China's Premier Wen Jiabao pledged Friday to help clean China's air and water and combat global warming.
He has committed to cutting 20% of the energy used for each unit of economic gross domestic product by 2010.
He says that he is going to make polluters pay for the environmental damage that they cause.
All steps in the right direction.
http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/C/CHINA_CLIMATE_CHANGE?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
April 28, 2007
April 15, 2007
The Green Governor?
No matter what you think of Arnold Schwarzenegger, he is starting to show some real leadership on global warming and on the environment.
I was very pleased to watch his recent speech on the environment. It is well worth the time to listen to his remarks. I have to say I was inspired. And that is saying something as it has been a very long time since I’ve been inspired by politician’s speech.
I have also attached a link to the transcript of his speech, if you prefer.
Arnold has a vision for the future and made three main points in his speech.
1) His vision - “successful movements are built on passion; they're not built on guilt.” He wants to ensure that the “environmental movement is no longer seen as a nag or as a scold, but as a positive force in people's lives. We have to make it sexy. We have to make it attractive so that everyone wants to participate.”
2) “In an environmental economy, the great thing is that we can do both. We can protect the environment and protect the economy.”
“California is the leading edge of what I call the "environmental economy. The aerospace industry built the modern economy of Southern California. The computer industry and the Internet built the economy of Silicon Valley. And now the green, clean technology, along with biotech, will be the next wave of California's economy.”
3) Environmentalism has become mainstream.
“Mainstream scientists are convinced, mainstream CEOs are convinced, and if you look at the surveys, mainstream Americans are convinced that global warming and climate change is real and we have to do something about it.
So who are the fanatics now? They are the ones who are in denial. They are in environmental denial, they are in economic denial, and they are in political denial.”
He delivered this message to his fellow Republican politicians.
“If you are against taking action on greenhouse gases and common emissions, your political base will melt away as surely as the polar ice caps. You will become a political penguin {stranded} on a smaller and smaller ice floe that is drifting out to sea. Goodbye, my little friend.”
I was very pleased to watch his recent speech on the environment. It is well worth the time to listen to his remarks. I have to say I was inspired. And that is saying something as it has been a very long time since I’ve been inspired by politician’s speech.
I have also attached a link to the transcript of his speech, if you prefer.
Arnold has a vision for the future and made three main points in his speech.
1) His vision - “successful movements are built on passion; they're not built on guilt.” He wants to ensure that the “environmental movement is no longer seen as a nag or as a scold, but as a positive force in people's lives. We have to make it sexy. We have to make it attractive so that everyone wants to participate.”
2) “In an environmental economy, the great thing is that we can do both. We can protect the environment and protect the economy.”
“California is the leading edge of what I call the "environmental economy. The aerospace industry built the modern economy of Southern California. The computer industry and the Internet built the economy of Silicon Valley. And now the green, clean technology, along with biotech, will be the next wave of California's economy.”
3) Environmentalism has become mainstream.
“Mainstream scientists are convinced, mainstream CEOs are convinced, and if you look at the surveys, mainstream Americans are convinced that global warming and climate change is real and we have to do something about it.
So who are the fanatics now? They are the ones who are in denial. They are in environmental denial, they are in economic denial, and they are in political denial.”
He delivered this message to his fellow Republican politicians.
“If you are against taking action on greenhouse gases and common emissions, your political base will melt away as surely as the polar ice caps. You will become a political penguin {stranded} on a smaller and smaller ice floe that is drifting out to sea. Goodbye, my little friend.”
April 7, 2007
GE Investing in Alternate Energy
The material from this post comes from a ZDNet article.
GE's revenue from renewable energy--wind, solar and biomass--will be $7 billion in 2007. Five years ago, when it began ramping up investments, revenue was $5 million. Research and development dedicated to energy overall is about $2.5 billion per year.
Rising energy demand worldwide and environmental concerns have made investments in energy technologies the most compelling in decades, General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt says.
Immelt was the keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Energy 2.0 Conference, where he asserted that the energy industry is becoming more diverse because of improving economics and societal changes.
The company has been able to lower its greenhouse gas emissions 1 percent for the last few years, employees feel engaged in the effort, and the company is on track to increase its revenue in this sector by 10 percent yearly for decades, he said.
"The conclusion we came to is that global warming is a fact. We are very dispassionate about it," Immelt said. He also detailed the strategy behind the industrial giant's varied activities in the energy and environment area, which range from oil and gas exploration to wind power to water purification.
GE's revenue from renewable energy--wind, solar and biomass--will be $7 billion in 2007. Five years ago, when it began ramping up investments, revenue was $5 million. Research and development dedicated to energy overall is about $2.5 billion per year.
Rising energy demand worldwide and environmental concerns have made investments in energy technologies the most compelling in decades, General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt says.
