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Checking The Temperature of Climate Change Activism in 2016

2016-02-02T17:46:00.002-08:00

Via VICE.com January 20, 2016

"When world leaders stood, hand in hand, grinning, at the close of the Paris climate talks in December, for a moment the darkness of impending climate change armageddon seemed to have lifted. After decades of global warming, fossil fuel depletion, and general despair, 2015 saw 195 countries agree to reduce their carbon output, and to do their best to keep global warming "to well below 2 degrees." Finally, humanity pulled together to solve the biggest threat to the future of mankind.

So why did I find myself shivering in the sub-zero temperatures of suburban Manchester on Saturday morning, joining some eco-warriors from Reclaim the Power on their first action of 2016? I was tagging along with activists planning to shut down the building of the new Carrington power station , a gas-fueled plant being built by Carlton Power that should be up and running by the end of the year—one of 14 new gas-powered stations planned in the UK." Read more here...http://www.vice.com/read/environmental-activists-manchester-shut-down-gas-power-plant-821

Climate Change: Biggest Human Rights Issue On The Planet

2015-12-10T08:53:00.001-08:00

Via Democracy Now, at #COP21.
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/12/10/mary_robinson_on_intl_human_rights

COP21 Treaty Draft Excludes Gender Equality Even Though Women are Most Impacted by Climate Change

TOPICS

GUESTS

MARY ROBINSON

is president of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice. She served as president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997 and U.N. high commissioner for human rights from 1997 to 2002.

This is viewer supported news

Today is International Human Rights Day, which commemorates the day on which the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. As we broadcast from the U.N. climate change summit in Paris, France, we look at climate change as a human rights issue. Negotiators have been debating how human rights should be address in the Paris accord. The United States, Norway and Saudi Arabia have been criticized for seeking to eliminate key references to human rights in the text. We are joined by former Irish President Mary Robinson, who is also former U.N. high commissioner for human rights. In 2010, Robinson set up the Mary Robinson Foundation–Climate Justice. "To me, [climate change] is the biggest human rights issue in the world," Robinson says.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re broadcasting from the U.N. climate change summit in Paris, France. It’s COP21. And it’s International Human Rights Day. It commemorates the day on which the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Earlier today, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet for helping achieve a peaceful transition to democracy in their own country.

Well, today, we begin the show looking at climate change as a human rights issue. Here at the talks, negotiators have been debating how human rights should be addressed in the Paris accord. The United States, Norway and Saudi Arabia have been criticized for seeking to eliminate key references to human rights in the text.

We’re now joined by former Irish President Mary Robinson. She is also the former U.N. high commissioner for human rights. In 2010, she set up the Mary Robinson Foundation–Climate Justice.

President Robinson, welcome back to Democracy Now! It’s great to have you with us.

MARY ROBINSON: Thank you, Amy. And happy International Human Rights Day.

AMY GOODMAN: So talk about how human rights relates to climate change and climate justice.

MARY ROBINSON: Human rights absolutely relate to climate change, because climate change is undermining human rights all over the world and undermining people’s livelihoods, undermining people’s health, forcing people to leave their homes because of drought or flooding—often, actually, also causing them loss of life. It is having a very negative impact. And that’s been recognized by the Human Rights Council. So, even if there was nothing in this agreement—which I hope there will be—about human rights, human rights is there anyway as very, very central to our approach to climate change. To me, it’s the biggest human rights issue in the world.

AMY GOODMAN: So, how did you come to this issue of climate justice? You didn’t really raise it, certainly didn’t make it a centerpiece, when you were the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

MARY ROBINSON: And I’ve been very open and very modest about that. No, I didn’t. It wasn’t front of my mind, because it was being dealt with in another part of the U.N. and—you know, a little bit of a silo approach. And then I started to work on economic and social rights in Africa. And everywhere I went, people said, "Oh, but things are so much worse." And I realized they meant the rainy seasons weren’t coming in Liberia the way they used to, and there was long periods of drought and flash flooding in northern Uganda, which my friend Constance Okollet would talk about. But everywhere I went, people saw something that they had never seen before, you know, and there’s a long oral tradition, so that’s more than 200 years, because people pass stories on. And it was so much worse—climate shocks, climate disruption. I saw it in Bangladesh when I went there. And I realized, when I read the science, that we’re running out of time, that actually, as has been said often now during this year, we’re the first generation to fully understand the dangers of climate change and the last generation with time to do something about it. And that time is now here in Paris.

Elon Musk: Rolls Out Battery Pack for Rooftop Solar and Vows to Bring Global Emissions to Zero

2015-05-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, Elon. We think you deserve the Nobel Prize for bringing rooftop solar batteries to market. And why your utility company can not compete with solar plus these affordable batteries now.

For more, including the launch video, see this story on VICE.

https://news.vice.com/article/heres-why-elon-musk-might-have-just-really-pissed-off-your-utility-company?utm_source=vicenewsfb

Coming in 2015: Green Startup Countdown

2014-10-12T15:12:00.001-07:00

Green Startup Countdown is a program of our Green Startup Institute. Stay tuned, we are really excited to offer new online and in person education. Launching in 2015.

Gore Offers Hope for Climate Change Mitigation: "The Turning Point"

2014-06-26T12:26:00.001-07:00

We have re-posted this important update from Al Gore, via Rolling Stone, on the changes occurring in the renewable energy world, and other developments. We agree that the great transition-the largest change ever attempted on a planetary scale-is taking hold. But we have a long way to go. Green Start-ups, be they large or small, are crucial to accelerating the carbon-free economy.

"It's time to accelerate the shift toward a low-carbon future." -Al Gore

June 18, 2014 9:00 AM ET

In the struggle to solve the climate crisis, a powerful, largely unnoticed shift is taking place. The forward journey for human civilization will be difficult and dangerous, but it is now clear that we will ultimately prevail. The only question is how quickly we can accelerate and complete the transition to a low-carbon civilization. There will be many times in the decades ahead when we will have to take care to guard against despair, lest it become another form of denial, paralyzing action. It is true that we have waited too long to avoid some serious damage to the planetary ecosystem – some of it, unfortunately, irreversible. Yet the truly catastrophic damages that have the potential for ending civilization as we know it can still – almost certainly – be avoided. Moreover, the pace of the changes already set in motion can still be moderated significantly.

Global Warming's Terrifying New Math

There is surprising – even shocking – good news: Our ability to convert sunshine into usable energy has become much cheaper far more rapidly than anyone had predicted. The cost of electricity from photovoltaic, or PV, solar cells is now equal to or less than the cost of electricity from other sources powering electric grids in at least 79 countries. By 2020 – as the scale of deployments grows and the costs continue to decline – more than 80 percent of the world's people will live in regions where solar will be competitive with electricity from other sources.

No matter what the large carbon polluters and their ideological allies say or do, in markets there is a huge difference between "more expensive than" and "cheaper than." Not unlike the difference between 32 degrees and 33 degrees Fahrenheit. It's not just a difference of a degree, it's the difference between a market that's frozen up and one that's liquid. As a result, all over the world, the executives of companies selling electricity generated from the burning of carbon-based fuels (primarily from coal) are openly discussing their growing fears of a "utility death spiral."

Germany, Europe's industrial powerhouse, where renewable subsidies have been especially high, now generates 37 percent of its daily electricity from wind and solar; and analysts predict that number will rise to 50 percent by 2020. (Indeed, one day this year, renewables created 74 percent of the nation's electricity!)

Green Startup Institute: The Sustainable and Lean Discovery Roadmap Seminar. January 30, 2014

2014-01-20T14:11:00.001-08:00

(San Diego) Green Startup Institute (GSI) presents The Sustainable and Lean Discovery Roadmap seminar. January 30, 2014. 6:00PM-9:00PM. Registration opens at 5:30PM. Venue Host, Cricket Communications, Inc., San Diego, CA. This seminar and workshop reveals best practices and many free or affordable resources to help launch a lean and green startup. GSI brings together sustainability, startup resource experts and a proven, highly-regarded startup process developed in Silicon Valley, and now in use at top universities and accelerators around the world. GSI Founder Prof. Kathleen Connell will present an overview of the latest approaches in startup business model discovery, and opportunities in the growing sustainability sector. Additional speakers include: Dr. Justine Rapp, Founder of the free USD-Zesty web Incubator; entrepreneur Mark Bowles, Founder, ecoATM; faculty from Thomas Jefferson Law School, who will discuss patents, trademarks and accessing free business clinic services; and Accion San Diego, who will present financing options for a small business. Accion San Diego is non-profit lender focused on creating economic opportunity for primarily low-to-moderate income business owners who lack access to traditional sources of credit. Attendees will also be able to take a first look at their own business models in a workshop held at this event. Entrepreneurs of ALL AGES welcome! Free parking, hearty snacks and coffee included. Tickets are $30 in advance, and $40 at the door. Register now, seating is limited. Teams welcome. https//gsidiscovery.eventbrite.com

San Diego Civic Crisis: Where Does The Green Sector Go From Here? September 26th, 2013

2013-09-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

On September 26th, 2013 Join Mayoral Candidate David Alvarez, Nicole Capretz, Office of Interim Mayor Todd Gloria, Deanna Sphen, Office of Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins, & green experts as we focus on green jobs, clean tech sector development, renewable energy, climate mitigation, solar and the vision for America's Finest Green City. As San Diego transitions to another Mayoral election and administration, what becomes of the Green Vision for the City of San Diego and the region at large? What is our renewable energy, jobs and sustainability plan for the future? How do we move forward? What challenges do we face? How does a transition effect you? Join us for a lively and important Green Experts Academy forum as we focus anew on the future of the San Diego Green Sector. Featuring 2 panels with top Green experts, elected civic leaders, and invited Mayoral candidates as well. Bring your questions and comments, we will be gathering up priorities that are identified and asking our representatives to support key green initiatives. It is your Green San Diego! Ticket includes complimentary dessert and coffee. Our Venue Host: Cricket Communications, Inc. Registration: http://sdgreensector.eventbrite.com

____________

Please support our Venue Host and Sponsors

Run With Sun Committee & Campaign, a Project of The San Diego Sierra Club

Many Thanks to our award winning Media Partner, East County Magazine

________________________________

(Note: Partial List. Panelists will be announced as they are confirmed)

Community Leaders, Experts & Elected Office Panelists include:

Councilmember and Candidate for Mayor of San Diego, David Alvarez

Councilmember David Alvarez Biography
David grew up in the Barrio Logan community of San Diego, the neighborhood on the working waterfront that has a long history of environmental degradation, high asthma rates, and industrial-residential conflicts. His childhood home was next door to a chrome plating plant, and he can trace his own asthma to the constant presence of toxic emissions affecting residential areas, school playgrounds, and parks. That experience sharpened his resolve to fight for social, economic and environmental justice.
He began his career as a social services worker and after-school teacher. In 2003, he was selected to the prestigious Capitol Fellows Program where he served under the Secretary of State.
After his return to San Diego, David worked with a company that develops new opportunities for affordable housing, and before his own election, proudly represented Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny as a community liaison to the neighborhoods he grew up in.
Elected to the San Diego City Council in 2010, David is currently Chair of the Natural Resources & Culture Committee, Vice Chair of the Land Use & Housing Committee, and a member of the Budget & Finance and Rules & Economic Development Committees. Additionally, he serves on the San Diego Regional County Airport Authority, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Board, SANDAG Borders Committee, Otay Valley Regional Park Policy Committee, Bayshore Bikeway Working Group, and the San Diego Consortium Policy Board. He most recently joined the Board of Director’s for Local Progress: a national municipal policy network.
During his first term in office, Councilmember Alvarez has been successful in restoring vital city services in each year of the City’s budget, including funding increases for libraries, police and fire protection, more street repair and installation of street lights and reducing retiree health care costs.
Other proud achievements include the development of the long-awaited COMM22, a mixed-use, mixed-income, transit-oriented development located at Commercial and 22nd Streets in San Diego; a proposed Property Value Protection Ordinance, which fines banks to cover cleanup costs when they fail to maintain foreclosed properties; implementing the Citygate Plan to address deficiencies in the City’s fire safety levels; revitalizing commercial corridor’s in District Eight as well as focusing on economic growth and development with new projects such as Mercado del Barrio center in Barrio Logan and the expansion of Las Americas shopping facility near the border. Cross border relationships are important to David as he continues to foster working relationships with his counterparts across the border.
Currently, Councilmember Alvarez is shepherding several important community plan updates to completion including Barrio Logan, Otay Mesa and San Ysidro. Plans are also underway to update the Southeast San Diego Community Plan, which will result in all community plans updated in District Eight. These plans will guide growth and redevelopment in these communities as well as balance the needs of the residents. He recently spearheaded the creation of the Barrio Logan Maintenance Assessment District which will provide much needed maintenance and services for the community of Barrio Logan.

