MISSION TO HUMANITY

"Stand And Deliver" Says GLOBE To G-8 On Climate

2009-06-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

Image Credit:dreamstime.com

GLOBE International is composed of eminent scientists and legislators with a global view on climate change, and they have clout with heads of state, current, former and aspiring. President Obama, Senator McCain, Tony Blair and many other luminaries have endorsed GLOBE, spoken to them and generally take GLOBE fairly seriously.
Their mission:

GLOBE is the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment founded in 1989.

GLOBE facilitates high level negotiated policy positions from leading legislators from across the G8+5 parliaments and from regional dialogues which are informed by business leaders and key international experts.

GLOBE's objective is to support ambitious political leadership on issues of climate and energy security, land-use change and ecosystems and economic and population growth. Internationally, GLOBE is focused on progressive leadership from G8 leaders and the leaders of the major emerging economies as well as formal negotiations within the United Nations. GLOBE has a particular interest in the role that International Financial Institutions can play.

GLOBE shadows the formal G8 negotiations and allows legislators to work together outside the formal international negotiations. Without the burden of formal governmental negotiating positions, legislators have the freedom to push the boundaries of what can be politically achieved.

At an international level GLOBE consists of senior cross-party members of parliament from all G8 countries and the +5 countries of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa. Also, GLOBE facilitates regional policy dialogues amongst legislators within the Americas Region (North & South America), Europe (West & Eastern Europe), Asia and Africa.

Importantly, GLOBE’s discussions can be translated into policies and practical solutions through legislation both at the national, regional and international level. Legislators also have a critical role to play in holding their own governments to account for the commitments that are made during international negotiations.

As global warming is, well, global, it makes sense that global solutions and perspectives are pressed into service. Right? After all, good science dialog is now global, which is why we know we even have a global warming problem in the first place.

GLOBE thinks internationally as well, and is not given to mincing the climate problem or solutions. The group sent out a volley today to press the powerful G-8 rich countries on climate, as they are meeting soon. Perhaps the G-8 can begin to agree on things that matter with Obama at the table.

This action by a shadow government group is good news after a difficult week watching a real government water down key points in the H.R. 2454 Waxman Markey climate bill in the U.S. On the optimistic side, there is a slew of confusing legislation on climate change issuing from both sides of the U.S. Congress, as Grist faithfully reports. Confusing and multiple bills on climate change is a better place to be in that repression of climate science, as was the case in the last Administration. Do we need a new U.S. GLOBE with an international perspective to help sort all of this out and shadow our own government? I think we do.

Source: eenews.net/climate wire

"Scientists and lawmakers from around the globe have seized upon a meeting in Italy next month between President Obama and the leaders of seven other industrialized nations as a possible turning point for global climate change treaty talks.

Today, a group of 100 environmentally active legislators called on the Group of Eight industrialized nations, or G-8, to "stand and deliver on climate change" when they get to Italy. Meanwhile, the world science academies urged industrialized nations to guide the world toward a future with fewer fossil fuels and said G-8 action should spur the change.

Mike Clegg, foreign secretary of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, said the G-8 is an important forum for the climate community to make their voices heard.

"These are, of course, the leading global economies, and they're the ones adding the most carbon dioxide to the atmosphere," Clegg said in a telephone interview with E&E. "They're actually the key players."

The international group of lawmakers organized by the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment, or GLOBE, leans hard on developed countries. It demands that the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and the European Union both set an aggregate midterm emissions target and create a $2 billion fund to help poor nations cope with climate change impacts..."
Read entire story at Headline.

Global Clean Energy Investments Up

2009-06-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

Image Credit:hoggannewmedia.com

June 11, 2009

In January I helped conduct a solar overview seminar at a major renewables conference in Las Vegas. Leaders of the major solar, wind and other clean tech sector associations there forecast a return to financing and deal flow in the 3rd Quarter of this year. Those predictions appear to be coming to pass. This means GhG reduction (one hopes), green job creation, and innovation are on the rise.
Other green sector buzz that has been swirling around the sector is now backed up by the report, below, released by New Energy Finance.
If ever there was a time to get fully prepared to participate in the Green Revolution 2.0, the time is now. I am hearing from California Solar experts that new companies have entered the solar space and are hiring both technical and non-technical staff as they ramp up towards installation and retrofit deals and projects.

Source: EERE Department of Energy (DOE)

After a difficult first quarter, new worldwide investments in clean energy are now gaining momentum, according to analysts at New Energy Finance. Clean energy investments in the first quarter of 2009 were down 44% from the fourth quarter of 2008 and down 53% from the investment peak in the first quarter of 2008, according to the market research firm. But even though there are several weeks left in the second quarter, clean energy investments are already surpassing the first-quarter investments by more than a third. New Energy Finance notes that public market investments have rallied sharply, while bankers active in the clean energy sector are optimistic about a gradual improvement in the availability of project financing as the year progresses. The gradual injection of worldwide "green stimulus" funds, including funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, are also expected to assist the recovery... Read more at headline.

Green Cash Glut To Hit U.S. Cities- Can They Spend It?

2009-06-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

What is San Diego's share of the Green Block Grant Funds? What are the plans to utilize these much needed funds? The Feds have set a June 25th deadline for Block Grant proposals, and that is very close. As the second largest city in the state, we should be awash in Green Block Grant funds-far more than the paltry $12M widely discussed in the local media of late.

Source: NYT.com

"The looming release of $3.2 billion in new climate-related block grants stands to spark an energy-saving revolution in tiny towns like Wahpeton, N.D. And it promises to thrust emission-belching metropolises into a cleaner trajectory. But the sudden flow of federal funding is raising questions about whether many of these communities are really ready for it.

Some 1,000 cities and counties have direct access to the new entitlement account, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. They have until June 25 to submit plans, but that's a challenge, because most haven't received federal grants for energy projects before.

Many communities are having trouble retaining enough police officers, let alone hiring sustainability professionals who understand how to establish energy efficiency programs that will evolve into long-term savings in power and money, experts say." See full story at headline.

Van Jones: With Liberty, Justice and Green Jobs For All

2009-05-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

When the green job hunt seems like a lost cause, it is good to dig into the well of wisdom of leaders like Van Jones. Read on.

Source: Bright Green Talent Group on LinkedIn

"Van Jones has been a tireless advocate for putting green jobs and green issues at the forefront of our economic and social discussions. What makes this man great is that he is a cultural mediator: his work is translating the theoretical in the practical, making green ideas accessible to those who can put them into action, and providing a working man’s guide to the green revolution.

As he puts it, he’d like to facilitate the discussion between the Ph.Ds and the Ph.Do’s — the farmers, laborers, and builders, to create a populist green movement. He describes the current niche-status of the green economy in a way that displays both his affinity for the working man and his attitude towards the status quo.

VJ: Well, I did have a eureka moment. I’ve been working in urban communities for a long time, working with kids in trouble trying to reform, police departments and juvenile justice systems, and I just burned out and started going from Oakland to Marin County, where there’s a lot of meditation centers, and just discovered a whole new world.,You know, a lot of stuff over there they don’t have in Oakland, like salads and, you know, stuff like that. Tofu and hybrid cars, and I said, “Jeez, all this beautiful green stuff, services, products, new industries that are rising, the solar industry. You know, we should have that, some of that stuff in urban America — people who are disadvantaged, poor people in rural America, Appalachia. How do we get this green economy to be expanded to include more people, get it strong enough so it can lift people out of poverty and create jobs for people?” And it was in that inquiry that I wound up writing this book.

Although using a different rhetoric than Obama (President Obama would probably not talk about urban youths needing more salad as high priority), the message is the same: economic opportunity for more people, not just those who can afford it. Jones points to the fact that the green economy has too long been a niche market populated by affluent Prius-drivers or hemp & dreads-sporting vegan counter-cultural renegades. He seeks to extend the green movement to people beyond those with surplus cultural and economic capital. He is hoping that more people can participate, not only in green buying but green building. He sees green as a moral imperative that must not be devoted not only to products but average joe services and job opportunities."

