Bike to Berlin Brothel, Get a Discount

What’s more annoying than driving down to your local brothel only to find that there’s no parking available? It’s enough to make you stay home – and that’s exactly why Berlin’s Maison d’Envie, or House of Desire, is now offering discounts to clients who arrive on bicycles.

Thomas Goetz, the brothel’s owner, hopes that the discounts will stimulate sales and help the environment at the same time. From New York Daily News:

The bordellos in the capital of Germany, where prostitution is legal, have seen business suffer with the global financial crisis. Patrons have become more frugal, and there are fewer potential customers coming to the city for business trips and conferences.

But Maison d’Envie has seen its business begin to return since it began offering the euro5 ($7.50) discount in July, Goetz said.

To qualify, customers must show the receptionist either a bicycle padlock key or proof they used public transit to get to the neighborhood. That knocks the price for 45 minutes in a room, for example, to euro65 from euro70.

Those who arrive on foot, however, are out of luck.

“We haven’t found a way for people to prove they have walked here,” Goetz explained.

It’s a win-win: get double the exercise, see Berlin up close and personal, and get a discount on a prostitute. Who can argue with that? Even Berlin locals who don’t frequent brothels are cool with it, since it cuts congestion and pollution in this busy urban capital.

But why stop at brothels? This concept could be used by practically any kind of business and it’s a trend that we’d like to see remain long after the economy has picked back up again.

Link [New York Daily News]
Photo credit: Flickr user jesse.millan

Hot Spots for Green Jobs in Solar, Biofuels & More

Amid all the hubbub over Van Jones’ resignation and Obama’s focus on other issues, talk of green collar jobs in America has slowed down somewhat – but that doesn’t mean that those jobs aren’t out there. The clean-tech sector remains a bright spot in a dull economy, and a report released by Clean Edge research on Thursday hints at where those jobs are.

From CNET:

Based on the number of job postings and placements, and public and private investment, the report found the solar industry to be the leading clean-tech sector, followed by biofuels and biomaterials, conservation and efficiency, smart grids, and wind power.

For those willing to move for a job, the report lists the 15 areas in the U.S. where people are likely to find the most clean-tech job activity, as well as a separate list for global clean-tech hotspots.

Here’s the breakdown:

1. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
2. Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County
3. New York-northern New Jersey-Long Island (N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa.)
4. Boston-Worcester-Lawrence-Lowell-Brockton (Mass., N.H.)
5. Washington, D.C.-Baltimore (Md., Va., W.V.)

See the rest of the list – which includes Denver, Seattle, Houston and Detroit – over at CNET.

The report, “Clean Tech Job Trends 2009” (PDF) also includes tons of other info for clean-tech job hunters including schools that offer green career training, websites where you can find green job listings and a list of the best green-tech blogs, so it’s definitely worth a read.

Link [CNET]
Photo credit: Oregon DOT

Bottom of the Barrel: Newsweek’s Least Green Companies

Which of the S&P 500 companies are the least environmentally friendly? Newsweek unveiled its Green Rankings last week and while there has been a lot of discussion about the top 5, there’s another story to be told in the bottom 5.

Unsurprisingly, nearly all of the bottom-ranking companies on the Newsweek list are in the energy industry. Here they are with their green scores (based on environmental impact, green policies and performance, and reputation):

Consol Energy – Basic Materials – Green Score: 28.65
ConAgra Foods – Food and Beverage – Green Score: 27.49
Allegheny Energy – Utilities – Green Score: 25.04
NRG Energy – Utilities – Green Score: 22.75
Peabody Energy – Basic Materials – Green Score: 1.00

Pretty big drop there for the bottom company, Peabody Energy (the world’s largest private-sector coal company). Peabody Energy comes in dead last thanks to its incredibly high toxic emissions and the negative impact that its product has on the environment.

This company is one of the biggest offenders in violating the Clean Water Act, injecting billions of gallons of coal slurry and sludge into the ground in the past 5 years. Pine Ridge, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy, reported to West Virginia officials that 93 percent of the waste it injected into the city of Charleston has illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic, lead, chromium, beryllium and nickel.