Shown: David helps Grid Alternatives install rooftop solar

Proudly serving as the Border Councilmember, his focus on the southern portion of his district has resulted in the approval of the Cross Border Facility which will increase new air travel opportunities, ease border waits – a critical need for the region, and act as a model for international cooperation. Councilmember Alvarez has also championed significant infrastructure needs in the district, directing millions of dollars to build a missing San Ysidro road segment serving high school students, develop the San Ysidro Library, improve Palm Avenue, design Pond 20 improvements in Otay Mesa, as well as many other vital projects.
Councilmember Alvarez is a strong advocate and supporter of arts in education and helped to restore the Penny for the Arts proposal, which doubles the City’s arts and culture funding over the next five years. His goal is to provide 1 million for education in arts by 2017. David also supports and provides funding for numerous community organization and non-profit programs, as well as local cultural festivals and events.
In addition to continuing to provide prompt and courteous service to all residents, Councilmember Alvarez’s priorities include: increasing and safeguarding San Diego’s water supply, building a new pedestrian border crossing at Virginia Avenue, creating regional parks at Chicano Park and along Chollas Creek, streamlining regulations for additional parking and for food trucks, creating more opportunities for local small businesses and a designing and funding a joint use park for students at Perkins Elementary and Beyer Elementary Schools.
Councilmember David Alvarez was born in San Diego to Jose and Maria Alvarez and has four brothers and one sister. Growing up in Barrio Logan, David attended local public schools: Perkins Elementary, Memorial Junior High, and San Diego High School. David was the first in his family to graduate from high school and college. He graduated with honors from San Diego State University. Councilmember Alvarez, his wife Xochitl, and their daughter Izel reside in Logan Heights. He is an avid cyclist and bikes to work often.
David is proud to continue the work he began in childhood and strive to carry out every day: to bring social, economic, and environmental justice to the people he serves. (Extracted from City Council Biography about David Alvarez).

______

Deanna Spean, Policy Director at State Assemblymember Toni Atkins

Deanna brings a distinguished career of over 20 years of policy staff leadership, including her roles with Assemblymember Atkins, State Senator Christine Kehoe, in San Diego City Hall, and in the community as a green entrepreneur.

Assemblymember Atkins, left shown with our panelist, Policy Director Deanna Spehn

________

Bill Powers, PE

Principal, Powers Engineering. Executive Committee, Sierra Club San Diego. Chairman, Run With The Sun Campaign of the Sierra Club. Co-Founder,San Diego Energy District.

Ms. Nicole Capretz:Director, Environmental Policy, Office of San Diego Interim Mayor, City Council President Todd Gloria

Nicole served as EHC's Policy Advocate on the Clean Bay Campaign from 1997 to 2001. She rejoined EHC in 2008 and launched our Green Energy/Green Jobs Campaign. Nicole has a law degree from Vermont Law School, a Masters in Environmental Law, and has been active in social justice and politics for over 15 years. She is the Chair of the City of San Diego's Environmental and Economic Sustainability Task Force and serves as Secretary of the City Heights Community Development Corporation Board of Directors.

Alan Ball

Alan's pioneering sustainability roles include: Partner, Sustainable Intelligence, Inc., and Chairman of the Board, California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE)

Mr. Ball is cofounder and partner at Sustainable Intelligence, a for-profit energy consulting business, and former Senior Director for Business Services at Qualcomm Inc., where for more than 18 years he initiated cost-cutting sustainability programs and energy-saving strategies.

Currently Mr. Ball is the Chairman of the Sustainability Alliance of Southern California and on the advisory boards of Clean Venture and Orchestra Nova. He is also Chairman and former Secretary/Treasurer of the California Center for Sustainable Energy. He holds a B.A. in business administration from San Diego State University and a bachelor of business administration degree from National University. (His views may or may not reflect the views of organizations he is engaged with.)

Donna Tisdale

Donna is a property owner and advocate for East County residents, who are both sustainability-minded but also concerned about the unexpected impact of utility scale renewables on the residents and land of East County.

Image Credit: The Reader, Howie Rosen. 2013

Lane Sharman

Lane Sharman has enjoyed a career as a investor in many well known companies. Today Lane leads the San Diego Energy District, which advocates for community choice aggregation (CCA) in San Diego. Lane will update us on the status of the CCA, and what must be done in order to establish a CCA in San Diego.

(More Panelists To Be Announced)

----------------

Obama Climate Plan Reduces Emissions, Embraces Natural Gas

2013-06-25T10:02:00.002-07:00

Cross-posted from Grist. Here are some major elements of the White House Climate Plan.
_________________________________

Obama’s climate plan in 3 easy bullet points (and a few sub-bullet points)

By Lisa Hymas

Shutterstock

Wait, how many bullet points was that?

Have you cared about the climate since before it was hot? Do you enjoy watching poor-quality live streaming video? Do you appreciate platitudes about how we must act to save our children?

If you answered yes to all three of those questions, then you’re the target audience for President Obama’s climate change speech today. Watch it at 1:35 p.m. ET at WhiteHouse.gov.

For those who don’t enjoy suffering through buffering, we have assembled here the highlights of the president’s climate plan in advance.

Congress isn’t going to play along, obviously, so Obama’s plan consists of executive actions his administration can take on its own. Even some of these could be blocked by Congress through budgetary moves, and others could be blocked by courts. But he’s at least going to give them a try.

The big takeaway: Obama will crack down on coal-fired power plants, not just new ones but existing ones as well. Finally, the long-awaited “war on coal”! We’ll have to wait a while to find out how aggressively it’ll be waged — the EPA needs to actually write its regulations. Still, this is big news for climate hawks, the critical regulatory step we’ve been waiting for. (One sign that it matters: Coal stocks plummeted on Monday.)

The plan’s three main goals:

Cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions
Prepare the U.S. for the climate change that’s already happening
Lead international climate efforts

The goals within goals:

1. Cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions

Clamp down on CO2 emissions from power plants.
Spread renewables far and wide — utility-scale projects on public lands, solar on public housing, renewable projects on military bases, renewable electricity powering federal facilities.
Make lots of things more energy efficient – appliances, big vehicles, federal buildings, multifamily housing, mortgages.
Promote development of cleaner technologies — biofuels, advanced batteries, fuel cells, “advanced fossil energy projects” (scare quotes mine).
Upgrade the power grid.
Cut emissions of non-carbon greenhouse gases, like HFCsand methane.
Protect and restore forests, which sequester carbon.

2. Prepare the U.S. for the climate change that’s already here or already unavoidable

Help communities make their infrastructure and buildings more resilient.
Help create “sustainable and resilient hospitals” that can deal with climate-related health problems and meet needs during disasters.
Help farmers and ranchers adapt to drought and long-term climate shifts.
Plan to manage drought, wildfire, and floods.

3. Lead international efforts to fight and prepare for climate change

Work via the U.N. treaty process.
Pursue bilateral initiatives with China, India, and other big emitters.
Push to phase out fossil fuel subsidies.
Stop funding new coal plants overseas, and help other countries switch to anything but coal, even if that means natural gas or nuclear power.

There’s more where that came from — 21 pages worth, to be exact. If you want more details and more bullet points, read the whole Climate Action Plan [PDF] — or the two-page fact sheet [PDF].

Here’s what you won’t find in the plan: The word “Keystone”; that decision is still months away. Anything about curbing the U.S. oil drilling boom; it will keep booming. Anything about curbing the U.S. natural-gas fracking boom; expect that to keep booming too.

Even before Obama’s climate plan was out, congressional Republicans were bashing it. Expect a lot more bashing in the days, months, and years to come.

See also: No-drama Obama unveils series of modest, sensible steps on climate change

Green Experts Academy Forum Presents New San Diego Green Leaders, German Solar Miracle and Green Career Strategies on May 7th, 2013

2013-04-30T13:40:00.001-07:00

4/30/13 11:22 AM

social media news release

Green Experts Academy Forum

Presents New San Diego Green

Leaders, German Solar Miracle and

Green Career Strategies on May 7th,

2013

(San Diego, April 30th 2013) How does San Diego rapidly get to 100 % renewable energy utilization, and what

best practices can we learn from Germany and other global solar leaders? How can

you succeed in creating and advancing on a Green career path? On May 7th,

5:30PM, Join New San Diego Green Leaders including Supervisor Dave Roberts, San

Diego Unified School Board Vice President Kevin Beiser, Special Guest Peter Vogel,

Executive Vice President, Wirsol Solar, Canada, and Green Careers

Recruiter/Branch Manager Scott Gayes, Adecco San Diego. Moderator: Prof.

Kathleen Connell, Founder of Green Experts Academy. Ticket includes free Cinco De

Mayo Week light dinner, free parking and event materials. $22.09 per ticket in advance,

$25 at the door. 5:30PM-9:00PM. Venue Host, Cricket Communications, Inc. 5887 Copley

Drive, San Diego CA 92111 Registration: http://sdgreenleaders.eventbrite.com

More Information

A new study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) puts some hard

numbers to the benefits realized when U.S. cities streamline their solar PV permitting

processes. Germany's residential solar adoption is attributed to friendly policies and

incentives, but also friendly permitting processes. Meanwhile, in the U.S., "soft" costs

amount for more than half of the installed price for residential solar PV systems in the US.

Various studies have pointed out the results: Customer acquisition costs are ten times

higher in the U.S. vs. Germany.

Many San Diegans are excited about a future powered by 100% renewable energy. San

Diego policy makers will discuss this prospect. The forum will also consider the best

practices from the global solar leader, Germany, to determine what lessons can be

applied to sunny San Diego.

New studies also show that the Green economy continues to grow in California, and

many career seekers want to participate. Green Experts Academy welcomes a top local

recruiter to discuss how to search for a green job, engage recruiters, and the Art of The

Ask in business.

Main Press Contact

Kathleen Connell

CEO, Green Experts Academy

858-361-3297

kconnell@thecwgroup.com

"Adopting best practices from a global solar leader like cloudy Germany only

makes sense for sunny San Diego. Solar adoption is one of the fastest

ways to grow the green economy, clean energy jobs and reduce

greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. It is a question of political will. The

roadmap now exists. San Diego can become the solar capitol of the US."

Prof. Kathleen Connell, Founder of Green Experts Academy

Company information

Green Experts Academy is a project of the Connell Whittaker Group LLC (CWG

LLC) is a proven public policy, strategy, business innovation, management,

strategic communications, education & advocacy consulting group. CWG LLC

works in the sustainability, space/aerospace, wireless and commercial real estate

sectors.

Green Experts Academy offers empowering seminars, workshops and products for

the new Green citizen, expert, career seeker, entrepreneur, public official and

anyone seeking a Green economy and Green policy to reverse climate change.

