while being affordable for American households.

In an analysis, the agency concluded that the Senate bill sponsored by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman would cost households an average of $79 to $146 per year.

The bill, called the American Power Act unveiled in April, aims to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020 and by more than 80 percent by 2050.

The agency’s analysis of the Senate bill mirrors the price it gave to the House of Representatives’ version of the legislation passed in June 2009. The agency previously estimated that American Clean Energy Security Act is expected to cost $80 to $111 annually.

In addition, the analysis also showed that prices for carbon permits in the cap-and-trade market outlined in the Kerry-Lieberman bill should hit $16 per metric ton to $17 per metric ton in 2013 and $23 per metric ton to $24 per metric ton in 2020.

These prices are within range of the bill's initial floor and ceiling prices of $12 and $25 respectively.

Possible scenarios

The E.P.A. gave several scenarios to measure the global impact of passing the climate bill in reducing emissions. One scenario assumes concerted global action, where the country follows the carbon reduction plans laid out in the Kerry-Lieberman bill at the same time as developing countries try to meet their own targets.

Developing countries, along with the United States, are also expected to follow the pledges they made during the G-8 meeting in July 2009 involving emission cuts of 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. In addition, the scenario assumes that these countries have already adopted a policy that caps emissions beginning in 2025 based on 2015 levels and reduces emissions to 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.

The agency estimates that there is a 75 percent chance of keeping global temperatures under 2°C under this scenario, which is in line with the temperature threshold by 2050 established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The E.P.A. also presented a more modest scenario where developing countries’ have not started any climate policy to curb down emission until 2050. Despite this, the agency forecasted that there is still a 50 percent chance of holding global temperatures under 3°C and an 11 percent chance of holding temperatures below 2°C.   Story Via 




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Solar Day 2010

Given the public outrage over the largest oil spill in U.S. history, public awareness of solar energy has grown through recent speeches by President Obama about solar energy and clean energy.

This year’s annual day of recognition for the growth of clean, solar energy in the U.S. is SolarDay 2010 – Saturday, June 19. The premise of SolarDay is simple: a national day of recognition for solar energy, energy independence and protection of the planet.

 

I have to say, I didn’t know there was a “SolarDay” until recently, but I guess that is partly because it wasn’t founded until 2009.  Nonetheless, it has already grown into a worldwide event.
SolarDay is celebrated on a weekend day before the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year). which as indicated above is this Saturday, June 19th.

Last year, more than 700 media stories were written about SolarDay. I imagine there will be more than that this year.
As you might expect, SolarDay is about promoting solar energy and energy independence. But it goes beyond that in that it promotes clean, green energy in general and sustainable lifestyles as well.

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