Green business expert Joel Makower has a great overview of how the companies were scored and, as he notes, the list isn’t perfect. Since it’s only a list of the S&P 500, far greener companies than the top 5, like Patagonia, are left out. However, it does bring together a lot of data in a way that’s efficient and easy to understand. If only they included a greenwashing factor – each company’s real efforts versus its claims about being green. Maybe next year.

Link [Newsweek] + [Joel Makower]
Photo credit: PeabodyEnergy.com

Green Businesses Get Anti-Greenwashing Packaging Guidelines

For every company that’s intentionally trying to manipulate consumers with vague or misleading green claims, there are many more businesses who are trying to do the right thing, but are sort of confused about what they should say. Enter the new guidelines to packaging sustainability claims developed by Greener Package, which should clarify some important points.

These anti-greenwashing guidelines will be used to review claims made by suppliers who submit their product data to the Greener Package Database.

From Earth 911:

“Consumer demand for sustainably produced products is a key driver in promoting progress at the manufacturing level,” said Victor Bell, EPI’s CEO, “Third-party validation is critical in combating greenwashing, which—if left unchecked—could erode consumer confidence and ultimately the public’s interest in buying sustainable products and packaging.”

The database offers companies that manufacture packaged goods a means to research and compare sustainable packaging materials, containers and suppliers. The data will also feed Walmart’s Packaging Scorecard system.

Submitting a company or material to the database utilizes a “middle ground” developed by Greener Package, where companies submit to a voluntary, third-party review.

“In effect, the reviewer serves as a neutral third party making a good-faith effort to review backup documentation from suppliers to compare to a common guideline in order to save the users of the database time from having to do the same for each listing each time they search,” according to Greener Package.

A service like this is invaluable, especially when fear of greenwashing accusations scares some businesses away from even trying to be greener in the first place. The cost for review will be between $110 and $330, well worth the investment to provide both businesses and consumers with some peace of mind.

Link [Earth 911]
Photo credit: Lunchbreath

Localwashing in Pictures at Grist

We’re always on the alert for ‘greenwashing’, but what about ‘localwashing’? It turns out, big corporations are just as eager to make money off your dedication to buying local as they are off what they see as “the green trend”. From Walmart to Citgo, huge companies are trying to lure our dollars out of our pockets using misleading and often downright deceptive ads claiming that they’re “local”.

Grist put together an amazing collection of the 12 of the most outrageous examples. Check out these three (images are at Grist):

Citgo: “Local. Loyal. Like it should be.” The crop of new billboards from the petroleum company owned by Hugo Chavez’s Venezuelan government makes sense only if the rather undemocratic president lives around the corner from you. Which he doesn’t.

Barnes & Noble: Maybe you’ve heard of this cute little bookstore around the corner. It’s got a DIY-looking video blog with the tagline, “All bookselling is local.” Except when it isn’t.

“Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, a U.S.-based subsidiary of European processed-food behemoth Unilever, has seen fit to subject Canada (Canada?) to an eat-local campaign,” reports Grist Food Editor Tom Philpott. He’s dumbfounded. Here are those locally sourced ingredients of which Hellmann’s is so proud:

WATER, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SOYBEAN OIL, VINEGAR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, EGG WHITES, SALT, SUGAR, XANTHAN GUM, LEMON AND LIME PEEL FIBERS, COLORS ADDED, LACTIC ACID, (SODIUM BENZOATE, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA) USED TO PROTECT QUALITY, PHOSPHORIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORS.

It’s absurd, but the sad thing is, a lot of people will fall for it. Head to Grist for the rest of the list, which includes Starbucks and Lay’s.

Link [Grist]

Older Green Workers Worry as Young Trainee Ranks Grow

Right now, there’s a veritable army of green workers being trained across the country in fields ranging from conservation to clean energy. That’s great news to most people – except the older green workers who are afraid they’re going to be pushed out of their jobs by young trainees.

The Labor Department is paying to train people for green jobs, and younger workers tend to get more training money than adults. The fact that older workers have to update their knowledge to compete, paired with the lower cost of employing apprentices makes even this booming job market tough if you’ve got experience under your belt.

Youth Radio’s David Dominguez interviewed L.A. green workers, young and old.