See more at http://greenexpertsacademyglobal.eventbrite.com

CWG LLC is known for being thought-leaders and innovators for NASA and other

government agencies at the local, state, and federal levels. CWG LLC also leads

and advises non-profit and private sector entities. CWG LLC has generated

pioneering work in many cutting-edge research and technology-based

organizations. Their work has resulted in groundbreaking new programs and

billions of dollars of revenue, economic development, grants, financing and many

benefits to society.

CWG LLC also presents award-winning strategic events that make innovation

possible by creating community, government and business leverage via learning,

engaging, connecting and transforming our world.

Professor Kathleen Connell, Principal of CWG LLC, has led and managed major

initiatives with Congressional partners, the Governors of states around the nation,

NASA, the private sector and NGO sector.

Kathleen works today in San Diego, CA as an entrepreneur, educator, and public

policy expert. Contact CWG LLC at kconnell@thecwgroup.com

_______________________

How The Government Is Promoting Green Energy

2013-04-17T14:34:00.001-07:00

by Guest Blogger
April 17, 2013

How the Government Is Promoting Green Energy

The U.S. government has had an active role in energy for decades. In fact, the Department of Energy was created in 1977. Since that time, the government has worked to research, fund and create energy efficiency. With the Obama administration's goal of doubling U.S. renewable energy production, the government has taken another big step up to ensure that happens. The following include just a few of the ways the government has affected the green energy industry.

Funding renewable energy projects

Across the United States, the government financially supports and develops a number of renewable energy projects. In 2009 alone, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded grants to 12 renewable energy projects, largely to create wind farms. Together, these projects should produce 840 megawatts of electricity. That's enough energy to power approximately 672,000 homes! In addition, these renewable energy projects, along with others since, are creating thousands of good quality jobs.

Energy research

The U.S. Department of Energy operates the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which is dedicated to finding creative green solutions to the way the world uses energy. The NREL's main focus is to research and develop renewable energy and energy efficiency. Besides seeking to solve energy challenges, the lab also operates sustainably. Each of the lab's buildings are LEED certified. In addition, NREL runs the National Wind Technology Center in Colorado.

ENERGY STAR

In 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established the ENERGY STAR program in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gases and promote energy efficiency. Since its inception, ENERGY STAR has been the standard for energy-efficient appliances. Businesses, organizations and residential consumers have invested in these products, which has boosted the economy and created jobs.

Energy improvements

In 1992, the government changed the mandated regulations for new showerheads. At the time, showerheads had flow rates of around 5.5 gallons of water per minute, which caused a lot of water waste. The new regulations made way for low-flow options which could use no more than 2.5 gallons of water a minute, cutting water waste in half. Another example happened a few years ago when the government required incandescent light bulbs to lower wattage by 30%. While incandescent bulbs are not the most eco-friendly option, they are inexpensive. The government's decision to lower the wattage is a means to make the lower priced bulbs a more energy-efficient option.

Rebate programs

For residential consumers, the government offers a variety of tax incentives and rebates for energy-efficient improvements. This includes new roofing, water heaters, insulation, solar energy systems and small wind turbines to name a few.

Deregulation

A handful of states, such as Texas, have deregulated their energy markets to allow residents the opportunity to choose their own retail energy supplier. These suppliers bring new energy rates and plan options that include green energy. Right now, green energy is purchased through renewable energy credits, which allow consumers to purchase units of green energy to replace brown energy on the power grid. With some green energy suppliers, consumers can offset 100 percent of their energy consumption. A quick search on the Internet, such as Powderly Reliant information, may yield more specific information about the plans and rate options available in your area.

German Rooftop Solar: The New Decentralized Laptop of Energy?

2013-04-05T09:52:00.001-07:00

Re-posted from Mother Jones.

Germany Doesn't Get Much Sun. How Did It Become a Leader in Solar Energy?
Germany’s little-guy suppliers are destabilizing big power companies.
By Andrew Curry on Mon. April 1, 2013 12:49 PM PDT

A solar panel in Munich, Germany. Joachim S. Müller/Flickr
This story first appeared in Slate and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

It's been a long, dark winter in Germany. In fact, there hasn't been this little sun since people started tracking such things back in the early 1950s. Easter is around the corner, and the streets of Berlin are still covered in ice and snow. But spring will come, and when the snow finally melts, it will reveal the glossy black sheen of photovoltaic solar panels glinting from the North Sea to the Bavarian Alps.

Solar panels line Germany's residential rooftops and top its low-slung barns. They sprout in orderly rows along train tracks and cover hills of coal mine tailings in what used to be East Germany. Old Soviet military bases, too polluted to use for anything else, have been turned into solar installations.

Twenty-two percent of Germany's power is generated with renewables. Solar provides close to a quarter of that. The southern German state of Bavaria, population 12.5 million, has three photovoltaic panels per resident, which adds up to more installed solar capacity than in the entire United States.

With a long history of coal mining and heavy industry and the aforementioned winter gloom, Germany is not the country you'd naturally think of as a solar power. And yet a combination of canny regulation and widespread public support for renewables has made Germany an unlikely leader in the global green-power movement—and created a groundswell of small-scale power generation that could upend the dominance of traditional power companies.

Twenty years ago, it was clear solar power wasn't going to get anywhere by itself. Photovoltaic panels were expensive and inefficient. Even solar systems designed to heat water, a far less technologically tricky task, were bad buys on the open market. Producing electricity from sunlight costs 10 times more than generating power using coal or nuclear energy. "The early systems might as well have been made out of gold," says David Wedepohl, a spokesman for Germany's Solar Industry Association.

In 1991, German politicians from across the political spectrum quietly passed the Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz (renewable energy law), or EEG. It was a little-heralded measure with long-lasting consequences.

The law guaranteed small hydroelectric power generators—mostly in Bavaria, a politically conservative area I like to think of as the Texas of Germany—a market for their electricity. The EEG required utility companies to plug all renewable power producers, down to the smallest rooftop solar panel, into the national grid and buy their power at a fixed, slightly above-market rate that guaranteed a modest return over the long term. The prices were supposed to balance out the hidden costs of conventional power, from pollution to decades of coal subsidies.

Investors began to approach solar and wind power as long-term investments, knowing there was a guaranteed future for renewable energy and a commitment to connecting it to the grid. Paperwork for renewables was streamlined—a big move in bureaucracy-loving Germany. The country invested billions in renewables research in the 1990s, and German reunification meant lots of money for energy development projects in the former East.

Now German companies lead the world in solar research and technology. The handful of companies that make inverters, the devices that reverse the flow of electricity and feed power from rooftop solar panels back into national grids, are almost all German. On a sunny day last May, Germany produced 22 gigawatts of energy from the sun—half of the world's total and the equivalent of 20 nuclear power plants.

The "feed-in" laws and subsidies pushed innovation to the point where solar panels are cheap enough to compete on the open market in Germany and elsewhere. The price for solar panels has fallen 66 percent since 2006, and the cost of solar-generated power may be competitive with coal in a few years, according to a study by UBS. Already, solar projects are thriving in places like India and Italy despite a lack of government subsidies or support, and a recent Deutsche Bank report predicted "grid parity" in Bavaria by next year.

You might think Germany would be smug about all its solar success. But, as usual, folks here are full of doubts. Part of the reason solar panels are getting cheaper is competition from China, which is threatening to push more expensive German producers out of business. Last year, German conservatives tried to end solar subsidies entirely, arguing that plummeting prices were encouraging too many people to install solar panels. They said that the subsidies come at the expense of city dwellers without solar-ready roofs, low-income electricity consumers, and investments in other forms of renewable energy. Even environmentalists have begun to grumble about the solar boom, which sucks up half of Germany's funding for renewables but provides just 20 percent of green power.

The proliferation of privately owned solar has large power companies in Germany worried. For two decades, they've been forced to facilitate and finance their competition, helping turn customers into producers. Soon, rooftop solar and other small-scale, locally owned renewables could upset the market for coal and nuclear power.

Here's why that's a problem: Renewable energy sources like wind and solar generate power intermittently, dependent on the sun or fickle breezes. Until researchers can find a way to store energy at a large scale, coal and nuclear plants—which can't simply be switched on and off at will—must be kept running to guarantee a steady stream of electricity when the sun isn't shining.

That means overproduction of power during daylight hours, as the country's ample solar energy floods onto the grid along with electricity produced by power plants. Power companies traditionally charge more during the day, when offices are full and manufacturing plants are in full swing, so the glut of daytime solar power reduces their profit. The proliferation of solar panels on homes also takes high-margin residential customers off the grid at peak hours. And the energy surplus has driven prices for traditional coal and nuclear power down, even as renewables are still guaranteed more-than-competitive rates. As power companies try to pass the costs to consumers in the form of higher bills, that just encourages more people to put solar panels on their roofs.

Already, Germany's power companies are closing power plants and scrapping plans for new ones. Germany had a national freak-out after the Fukushima disaster and decided to abolish nuclear power by 2023. Meanwhile, energy prices continue to sink, and solar installation continues to grow. By decentralizing power generation, the renewables boom could do to the power industry what the Internet did to the media: Put power in the hands of the little guy, and force power companies to rethink how they do business. As soon as the sun comes out, that is.

San Diego's New Green Leaders: The Road to 100% Renewables

2013-03-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

Save The Date....May 7th, 2013! Green Experts Academy agenda and more information coming soon. Join Green Experts Academy on Facebook and get the latest updates on our stellar forums and programs. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Experts-Academy/189520337790638?ref=hl

Our Venue Host: Cricket Communications, Inc. San Diego, California

CAN SAN DIEGO GROW AMERICA’S FINEST GREEN REGION OVER THE NEXT DECADE? (Mayor Filner)

2013-01-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

Bob Filner's Moonshot?

Moonshot for Green Job Creation Within Reach of New San Diego Leaders, Community (East County Magazine Op-Ed)

By Kathleen Connell

December 8, 2012 (San Diego)--As the post-election celebrations end and 2013 approaches, new leaders have been elected in San Diego in what many consider a historic moment in the region. At the same time, San Diegans, the nation, and the globe are struggling to come out of a recession so deep, it is often referred to as the second Great Depression. Meanwhile profound challenges - climate change and Hurricane Sandy - have swept through the East Coast and the consciousness of Americans as Sandy pushed the detritus of climate denial aside in its terrible force, damage and cost.

Climate is being driven to alarming new thresholds that will impact San Diego. Treehugger reports, “Let there be no doubt that the poles are melting more quickly now than they have in the past: New researchsupported by NASA and the European Space Agency shows that the combined rate of melting of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica is increasing, with melting happening now at three times the rate it did in the 1990s.”

This era is not unlike a previous moment in our history when a new President, John F. Kennedy, took office on the heels of a recession and a seemingly overwhelming threat from the launch of the Russian satellite, Sputnik. Kennedy needed to both re-grow America’s economy and deal with a looming challenge that no one had ever faced before. His response was audacious. Kennedy directed government and called upon America to land a human on the moon and to do so in 10 years. NASA was funded, a generation was inspired by space exploration, and many sought science and engineering degrees. Only the Panama Canal and the wartime Manhattan Project were equivalent in scope to the new endeavor that succeeded as The Apollo Program. The deadline was met in 1969 when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon.

Leadership, a bold plan, an engaged innovative community, a need and intention to create jobs and a deadline may again work on the local level in San Diego, where new Green leaders have taken the reigns at the city, county, state and national levels. Mayor Bob Filner, City Council President Todd Gloria, County Supervisor Dave Roberts, Congressional representatives Susan Davis and Scott Peters are all in office. In addition, California, with the launch of cap and trade, Governor Jerry Brown, and President Obama are all pushing the envelope in search of increasing sustainable job creation and climate policy.