Historic Climate and Energy Bill Brings Out The Green Troops

2009-05-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

Green policy wonks are transfixed by the goings on in Washington DC today, as HR 2454 moves through the political chop that makes up the roiling waters on any given day in the United States House of Representatives. Leading the legislative management rowing crew of the process in the House are Reps. Waxman and Markey. They are not alone as many hands are on the oars in multi-sector push to speed the bill out of committee and towards resolution by Memorial Day. The official blast from Markey's office reports that: "Waxman, Markey Introduce “H.R. 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act Energy & Commerce Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Energy & Environment Subcommittee Chairman Edward J. Markey introduced “H.R. 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act.” The Energy and Commerce Committee will begin markup of the bill on Monday, May 18, 2009, at 1:00 p.m., and will complete consideration before the Memorial Day recess. “This bill marks the dawn of the clean energy age,” said Subcommittee Chairman Markey. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revive our economy and create millions of good-paying clean energy jobs. After months of hearings and discussions with my colleagues, I am pleased that we have produced a bill that has widespread support from all regions of the country.”

Supporters of the bill, which is still undergoing revision, include an unlikely alliance of environmental, labor and corporate entities. At the same time, as details of the bill were made public, critics and supporters are lining up on both sides of the bill, either for or against various provisions. Supporters include The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Environmental Defense Fund and other organizations. Greenpeace and other green groups have come out against the compromise bill, posting a gallery of thumbnail images of supposed conservative Democrats who are "working with industry" to weaken the bill. The opposition also centers around the claim that greenhouse gas emissions do not line up with the science of global warming and are too low. The Union of Concerned Scientists pointed out the silver lining in the bill, as a spokesperson notes to GreenInc., a New York Times blog :
"... Alden Meyer, the strategy and policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, who is attending a United Nations climate-change meeting in Bonn this week, said in a statement, that the proposed legislation would help to position the United States ahead for international climate negotiations.

As opposed to the experience in Kyoto in 1997, other countries now are seeing real support in the Congress for binding limits on heat-trapping emissions. This improves the prospects for a new global agreement at the Copenhagen summit this December. The draft would also set aside money to help developing countries protect their forests. Such financing can deliver significant emissions reductions and foster the kind of international cooperation we need to adopt and implement an effective climate treaty."

Al Gore sent encouraging words, and plans to send his "We Can Solve It" campaign into action to organize support for the HR 2454. The We website claims to have over 2 million supporters.

Energy and Environment News (subscription at headline) also reports that:

"Several key House Democrats endorsed a major energy and global warming proposal pending this week before the Energy and Commerce Committee, putting the panel's leaders on the brink of the majority needed to pass the measure.

During opening statements at today's markup, Reps. John Dingell of Michigan, Gene Green of Texas, Bobby Rush of Illinois, Bart Gordon of Tennessee and G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina all signaled they planned to vote for the bill from Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

"This is a good bill, and I intend to support it," said Dingell, the former committee chairman ousted in November by Waxman."

Nobel Prize Winners are entering the policy waters and Nobelist Paul Krugman is in up to his chest. In his NYT column he puts his marker down with Al Gore. Krugman states:

"I’m with Mr. Gore. The legislation now on the table isn’t the bill we’d ideally want, but it’s the bill we can get — and it’s vastly better than no bill at all."

Video: Speakers at America's Finest Green City Leadership Forum of April 22nd, Earth Day

2009-05-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

Earth Day is but a memory, but the wisdom of speakers at SanDiegoEarthWeek.com's event, America's Finest Green City Leadership Forum, lives on thanks to video shot by Solindsd.com. As a Co-Producer of the event, thanks again to all the leaders from the offices of city, state and federal elected officials, Waste Management Inc., The San Diego Foundation, CleanTECH.org, CCSE, City Councilmember Donna Frye, The San Diego Regional Partnership, MC Bill Powers and my partner in green, Dawn Parker-Waites of SanDiegoLovesGreen.com. We had a great event, the attendees were fabulous, and I enjoyed having fun handling the Q&A!

Source: Solindsd.com

"Solind attends Americas Finest Green City Leadership Forum in San Diego

We have footage from the following keynote speakers:

Donna Frye, Deanna Spehn, Jason Rose, Craig Lewis, Holly LaPree, Elaine Rosenberger, Andrew McAllister, Ricardo Flores, Dr.Emily Young, Caridad Sanchez, Jacque Sharafee."

Energy Civil Rights: The Case For Solar Net Metering

2009-04-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

Image Credit: http://4.bp.blogspot.com

AB 560 seeks to raise the net-metering cap in California, allowing owners of solar systems to be compensated for feeding power back into the grid. This creates a more democratic access to the benefits of energy production for all producers, large and small, according to those who argue for the connection between civil rights and energy. An interesting nexus with both political and policy implications. As with much jargon in the renewable energy sector, the term net metering is not easily understood at first glance. Energy Democracy might be a better catch phrase, but certainly "energy civil rights" puts the issue in a context that most folks think they understand or can grasp.

Source: RenewableEnergyWorld.com

The California State Legislature has just begun consideration of a little-noticed piece of legislation that figures prominently in the future of solar power in America. California's current net-metering legislation limits the total amount of rooftop solar power that can be connected to the electric grid to no more than 2.5% of the state's total electric load. AB 560, sponsored by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), seeks to raise this net- metering cap and unshackle the solar industry from an arbitrary cap.

Thanks to the $3 billion California Solar Initiative and net metering, the Golden State's solar industry has installed more solar power in the last two years than the previous 25 years combined. Because of these policies, California today represents 60% of the solar market in the United States. But with 50,000 solar energy systems now providing clean power in the state, California is expected to hit the 2.5% cap as soon as next year, which could undermine this burgeoning market.

Net metering should be understood as the civil rights legislation for customer-owned solar energy, ensuring that clean power generated by customers is treated equally to conventional electricity from the grid. First created in California in 1995 and now in place in 44 states, net metering allows homeowners and business owners who install solar panels or other clean energy systems to feed any surplus electricity back to the grid for the benefit of other customers. In return, the solar owners receive a credit on their electricity bill at a rate equal to what the utility charges.

SDNN: SanDiegoEarthWeek.com News and Interviews

2009-04-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

SDNN is running excellent coverage of the new offerings for SanDiegoEarthWeek.com, as well as a salute to the venerable EarthFair in Balboa Park on Sunday April 19. I really love SDNN's Web 2.0 savvy format, and the integration of You Tube in serving up some headlines on their news site.

In the Earth Week story, Paul Hannam, former Oxford founder of Bright Green Talent, makes a very important point about the number of "green jobs" which will come into being as a result of global warming mitigation. SanDiegoEarthWeek.com offers up a recession price of $35 for a Jobs and Career Event on Tuesday, April 21st, and on Earth Day, April 22nd, a Leadership Forum with leaders from many San Diego sectors, including Mayor Jerry Sanders and Councilmember Donna Frye. Registration for the forum is $25. Register here.

The green jobs wave should exceed just manufacturing-based renewable energy jobs, but will also push forward a tsunami of job creation, as an outcome of a revolution in all aspects of green consumption, economics and communications. Hannam projects that the number of jobs will exceed the internet-related job revolution of the last decades and will be the largest new job engine in human history. I think his assessment is on target, as energy is a driver for all human collective activity. A shift in the energy base from carbon to clean energy can only ripple upward into all of society. See the You Tube interview below to hear more about Paul's projections for the green jobs revolution.

Source: Rebecca Tolin, SDNN
Friday, April 17, 2009

"The eco-explosion needs more than just one day, it seems. You’ve probably heard the San Diego Earth Day celebration is this Sunday. And now there’s San Diego Earth Week, which will extend green-centric events for another few days.... or hear from government leaders at a forum with Mayor Jerry Sanders(Donna Frye and many more-MTH Editor).... And, if you’re interested in a “green” lining to the bleeding-red job market, we may have one. Environment Editor Rebecca Tolin interviews green entrepreneur Paul Hannam who will be speaking at the upcoming Green Jobs and Career Workshop (on April 21st-MTH Editor). He said there are eco-jobs to be had and many more on the way..."More at headline.
Register: www.sandiegoearthweek.com

San Diego Earth Week Leaders Forum: Mayor Jerry Sanders, Councilmember Donna Frye, Elected Offices Speak

2009-04-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

Media Contact Information:

www.SanDiegoEarthWeek.com
Dawn Parker-Waites (619)634-2720
Kathleen Connell
(858) 361-3297
connell.kathleen@gmail.com

San Diego, CA, April 15, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Contested terrain has long been a feature of the landscape in sustainability policy choice at the city, state and federal levels. www.SanDiegoEarthWeek.com public event organizers are bringing diverse “Green” Leaders together for International Earth Day on April 22nd, as a large gesture towards more regional unity on the issues.