This is ETI, the Electrical Training Institute of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Here, you find a mix of older union workers, called journeymen, and young apprentices, like 24-year-old Anthony Hernandez. Right now, Hernandez and his fellow trainees are learning how to install solar panels.

Anthony Hernandez: “We’ll be brought up as apprentices with the solar and the green movement so the journeymen will have to relearn everything. Hopefully it will be to our advantage and easier for us to install.”

Anthony used to be non-union electrical contractor, but decided to join the union for the safety training and benefits.

Frank DuMarcos: “I’m learning not to change the future, but to keep up with the new technology.”

That’s electrical journeyman Frank K. DuMarcos. He’s a 10-year union veteran. He admits that jobs often boil down to the brutal bottom line of a contractor’s budget. And that creates tension.

“Some contractors hire apprentices because apprentices are cheaper than a journeyman. Some apprentices only make $20. A journeyman makes over $37. I’ve been on jobs where they had two journeymen and they had 15 apprentices.”

But older workers needn’t worry too much, according to Jerome Ringo, President of the Appollo Alliance, which is devoted to creating green jobs around the country. He says that older workers will have an opportunity to retrain and that all workers, regardless of age and experience, will have a chance to benefit from investment in green jobs.

Listen to this Youth Radio story at the American Public Media Marketplace.

Link [American Public Media]
Photo credit: Flickr user greenforall.org

Verizon Wireless Sponsors Big Coal Global Warming Denial Rally

Tsk, tsk. How can Verizon Wireless show intelligence and class by dropping its ads on Glenn Beck’s idiotic Fox show (for his comments about President Obama’s supposed ‘racism’) – and then turn around and give money to another conservative whackjob?

Verizon has become a sponsor for a global warming denial rally organized by none other than Don Blankenship, CEO and President of Massey Energy, which has destroyed far too much of Appalachia with mountaintop removal mining.

From the NRDC:

Who is Don Blankenship?

He has been called “the scariest polluter in America.”  Just last December, my colleauge Pete Altman exposed the videotape from a speech in which Blankenship indulged in his patented version of full-blown climate change denial and also called various pro-environmental elected officials “greeniacs” bent on destroying the American way of life.

His rally next week will feature speeches by prominent global warming denier Lord Christopher Monckton, the Science & Public Policy Institute (global warming skeptics), conservative Fox blowhard Sean Hannity.  Ted Nugent and Hank Williams, Jr. are among those who will provide musical entertainment.

The website for the ‘Friends of America’ rally even offers up a petition against the Waxman-Markey climate bill. The majority of the rally’s sponsors are in the dirty energy and manufacturing industries including Coal-Mac, West Virginia Oil Marketers and Petroleum Products, Inc. Verizon looks pretty damn out of place on that list.

Verizon Wireless spokesman Jim Gerace explained it away by saying, “his company simply paid $1,000 for the right to be able to sell its products at the rally. It’s nothing more than that … and the groups who are trying to make it more than that are misguided. I’m definitely bothered that people are trying to put us in the middle of an argument.”

Aww, poor Verizon. Imagine, people getting angry over their support of complete and total destruction of beautiful mountain ranges and the dumping of toxic waste into waterways. It’s inexplicable!

Jeff Biggers said it best at The Huffington Post:

Can you hear us now, Verizon Wireless? Time to dump Massey Energy with Glenn Beck.

Link [NRDC] + [The Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Flickr user unanimous graphics

China Kicking America’s Ass in Race to Go Solar

Leave it to China to find a way to produce just about anything on the cheap, and do it really quickly. Despite the Obama administration’s dedication to getting America’s clean energy industry off the ground, China is leaving us in the dust and it’s looking unlikely that we’ll get a good chance to catch up.

In fact, the Chinese are preparing to build plants right here in the United States to assemble their products, to get around protectionist legislation.

From The New York Times:

The Obama administration is determined to help the American industry. The energy and Treasury departments announced this month that they would give $2.3 billion in tax credits to clean energy equipment manufacturers. But even in the solar industry, many worry that Western companies may have fragile prospects when competing with Chinese companies that have cheap loans, electricity and labor, paying recent college graduates in engineering $7,000 a year.