This alignment of elected sustainability-friendly leaders is supported by a new constituency of environmental activists, a robust cleantech and environmental non-profit sector. The potential it brings to usher in a new era in the San Diego/Tijuana region is indeed historic. Today’s Sputnik equivalent is climate change, drought, and sea level rise, all of which are high-risk realities in the present and near term in our region. And, it’s not just a partisan moment, either. In the 2012 election cycle, many Republican candidates stepped up to tout their green credentials, and are leading different initiatives in the region. As newly elected GovernorJay Inslee (D-WA), co-author of “Apollo’s Fire” says: “Clean energy is the best engine for job creation.”

What will be needed to drive up new Green jobs are an Apollo style vision and plan, and collaboration, plus transparency and the ability to engage the community in a participatory way. Here are 10 lessons from the first Moonshot that can guide San Diego to global leadership in green job creation:

1) Establish a bold vision.

Mayor Filner has already committed to creating an office in Tijuana, signaling a new era of international and cross-border collaboration. Greening our region in 10 years, and using the resources on both sides of the border, is a game-changing perspective and a challenging goal, which will marshal resources and in turn create jobs both north and south of the I-8 and into the Tijuana region. What is not sustainable is Greening San Diego, but allowing Tijuana to flounder.

2) Set a time frame for the implementation of big policy goals.

Study after study has shown that Green policy (like AB 32) encourages investment and attracts clean and green companies and innovators. Converting the region by enabling solar on every roof, growing 1,000 new cleantech companies and hardening our coasts against sea level rise within 10 years will drive job creation. Likewise, aggressively implementing state programs like Cap and Trade, and PACE lets Sacramento know San Diego is a reliable player and wants a role in leading the state in sustainability and job creation.

3) Take a Systems-of-Systems approach.

Bold goals and massive transformations require big plans, and the engagement of everyone. Just as Mayor Filner has called for bringing the neighborhoods to the policy table, neighborhood leaders and community members can help marshal neighborhood resources and engagement. Managers and officials across jurisdictions and the agencies they fund or direct must also be brought together to work on their piece of the regional goals set in place.

4) Grow jobs across locales.

North, South, and East County should all benefit from green jobs’ Apollo-like effort in San Diego. County Supervisor Dave Roberts recently tweeted that he would like to create a broad coalition to install hundreds of megawatts of solar in the region. A coalition that cuts across stovepipes and turf will both innovate and succeed.

5) Invite the world to participate in San Diego’s Green transformation.

Just as JFK let the globe know that NASA would be tasked to put people on the moon, San Diego can openly step forward and invite other cities and counties to convene here for a global summit of local leaders on sustainability and the green economy. Such an event at our own convention center can establish our national leadership and create a space for dialogue and exchange of best practices.

The general public can be engaged too, particularly as the Balboa Park centennial approaches. This author talked with Mayor Sanders’ office about an annual tourism expo, which is envisioned as the Paris Air Show of Greendom. This builds on our core tourism industry, and further enhances the San Diego America’s Finest Green Regional brand.

6) Use national resources, and borrow international best practices.

San Diego has many of the resources needed for success in this endeavor, but what is missing is a national laboratory. Our Congressional delegation can opt to create a campaign to bring a Department of Energy (DOE) lab to the region. An alternative is to create a sustainability campus, which houses nodes from DOE, NASA, Department of Transportation (DOT) and other Federal agencies and outposts from out-of-state research entities like MIT. These nodes can in turn help create more R&D in the region, as well as spin out clean and green companies. In turn, investors like to locate where the innovation occurs, creating a virtuous cycle of locally-grown job creation and entrepreneurship.

7) Green the public commons.

During the campaign, Mayor Filner committed to putting solar on public buildings. San Diego City Council leader Todd Gloria has made a commitment to infrastructure investments. Clearly, sustainable materials and best practices should be required in new infrastructure projects.

8) Be self-sufficient, and live off the land.

NASA’s spacecraft, out of necessity, had to be self-sufficient in terms of water, food, air, and energy in order to operate in space for long duration missions. San Diego can follow the same principle and infill urban vertical gardens and intensify the quest to recycle water, so that we can self sufficiently use less resources and manage growth based on realistic available reservoirs of life-supporting materials and transit.

9) Use solar, not dirty or dangerous energy.

Movements to quash proposed gas plants, and shutter San Onofre are well underway and have gained community support, which will not go away. Soiling our own energy pathways with dirty and dangerous energy no longer makes sense in the 21^st century, as climate change accelerates. Other countries, like Germany, are swapping nuclear energy for solar, and we must compete or be left behind.

10) Likewise, as East County Magazine has reported.

Hasty installation of wind turbines in certain East County locations is causing health and quality of life issues. While wind energy might be appropriate in other locations, the current ones need review and re-siting if the negative impacts are too onerous.

Finally, to sustain life in paradise, follow the water and open competition to community choice aggregation. Mayor Filner has talked about a fusion economy of Green and Blue technologies into a new “Aqua Economy” for San Diego. Initial assessments done by this author and colleagues show a strong interest by major players in the idea of new marine-based sustainability initiatives and technologies.

Also, the proposed San Diego Energy District allows utility customers to choose renewable energy. Newly elected officials should do everything they can to support community choice and competition.

Where will the money come from? Public investment that supports public policy is needed. Mayor Filner may have shown one way to fund a bold refashioning of our economy while he served in Congress. Then Congressman Filner and his colleagues proposed the Clean Energy Victory Bonds Act of 2012. A comparable San Diego Clean Energy Victory Bond would allow investors to choose San Diego bonds, which are less risky that other municipal offerings where dirty energy is in the economic base.

A comprehensive green economy initiative, as outlined above, is one in which San Diego can be proud. After all, in addition to all the benefits to our planet, region, and City, a green job is dignified work with both meaning and a paycheck, just as going to the moon created prosperity and inspired a generation. Ultimately, San Diego could emerge as an international sustainability player with all the benefits that would come to our region for generations to come.
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Kathleen Connell, a former NASA executive, is a contributor to East County Magazine, and is a green economy educator, entrepreneur and public policy expert.

Bob Filner, Scott Peters, Dave Roberts, Other Candidates Speak On San Diego Green Policy. October 4th, 2012

2012-09-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

San Diego Candidates Green Policy Forum 2012 gathers candidates for local, state, and national office on October 4th, 2012, to hear their positions on strategic issues in Green policy. Join Mayoral Candidate Bob Filner, Congressional candidate Scott Peters, County Supervisor candidate Dave Roberts, State Assembly candidates Dr. Shirley Weber, RJ Hernandez and Pat Hurley. Reserve your seat now for October 4th, and be a part of a dynamic night of civic discussion on the sustainable and economic future of San Diego. $20 ticket includes meal, beverages, easy parking and proceedings Cricket Communications, Inc is our Venue Sponsor. Additional candidates will be announced as they confirm. Register now, and please Share or Like. http://sdforum2012.eventbrite.com

Can Clean Energy Strike Back Against the Growing Smear Campaign?

2012-08-04T11:26:00.001-07:00

August 4, 2012

I am re-posting this story from Climate Progress. Clearly, killing off the Green economy is a top priority for Big Oil supporters. The outcome of this battle will determine the future of civilization, as the stakes are larger than any faced by humanity during our time on the planet. The same goes for the US economy, as the

Green economy and renewable energy is the largest growth opportunity of this era. transformation of the energy base is a tremendous job and new venture engine-if we can get the vested carbon interests out of the way. California is leading the way, with the implementation of AB 32. Already, this policy decision has resulted in many hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and over $1 Trillion in new investment in the Golden State.

- Kathleen Connell

_________________

Can Clean Energy Strike Back Against The Growing Smear Campaign?

By Stephen Lacey on Aug 3, 2012 at 3:33 pm

There has been a noticeable shift within the clean energy industry over the last few months as the election season brings a fresh round of attacks.

From 2005 to 2008, advocates racked up an impressive array of policy support on the local and state levels due to strong bipartisan support. Many people believed that local momentum would carry forward on the national level and provide the catalyst for a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill after President Obama came into office in 2009.

Of course, it wasn’t enough. And the defeat of the climate bill in 2010 marked the beginning of an intensifying campaign against renewable energy. Now, with the Republican party using Solyndra as the center of its messaging strategy, that campaign has become a central theme of the 2012 election.

Renewable energy groups have come to grips with this reality and are adapting their messaging strategies accordingly. Consider this recent email, sent by Adam Browning of the Vote Solar Initiative, on the industry’s need to counter disinformation:

When people ask: What keeps you up at night? I tell them this: There’s an unholy amount of money being spent to attack renewables right now — an unprecedented blitz of solar slander, renewable-mongering and clean energy kvetching that could set policy efforts back decades.
Consider: Of the negative advertising in April of this this election cycle, 81% have targeted renewable energy for attack. And when you factor that this presidential election is shaping up to be the most expensive in history, with experts estimating spending in the range of $6 billion dollars, well, we got trouble.

Since its founding, The Vote Solar Initiative has been all about helping states and municipalities understand the value of solar. They’ve had to deal with their fair share of misinformation over the years, but they’ve made extraordinarily impressive bipartisan progress on getting better regulatory standards and support mechanisms for solar in place.

But today, with organizations like Americans for Tax Reform, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Manhattan Institute, and a growing army of Agenda 21 conspiracy theorists (supported by the Republican National Committee) all working to rhetorically smear renewables or take them down on the local level, a lot more people are waking up to the threat.

For sure, groups like Vote Solar want to maintain their non-partisan stance. They’ve worked in the bluest of the blue states and the reddest of the red states, communicating with regulators, policymakers and business owners about the benefits of solar. But they recognize that the political hits are going to pile up against them this election season. That’s a fact.

Consider these trends:

American Energy Alliance, Americans for Prosperity, American Future Fund, and Crossroads GPS – the top outside interest group spenders – have spent a total $24.9 million on deceptive ads, many of them energy-related, the Annenberg Public Policy Center found.
The Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity has devoted more than 90 percent of its ad spending to energy ads. Two of these ads pushed the patently false claim, roundly rejected by fact-checkers, regarding clean energy jobs. Politico just reported the Koch-backed organizations plan to spend $400 million ahead of the 2012 election, with a large amount of that money likely going toward energy issues.
85 percent of the dollars spent on presidential ads by four top-spending third-party groups were for ads with at least one claim ruled deceptive by fact-checkers.
One in four of the dollars spent on TV ads has funded mostly false advertising mentioning energy. This equals the amount of spending on health care ads, according to Kantar Media.

In other words, hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent — virtually overnight — on straight-up lies designed to unravel the last decade of progress in renewable energy.

And just yesterday, the Sierra club issued a report detailing the flow of money from fossil fuel interests to organizations and individuals engaging in the campaign to take down renewable energy. The report outlines most of what we’ve been reporting on this website for the last year, but it’s a solid comprehensive overview of the players involved.

The report outlines political donations, industry dollars funding anti-renewable think tanks, and the relationship between local and national groups.

It’s still unclear how finely coordinated many of the current attacks are, particularly between local and national groups. However, it’s perfectly clear that organizations opposed to renewable energy — either for short-term political gain or long-term business reasons — are funneling hundreds of millions of dollars into the current smear campaign against the industry. There’s no refuting that it’s underway and it’s intensifying.