“Climate change is accelerating according to the best science on hand, and the planet is not really interested in our squabbles with one another other. The time has come to join forces and have civil conversations in order to find the way to protect the San Diego we love. Mother Nature is on her own determined time schedule. As a hurricane survivor I can vouch for that.” Said Kathleen Connell, a science policy expert who has worked with NASA and other policy organizations. Connell is a Co-Producer of www.SanDiegoEarthWeek.com events, and experienced Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005 while living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Dawn Parker-Waites, businesswoman, is founder of sandiegolovesgreen.com and an Earth Week Co- Producer, and a busy mother of a teen daughter and two young boys. She juggles a hectic family life with her profound commitment to the environment. “We produced www.sandiegoearthweek.com events and the Leadership Forum out of a sense of urgency about the need for bright green consensus creation. We are so appreciative of the outstanding leaders who have stepped up to address the community on Earth Day, that we want to acknowledge their work and look to the future together. I hope this is the beginning of a new era of green collaboration in San Diego, and that all who care about the future of their children and community attends to learn, dialog and network with others.” she said.

Speakers at the America’s Finest Green City Leadership Forum include:
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. Among America’s Mayors, San Diego’s Republican Mayor Jerry Sanders is a leader in creating economic prosperity & environmental sustainability. In April of 2007, Mayor Jerry Sanders announced the formation of a new Cleantech (Clean Technology) Initiative in an effort to promote the expansion, attraction and retention of businesses that develop products and technologies that provide environmentally sustainable solutions. Clean technologies enable a more valuable use of natural resources and reduce ecological impacts to the region. Mayor Sanders also launched an innovative solar program, which is designed to make the conversion to solar energy affordable to homeowners by financing the cost of installation and spreading it out over 20 years of property tax bills.

Council Member Donna Frye, Democrat, represents the District 6 San Diego City Council, and is the Chair of the Council’s Natural Resources and Culture Committee as well as the San Diego River Conservancy. The council member exerts considerable local influence on the issue she once rode to prominence as a community activist: protecting the environment. She remains passionate and vigilant about clean water and air and other sustainability issues, and leads a growing “green” grassroots of San Diego on these issues.

Many speakers and senior staff representing elected officials and other organizations are confirmed and promise for a dynamic afternoon. Offices and organizations making remarks include representatives Ms. Caridad Sanchez District Director, Office of Senator Barbara Boxer; Mr. Ricardo Flores, Community Representative, Office of Congressmember Susan Davis; Ms. Deanna Spehn, Policy Director, Office of State Senator Christine Kehoe; Dr. Emily Young, San Diego Foundation; Ms. Lisa Bicker, CEO, CleanTECH San Diego and other surprise guests.

SanDiegoEarthWeek.com is also presenting two others events for an enlivened Earth Week:

A Green Jobs and Career Workshop. A timely and affordable event for those looking for information on Green jobs, business and training opportunities in the San Diego Region; $35 Registration

A capstone celebration of Mother Earth, dubbed the Earth Bash, a floating fun time on San Diego Bay aboard Hornblower's eco-friendly luxury yacht, Inspiration, complete with a stellar line up of live entertainers, dancing, nature appreciation, and much more.
Registration: www.SanDiegoEarthWeek.com
A percent of net proceeds will be donated to Surfrider San Diego, San Diego Coastkeeper, and Stayclassy.org

Sponsors for the Leadership Forum include a diverse set of visionary organizations including Waste Management Inc., Cricket Communications, Hornblower Cruises, KPRI 102.1FM and the Host Hotel, The Hotel Solamar.

America’s Finest Green City Leadership Forum Details:
Where: Hotel Solamar
Solstice Ballroom
435 6th Ave (At J Street)
San Diego, CA
When: International Earth Day
Wednesday April 22
Time: 1:00pm-5:00pm
Tickets: $55. Registration: www.sandiegoearthweek.com
Dr. Mark Hanson of The Heartland Foundation and United Green, a co-host for the event notes: “We are at the crossroads of the most significant crisis of modern times. Two profound, life-changing events - the rapid depletion of fossil fuels and rising sea level from the warming of the earth's atmosphere - are converging to dramatically alter our future.”

###

House Climate Leaders Introduce Mega Green Legislation

2009-03-31T13:36:00.000-07:00

Long promised climate-related legislation was introduced today. More when I have a moment to catch up on this.

Markey and Waxman Introduce the AMERICAN CLEAN ENERGY and SECURITY ACT Discussion Draft

The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) discussion draft is a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill that will create millions of new jobs, save American consumers hundreds of billions of dollars in energy costs, enhance America’s energy independence, national security and global competitiveness, and avert the climate crisis.

“This legislation will create clean energy jobs that can’t be shipped overseas, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and make America the global leader in energy technology. We will create jobs by the millions, save money by the billions, and unleash energy investment by the trillions,” said Chairman Markey, who held several hearings on the major issues in the bill.

To meet these goals, the legislation has four titles:

· Creating Clean Energy Jobs: A clean energy title that promotes renewable sources of energy, carbon capture and sequestration technologies, low-carbon fuels, clean electric vehicles, and the smart grid and electricity transmission;

· Cutting Waste, Saving Money: An energy efficiency title that increases energy efficiency across all sectors of the economy, including buildings, appliances, transportation, and industry;

· Cap Global Warming Pollution: A global warming title that places limits on emissions of heat-trapping pollutants; and

· Protecting Consumers: A transitioning title that protects U.S. consumers and industry and promotes green jobs during the transition to a clean energy economy.

National Nightmare of Science Repression Over

2009-03-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

As I dedicated a good share of the last 5 years fighting to stop science elimination and suppression at NASA, this new day is most welcome to me personally. Scientific integrity is most important for humanity, for science remains the bedrock upon which our advancements, and good choices for climate and society, can occur. Thanks to the Union of Concerned Scientists, we had a credible voice about the systemic intimidation of science during the bad old days of the Bush Administration. Now President Obama is following their recommendations to protect science. I say: Never Again. Never Forget.

Source: Union of Concerned Scientists

Obama Administration Follows UCS Recommendations to Protect Scientific Integrity

Statement by Francesca Grifo, Union of Concerned Scientists

Additional Download(s): President Obama Memorandum on Scientific Integrity

WASHINGTON (March 9, 2009)—Today President Obama issued a memorandum that follows Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) recommendations to prevent the abuse, manipulation and suppression of federal science.

The following is a statement by Dr. Francesca Grifo, director of the UCS's Scientific Integrity Program:

"Just a few years ago, almost 15,000 scientists across the country signed a UCS-sponsored statement denouncing the politicization of federal science, and today's memorandum is proof that the Obama administration heard their cry. Federal policy decisions that affect public health and the environment must be based on robust scientific analysis free of political interference and manipulation.

"UCS surveys at nine agencies have documented that, over the past eight years, federal scientists have been working in a climate of fear and intimidation. For example, 60 percent of the EPA scientists who filled out a 2007 survey said they personally experienced at least one instance of political interference in their work over the previous five years.

"We've reached an important milestone in restoring scientific integrity to federal decision making, but a lot of work remains to be done to ensure interference does not occur in the future. I'm hoping the administration works with Congress to adopt new laws, such as whistleblower protections, that will ensure future administrations cannot commit the kinds of abuses we've seen over the last eight years."

Obama Features Clean Energy at Denver Stimulus Signing

2009-02-17T15:24:00.000-08:00

Source: E&E News.net (paid source).

"Because we know we can't power America's future on energy that's controlled by foreign dictators, we are taking a big step down the road to energy independence and laying the groundwork for a new, green energy economy that can create countless well-paying jobs," Obama said.