“I don’t see Europe or the United States becoming major producers of solar products — they’ll be consumers,” said Thomas M. Zarrella, the chief executive of GT Solar International, a company in Merrimack, N.H., that sells specialized factory equipment to solar panel makers around the world.

China’s commitment to solar energy isn’t likely to make a big dent in the fight against global warming, especially given the country’s own skyrocketing emissions, much of which are caused by the pollution that goes hand-in-hand with running ultra-low-cost factories.

America still has the world’s largest supplier of photovoltaic cells – First Solar in Tempe, Arizona – but China’s Suntech is not far behind. Suntech plans to build a solar panel assembly plant in the United States “to facilitate sales — ‘buy American’ and things like that”, according to the company’s president for global sales and marketing.

Link [The New York Times]
Photo credit: OregonDOT

GM Turns its Back on Safe Mercury Disposal

Emerging from bankruptcy, the new GM has made many a promise about becoming greener and more sustainable – but don’t ask them to do anything about the environmental impact of their ‘old’ cars. The company has announced that it will no longer participate in a partnership that collects toxic mercury switches from vehicles before they’re recycled.

With the popularity of the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program, this decision means that thousands of GM mercury switches could end up polluting the environment.

From The Huffington Post:

GM said its new company is not a member of the partnership because it no longer makes vehicles with mercury switches and is not responsible for the older vehicles. The old company, which is still under bankruptcy court supervision, said it is reviewing agreements involving the former company and declined to comment.

Roughly 36 million mercury switches were used in trunk convenience lights and antilock brakes in vehicles built in the 1980s and 1990s. More than half of them are in GM vehicles built before 2000.

The auto industry partnership, called the End of Life Vehicle Solutions Corp., or ELVS, was created in 2005 to prevent mercury emissions from being released into the environment when vehicles are crushed and shredded. It works closely with the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program, which the Environmental Protection Agency helped form with automakers, the steel industry and environmentalists in 2006.

Unfortunately, the loss of GM’s annual dues is having a huge impact on ELVS’ budget. Without those funds, the program may be forced to scale back operations or even stop what they’re doing entirely.

If GM is really serious about being green, they’ve got to take responsibility for things like this.

Link [Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Flickr user dave_7

Timberland CEO Struggles with Company Ban on Bottled Water

Timberland CEO Jeffrey Swartz announced a new ban on bottled water at his company headquarters around the world two weeks ago, thinking it would be fairly easy to implement. After all, what’s so tough about using filtered tap water or other alternatives and passing on expensive deliveries of bottled water? As it turns out, according to Swartz – plenty.

He was psyched about implementing the new ban, until he started running into some obstacles:

First there’s a supply issue to contend with – our facilities team reports a 4-week supply of bottled water already in house and we don’t want to be wasteful, so can we continue to offer it until the supply runs out?  Sure, okay … makes sense.  Then the vending machine folks chime in, what about the plastic soda bottles in the vending machines?  Are we getting rid of those, too?  Wow.  Okay, sure.  No more plastic bottles in the vending machines.  But hold on, says the guy in charge of our dining services – we don’t have nearly enough glasses and cups to accommodate the increased demand from people who would otherwise be drinking bottled water.  We’re gonna have to add more dishwashers, or buy more glasses … yikes.  All I wanted to do was get rid of the bottled water, now I’m buying new dishwashers?  How come it’s never as easy as you think it will be to get something done?

Apparently Swartz also received feedback from readers of the Earthkeepers blog about whether banning bottled water was even necessary in the first place, with people arguing that bottled water has its place and that getting rid of it wasn’t going to negate Timberland’s carbon footprint.

Swartz understands that – but, as he says on Earthkeepers, “I hold on to the notion that in the corporate world, where tap water is clean and reuseable containers are (soon to be) plentiful, we can do better than bottled water.”

That’s a great attitude to have, and we applaud Swartz and Timberland for going through the trouble to address these kinds of issues in the workplace. Their next step? Getting rid of paper products.

Link [Earthkeepers] via [GreenBiz.com]

Exxon Makes $600M Investment in Algae Biofuels

For far too long, Exxon has lagged behind its peers when it comes to renewable energy and sustainability. Not that any oil company is even remotely green – but where others have at least taken baby steps, Exxon has willfully refused. Well, the company has finally made a move, beginning a $600 million partnership with biotech company Synthetic Genomics Inc. to develop transportation fuels from algae.