The Sierra Club summed up the attacks this way:

It is a testament to the success and rapid growth of clean-energy resources that they are now regarded as enough of a threat to draw fire from some of the largest, most powerful corporations on the planet. But with this rising status, there comes a heightened degree of difficulty that the renewable and efficiency companies — as well as advocates for their products as an environmental solution — must both recognize and contend with. The Koch brothers, Exxon Mobil, Peabody Energy, and others are playing for keeps. They have unlimited resources and we have documented that they are committing them to undermining clean energy. We clearly face a dog-eat-dog environment and must respond with as much vigor and aggressiveness as those who would see wind, solar, geothermal, and other technologies fade into the sunset — a product of a brief period in American economic history when the competitive environment was a friendly place for clean energy.
Ambitious efforts to change the political landscape to fit a certain set of interests are very unlikely to happen on a shoestring. Most of the activities described in this report have not taken place overnight, nor have they happened by accident. Hours of work and dedicated individuals have collaborated to build a meaningful opposition to renewable energy, whether through the previously discussed “think tanks,” “citizens groups,” or political contributions. These efforts have also required a significant amount of funding.

In order to combat this disinformation, many of the clean energy industry groups have banded together to create an Energy Fact Check website. It’s a great resource for keeping up with the growing list of deceptive or completely nonfactual claims. Unfortunately, it can’t match the Kochs, who can easily raise and spend $400 million in a few months.

But what’s potentially more valuable than money? Local businesses, entrepreneurs, and advocates sticking up for their industry. Look at what happened in New Jersey where Republican Governor Chris Christie — a man loved by the Kochs — expanded the state’s solar industry because it has been such an economic boost for small businesses. That happened because the New Jersey solar industry, along with the local utilities, were able to communicate the benefits of the technology. Local pragmatism beat out national politics.

In the medium and long-term, we know renewables, efficiency, and conservation will win the day — the need for distributed, low-carbon resources is far too environmentally and economically important. But that win isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to take some equally powerful push back from folks on the local level to counter the national smear campaign.

____________________

Global Warming's Terrifying New Math

2012-07-20T12:32:00.001-07:00

I am cross-posting this important new Rolling Stone story by Bill McKibben. The case for the Green Economy grows ever more urgent, based on the new math of global warming.

By Bill McKibben

July 19, 2012 9:35 AM ET

If the pictures of those towering wildfires in Colorado haven't convinced you, or the size of your AC bill this summer, here are some hard numbers about climate change: June broke or tied 3,215 high-temperature records across the United States. That followed the warmest May on record for the Northern Hemisphere – the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th-century average, the odds of which occurring by simple chance were 3.7 x 10-99, a number considerably larger than the number of stars in the universe.
Meteorologists reported that this spring was the warmest ever recorded for our nation – in fact, it crushed the old record by so much that it represented the "largest temperature departure from average of any season on record." The same week, Saudi authorities reported that it had rained in Mecca despite a temperature of 109 degrees, the hottest downpour in the planet's history.

Lori Saldaña Gets It: Good Jobs, Tech Jobs, Green Jobs

2012-04-10T14:57:00.000-07:00

April 10, 2012
by Hon. Col. Kathleen Connell
San Diego, California
Past is often prelude in politics. Former Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, congressional candidate, has a career track record of creating, managing, teaching and providing San Diego with the best jobs available. See her website here to learn more about her jobs, high tech, and Green economy accomplishments. Lori has distinguished herself as a California Assemblywoman, career workforce development leader, and veteran's advocate.

I spent many years living in or flying in and out of Washington DC. I worked with elected officials in Congress, in the nation's state houses, federal agencies and state economic organizations. I often worked on high tech, economic development and education policy initiatives. From my experiences being on the ground in job creation efforts, I believe it is important to have a seasoned hand like Saldaña at the nation's job rudder right now.

This is an era of unparalleled change for humanity, as we transition from a carbon-based economy to clean energy. America's roads and bridges are old now, and require refurbishment. Our energy grid is obsolete. Renewing America's entire infrastructure is an effort akin to the World War II national mobilization, only much, much bigger. It is a job that the private sector can and will be an integral part of. But infrastructure is the role of government, as government retires the risk with public investment, paving the way for further private sector investments.

The lingering Great Recession and complicated economic recovery period, is no time to elect folks with steep learning curves. I know we need fresh, but wise leaders-already familiar regarding the intricacies of job creation and deliberation-in the US Congress. Lori already has that experience, as her terms in the California Assembly are a natural stepping-off point for work in the US House of Representatives.

California is, after all, like a nation. The World Bank states California is the 8th largest economy in the entire globe, despite the recession. She was, effectively, a key decision maker and manager of the California economy during her years in the Assembly. As Speaker pro Tempore, her responsibilities of leadership grew during her tenure. Achieving this post says her peers believed she could lead, on both sides of the aisle.

Image: Saldaña Swearing In As Speaker pro Tem.
East County Magazine

In contrast, having had his turn at the wheel in Washington, incumbent candidate Brian Bilbray has demonstrated he is not quite up to this historic task of job creation and support for working people, including women. Bilbray's record on jobs, clean energy, unemployment and small business-where the private sector new jobs are created- is a record of obstructionism. Common sense bills, that would have passed muster in the Reagan years got a "no" vote from Brian Bilbray. Brian voted with the right wing majority in the House. Falling in line will have it's rewards, when undisclosed campaign funds come his way in this election to bombard the media and web.

It is important to look at the legislative records of our candidates, above all. What are the outcomes of bills in Congress? Despite his affable demeanor, Bilbray's record is not so compassionate, or constructive. Consider his record:

According to the non-partisan independent watch dog group OpenCongress.org, job bills Bilbray has opposed in recent years include:
-The American Jobs Act
-Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
-The Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act
-The American Clean Energy and Security Act
-The Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act

Crisis Equals Opportunity

Further, if crisis equals opportunity, an opportunity for job creation is unfolding as a crisis in San Diego right now. As the campaign in the newly drawn 52nd congressional district heats up, so did the nearby San Onofre nuclear plant in northern San Diego. Radiation does not respect congressional district lines, and a failure there would be regionally catastrophic. Today this aging plant sits in darkness, as an investigation goes forward. The problems and radiation leak potential are connected to redesigns done in secret, without the knowledge of federal regulators. Many San Diegans want San Onofre to stay closed, and to switch to Green energy and a Green job explosion instead on a nuclear one. It is a question of political will, in my view.

We don't know the fate of San Onofre, but the opportunity to flood our energy base with renewable energy, a smart grid, and repairs of our aging infrastructure is here. In fact, it is a must. A new underclass of the permanently unemployed are in deep need of quality jobs. Returning veterans are coming home to a fragile, but promising, economic recovery. Saldaña notes that: "With growing concerns over safety at the San Onofre Nuclear Generation facility in San Diego County, it's becoming more clear: Americans need a safe, clean and modern power grid.
We have the technology and people to do this- but we need to invest in our infrastructure."

Why does all this matter in the long run? America and San Diego can't compete in the global economy with crumbling roads, bridges, schools, Fukushima-like unsafe nuclear power plants, and a carbon-based energy infrastructure. We need new infrastructure, and Green, smart, high tech jobs. That is the hallmark of a 21st century city and country.

Lori gets that. She always has. Lori Saldaña has spent a lifetime preparing and leading on jobs and economy issues. Her leadership is proven. No one can take that away from her in this hard fought congressional contest. Yes, experience matters. Now, more than ever, as we try to turn crisis into opportunity, we need the people-centered leadership of Lori Saldaña as our representative in Washington.

GreenBlue San Diego, April 5. Green Leaders Brief: Oceans, Water, Careers, Green Economy, Climate Seminar

2012-04-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Earth is The Blue Planet! The sustainable water, ocean economy and career arenas are growing fast in San Diego, and our GreenBlue Leaders are navigating the way forward. Leader Briefings: San Diego Council Member Sherri Lightner: "San Diegos' Comprehensive Water Policy and Our Economy". San Diego Port Commissioner Lee Burdick: "The New Climate Action Plan of The Port, Our Economy and The Future of The Working Waterfront". Carl Nettleton Founder, Open Oceans Global: Our Oceans Health, The Economy and The Future. Water and ocean careers expert Wendy Evers, Senior Director of Program Development, San Diego State University College of Extended Studies: "The Next Wave of Water Careers, The Water Economy, and Continuing Education". Dr. Oscar Romo, UN Delegate and Tijuana Estuary Watershed Coordinator for the State of California: Oceans, Water and Sustainability...and the Border Economy". Tim Ostrowski, VP, Business Development, Cricket Communications, Inc. and Executive Sponsor, Cricket Green Team. Hon. Col. Kathleen Connell, Former NASA Senior Executive/Senior Scientist, Policy Director, Congressional Advisor, and Green Experts Academy Founder, at the helm. Also welcoming Erin Martin, Associate Director, Marketing, Green Experts Academy.

This event is appropriate for Green experts, career seekers, ocean lovers and anyone who is concerned about water, conservation, climate and the economy in San Diego. Join us for Earth Month!

Tickets: Advance ticket discount price is $20 + $2.09 Eventbrite fee. Includes food, and free parking. Tickets are $30 (cash only) at the door, the day of the event, April 5th, 2012. Registration starts at 5:30pm, The program begins at 5:50pm SHARP, and ends at 9:15pm. Register now at http://greenbluesd.eventbrite.com

Please support our Venue Partner and Host Cricket Communications, Inc.

Celebrate April, Earth Month, With Us!

Hon. Col. Kathleen Connell, M.A

Founder, Green Experts Academy

Discover I Engage I Transform

From our media release:

(San Diego, March 19, 2012) "GreenBlue San Diego" kicks off Earth Month in San Diego, on April 5th, 2012, in honor of the Blue Planet, Earth. A distinguished group of regional Green leaders will brief on the next wave in the renewable sector, the sustainable oceans and water economy. Career experts will also discuss the growth of careers and job paths in this new and expanding area of the economy. Climate change is occurring, and the oceans are key to our lives and the future of the Blue Planet, Earth.

GreenBlue San Diego is presented by Green Experts Academy, produced by Hon. Col. Kathleen Connell. Kathleen is the Founder of Green Experts Academy, Principal of the Connell Whittaker Group LLC, and a former senior NASA executive. She was awarded the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal and during her career has been the Aerospace States Association Policy Director, and an Associate Director and Senior Scientist at Universities Space Research Association. She also served as the Congressional Advisor to the Director of Space Life Sciences at NASA Headquarters. Kathleen is one of the pioneering founders of the science of astrobiology, an earth, life and space sciences discipline, which seeks to understand the origin, nature and distribution of life in the universe and on earth.

GreenBlue San Diego is one of a continuing series of cutting-edge briefings for Green professionals and career seekers. The event is held at Cricket Communications Inc., in their LEED-certified headquarters. All event information and registration is available at http://greenbluesd.eventbrite.com

Green Experts Academy Leader Briefings Include:

• San Diego Council Member Sherri Lightner

• San Diego Port Commissioner Lee Burdick

• Dr. Carl Nettleton Founder, Open Oceans Global

• Water and ocean careers expert Wendy Evers, Senior Director of Program Development, San Diego State University College of Extended Studies.

• Dr. Oscar Romo, UN Delegate and Tijuana Estuary Watershed Coordinator for the State of California.

• Mr. Tim Ostrowski, VP, Business Development, Cricket Communications, Inc. and Executive Sponsor, Cricket Green Team.

• Hon. Col. Kathleen Connell, Former NASA Senior Executive/Senior Scientist, Policy Director, Congressional Advisor, and Green Experts Academy Founder, at the helm.

• BlueGreen San Diego Also welcomes Erin Martin, Associate Director, Marketing, Green Experts Academy.

Green Experts Academy leader Kathleen Connell states:

“ Our planet, our human economy, and our spiritual lives are sustained by the great unknown wilderness that is the ocean, along with water and the precious coasts. At the same time, Southern California needs sustainable sources of potable water, and increased water management in an era of climate change. Our invited experts are leading in this all-important arena.