Obama was introduced at the event by Blake Jones, CEO of the Colorado-based company Namaste Solar, which specializes in solar-panel installation. Jones praised the installation as allowing his company and others to "begin hiring again."

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) described Colorado as at the forefront of developing a new energy economy and said the bill is a major step forward in that regard.

All told, the stimulus contains about $43 billion for direct energy and efficiency programs, along with energy-related tax provisions that total more than $20 billion. Much of those direct investments will go toward programs such as building weatherization, energy efficiency and conservation grants, and renewable energy and electricity transmission loan guarantees.

Beyond providing incentives for alternative energy development, Obama said the legislation would also help spur construction of an electricity grid that will be more capable of moving that energy across the country.

"The electricity we use is carried along a grid of lines and wires that dates back to Thomas Edison -- a grid that can't support the demands of clean energy," Obama said. "This means we're using 19th- and 20th-century technologies to battle 21st-century problems like climate change and energy security."

The bill contains $11 billion for smart-grid technology, including $4.5 billion for a federal matching grant program to invest in smart-technology projects.

Alternative-energy advocates also quickly moved to praise the legislation today, saying that it will help create thousands of jobs in the renewable energy sector and also serve as the first step in addressing items such as climate change...MORE at Headline.

Organizational Change, Revolutionary Sustainability: Peter Senge

2009-02-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

Image Credit: Business Week. Dr. Peter Senge

Dr. Peter Senge, of MIT, is widely regarding in organization and business studies as one of the field's finest thinkers. I view Senge as one of the most original business minds. He and his collaborators sat down with Business Week to discuss his book on sustainability, The Necessary Revolution. As usual, Peter provides a lucid and vast array of connected ideas that lead to new approaches. I particularly appreciate Senge as he understands corporate culture and priorities, and speaks to business from inside the community, but with unique ideas that generally are not found in some (most?) companies. He is very adept at holding a mirror up, and showing the deep side of excellence and innovation in the top companies that are extremely successful. An excerpt from the interview:

In The Necessary Revolution, you profile people, working independently or within companies or organizations, who are trying to bring about a more sustainable world. As you learned their stories, what patterns emerged?

The first is obvious: People have to be passionate. These are innovators in a fundamental sense, and innovators innovate because there is something that they are passionate about. Second, they all in different ways were able to step back and see a bigger picture. This is a huge challenge for people in companies, because so many companies are dominated by short-term perspective and because lots of people in key positions simply aren't very good or don't care very much about the bigger picture. Watch how the decisions are made. Are they thinking of the value of the company 10 years after they retire, or are they thinking about the value of their stock options this year?

The other two things we focused on are the ability to connect with lots of people and collaborate across boundaries—you could call it high levels of relational intelligence. The final element that we saw again and again is a shift [in strategy] away from "we've got to stop doing x, y, or z" and all the negativism that tends to pervade these issues.

Can you give some specific examples?

Nike is a great example of these last two qualities. The company's [eco-friendly Considered system] came into being because of two women who were consummate networkers and who realized that "we're never going to change this culture by convincing people that toxins are bad and that we should be less bad. What's going to make people really passionate is the idea that we can do something that no one has done before and that it will be a great thing for athletes." So they started talking to designers and getting them excited about different kinds of shoes. They created the Organic Exchange for cotton because there wasn't enough on the market. They wanted to design running singlets that were compostable. Within five years they had a network of their best designers really passionate about these design challenges. These are all tough, tough problems; the only way to solve them is to get people excited.(MORE at top...)

Dr. Mel Averner: NASA Visionary and Friend Evolves

2009-02-06T15:21:00.000-08:00

Image: Dr. Mel Averner NASAwatch.com

Mel Averner passed away last night, wrapped in the love and respect of his many friends and NASA colleagues.
In the last 2.5 planetary rotations of Mel's life, we talked often and worked together on global warming mitigation strategies. In conversations with him I always came away impressed anew with the clarity of thought that came from his excellent mind and loving heart. He was a scientist who observed and appreciated things as they are, but also a change agent who saw things as they could be. Mel wanted a worthy mission for NASA and he never stopped working to that end. Most importantly to me, Mel gave me the gift of his precious friendship and collaboration. His recent works will soon be published.

Global Warming: Gore's Senate PPT On The Crisis

2009-01-30T09:58:00.000-08:00

Source: Stardreams, YouTube

This week, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Al Gore offered a disturbing, science-based, update on ice retreat and melt, and the subsequent impacts on humanity. As he points out, it is not the planet that is at risk from global warming, it is our human civilization. In my view, catastrophic events like Katrina, Ike and major fires are indeed becoming a new norm. This would indicate that we, as a species, are not adapting quickly enough to the impact we are having on our environment. Fortunately, we are cognitive social beings in a wired world, and so I believe we have the fundamental software, both within us and as a result of our technological community building, to adapt. If we act in concert soon.

Job Loss High, Obama Calls For Bold Action

2009-01-27T10:52:00.000-08:00

News bits, as the Administration pounds the drum for the stimulus and job creation.

Source: Apollo Alliance email blast and whitehouse.gov

Local Green: California’s unemployment rate hit 9.3 percent in December - a 15 year high.

President Barack Obama said that the first step in boosting the economy is to “take bold action to create a new American energy economy that creates millions of jobs for our people.”

A piece at The Huffington Post argues that the Obama administration faces a major challenge with the growth of economic inequality.

Economy Down, Public Down On Global Warming Concerns

2009-01-23T07:45:00.001-08:00

Source: NYT

A new poll suggests that Americans, preoccupied with the economy,
are less worried about rising global temperatures than they were a year
ago but remain concerned with solving the nation’s energy problem.

Graphic

The findings are somewhat at odds with President Obama, who has put a high priority on staving off global warming and vowed Tuesday in his Inaugural Address to “roll back the specter of a warming planet.”

In the poll, released Thursday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center,
global warming came in last among 20 voter concerns; it trailed issues
like addressing moral decline and decreasing the influence of
lobbyists. Only 30 percent of the voters deemed global warming to be “a
top priority,” compared with 35 percent in 2008.

Jim Hansen: Obama Has "4 Years To Save Earth"

2009-01-21T10:39:00.000-08:00

Image: Dr. James Hansen, NASA

Hansen argues urgently for a carbon tax, not cap and trade, which he views as greenwashing in the policy domain.

Sources: www.guardian.co.uk and The Observor

Hansen - head of the Goddard Institute of Space Studies and winner of the WWF's top conservation award - first warned Earth was in danger from climate change in 1988 and has been the victim of several unsuccessful attempts by the White House administration of George Bush to silence his views. Hansen's institute monitors temperature fluctuations at thousands of sites round the world, data that has led him to conclude that most estimates of sea level rises triggered by rising atmospheric temperatures are too low and too conservative. For example, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says a rise of between 20cm and 60cm can be expected by the end of the century.

However, Hansen said feedbacks in the climate system are already accelerating ice melt and are threatening to lead to the collapse of ice sheets. Sea-level rises will therefore be far greater - a claim backed last week by a group of British, Danish and Finnish scientists who said studies of past variations in climate indicate that a far more likely figure for sea-level rise will be about 1.4 metres, enough to cause devastating flooding of many of the world's major cities and of low-lying areas of Holland, Bangladesh and other nations. (Bold-MTH Editor). As a result of his fears about sea-level rise, Hansen said he had pressed both Britain's Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences to carry out an urgent investigation of the state of the planet's ice-caps. However, nothing had come of his proposals. The first task of Obama's new climate office should therefore be to order such a probe "as a matter of urgency", Hansen added.

MLK Legacy: Inauguration of An Organizer and Environmental Justice

2009-01-19T09:31:00.000-08:00

Image Credit: Ernest Withers: Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike 1968

Martin Luther's King's last march was in support of garbage workers who were protesting terrible working conditions and unmitigated racism in Memphis. On the eve of Barack Obama's swearing in, and in light of his commitment to lead on the issue of environmental preservation and global warming, it seems that the redemption of the promise of justice is taking place on every level. From ending dehumanization of any person-which led to the garbage workers signs declaring "I Am A Man" above-to abolishing degradation of the environment, there is a lot of work to do. I believe Obama's deep strategy is to create a nation of justice organizers, a globe of organizers. It is the organizer's dream. We will soon see if this can be accomplished from the White House.