From The Huffington Post:

“This is not going to be easy, and there are no guarantees of success,” Emil Jacobs, a vice president at Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering Co., said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But we’re combining Exxon Mobil’s technical and financial strength with a leader in bioscientific genomics.”

Jacobs said the project involves three critical steps: identifying algae strains that can produce suitable types of oil quickly and at low costs, determining the best way to grow the algae and developing systems to harvest enough for commercial purposes.

Besides the potential for large-scale production, algae has other benefits, Jacobs said. It can be grown using land and water unsuitable for other crop and food production; it consumes carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas blamed for climate change; and it can produce an oil with molecular structures similar to the petroleum products _ gasoline, diesel, jet fuel _ Exxon already makes.

It’s about time Exxon started putting its money where its mouth is – sort of. The oil giant has spent years ‘fighting back’ against reports about its anti-green practices but hasn’t stepped up to the plate. No amount of PR can make up for inaction.

Exxon is still one of the world’s biggest oil companies, making billions in profits annually off environmentally destructive practices – and $600 million is a tiny amount compared to what the company spends to find new supplies of crude and gas. They’re still not green, and it’s highly unlikely that they ever will be.

Now the question is, how long before we’re bombarded with Exxon ads proclaiming their greenness for making this investment?

Link [Huffington Post]

Solar-Powered Pop-Up-Shop for London Entrepreneurs

Creative entrepreneurs aren’t exactly having an easy go at things during this recession. It’s hard to find a good retail space that’s affordable and accessible to a wide range of consumers. But now, thanks to an innovative – and green – invention by designer Wayne Hemingway and London mayor Boris Johnson, they’ve got a portable place to sell their wares with virtually no overhead costs. The KiosKiosk is a rent-free space with solar panels to power laptops, lights and even a sewing machine.

From Jamble Mag, via Green Living Ideas:

Businesses signed up for the kiosk include Jamble favorites, Above & Below London, the makers of recycled tube shoes. Other creatives include the Arthouse, who exhibit and sell art work created by adults with learning disabilities, and Invisible Children, a charity focused on spreading awareness of child soldiers in Africa.

On the launch of the KiosKiosk, Wayne Hemingway, said: ‘We believe that the KiosKiosk concept is a simple and cost effective way to spice up our towns and cities. This architecturally interesting, easy to construct retail space, gives entrepreneurs and creative minds a chance to have a go and put their ideas in front of the public to encourage an enterprise culture. This also adds excitement to our streets. We’ve been overwhelmed by the phenomenal response to our call for KiosKiosk occupants proving through this experiment, that the demand and talent is out there.’

If you’re in London, check out the calendar on the KiosKiosk website to see which vendors will be occupying the space through the end of summer.

What a gem – there’s no reason why this concept can’t be spread to cities all over the world. Not only does it give small businesses lots of exposure, it’s cool design and eco-friendly to boot! What’s not to love?

Link [Jamble Mag] + [KiosKiosk] via [Green Living Ideas]

Greenpeace Knocks “Traitor Joe’s” for Unsustainable Seafood

“Traitor Joe’s: Your one-stop shop for ocean destruction.” That’s what Greenpeace branded specialty retailer Trader Joe’s after they were rated dead last among 9 supermarket chains on seafood sustainability. Trader Joe’s scored lower than Winn-Dixie and Wal-Mart because it serves red list fish.

Fish on the red list is either imperiled, or comes from fisheries that harm other sea creatures like turtles, dolphins, seals and sea lions. Among those on the list are Atlantic Cod, Orange Roughy, red snapper, Chilean sea bass, grouper and yellowfin tuna.

Greenpeace sent out protesters dressed as Orange Roughy to the Trader Joe’s in San Francisco, urging the company to stop its environmentally unfriendly practices.