San Diegans love the ocean, and we are a world destination for our beautiful beaches. It is time to understand and grow a sustainable water and ocean economy that serves all, and conserves our seas and waterways. And companion species. Coming out of the recession, many folks would like a career doing just that. As social entrepreneurs at Green Experts Academy, we are exploring the next frontier of marine opportunities on April 5. BlueGreen San Diego, is designed as a tribute to Earth Month and, as a service to the community. “

See More Information about Speakers and Topics Below:

Water is the new oil. Get ahead of the sustainability economy and career curve, with exciting overviews of this crucial and fast growing Green economy sector!

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Please Support our Media Partner Cali Bamboo Building Materials

Cali Bamboo Building Materials was formed in 2004. It was founded and is run by people who love the outdoors and share the commitment to protect it. Cali Bamboo currently donates 1% of its revenue to various environmental organizations and will only sell products that are sustainable and do not impact the planet negatively.

The Mission

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Learn more at http://www.calibamboo. com

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Discover The Future and Engage With Our GreenBlue Leaders

Carl Nettleton

"Our Oceans Health, Our Economy, and The
Future"

Carl is the founder of OpenOceans Global, the past president of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation – Pacific Region and the former founding executive director of the San Diego Oceans Foundation. In those positions he energetically worked with government agencies, educational organizations, and ocean interests to develop collaborations and consensus to resolve ocean issues. He operates Nettleton Strategies LLC, a consulting firm specializing in resolving complex public policy and business issues.

About Open Oceans Global

Open Oceans Global envisions a marine community aligned to help the people of the world visualize and understand ocean processes for the purpose of protecting, restoring and maintaining the ocean's environomental value and fully documenting the ocean's relationship to the changes in the worlds climate.

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More Sponsors and Partners! Please support these progressive companies...and THANK YOU FOR YOUR Support, Sponsors and Partners!

White Construction, Inc - General Building Contractor in San Diego

White Construction is a full-service general contractor located in North County San Diego, specializing in tenant improvements. Since our inception in 1983 we have built over 3,000 commercial projects throughout Southern California.

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San Diego City Council Member, Honorable Sherri Lightner

"San Diego's Comprehensive Water Policy and Our Economy"

Since taking office in 2008, Councilmember Sherri Lightner has served the communities of District 1, balancing fiscal responsibility with preserving public safety and neighborhood services. Sherri has quickly become known on the Council for her independence from special interests, her knowledge of City issues and policies, and her willingness to ask tough, intelligent questions in fighting for San Diego taxpayers.

She has brought the neighborhood's voice to City Hall and has responded to the community's needs by providing excellent constituent services, ranging from repaving 22 miles of District 1 streets to helping University City residents to recover from the jet crash, securing funding to bring senior transportation to Carmel Valley, implementing a Community Canyon Fire Watch Program in Rancho Peñasquitos, and organizing the new La Jolla Village Merchants Association.

Prior to her election to the City Council, Sherri was a tireless and effective community volunteer and leader, serving on multiple community planning organizations and committees. She has served as President of both the La Jolla Town Council and La Jolla Shores Association, and as Secretary of the La Jolla Community Planning Association.

Through her work in the community, Sherri has become an expert in the planning and development process, which she currently applies to her role as Chair of the Council Committee on Land Use and Housing, where she is working to streamline regulations for community gardens, address homelessness, and provide incentives for sustainable building.

In addition, Sherri has demonstrated her strong commitment to preserving our coastal and canyon environments, creating a sustainable future through her work on the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve Task Force and San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority, and developing a comprehensive water policy for the City of San Diego.

Sherri was born in Western Pennsylvania but moved with her family to San Diego while in grade school. After attending public school in San Diego, she graduated from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), first with a B.A. in both Mathematics and Sociology and later with an M.S. in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences. She is a licensed Professional Mechanical Engineer.

Sherri worked in private industry for 23 years, including 18 years at General Atomics and 5 years at Rohr Industries. After "retiring" from the engineering profession 13 years ago, she formed a small consulting business with her husband, Bruce. Sherri and Bruce have owned and lived in the same home in Council District 1 (in La Jolla Shores) for over 19 years where they raised their family. Before moving to La Jolla, the Lightners were homeowners and residents of Scripps Ranch for 17 years.

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Thanks to Lifework/ our Green T-shirt Print company.

Going green has never looked so good...

Earth-friendly T-Shirt Options: In addition to our standard options, we also offer (& advocate) one of the industry’s largest variety of earth-friendly apparel selections (because ‘green’ doesn’t have to mean boring) made using organic cotton, recycled polyester, bamboo, hemp, & custom blends… Even tees made from Coke bottles!

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Wendy Evers, Senior Director, San Diego State Unversity College of Continuing Studies

"The Next Wave of Water Careers, The Water Economy in San Diego, and Continuing Education"

Wendy Evers job focus is to look at the larger "30,000 foot level" in forecasting new and emerging industries in San Diego and across the country. She creates new industry programs for careers based on business and workforce needs. Currently she is developing professional certificates in the Green Industry for the future green job force. She has developed four Professional Certificates in Green Building Construction, Residential and Commercial Sustainable Practices, Green Energy Management, and the Green Home Performance Contractor with BPI Certification. She has also written and received ARRA Stimulus grant funds for "education to career" programs in Green and Allied Healthcare, and developed educational franchise partnerships with multiple businesses and with Universities across the U.S. Accomplishments include: past-president of North County Personnel Association (NCPA), a member of SHRM, and serving on the WIB and WAC council for San Diego Workforce Partnership.

Wendy and her team have just launched a water careers program, after extensive research on the sector. She will discuss their findings and reccommend strategties and career paths, and internships that are growing fast!

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Commissioner Lee Burdick, Port of San Diego

"The New Climate Action Plan of the Port, The Economy, and the Future of the Working Waterfront in San Diego"

San Diego Magazine declared Lee is one of the "50 People to Watch" in San Diego.

Lee Burdick was appointed on June 8, 2009 by the San Diego City Council to represent the city on the Board of Port Commissioners. Commissioner Burdick served as director of government affairs and general counsel for Jimsair Aviation Services. Active in civic affairs, she currently serves as the Executive Director of the California Health Care Coalition. She has served on the board of directors for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, was chair of the Chamber of Commerce Working Group on the City of San Diego General Plan Update, chair of the Chamber of Commerce Legal Committee and chair of the Chamber of Commerce Legislative Committee. She is a past member of the National Aviation Transportation Association Airports Committee, the board of directors and chair of Program Committee for the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and is a current member of the working group on the County of San Diego's General Plan Update.

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Oscar Romo, United Nations Diplomat; Professor UCSD, Government Advisor

Watershed Coordinator, Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve

"Ocean, Rivers, Water, Sustainability... and the 21st Century Border Economy"

The California College of the Arts states about Dr. Romo:

"The integrity of the Tijuana River Estuary and its associated ecosystems in Imperial Beach, California, has been threatened for decades by uncontrolled loads of trash, waste-water, and sediment flows from unplanned and recurring illegal acts of urbanization in the coastal canyons of Tijuana, Mexico. Through scientific research, innovative techniques, and the creation of regional and cross-border policies, Professor Romo has developed revalorization methods to build source control structures and other environmental friendly solutions utilizing trash as the instrument of choice. This system-design approach provides local communities with jobs and otherwise unattainable public services, and prevents negative impacts to these wetlands of international importance."

About Dr. Romo

Oscar Romo, Ph.D., is a former United Nations diplomat and now the watershed coordinator at the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve and lecturer at the UCSD Urban Studies and Planning Program. Romo serves as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development; participates as a co-chair of the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission Citizens Forum, the U.S. EPA Border 2012 Water Task Force and the Tijuana River Recovery Team Bi-national Task Force.

In Mexico, Romo is a member of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, Baja California Task Force; the City of Tijuana Urban Planning and Ecology SubCommittee; and serves as projects coordinator for the Los Laureles Watershed Council. He is also an advisor to the Baja California State Assemby. On April 2007, Romo was recognized as one of the Environmentalists of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and in 2009 received the Visionary Award from the Urban Land Institute.

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GREENBLUE NEW WAVE SPOTLIGHT: Ms. Erin Martin, Associate Marketing Director, Green Experts Academy

As a May 2011 graduate from the University of California, Berkeley Erin earned a B.S. in Society & Environment with a concentration in Global Environmental Politics. Erin’s coursework in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management has provided her with a skill set to analyze and solve environmental problems while integrating multiple perspectives and values from business and government.

While at Cal, Erin garnered green business consulting experience and implemented campus-wide energy efficiency programs. Erin minored in Earth and Planetary science with an emphasis in Marine Science.

Erin’s environmental passion is caring for our oceans and working to help solve water and marine issues. She is actively pursuing a career that will enable her to protect the world's coasts and oceans by practicing environmental law, managing coastal marine resources, engaging in public policy, and advising busness in the water and ocean domain.

Since graduating, Erin has engaged in the green business and environmental sector in San Diego. She worked for the US Green Chamber of Commerce as their Green Certification Program Manager to develop a sustainability standards certification program for its members. Erin also attended her first Green Experts Academy in November of 2011 and found the Green Experts Mission to be inspiring and their content to be invaluable for anyone involved in the green economy. She became the Associate Director of Marketing and helped organize the Green Experts Academy's Public Policy, Green Jobs and the Green Economy San Diego event in January 2012. She is ecstatic to be making The Green Expert Academy's dream of hosting an event dedicated entirely to the water and ocean economy a reality!

GreenBlue San Diego: Save April 5th

2012-03-12T21:57:00.001-07:00

Green Experts Academy points the way to the growing Water and Ocean Economy! See our outstanding Leaders and topics, when you register here: http://greenbluesd.eventbrite.com

Water is the new oil. Join us!

California Green Economy Doubled Performance of Total Economy in Recession

2012-02-08T10:47:00.001-08:00

As I and others have been saying, based on studies and our own observations in the Green sector.

Cross-post from
http://www.climateprogress.org

Recession Resilience: California’s Green Economy Doubled Performance of Total Economy During Downturn
By Stephen Lacey on Feb 8, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Job creation in California’s clean energy/materials manufacturing sector increased by 53% from 1995 to 2010

When times get tough, companies often fall back on an old familiar phrase: “we just need to do more with less.” That usually applies to human resources. But it’s equally important with natural resources.
As it turns out, “green” companies in California that do more with fewer natural resources fared much better than companies in other sectors during the worst of America’s economic troubles — more than doubling the performance of the broader economy.
A new report from the non-partisan environmental think tank Next 10 shows that between 2009 and 2010, the “core green economy” in California — comprised of companies that provide products or services to cut natural resource use, re-purpose waste, and reduce global warming pollution — experienced half the number of job losses seen in the state’s broader economy.
Between January of 2009 and January of 2010, California’s economy shed 7% of jobs; however, the green economy saw only a 3% reduction in jobs. And from 1995 to 2010, the green economy in the state grew by 53% — far outpacing the 12% growth in the rest of the economy during that period of time.
California’s Core Green Economy shows signs of greater resilience than the economy as a whole. Over the past 16 years, its growth has outpaced the economy as a whole by more than a factor of four, and percentage losses are half those of the state’s total employment.
Despite these losses, some segments posted employment gains in the most recent observable period (January 2009 to 2010). Employment in Energy Infrastructure increased 14 percent, Advanced Materials expanded by four percent while Clean Transportation and Energy Generation grew by one percent each. Across the value chain, Manufacturing jobs in the Core Green Economy expanded by one percent from January 2009 to 2010, the only value chain segment to do so.
The big story was job creation in the clean energy/materials manufacturing sector, which increased by 53% from 1995 to 2010 while jobs in the rest of the manufacturing sector dropped by 18%. And as the report authors note above, even though companies saw a substantial slowdown due to the economic crisis between 2009 and 2010, employment in green manufacturing saw a slight increase in employment of one percent.
These figures echo those in a recent report from the Brookings Institution showing that clean energy jobs nationwide expanded by 8.3% per year from 2003 to 2010, with the rest of the “clean economy” (a broader definition including public transit, recycling and next-generation materials) growing 8.3% during the height of the recession between 2008 and 2009.