Source: Daily Kos.com

As we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and consider the effects Dr. King's work have had on the United States, I want to highlight an often overlooked aspect of that work, how Martin Luther King and the civil rights struggle have influenced American notions of environmental health and justice.

One of the many corrosive effects of racial segregation in the United States is the unequal exposure to wastes and hazardous substances faced by people of color in both urban and rual areas across the nation. Consciousness of environmental racism grew in the 1980s, after a variety of incidents (including the siting of hazardous waste sites in Houston and the 1982 protests of a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) dump in Warren County, North Carolina that marked the first time Americans had been arrested for protesting a landfill) became public. Parents worried about children getting sick. Cancer rates in affected areas skyrocketed. In the years after the federal government evacuated the neighborhoods surrounding the Love Canal chemical dump site in upstate New York, worries grew that more communities were affected. These worries were acute in African-American communities, where similar health complaints were not unusual..."more at headline.

ASES Study: 37 Million Green Jobs By 2030

2009-01-16T07:01:00.000-08:00

What I like about the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), is that they do rigorous studies with testable assumptions in their forecasts.

Source: ASES.org

"‘Green Collar Jobs’ report forecasts 37 million jobs from renewable energy and energy efficiency in U.S. by 2030

ASES / MISI study reveals opportunities, warnings in nation’s first update of groundbreaking study; hottest sectors: solar, wind, biofuels, fuel cells

BOULDER, CO – 1/15/2009 – The renewable energy and energy efficiency (RE&EE) industries represented more than 9 million jobs and $1,045 billion in U.S. revenue in 2007, according to a new report offering the most detailed analysis yet of the green economy. The renewable energy industry grew three times as fast as the U.S. economy, with the solar thermal, photovoltaic, biodiesel, and ethanol sectors leading the way, each with 25%+ annual revenue growth.

The new ‘Green Collar Jobs’ report from the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) based in Boulder, and Management Information Services, Inc (MISI), an internationally recognized economic research firm based in Washington D.C., provides a sector-by-sector analysis of where the opportunities are in the rapidly changing renewable energy and energy efficiency industries.

“There’s a new sense of optimism in the green economy,” said Brad Collins, ASES’ Executive Director. “But while the U.S. could see million of new jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency, this will only happen with the necessary leadership, research, development, and public policy at the federal and state levels.”

Key steps include a national renewable portfolio standard, long-term extension of the production tax credit, effective net metering policies, and improved access to electric transmission infrastructure.

According to the advanced scenario in the report, which represents the upper limit of what is technologically and economically feasible, RE&EE would generate about 37 million jobs and $4,294 billion in annual revenue by 2030. It’s one of three forecast scenarios highlighted in this report. Under the base case (business as usual) scenario, which assumes no major change in policy or initiatives, the green job forecast is for more than 16 million jobs and $1,966 billion in revenue in the U.S. by 2030 – less than half the jobs and revenue than the advanced scenario. The third scenario assumes moderate policy improvements at the federal and state level and forecasts 19.5 million jobs and $2,248 billion in revenue by 2030.

Key conclusions from this report include:

• Renewable energy and energy efficiency currently provide more than 9 million jobs and $1,045 billion in revenue in the U.S. (2007). The previous year (2006) renewable energy and energy efficiency represented 8.5 million jobs and $972 billion in revenue.

• 95% of the jobs are in private industry.

• As many as 37 million jobs can be generated by the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries in the U.S. by 2030 – more than 17% of all anticipated U.S. employment.

• Hottest sectors include solar thermal, solar photovoltaics, biofuels, and fuel cells (in terms of revenue growth).

• Hot job areas include electricians, mechanical engineers, welders, metal workers, construction managers, accountants, analysts, environmental scientists, and chemists. The vast majority of jobs created by the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries are in the same types of roles seen in other industries (accountants, factory workers, IT professionals, etc).

• Renewable energy and energy efficiency can create millions of well-paying jobs, many of which are not subject to foreign outsourcing. These jobs are in two categories that every state is eager to attract – college-educated professional workers (many with advanced degrees), and highly skilled technical workers.

• The renewable energy industry grew more than three times as fast as the U.S. economy in 2007 (not including hydropower). Renewable energy is also growing more rapidly than the energy efficiency industry, but the energy efficiency industry is currently much larger than the renewable energy industry.

But while there is tremendous opportunity, there is also a real sense of urgency. Every year’s delay by policy-makers (2009, 2010) has a highly disproportionate and negative impact on long range growth. The longer that policy-makers delay in implementing ambitious renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, the more difficult it will be to achieve the report’s goals by 2030.

Unless quick action is taken, the U.S. risks losing millions of green jobs to other nations that offer a more serious and sustained commitment to growing its green economy. Consider the impressive results of Germany as an instructive example.

Germany’s population is about one-quarter the size of the U.S., but Germany has more renewable energy jobs and generates new jobs faster the U.S. Germany has 5x the wind sector jobs and 4x the photovoltaic solar jobs as the U.S. Germany produces half the wind rotors in the world, one-third the solar panels in the world, and leads the world in biodiesel production.

The U.S. is in a global marketplace. If we fail to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency, the U.S. runs the risk of losing additional ground in these industries to Germany and other nations. If we refuse to address policy and regulatory barriers to the sustained development of the new energy economy, other countries will lead and reap the economic and environmental benefits. For the U.S. to be competitive in a carbon-constrained world, the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries must be a critical economic driver.

About the American Solar Energy Society
For more than 50 years the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) has been leading national efforts to promote education, public outreach, and research about solar energy and other sustainable technologies. www.ases.org

About Management Information Services, Inc
Management Information Services, Inc (MISI) is an internationally recognized, Washington D.C.-based economic research and management consulting firm with expertise in economic forecasting, analysis of energy, environmental and electric utility issues, and labor markets. www.misi-net.com" "

AIAA Notes "License to Change: Will NASA?"

2009-01-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

AIAA kindly picked up our essay today and mentioned it in an email blast. I am getting remarks that we said what others are thinking but are afraid to say. True or not, we tried to tell it like we see it.

Source: AIAA Newsletter

Former Officials Call For More NASA Involvement With Industry. In an article for the Space Review (1/12), Joan Vernikos, former director of NASA's Life Sciences, and Kathleen Connell, former policy director of the Aerospace States Association, wrote on NASA's "opportunity" under the new administration to "get out of its mid-life crisis, step back, take a good hard look at itself at the unflattering reflection of its lagging abilities in space, and make bold changes, before the world passes it by." The authors are critical of NASA's "ten-center ground infrastructure" which they call a "drain on the NASA budget." They feel NASA should do more "partnering with commercial interests" on a variety of issues since it should be "investing in...the development of a beneficial space economy." NASA "must intentionally return benefits via space-based economic development as it goes forward."

License to change: will NASA?

2009-01-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Joan Vernikos, an eminent and far-sighted space expert and my co-author. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Jeff Foust, who published our essay below.

Source: www.thespacereview.com

License to change: will NASA?

by Joan Vernikos and Kathleen M. Connell
Monday, January 12, 2009

A new administration is coming in very soon with a license to change. All areas of government seem to be taking on the challenge. During the transition, the outgoing regime is loudly defending Ares and the current Administrator’s technical prowess, but even more is at stake at NASA, and this opportunity for authentic change is rare and not to be squandered.

Having just celebrated its 50th birthday, NASA has perhaps the only opportunity to get out of its mid-life crisis, step back, take a good hard look at itself at the unflattering reflection of its lagging abilities in space, and make bold changes, before the world passes it by.

If all the change envisioned is tweaking—cost-cutting trade-offs of favorite programs, preserving the status quo, job security, preserving ten aging centers with regional or private interests, or setting unattainable goals such as those of the last 10 years—this opportunity too will be wasted. We offer ten sign posts on the road to genuine strategic change in civil space for next eight years.

Even more is at stake at NASA, and this opportunity for authentic change is rare and not to be squandered.