Click ‘Go’ below to watch a quick animated video:

From the Traitor Joe website:

Hello friends. Traitor Joe here. I’m up to my eyeballs in red list seafood. There is so much in my stores that I bet there is nothing left in the oceans. That’s the beauty about red list species. They are doing so badly in the oceans that they need extra help and conservation in order to survive. But will I help save them? Heck no! I need to make a profit and if that means I am helping these dwindling fish stocks to go extinct, oh well. I’ll still sleep at night.

After all, you’d never know my seafood was caught in ways that endanger ocean habitats and other marine creatures. Why? I conveniently leave the labels off my seafood. Ha, ha ha. Pretty good trick, right? My customers never know what they are really buying. That way I can pass the guilt on to you, so you can help me turn the oceans into a giant, empty bathtub without ever knowing. How’s that for giving my customers what they want?

As Greenpeace notes, Trader Joe’s could escape the harsh spotlight easily by removing all red list seafood from its stores. After all, their core customer base cares deeply about the environment – and is it really smart to alienate them?

The other retailers that have made no visible effort whatsoever to increase the sustainability of their seafood operations include Aldi, Costco, Giant Eagle, H. E. B., Meijer, Price Chopper, Publix and Winn-Dixie.

Wegmans, Ahold, Whole Foods, and Target were praised for their efforts to improve.

Link [Traitor Joe] via [Marc Gunther]

Seven Fun and Creative Eco-Friendly Business Cards

Why stop at printing on recycled card stock when you could make your business card super eco-friendly, creative and memorable all at once? After all, business cards are a dime a dozen – most of them go into your wallet and aren’t taken out again until you’re cleaning it out and ready to throw them away. These seven green business card ideas are definitely outside the box, making an impression that will last much longer than most.

Blooms When Dipped in Water

Seed packets or cards with seeds embedded in them are a popular eco option, but two ultra-creative takes on this idea caught our eye. The first is a growing business card by designer Jamie Wieck that acts as a mini-houseplant, blooming when the packet is dipped in water.

Next up is a card design that isn’t just green and eye-catching, but perfectly sums up what the business is all about. Landscape architecture firm Tur & Partner created this seeded business card that sprouts up a miniature garden when exposed to light and water.

Making it Your Own

What do you do when you make an important contact but are caught without your business cards? Reach for one of the ones you’ve already got in your wallet, scribble out the info and fill in your own. Just try not to hand your ‘recycled’ business card back to the person who gave it to you in the first place.

A Card with Many Uses

This concept, by designer Ji-Young Chun, was intended for use as a credit card, but it could definitely apply to business cards as well. If something has more than one use, people are going to be less likely to throw it away.

Of course, multi-use business cards are greener when they’re made using items that have a smaller ecological footprint in the first place, like secondhand household objects that somebody will actually find handy and keep. Clothespins, like the one seen above, are a great example.

Just Eat It

Okay, so this one is kind of counterproductive. As soon as someone eats it, your contact info is gone. But the concept is definitely an attention-getter, and they’re biodegradable, so that’s worth something, right?

Stamp on Scraps

Perhaps the greenest idea of all, this business card by Fischer Portugal can be created anytime, anywhere on just about any kind of material. A hand-held rubber stamp imprints your important details on scraps of cardboard, flyers, envelopes, receipts or whatever you might have on hand.

Military Blocks Massive Solar Power Project in Nevada

A vacant piece of land in the Nevada desert gets year-round sunlight and has existing transmission lines left over from a mining operation – plus, there are no issues with wildlife. It seems like the perfect place to build a solar power operation.

But a solar project by Los Angeles company Solar Reserve that would have featured a vast field of mirrors, a molten-salt storage facility and a 600-foot ‘power tower’ has hit a major roadblock: opposition from the United States military.

Why would the military want to block the $700 million project, especially with an administration that is so keen to advance renewable energy? It turns out that piece of vacant land is too close for comfort to Nellis Air Force Base, and officials say it would compromise classified aspects of the Air Force’s training range.

From The Washington Post:

The Nevada plant was supposed to be a showcase for SolarReserve: one of the largest solar plants in the world, using heat-transfer technology developed for space rockets by United Technologies. A field of mirrors would focus sunlight on a receiver on a tall tower, where it would heat the molten salt to 1,050 degrees Fahrenheit, much hotter than other solar plants using similar technology. The molten salt would then flow to a storage tank, where its heat would generate steam and power conventional steam turbines similar to those in coal plants.