Next Week, January 31: San Diego Green Policy Leaders Present Green Economy, Green Jobs and Careers Outlook for 2012

2012-01-25T10:20:00.000-08:00

Register now, for online, advance ticket discount: Green Experts Academy San Diego: Public Policy, Green Jobs and the Green Economy. Tuesday, January 31, 2012 from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM (PT), San Diego, CA. $20 + $2.09 Eventbrite fee, in advance. $25 at the door. Free appetizers, parking and proceedings. Registration/Full Agenda: http://greenexpertsacademy2012.eventbrite.com

Summary

Lane Sharman, Founder, Solana Energy, takes on the solar rate fee debate with a game-changing new organization. He speaks about:

"Is There a Business Case for a New "San Diego Energy District"?

Hon. Lori Saldana, co-sponsor of AB 32 in the California Assembly, is running for Congress. A sustainability expert by trade, Lori addresses "Perspectives on San Diego's Green Policy, Green Jobs and The Economy: Lessons Learned In The State Assembly. Policy Prospects in Washington D.C... 2012 and Beyond"

Mark Reynolds, Executive Director of the national Citizens Climate Lobby takes global warming on in Washington DC. Mark will report on thier 2011/2012 visits to Congress, and discuss thier climate policy objectives, and impacts on the Green Economy and Green jobs in San Diego and Beyond.

Kathleen Connell and the CWG Group LLC, Founder Green Experts Academy will lead a real-time policy "Greenstorm", and the results will be shared with the Office of the Mayor of San Diego, by special arrangement.

Join us and grow your knowledge, career, network, business, organization, the Green community, and mitigate climate change! Location: Venue Sponsor, Cricket Communications, Inc. (Corporate Headquarters), 5887 Copley Drive, Training Room, 1st Floor, San Diego, 92111

About The Event

The Green Economy is very integrated with public policy, and in many areas, is policy-driven. Our stellar experts will give you breaking information about this arena, as we move into the election year and beyond. Gather timely information and valuable contacts as we grow our Green economy, together. The time to get engaged is now, as destructive and disruptive climate change is moving at an ever faster pace. Please join us. Thank you.

Discover, Engage and Transform!

- Kathleen Connell and The Green Experts Academy, San Diego Team

Thanks to our generous Venue Sponsor, Cricket Communications, and The Cricket Green Team. The event is being held in the new Cricket LEED-certified Headquarters.

AGENDA

5:30-6:00pm: Sign In, Networking, Appetizers

6:00-8:00pm

Part I – Green Public Policy, Green Jobs and Economy Briefings from State, Local & Federal Leaders:

National Outlook: Mark Reyolds, Executive Director, Citizens Climate Lobby

Dr. James Hansen, the renowned NASA climate scientist who first warned Congress of global warming, says of Citizens Climate Lobby:

"Most impressive is the work of the Citizens Climate Lobby, a relatively new, fastgrowing, nonpartisan, nonprofit group with 46 chapters across the United States and Canada. If you want to join the fight to save the planet, to save creation for your grandchildren, there is no more effective step you could take than becoming an active member of this group.”

- Dr. James Hansen, head of Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NASA

Citizens Climate Lobby will report on their 2011 visits to Congress, and discuss their climate policy objectives, and the impact on the Green Economy and Green Jobs. Founded in the San Diego region, CCL is a national group to watch on the climate policy front.

Mark Reynolds, left, Rep. John Lewis, Rep. Bob Filner

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State of California and Federal Policy Perspectives: Honorable Lori Saldana, Former representative, California State Assembly District 76, College Professor, Water Quality Expert, Candidate for Congress in the 52nd District of the San Diego Region.

"Perspectives on San Diego's Green Policy, Green Jobs and The Economy: Lessons Learned In The State Assembly & Policy Prospects in Washington D.C. in 2012 and Beyond"

Lori's accomplishments in sustainability include:

Lori co-authored California's Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32) to reduce CO2 emissions. Her Million solar roofs initiative put thousands to work while improving the environment. She also authored AB 1103, creating thousands of jobs doing building retrofits for energy efficiency.

In addition, Professor Saldana Lori earned her BA and MA from San Diego State University. She became an Information Technology Professor and Dean of Service Learning at Mesa Community College, then an Environmental Policy Research Fellow at UCSD. Lori Chaired the Mayor’s Wetlands Advisory Board, Chaired the San Diego Sierra Club, and was appointed by President Clinton to the Border Cooperation Commission.

Professor Saldana is currently a candidate for Congress in the new 52nd District of the San Diego region.

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Local Issues/Business Solutions: Lane Sharman, Founder, Biozoil International & Managing Partner, Solana Energy. Sharman founded Solana Energy to negotiate the development of solar farms throughout the Southwest and in 2009 Solar Energy became a local equity partner of the Solarpack Development Corporation headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

"Is There a Business Case for a New "San Diego Energy District"? What are the Green Jobs and Economy Implications of this Proposal?"

As a serial, social, renewable energy entrepreneur, Lane Sharman and his team believe that the proposed solar rate fee and other factors call for a new, innovative entity to aggregate, distribute and manage regional energy in San Diego. Is this disruptive innovation that will change the energy playing field? Hear Lane discuss his latest innovative concept, which is creating waves in the San Diego Green energy sector.

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8:00-9:00pm

Part II & III " Green Public Policy Strategies and "Greenstorm": Brainstorming Workshop

Kathleen Connell, Principal, Connell Whittaker Group LLC, Sustainability expert, Social Entrepreneur, former NASA Public Policy & Program executive/congressional advisor, former Policy Director, Aerospace States Association (Governors and Lt. Governors' group), Founder, Green Experts Academy.

Whether from the community or in the the highest reaches of NASA and government, Kathleen has pursued and executed many successful policy-related initatives during her career. Kathleen is a public policy, strategy, business development, strategic communications & advocacy consultant and educator, in both the sustainability and space/aerospace industries, and a Principal of The Connell Whittaker Group, LLC. She is known for being a thought-leader and innovator throughout her career with NASA and other government agencies at the local, state, and federal levels, non-profit organizations, and the private sector. Her pioneering work in many cutting-edge research- and technology-based organizations has resulted in groundbreaking new programs and billions of dollars of revenue, economic development, grants, financing and benefits to society.

Her deep and long-standing expertise in sustainability policy, research and technology includes pathfinding-work in advanced ecological closed-loop life support systems, earth sciences, multi-disciplinary science and policy, remote sensing, bio-info-nano, renewable energy, agriculture, livable communities, model research parks, virtual organizations, information societies as systems, and economic development. She will share lessons learned from the trenches of constructive policy creation and strategy.

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Kathleen and Green Experts Academy staff will facilitate a first: a discussion and brainstorm on public policies you would like to see implemented in the City of San Diego. Producers have made special arrangements with the Mayor’s Office staff to review the best ideas presented.

This is a rare opportunity to be heard directly on Green public policy by decision makers. Bring your most innovative and feasible ideas, or work in a "Greenstorm" group at the workshop to suggest top level concepts or improvements to existing programs that you think would enhance sustainability. In addition, working in small groups, you will get to know other attendees and grow your Green network, so bring lots of business cards.

We will sign your name as a participant in the Greenstorm, with your permission, so gain visibility with the key staff in city government who will review our work.

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Refund policy: Due to event costs and very low ticket prices for a high-quality event, we cannot offer refunds. However, we will send you any presentation materials made available to attendees. Thank you for your support of the Green Experts Academy. Questions? Contact us at the "contact the host" link on the Eventbrite Green Experts Academy event page for this event. Thank you.

Green Experts Academy, San Diego, Jan.31, 2012: Public Policy, Green Jobs & The Green Economy: National, State, Local Issues and Opportunities in the Era of Climate Change

2012-01-04T12:32:00.000-08:00

Green Experts Academy San Diego: Public Policy, Green Jobs and the Green Economy. Tuesday, January 31, 2012 from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM (PT), San Diego, CA. $20 + $2.09 Eventbrite fee, in advance. $25 at the door. Free appetizers, parking and proceedings. Registration/Agenda http://greenexpertsacademy2012.eventbrite.com Featuring Green careers and economy briefings, power networking, Green public policy 2012 updates from top leaders, and real time policy impact and input. Join us, grow and Green your career, your awareness, business, organization, the community, and mitigate climate change on the planet. Location: Venue Sponsor, Cricket Communications, Inc. (Corporate Headquarters), 5887 Copley Drive, Training Room, 1st Floor, San Diego, 92111

About The Event

Discover, Engage and Transform!

- Kathleen Connell and The Green Experts Academy, San Diego Team

Thanks to our generous Venue Sponsor, Cricket Communications, and The Cricket Green Team. The event is being held in the new Cricket LEED-certified Headquarters.

AGENDA

5:30-6:00pm: Sign In, Networking, Appetizers

6:00-7:30pm

Part I – Green Public Policy, Green Jobs and Economy Briefings from State, Local & Federal Leaders:

o Federal Outlook: Speaker To Be Announced! Coming soon!

o State/Federal Policy Perspectives: Honorable Lori Saldana, Former representative, California State Assembly District 76, College Professor, Water Quality Expert.

Lori's accomplishments in sustainability include:

Professor Saldana is currently a candidate for Congress.

Topic: "Perspectives on San Diego's Green Policy, Green Jobs and The Economy: Lessons Learned In The State Assembly & Policy Prospects in Washington D.C. in 2012 and Beyond"

o Local Issues/Business Solutions: Lane Sharman, Founder, Biozoil International & Managing Partner, Solana Energy. Sharman founded Solana Energy to negotiate the development of solar farms throughout the Southwest and in 2009 Solar Energy became a local equity partner of the Solarpack Development Corporation headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

The electrical energy harnessed and generated by photovoltaic panels on the solar farms is sold to public utility companies and incorporated into the electrical grid. The farms are typically located on former agricultural lands of at least 40 acres, but unlike fields devoted to agriculture, solar farms require no water and are emission free.

Sharman currently has 150 megawatts worth of solar farms in various stages of development in California.

Topic: "Is There a Business Case for a New "San Diego Energy District"? What are the Green Jobs and Economy Implications of this Proposal?"

7:30-9:00pm

Part II – "10 Winning Green Public Policy Strategies & Tactics" Kathleen Connell, Principal, Connell Whittaker Group LLC, Sustainability expert, Social Entrepreneur, former NASA Public Policy & Program executive/congressional advisor, former Policy Director, Aerospace States Association (Governors and Lt. Governors' group), Founder, Green Experts Academy.

Her deep and long-standing expertise in sustainability includes advanced ecological closed-loop life support systems, earth sciences, multi-disciplinary science and policy, remote sensing, bio-info-nano, renewable energy, agriculture, livable communities, model research parks, virtual organizations, information societies and systems. She will share lessons learned from the trenches of policy advocacy and strategy.

Part III – Public Policy Green Brainstorming Session. Discussion and brainstorm on public policies you would like to see implemented in the city of San Diego. Producers have made special arrangements with the Mayor’s Office staff to review the best ideas presented.

Climate Ethics Campaign: Morality and Human Suffering in Spotlight on Capitol Hill

2011-12-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

By putting the moral case first, at long last policy makers and others are focusing on the human consequences of global warming, and the impact on humanity. We salute them and we join them, as we have argued global warming is a matter of human and economic rights. Likewise, the economic crisis and the climate crisis, driven by oil dependence are one crisis now and going forward. The answer is acceleration of a Green economy and Green job creation. To get to this in the US, a equally massive reform of a money-corrupted political system must be undertaken by the people, for the people.