NASA has come a long way from its original charter designed to establish a civilian space program focused on scientific and technological creativity both in space and in aeronautics. It started out with momentum. A systematic plan for the development of platforms, both robotic and manned, suggested incredible capabilities with a good dose of passion. Within 16 years political circumstances propelled NASA’s leadership. Voyager, Pioneer, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Viking, remotely piloted vehicles, short take-off and landing (STOL), swing-wing concepts, and more all dotted the atmosphere and outer space. With that came an explosion in scientific and technological advances that fired up the imagination of schoolchildren, established new fields of technology, and opened up commercial possibilities never before contemplated.

The country was uncertain about going to the Moon. But the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis changed matters. The president deemed space a safe competitive arena that demonstrated the nation’s muscle-flexing. A nation mourning for John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King was still compelled enough to propel the program for nine years and sustain its scientific pursuits of Skylab and Viking for the next seven years.

As NASA came out of this enthusiastic adolescence, it lost its will and purpose. It got bogged down with a sprawling and crumbling infrastructure, political haggling, and internal fiefdoms. For many it was now just a job. Passion and creativity waned. Political and budget cycles were shortened to unrealistic periods leaving graduate students unable to complete degrees in space-related sciences. College students moved on to more promising fields for inspiration, and NASA lost out on the best and the brightest.

One

Today, the ten-center ground infrastructure remains a drain on the NASA budget. Its burgeoning bureaucracy has discouraged many a good scientist and holds back innovation as well as collaborative arrangements for national and international cooperation. In addition, NASA’s documentation requirements to access space have grown with each administration. Space measured in weight of documents is a notorious deterrent to scientific and commercial progress. Unlike other countries, the annual US budget cycle hinders continuity and stability critical to successful scientific progress. Discontinued programs are costly and wasteful, leaving graduate students unable to complete degree requirements within a reasonable time frame, while many have abandoned the space program as their chosen career. Because of stop-and-start opportunities, engineering vision and enthusiasm have also waned. Students are more attracted to lucrative technological frontiers. This is not the profile of an organization positioned to compete or excel in space in the 21st century.

Today, American space innovation is also hampered by a 20th century aerospace industry that is punished unless it lobbies for status quo body count and cost-plus contracts, in lieu of innovation. Rather than rewarding creativity, this focus minimizes evolving the workforce, using only existing technologies that will be obsolescent by the time the next launcher enters service. In the end, this reactive strategy perennially holds NASA hostage to the past. Industry is not really the villain, however, as they generally do what they are encouraged to do by the government customer—one all too often welcomed to continue a private career by traveling through the revolving door.

Two

Meanwhile, the global picture has changed. NASA has lost its global launch monopoly and leadership. Driven by enthusiasm and the profit incentive, the commercial and international space sectors have rapidly moved in and come of age. Activities ranging from satellite launch capabilities, commercial parabolic and suborbital manned flight, the building of satellites, and the planning of inflatable space stations are all now in open competition. Once the purview of a select few, human access to space is rapidly becoming accessible to all.

So, in the past eight years, what did NASA come up with to retain its global leadership? The reinvention of the Apollo program. This was sending humans back to the Moon, at a hugely inflated cost, under the guise of testing out systems for putting humans on Mars. Without wishing to deny the astronaut corps the long-awaited prize of one day following in the footsteps of the Apollo astronauts, the value of returning to the Moon to stay as a testing base for Mars is slim. It would also divert funding away from crucial preparative work to enable a human mission to Mars before the end of this century.

Today, American space innovation is also hampered by a 20th century aerospace industry that is punished unless it lobbies for status quo body count and cost-plus contracts, in lieu of innovation.

Apart from the robotic work and orbiting lunar missions conducted by many countries, the greatest value of space exploration lies in commercial interests, whether as space travelers, explorers, lunar resource teams, or near-term terrestrial products and services. When NASA is ready to test technologies required for human Mars missions its interests would best be served by partnering with commercial interests. It would certainly be more cost-effective than going it alone.

Three

NASA’s main mission is to explore and discover. What then is NASA’s role in this next-generation manned lunar enterprise? It should be in developing cutting-edge technologies required by the commercial sector—a lunar lander or a lunar rover for instance, to advance both commercial and NASA’s scientific interests. In sum, doing what government should do, which is investing in enabling infrastructure to enable the development of a beneficial space economy. As with other areas of government-sponsored research, the cutting-edge advances must be handed over to commercial interests in an orderly and efficient manner. NASA should not be nor should it have ever been in space transportation operations. Such operations are best left to the private sector.

Four

Another legacy of the outgoing administration is the removal of “understand and protect the home planet” from the NASA mission. Restoring this mission is a top priority. Scientists at the recent American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco reported that arctic ice is in a “death spiral” and that climate change does account for stronger, more frequent hurricanes. NASA must be a part of the global warming solution. NASA’s share of the global monitoring flotilla is a resource to humanity. Underfunded climate instruments need to be made operational soon. In addition, NASA has niche capabilities in clean technology engineering, wireless solar power terrestrial transmission research, and in extreme weather habitat enhancement. All of these kinds of innovative efforts should be encouraged.

This Earth-centric strategic priority not only preserves life on the only life-bearing planet we know, it is a tactical choice which creates political capital and allows NASA the credibility to do what it does best: scientific missions exploring the universe, returning lessons about the lifecycles of planets (including our own), developing advanced methods of monitoring the Earth’s environmental changes, transferring proven methodologies to operational agencies like NOAA, and following the Hubble telescope model sharing the excitement and benefits of these discoveries with young minds and the young at heart public.

Five

Authentic change at NASA is also about embracing scientific priorities and adopting true international engagement rather than bartering and halting the fruitless debate that somehow proposes that science impedes crewed exploration. On the contrary, science enables exploration. Scientific missions that are too costly and complicated for any one country would best be done collaboratively with international partners. In this global age scientists all over the world have similar interests and are at similar levels of development though methodologies and perspectives may differ. This is a great opportunity to combine talents for the greater good, and enable exploration capability.

A manned mission to Mars will entail detailed planning that will vary depending on the knowledge gained from a systematic series of robotic precursor missions and thorough ground research. Much like Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, a manned mission to Mars will depend on careful, detailed mapping and prospecting of the Mars terrain and resources. A human Mars mission is not like climbing Everest or exploring the poles, and these 20th century exploration analogs are neither subtle nor complex enough to help us understand how to move forward in space.

Six

It is crucial to achieve return on existing ISS space infrastructure investment. The old NASA/aerospace arrangement of “propose, fund, build, and move-on” is a necrotic business model and has destroyed NASA’s former reputation as a good steward of taxpayer dollars.

A human Mars mission is not like climbing Everest or exploring the poles, and these 20th century exploration analogs are neither subtle nor complex enough to help us understand how to move forward in space.

The $100-billion International Space Station National Laboratory (ISSNL) is an extraordinary accomplishment. It must, for starters, be utilized as the ideal in-space testing ground for the human component. Risk management for human presence in microgravity has been advancing steadily with six-month increments of crew time aloft. These are already showing serious problems that need to be resolved by applying the scientific method. Six months in microgravity is a far cry from a two-to-three-year exploration mission with slow communication and no resupply or rescue potential. Designing launch, spacecraft, and habitat capabilities is the last, not the first, thing that needs to preoccupy planners when we can only guess at what the requirements might be. Empty rhetoric about exploring Mars, without mitigating human risk, has characterized the current vision to explore Mars. This is, on the present course, a hollow and cynical political game, since such a mission will happen on neither our nor our children’s watch with the current mentality. Disposing of current proven assets like the ISSNL in favor of new untested options is speculative and costly, and further drives a Mars mission into a receding point on the far horizon of human exploration and US leadership in space. Finally, research aboard ISSNL may lead to advances in terrestrial biosciences. Many more experiments are needed to explore and exploit this beneficial opportunity.

Seven

Should we be serious about exploring Mars, or any other destination, we first have to know from robotic precursors exactly what to expect to find and where to land. Next, from analogous simulations in microgravity, we must know what working conditions would Mars astronauts be expected to encounter and where one-third gravity may in fact be a bonus.