“We’re trying to build a facility that runs 24 hours a day,” said Kevin B. Smith, SolarReserve’s chief executive.

But Belote said the solar plant would compromise classified aspects of the Air Force’s training range and would interfere with radar. He said the Air Force would tell the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, which owns most of the land in the state, to reject the proposal. (The bureau controls more than 20 million acres of land with wind energy potential and more than 30 million acres with solar potential.)

SolarReserve officials “did a lot of [research] with publicly available tools,” Belote said. “But when they came back for an official look the answer was, ‘Man, that’s still too close.’ And because of the sensitivity [of information], I can’t tell them why. . . . Unfortunately for them and us, there’s stuff on the Nevada testing range we don’t tell anyone about.” Belote suggested they try another site, either 100 miles to the southeast or about 80 miles to the northeast, near the town of Mesquite.

SolarReserve is understandably upset, considering that they were pointed to this site by the air Force after an initial site was rejected as too close to the training base. They’ve spent 18 months in negotiations.

Of course, this just makes people intensely curious about what goes on at that Air Force training base, doesn’t it? The gears are turning in the minds of UFO believers.

Link [The Washington Post]

America’s Top 25 Green Energy Leaders

Every quarter, the EPA publishes a list of America’s top users of green power, and some of the companies on the list may take you by surprise. These organizations generate their own renewable energy, buy it from suppliers or purchase offset credits to compensate for their traditional energy use.

While no one would bat an eye at Whole Foods clocking in at #5, many of the other high rankers are names you wouldn’t expect. In fact, two Texas cities rank at #10 and #11.

Here’s a snippet from Scientific American:

1. Intel
Santa Clara, CA | Information Technology
1,301 million green kWh, 46% of total power used
Buying the most renewable energy in the country is actually an honor Intel could do without, according to Will Swope, vice president of Intel’s corporate sustainability group. The company’s massive purchase is not just to stay ahead of the curve, he says, but “to give confidence to people who are creating sustainable energy.” Meaning that with increased green power supply, costs will go down for everyone—Intel included. The computer chipmaker buys the eco-sound electricity through offset credits, which pay for greener energy to enter the grid even though Intel can’t isolate it for use directly. The credits can be expensive, but Swope notes that shareholders have been behind the program. “Economics have shown,” he says, “that companies that maintain a more sustainable footprint have done better—even in economic meltdown—than those that don’t.”

2. PepsiCo
Purchase, NY | Food & Beverage
1,145 million green kWh, 100% of total power used
The conglomerate, which is separate from the Pepsi bottling groups, made a splash when its headquarters went all green with its power buys in early 2007. PepsiCo drinks in $39 billion in net revenues through brands from Aquafina to Quaker Oats; it has turned to renewable power brokers to purchase offset credits.

3. Kohl’s Department Stores
Menomonee Falls, WI | Retail
601 million green kWh, 50% of total power used
This chain is already the biggest solar electricity host in the U.S. To soak up rays on 60 (and counting) store and corporate rooftops, the retailer has partnered with Sun-
Edison, which owns and maintains the solar panels and sells the electricity to Kohl’s. The largest setup is the roof of a distribution center in San Bernardino, Calif., where 6,208 panels can crank out a full megawatt of power.

Check out the rest of the list at Scientific American.

Link [Scientific American]
Photo credit: aesrenew

Clean Energy Economy Poised for Explosive Growth

Green jobs are hot and getting hotter, according to a new study by Pew Charitable Trusts. Green collar workers currently constitute a tiny but fast-growing sector of the U.S. economy, and that growth is going to explode in the coming months.

From The New York Times:

The “clean-energy economy” grew 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007 to 777,000 jobs. While that is just half a percent of all U.S. jobs, the clean-energy economy is poised to grow significantly with financial support from the public and private sectors, the Pew (pdf) concludes.

“The nation’s clean-energy economy is poised for explosive growth,” said Lori Grange, the Pew Center on the States’ interim deputy director. “The trends include surging venture capital investment … a critical growth rate in clean-energy generation, energy efficiency and environmentally friendly products.”