Groups frame climate as a moral cause (Washington Post, December 1, 2011)

A broad coalition of civic leaders, elected officials, and labor, environmental and social activists launched a campaign Wednesday aimed at convincing U.S. politicians that they should curb greenhouse gas emissions for moral and ethical reasons.
The Climate Ethics Campaign — which kicked off with a Capitol Hill news conference headlining Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) — comes as negotiators are struggling to make progress at U.N. climate talks in Durban, South Africa.
“We believe it’s time to talk about our moral obligation to prevent the human suffering created by climate change, to safeguard the poor and most vulnerable communities from harm they did not create, and to protect the natural environment that is the source of all life,” said campaign coordinator Bob Doppelt, executive director of the Resource Innovation Group, a nonprofit association affiliated with Willam ette University."

Green Experts Academy, San Diego: Top Green Leaders Brief On Green Jobs, Business Start-Up Success Strategies. November 16, 2011

2011-11-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

Green Experts Academy, San Diego: Top Green Leaders Brief On Green Jobs, Business Start-Up Success Strategies. November 16, 2011

(San Diego, November 1, 2011) Green Experts Academy, San Diego is offered for a recession-friendly registration of $23 base ticket price, and includes a catered meal, beverages, parking and reports from the seminar briefings. The seminar includes top Green leader briefings, a workshop for attendees to focus on thier career, business or organizational goals, and real-time policy brainstorming that wil be shared with the staff of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. Time: 5:30-9:00pm.Registration, and Directions to Green Experts Academy: http://greenexpertsacademy.eventbrite.com
The Green sector and sustainability are the future of the global economy, if we are to overcome the challenges of climate change. In the near future, all jobs will have a sustainability component and all businesses will as well. What does Green success require, and what does it take to succeed in this emerging sector? Expert Green leaders will speak on this topic, and a hands-on workshop will enable attendees to vet and refine their Green goals. Attendees at Green Experts Academy, will experience dynamic seminars and workshops. Previous attendees report that they come away inspired and empowered with cutting-edge information. This excellent event is designed to help people create a work path with meaning, and to take the next steps to reach their Green career and business goals in a bright spot of a troubled economy. This event is sponsored by Cricket Communications, Inc.

More Information

Green Experts Academy Founder Kathleen Connell states about the event: "The Green Economy is the one bright spot in this Great Recession. However, Green jobs are being created in San Diego, as the region is a hot spot for cleantech, biofuels, consumer businesses, electric vehicles, environmental preservation and much more. That is a good thing for job seekers, career changers and entrepreneurs. It is also good for the environment, as climate policy is not coming out of Washington's gridlock this year. So businesses are stepping up and starting up. Rarely does a sector emerge which is absolutely critical to our well being."
Connell also observes: "Green is crucial, as transitioning away from carbon is the only hope for mitigating climate change. Everyone should get engaged, for our present prosperity, and for the future. Green Experts Academy's mission is to enable that engagement. The good news is that very soon, every job and business will be Green. The time to get informed is now. The opportunities are increasing every day, but folks have to know where to look. And we provide that guidance." Kathleen Connell is the author of “The Green Jobs Transition”, recently published in the San Diego Union Tribune, and the producer of many sustainability events dedicated to public education. She is the Principal/CEO of Connell Whittaker Group LLC (CWG LLC), a sustainability business consultant, policy expert, public educator, former NASA executive and a hurricane survivor. Connell can be reached at kconnell@thecwgroup.com for further information and media interviews.
Green Experts Academy, San Diego. November 16, 2011
AGENDA
-5:30pm Check in, Networking, Select meal, beverages
-6:00pm-6:20pm Lisa Bicker, Consultant, and recent CEO, CleanTECH San Diego "What It Takes: Success in the Green and Cleantech Entrepreneurial Sector, and Green Jobs Growth Areas"
-6:20pm-6:40pm Commissioner Robert Coleman, City of Chula Vista/California Center for Sustainable Energy, Associate Program Manager, Building Retrofit Programs"Crossing The Green River: Persistence and Strategy: Lessons Learned Creating and Growing a Green Career in the San Diego Green Economy"
-6:40pm-7:00pm Karen Overklift, EDGE Enrollment Manager, Biocom Institute "Free Quality Degrees, and Green Jobs Training: The EDGE program: Training for Future Biofuel Employees"
-7:00pm-7:20pm Steve Hoffmann, Western Area Vice President, NRG Energy, Inc. "Challenges and Opportunities in the Strategic Transition from Carbon-based Energy to a Greener Economy, and Career Opportunities To Consider"
-7:20pm-7:45pm Break, Networking7:45pm-8:00pm David Steel, CEO, Green Chamber of Commerce"Where are The Green jobs in the San Diego Business Community? Is Becoming a Green Entrepreneur Doable in San Diego? Local, National, Global Opportunities and Challenges"
-8:00pm-8:45pm Green Careers and Business Workshop Session: Connell Whittaker Group LLC 7 Steps You Must Take To Build and Grow Your Green Career or Business8:45pm-9:00pm
-Public Policy Brainstorm: Suggestions for Green Policy in San Diego
9:00pm Adjourn
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Green Experts Academy, San Diego November 16: New! More Leaders To Brief on Success in the Green Economy

2011-10-17T13:29:00.001-07:00

Green Experts Academy Presents

"Success Strategies in the Green Sector During Turbulent Times" November 16, 2011 5:30PM-8:30PM

Green Leaders Share Success Strategies, Latest Information • Evolve Your Green Plans and Career • Engage with Policy Makers

Event Hosting Sponsor: Cricket Communications, Inc. $23 plus Eventbrite fee, Includes catered meal, beverages, and free parking at the venue.

Part I: Green Keynote Briefing by Ms. Lisa Bicker, Consultant, Former CEO and President of CleanTECH San Diego

Part II: Green Workshop: 7 Steps You Must Take To Grow Your Green Career and/or Business and the Green Economy

(Bring your ideas, plan and/or resume and business cards, for a hands-on workshop to advance your goals)

Part III: Green Policy Brainstorm

• • •

The Green Space and sustainability are the future of the global economy, if we are to overcome the challenges of climate change. What does Green success require, and what does it take to succeed in this emerging sector? Expert Green leaders will speak on this topic, and a hands-on workshop will enable attendees to vet and refine their Green goals. Also, real-time policy engagement via a Green Policy Brainstorm, with results communicated to staff in the San Diego Mayor's Office. Join us for this dynamic event, and come away inspired and empowered to take the next steps to reach your goals!

The November 16th event is supported by our generous Host Sponsor, Cricket Communications, Inc. The seminar and workshop will be held in Cricket's LEED-certified corporate headquarters in San Diego, California.

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Agenda Details

Advance Registration: $23 plus small Eventbrite fee. Credit cards accepted for online registration.

Registration at the Door: $30, cash only.

Registration includes a catered meal, beverages and free parking.

Part I: Green Leaders Briefings

Presenters:

• We are pleased to welcome Ms. Lisa Bicker to talk with us about:

"What Does It Takes to Succeed in the Green and Cleantech sector?"

Ms. Bicker is a consultant and the globally-known former CEO and President of Clean Tech San Diego, a private nonprofit corporation working to establish San Diego’s position as a leader in the clean technology industry.

Prior to joining Clean Tech San Diego, Ms. Bicker was president of the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), a private nonprofit corporation formed to accelerate investment in California’s clean energy economy. Before joining CalCEF, Ms. Bicker was a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of TruePricing, Inc. an energy technology company. Prior to that, Ms. Bicker served as Chief Operating Officer of NewEnergy, Inc., a high-growth, retail electricity provider that grew to over $800 million in revenues prior to its acquisition by AES. Constellation NewEnergy is now the largest retail electricity provider in the United States. Ms. Bicker has also served as General Counsel to California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance (CCEEB), a nonprofit advocacy group founded by Edmund G. “Pat” Brown. Prior to that, she served as senior writer for Governor George Deukmejian. Ms. Bicker has a B.A. from the University of California at Davis and a J.D. from the University of San Francisco. In 2007, she was appointed to and currently serves on the Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory Committee (ETAAC), a statewide committee that is tasked with reporting to the Governor, the state Legislature and the Air Resources Board on recommendations as to how to effectively implement AB 32, the state’s landmark global warming law. She is a member of the California State Bar and several industry associations.

• David Steel, CEO, US Green Chamber of Commerce

"Should You Become A Green Entrepreneur? Local, National, Global Opportunities and Challenges"

As the President and CEO of the U.S. Green Chamber, David Steel’s uncompromising commitment to the environment has helped skyrocket the formally locally-based Green Chamber of San Diego into a nation-wide organization. With vast experience in the green arena, David understands the importance of providing the community with the resources and networking opportunities of like-minded individuals and businesses.

“I’ve been moved for many years by the state of our planet and have been committed to creating an organization that can make sustainable business practices practical, beneficial, and easily accessible under the Green Chamber,” explained David. “Already, I’ve seen immense success and growth in these areas, extending from our eco-hub, home base in San Diego to cities across the country.”

David also serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of SmarterLight an earth-friendly LED lighting company that helps individuals and corporations easily replace their current lighting with top of the line, next phase, environmentally gentle LED lighting solutions. He is also a founding board member and CFO of Conscious Humanity, a 501©3 committed to spreading peace and personal empowerment to all people. Previously David served on the board of directors for the San Diego Entrepreneurs Organization. David’s passion and experience in these fields has helped the U.S. Green Chamber reach a number of ambitious goals as he continues to expand the organization’s reach.

• Commissioner Robert Coleman, City of Chula Vista

Member, Resource Conservation Commission, City of Chula Vista

Employer, California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE), San Diego

Member, Sustainability Alliance of Southern California, Emeritus Advisory Board

"Crossing The Green River: Persistence and Strategy: Lessons Learned Creating and Growing a Green Career in the San Diego Green Economy"

Learn from a local leader who is also a successful career-changer. Bob Coleman is now a Mayoral appointee and also an employee in the sustainability sector. Learning from role models like Bob is key to finding, growing and excelling on your Green career path, regardless of where you are on your journey. Learn why we call Bob "The Hardest Working Man in Green!"

Part II: Green Workshop

Presenters: Connell Whittaker Group, LLC

7 Steps You Must Take To Build and Grow Your Green Career or Business

From mental attitude to concrete actions, we will provide an overview of a "system for success" in order to achieve your Green career and business goals.

- Green Mind Meld (All). Those who wish to participate can help each other grow their ideas, plans and/or career search. Get to know folks, work on goals together and come away with new contacts, potential friends and allies, and a clearer path forward. Bring your ideas, plans and/or resume and learn while you help other folks grow the future together.

Part III: Green Policy Brainstorm (Plenary)

We have made special arrangements with Mr. Jacques Chirazi, Office of The Mayor of San Diego, and Cleantech Program Manager, to review our ideas about green policy in San Diego. We will have an open forum, and together, identify green policies and programs we would like to see implemented in San Diego. The best ideas will be forwarded to the Mayor's Office for review.

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How to Get to Green Experts Academy

Where: Cricket Communications, Inc. corporate headquarters office, San Diego, California. Training Room, 1st Floor.

Address:

5887 Copley Drive

San Diego, CA 92111

Additional directions to Cricket building:

At the end of the cul-de-sac on Copley Drive, enter the middle driveway and proceed into the Parking Garage on your right. There are also a few Handicapped and Visitor parking spaces in front of the building. Proceed to the Cricket building (to the left of Kaiser Permanente) and enter the Lobby. The training room is on the first floor to the right of the lobby.

Refund Policy: At this low event rate, we can not provide refunds. HOWEVER, we will send any PPT slides or other briefing materials to paid attendees after the event.

As 2011 winds down, end the year prepared to move forward with your Green goals in your career, expert field, and business. Together we can transform our economy, empower ourselves and mitigate climate change. Join us! Thanks!