Robotic missions would provide the advanced information on weather and radiation hazards. As with the early days into space, and the established protocols of rigorous science, it stands to reason that biological specimens including plants and microorganisms should precede any human venture; that too should be preceded by equivalent study on the ISSNL so that expected risks may be calculated. Unfortunately, the recent shortsighted cancellation of the necessary ISSNL facilities and elimination of the microgravity science community will not enable similar testing of some mammalian species such as mice or rats before humans go to Mars or even stay in low Earth orbit (LEO) for a two-to-three-year duration. Further, from a national perspective, we have enabled state-of-the-art laboratories for partner countries on ISSNL, but our own partially-built facilities were mothballed. Thus, for want of a relatively modest science program, we may have only ourselves to blame for our growing international space exploration deficit in contrast to other nations. The hard fact is that now others may not only have the will to get to Mars before us, but the technical knowledge as well.

We have no alternatives to ISSNL for human-tended science in space at present. Despite years of extensive countermeasure development and testing, such procedures have proven inadequate. Restoring an on-board artificial gravity capability should be reconsidered or, at least, investigated systematically as is done by other countries.

Eight

It is our firm belief that we cannot be ready to send humans to Mars by 2050 as long as we pursue the fallacious path of the current approach. It would seem logical and ethical that in order to contemplate sending humans on a mission to Mars and, in addition, to gain as much information as possible about the destination, at least seven distinct elements must be in place:

Detailed knowledge of the Mars terrain, environment, and resources relevant to human habitation collected from a progressive series of robotic precursor missions;
A reliable completely closed life support system including, air, water, food and waste management;
Radiation protection;
Behavior and performance maintenance and selection procedures for extended compatibility in long stays in confined, remote simulation conditions;
Basic self-sufficient medical car;
Proven effective, practical, preventive and therapeutic countermeasures to known or yet to be identified microgravity-induced health hazards; and
A new concept of a space suit that is generic (not custom-made), flexible, comfortable, resilient, and reparable so that it can be worn daily for long hours with suitable protection from environmental hazards. Advances in such a suit and portable life support should be equivalent to the technological leap from the iron scaphander of sponge divers of the 19th century to today’s wetsuit and diving gear.

Nine

These elements have to be in place and tested on the ISSNL or similar commercial LEO station before considering moving ahead with the development of the relevant launch, spacecraft, and habitat capabilities. Just as it takes around 20 years to bring an experimental drug to market, it may take at least the same time for out-of-the-box creative thinking to arrive at the point of testing the evolutionary spacecraft needed for Mars exploration. Sustained support and commitment is crucial to the success of such a venture. On the other hand, any launch or spacecraft design started now to take humans to Mars will be obsolete by 2050. Creative brains of young scientists and engineers across the country must be brought together. The defunct Advanced Concepts Program may be one model that, together with prize-type motivation, could stimulate NASA’s creative juices once more. And, as we have advocated earlier, the entrepreneurial space sector should be brought into the next Mars mission architecture not as a “contractor” but as a partner.

NASA can indeed reclaim its former true leadership. But it must first shed its hubris and capitalize on the accomplishments of those who are successful by following in their footsteps.

For change agents, it is crucial to learn from mistakes. Since 1976 NASA has repeatedly failed in that the decision to build a spacecraft preceded the requirements for its use. The Shuttle was rescued and the best was made of it as a science platform thanks to the development by the Europeans of the Skylab-type Spacelab. This allowed for sophisticated research in life and microgravity sciences to be carried out in space for the first time since Skylab. Once more science-driven requirements for the ISSNL facilities were ignored, leading to less-than-optimal utilization potential. Yet again the international partners are coming to the rescue of science providing capabilities in their facilities and willingness to share.

But the projected lifespan of the ISSNL is short. There is so much to do. As in the past the outgoing NASA was unable to recognize the critical role of the ISS in achieving their stated exploration goals let alone scientific research. Stealing from science to support transportation has been counterproductive. I tend to believe this is not through malfeasance but through NASA’s lack of vision in developing a tactical strategy to achieve its own ultimate goal.

Ten

The value of the Constellation project is and must be thoroughly and openly reassessed. Parts of it may be sufficiently advanced to bring value to the human spaceflight program. For others, alternate solutions should be considered. Both the Defense Department and the commercial sector are actively pursuing and succeeding in developing a variety of launch capabilities. The proven success of the Atlas 5 has reclaimed US leadership in the launch sector. Commercial companies such as SpaceX and Orbital Sciences with their Falcon and Taurus rockets and Dragon and Cygnus spacecraft are edging in. Is it now time to take advantage of such progress and purchase rides to space, rather than continuing to compete with the private sector through the ten-center organizational scheme? In addition, open government and Web 2.0 allow all Americans to participate in the process and to assess the arguments and decisions made. Competence is many-faceted, and a competent, self-confident NASA will be an open one. Deals done in smoke-filled back rooms got us here, so perhaps it is time to try something new to get where we really want to go in space.

The global stage has changed in fifty years. International, commercial, and non-profit participants are now entrenched in the space arena. NASA can indeed reclaim its former true leadership. But it must first shed its hubris and capitalize on the accomplishments of those who are successful by following in their footsteps. It must address the generational challenge of our era, climate change, with a vigor that makes up for wasted time. It must revitalize NASA’s traditional creativity in aeronautics. NASA must acknowledge the value of the ISSNL to mount a science-informed successful mission to Mars, with the help of commercial players. Finally, it is time to let go of the ten-center political hydra that drains the agency of critical resources, or expect to ask the taxpayer to increase NASA’s budget in order to do the job it is asked to do. And NASA must intentionally return benefits via space-based economic development as it goes forward.

Now, surely, must be the time to step back and take a long hard look at where NASA’s future should lie in the new and vibrant world of space. That’s what real change is all about.

Joan Vernikos PhD is President of Thirdage LLC and former Director of NASA’s Life Sciences. Kathleen M Connell MA is Principal of The Connell Whittaker Group, LLC, and a former Policy Director of the Aerospace States Association.

Business Wants Smart Grid Subsidy, Exxon Wants Carbon Tax!

2009-01-10T12:14:00.000-08:00

Green news is moving at a rapid fire rate this week, as the times indeed are changing. I worked at a solar seminar this week in San Diego and the buzz and energy was in the red zone. Folks were talking about the next renewable revolution with extreme enthusiasm. They want it, they want in, and they are ready to go green now!
So it seems with some of the utilities, businesses and Exxon.

If smart grid is funded (see CNET story below) I would like to to see compensated feed-in approved in CA. I understand from solar experts that a pilot program is in the works. Feeding power back to the grid, and getting paid for it, would create a new economic cycle. The problem is that utilities would go broke with a massively successful feed-in program. How to resolve this conundrum will be a challenge for the next phase of "public" power policy. It makes no sense to me to feed-in surplus power to the utility for free, when being paid for surplus power is a strong incentive for folks to install solar power systems. On the other hand, utilities are needed, it is said, to deliver power during off peak hours, such as heat in the night. Stay tuned. But imagine, in just one scenario, if older folks on fixed incomes had a passive income stream on their rooftops. A win-win situation, and a possible solution to a broken social security payee system?

Meanwhile, I am astounded, amazed and still in disbelief that the Wall Street Journal reports that the CEO of Exxon, Rex Tillerson, has come out in favor of a Carbon Tax. It is hard to disagree with Rex that a major concern with Cap and Trade is that it will create an emissions brokerage sector on Wall Street, which is not entirely a pretty prospect. Still, what is Rex's strategic move in this regard? He must know that increasing tax is the third rail for elected officials in Congress. So it might be posturing without sincerity. Still, by voicing support for a carbon tax, he allows others to come on board carbon tax, joining Al Gore and others. Could it be that Rex sees that global warming is extremely disruptive to society, and therefore bad for business in the long run?

Source: CNET.com

WASHINGTON--When politicians are doling out trillions of tax dollars in bailouts and so-called stimulus spending, nobody should be surprised if the line of businesses queuing for cash snakes all the way around the Capitol building. The latest idea: more spending on smart grids.

The idea of a smart grid is an alluring one: A far more intelligent electric power system that takes advantage of technological developments to deliver power in a more optimal, energy-efficient way. A household dishwasher could decide to turn on when prices are low at off-peak times, and plug-in electric cars could feed power back into the grid when necessary.