Immelt was the keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Energy 2.0 Conference, where he asserted that the energy industry is becoming more diverse because of improving economics and societal changes.
The company has been able to lower its greenhouse gas emissions 1 percent for the last few years, employees feel engaged in the effort, and the company is on track to increase its revenue in this sector by 10 percent yearly for decades, he said.
"The conclusion we came to is that global warming is a fact. We are very dispassionate about it," Immelt said. He also detailed the strategy behind the industrial giant's varied activities in the energy and environment area, which range from oil and gas exploration to wind power to water purification.
Profitable Climate Change
The folks at the Rocky Mountain Institute are some of the best thinkers in the world on creating a sustainable future.
There is now overwhelming evidence that human activities are changing the world's climate. Indeed, there is reason to fear that the environmental and societal impacts of climate change are coming faster and more furiously than previously thought. Meanwhile, political action to address the problem is severely delayed by concerns about the supposed costs.
Rocky Mountain Institute's position is that, far from being costly, protecting the climate is actually good for the economy. Greenhouse-gas emissions are simply the byproduct of the uneconomically wasteful use of resources. The obvious solution, then, is increased efficiency.
Being more efficient not only reduces emissions, it also saves money and increases economic competitiveness. In fact, it doesn't even matter whether global warming is happening or not, because the most effective climate-protection measures are things we should be doing for economic reasons anyhow.
RMI's approach to climate therefore focuses on market-based, profitable measures to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Since most emissions are linked to energy use, our climate work is closely allied with our efforts to promote energy efficiency.
More information is available on the following topics:
Profitable Climate Protection for Businesses
Profitable Climate Protection for Communities
Individual Opportunities to Cool Global Warming
Climate Consulting Services
RMI's Climate Research Agenda
Climate Publications and Other Resources
Climate Links
There is now overwhelming evidence that human activities are changing the world's climate. Indeed, there is reason to fear that the environmental and societal impacts of climate change are coming faster and more furiously than previously thought. Meanwhile, political action to address the problem is severely delayed by concerns about the supposed costs.
Rocky Mountain Institute's position is that, far from being costly, protecting the climate is actually good for the economy. Greenhouse-gas emissions are simply the byproduct of the uneconomically wasteful use of resources. The obvious solution, then, is increased efficiency.
Being more efficient not only reduces emissions, it also saves money and increases economic competitiveness. In fact, it doesn't even matter whether global warming is happening or not, because the most effective climate-protection measures are things we should be doing for economic reasons anyhow.
RMI's approach to climate therefore focuses on market-based, profitable measures to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Since most emissions are linked to energy use, our climate work is closely allied with our efforts to promote energy efficiency.
More information is available on the following topics:
Profitable Climate Protection for Businesses
Profitable Climate Protection for Communities
Individual Opportunities to Cool Global Warming
Climate Consulting Services
RMI's Climate Research Agenda
Climate Publications and Other Resources
Climate Links
Google and Climate Change
Google is sponsoring a forum this week on creating a sustainable future.
Items on the agenda include:
Direct Action: Combating Climate Change
Direct Action: Advancing Global Health
Direct Action: Alleviating Poverty - Financial Services for the Poor
Direct Action: the Changing Practice of Philanthropy
Impact: Sustainability - Combating Climate Change
Impact: Advancing Global Health
Impact: Alleviating Poverty - Integrated Bottom Line Investments
Impact: Measuring Development Impact
FINANCING SOCIAL CHANGE
Leveraging Markets and Entrepreneurship
April 11-13, 2007
Items on the agenda include:
Direct Action: Combating Climate Change
Direct Action: Advancing Global Health
Direct Action: Alleviating Poverty - Financial Services for the Poor
Direct Action: the Changing Practice of Philanthropy
Impact: Sustainability - Combating Climate Change
Impact: Advancing Global Health
Impact: Alleviating Poverty - Integrated Bottom Line Investments
Impact: Measuring Development Impact
April 6, 2007
What can I do?
The folks at the World Resources Institute have published a list of steps you can take to conserve resources and live more sustainably.
I'd suggest picking one idea to start.
I'd suggest picking one idea to start.
Climate Change 2006
The World Resources Institute has published their 2006 report on climate change.
This is their short summary of the report's findings.
Perhaps the strongest message to emerge from this report is that the scientific community is ever more emphatic about the scale of change, the human cause of change, and the rapidity with which change is becoming manifest. Altogether, the individual results suggest that the window of opportunity to act to avoid the worst of the prospective impacts and damage is rapidly closing. Furthermore, these results suggest that we may already be seeing signs that abrupt, nonlinear climate change is materializing, and that tipping points in natural systems may be in close reach, if not already exceeded.
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