About 80 percent of venture capital investments in 2008 were in the clean energy and energy efficiency sector, broadly known as “cleantech.” And while cleantech slumped with overall venture capital in the first quarter of 2009, the sector outperformed telecommunications, media and other sectors, according to an analysis of Thompson Reuters data by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.

The Pew report cites Obama’s $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as the driving force behind the clean energy economy.

Oregon has the nation’s strongest clean energy economy on a per-capita basis, but California, the nation’s most populous state, had the most clean energy jobs last year with about 125,000.

The report’s lead researcher even says that the numbers are on the conservative side. Growth may be even bigger.

Clean energy jobs FTW!

Link [The New York Times]

Activist Nuns Convince Chevron to Track its Carbon Footprint

As it turned out, after years of resistance, all it took to get Chevron to track its carbon footprint was a threat from activist nuns. A group of faith-based investors, including the Sisters of St. Domenic, filed a resolution to force Chevron into being more environmentally responsible.

After the oil giant agreed to comply, the resolution was withdrawn. Chevron will now become the largest oil company to track its carbon footprint, something another competitor – ExxonMobil – has yet to do.

From GreenBiz.com, via Digg:

“As shareholders, we appreciate the difficulties that Chevron management faces in the long-term in confronting the task to reduce GHG emissions,” Sister Patricia Daly, executive director of the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment and a member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), said in a statement. “The recent advancements Chevron has made in reducing its carbon footprint and preparing the company for viability in a low-carbon business environment cannot be ignored.”

Daly made the announcement the day before San Ramon-based Chevron’s annual stockholders meeting, where reports suggest it may address concerns about a legal case in Ecuador that could lead to a multi-billion dollar judgment against the company. The case stems from alleged environmental violations committed by Texaco, which Chevron later acquired.

In the corporate world, money talks, and if your investors want you to do something you do it. It’s no surprise that money was the only reason Chevron agreed to pay any attention to their carbon footprint at all.

Link [GreenBiz.com] via [Digg]

New CAFE Standards Mean Nothing without Consumer Dedication to Efficiency

The Obama administration’s new groundbreaking CAFE and emissions standards for cars and light trucks don’t mean much if the American public can’t be goaded into choosing energy-efficient models instead of gas guzzlers.

The new rule raises the average fuel economy for cars and light trucks combined to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, and gives the EPA authority to regulate tailpipe emissions from vehicles. But, automakers still have loopholes to create low MPG vehicles – vehicles that American consumers still want.

The only way to get consumers to purchase the more efficient vehicles in the numbers required to make a real difference would be raising the price of gas by 100%-200%, according to Pike Research, a market research and consulting firm that provides in-depth analysis of global clean technology markets.

From Matter Network:

The ongoing problem with CAFE is that it ignores consumer demand and offers automakers too many loopholes for building lower mileage vehicles. The fact is that consumers who are paying $2 or $3 per gallon for gasoline have very little incentive to buy higher mileage vehicles, and automakers still have an incentive (consumer demand) to build low mileage, high powered, trucks and SUVs.

…Without the shift in consumer thinking, though, the CAFE rules will only be window dressing for their intended purpose – getting more fuel efficient vehicles on the road. Additionally, as automakers try to force consumers into vehicles that are not actually spurred by their demand, consumers will react with their feet, marching quickly to companies that offer vehicles they want.

After all, there is a reason that in 2008 the Volkswagen Golf was the best selling vehicle in Europe, while in the same year the Ford F-150 was the best selling vehicle in the US, and it’s got nothing to do with CAFE rules. Getting Americans to buy more efficient vehicles that use less fuel through top-down product pushes brought on by CAFE rules is failing and likely always will.

It’s true: as long as gas prices are low, Americans will stubbornly hold on to their trucks and SUVs. Last summer, people were ditching SUVs so fast that used car lots were packed full of them. Now that prices have gone back down, that momentum has come to a screeching halt.

Of course, if gas prices were simply raised as an answer to inciting consumer demand for efficient vehicles, who would benefit the most? Oil companies. That would hardly be a good thing for the environment. A high gas tax would be a more effective, albeit more complicated answer.

Link [Matter Network]
Photo credit: Freaky Humor

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