To make the case that a smart grid is deserving of some serious federal largesse, utility companies and their business partners organized an event here on Thursday that drew hundreds of congressional staffers and random political lurkers (the free sandwiches probably helped). The companies demonstrated "smart" thermostats and smart phone applications to monitor energy usage--and then delivered the punch line: significant checks from the U.S. Treasury are necessary to make all this happen.

Given that electric companies make money from energy consumption, they need some government encouragement to adopt smart grid technologies, they said.

Congressman Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) gave his support Thursday for using stimulus money to invest in smart grid technology.

(Credit: Jay Inslee's congressional Web site)

The federal government should provide "the right incentives to allow the utilities to do the right thing," said Bob Gilligan, vice president of transmission and development for GE Energy.

It is expected, business representatives said, that Congress will soon authorize using taxpayer funds for smart grid technology, if not through the upcoming stimulus package, then in either an energy bill or a separate climate change bill.

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), who belongs to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, the Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Natural Resources Committee, was on hand to endorse the spending allocation.

"We know this is driven principally by private enterprise and private inventors, but Uncle Sam needs to belly up to the bar and be the spark plug for this revolution," Inslee said. "We know the world demands clean energy technology. The world is going to go to the door of the country that will develop these new technologies."

Along with increasing loan guarantee programs and research and development funding for such technologies, the federal government could take steps to incentivize the use of smart grids by decoupling utility revenues from the amount of electricity sold, Inslee said. The development of a smart grid system could also be dovetailed with a renewable energy portfolio standard, he said.

"We should not allow this economic crisis to be wasted," Inslee said. "We intend to use this stimulus package to promote investment in these technologies."

Tax vehicles such as investment tax credits would be cleanest way to spur smart grid use, said Dan Delurey, executive director for the Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition, a trade association.

"The smart grid does qualify for stimulus," he said. "It's infrastructure, and it's shovel ready. There will be R&D, but there are technologies out there that will be deployed now."

Researcher: Arctic Ice In "Death Spiral": Beyond Tipping Point

2008-12-15T22:21:00.000-08:00

Words fail me, although this has been projected for the last year or so.

Source and Image: Climate Progress.org

The UK’s Independent reports on a study to be presented Tuesday to the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco by top cryosphere scientists:

Scientists have found the first unequivocal evidence that the Arctic region is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the world at least a decade before it was predicted to happen.

Climate-change researchers have found that air temperatures in the region are higher than would be normally expected during the autumn because the increased melting of the summer Arctic sea ice is accumulating heat in the ocean. The phenomenon, known as Arctic amplification, was not expected to be seen for at least another 10 or 15 years and the findings will further raise concerns that the Arctic has already passed the climatic tipping-point towards ice-free summers, beyond which it may not recover.

The study is from scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), who have been regularly reporting on the unexpectedly rapid loss of Arctic ice over the past several years (see NSIDC stunner: Arctic ice at “Likely Record-Low Volume”). It bears repeating that “The recent [Arctic] sea-ice retreat is larger than in any of the (19) IPCC [climate] models” — and that was a Norwegian expert in 2005. The retreat has accelerated in the past three years.

As one of the NSIDC authors, Mark Serreze, said in August, “No matter where we stand at the end of the melt season it’s just reinforcing this notion that Arctic ice is in its death spiral.”

California Greening: Aggressive Plan, Revenue Capture OK

2008-12-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

As California goes, so so goes the nation. We should be proud of our golden state, once again.
My question is: what is the revenue sharing plan with local communities? If San Diego creates a green zone incentive for local companies that cut emissions, should San Diego or any community share in the bounty that will now go to Sacramento?

Source: Los Angeles Times

December 12, 2008
Reporting from Sacramento -- California regulators adopted the nation's
first comprehensive plan to slash greenhouse gases Thursday and
characterized it as a model for President-elect Barack Obama, who has
pledged an aggressive national and international effort to combat global
warming.

The ambitious blueprint by the world's eighth-largest economy would cut the
state's emissions by 15% from today's level over the next 12 years, bringing
them down to 1990 levels.
Approved by the state's Air Resources Board in a unanimous vote, the
134-page plan lays out targets for virtually every sector of the economy,
including automobiles, refineries, buildings and landfills. It would require
a third of California's electricity to come from solar energy, wind farms
and other renewable sources -- far more than any state currently requires.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been a vigorous advocate of the plan,
vowed that it would "unleash the full force of California's innovation and
technology for a healthier planet."

Businesses, however, are sharply divided.

Automakers oppose California's pending crackdown on carbon dioxide emissions
from cars, a regulation that more than a dozen states have pledged to adopt.
Manufacturers want regulators to lower the cost of complying, saying it will
lead to billions of dollars in higher electricity costs.

"This plan is an economic train wreck waiting to happen," James Duran of the
California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce told the board, saying that it
would cause financial hardship to minority-owned companies.

But Bob Epstein, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, led a coalition of energy,
technology and Hollywood executives, including Google Chief Executive Eric
Schmidt, in endorsing the plan as a spur to the state's lagging economy.
Investors have poured $2.5 billion into California clean-tech companies in
the first nine months of the year, up from $1.8 billion for all of 2007, he
said, a level that eclipsed the software industry.
"This plan is a clear signal to investors to invest in California," Epstein
said.

Schwarzenegger, a sharp critic of President Bush's opposition to climate
legislation, said, "When you look at today's depressed economy, green tech
is one of the few bright spots out there."
California's plan will be "a road map for the rest of the nation," he
predicted.

After an aborted attempt last spring, Congress is expected to renew its
efforts to craft climate legislation next year. Many of the elements in
contention are addressed in California's blueprint, including a
cap-and-trade program that would allow industries to reduce emissions more
cheaply.

In 18 months of public hearings and workshops, hundreds of people testified
and more than 43,000 comments were submitted. More than 250,000 copies of
the plan have been viewed or downloaded from the air board's website in the
last two months.

The state's blueprint will be implemented over the next two years through
industry-specific regulations. Republican legislators have called on
Schwarzenegger to delay the plan, citing the dire state of California's
economy and criticism of the air board's economic models...

...Despite the reach of the state's effort, it would barely make a dent in
global warming: The state's emissions account for about 1.5% of the world's
emissions. Nonetheless, air board Chairwoman Mary Nichols said California's
leadership has spurred other states to move ahead. "We are filling a vacuum
left by inaction at the federal level," she said.

More than two dozen states have committed to capping emissions since
California passed its landmark 2006 global warming law, the trigger for
Thursday's action by the Air Resources Board.

California has joined with four Canadian provinces and seven western states
to form a regional cap-and-trade program. Under the program, the states
would set a total allowable amount of emissions -- as California did in its
blueprint. Utilities and other large industries would be required to obtain
allowances to cover their emissions. If companies cut emissions more than
required, they can sell their extra emission reductions to firms that are
not able to meet their targets.

A cap-and-trade system has been adopted in Europe, where it was initially
fraught with logistical problems and afforded windfall profits to many
industries. California's system, which would apply to industries responsible
for 85% of its emissions, is the most controversial aspect of its plan.

Groups representing low-income residents of polluted urban areas testified
that allowing industries to trade in emissions would lead to dirtier plants
in their neighborhoods. Under California's plan, industries would also be
allowed to buy "offsets" -- emission reductions from projects in other
states, or possibly foreign nations, to avoid making their own reductions.

However, the board assuaged many environmentalists Thursday when it pledged
that it would gradually move toward a system to auction 100% of greenhouse
gas permits, rather than give the permits away for free, as was initially
the case in Europe.

Bernadette del Chiaro, an energy analyst for Environment California,
predicted the auctions could bring in $1 billion at the outset and up to
$340 million per year by 2020.

"This is huge," she said. "Revenue from polluters would be used to transit
to a green economy.

MISSION TO HUMANITY

"Stand And Deliver" Says GLOBE To G-8 On Climate

Global Clean Energy Investments Up

Green Cash Glut To Hit U.S. Cities- Can They Spend It?

Van Jones: With Liberty, Justice and Green Jobs For All

Historic Climate and Energy Bill Brings Out The Green Troops

Video: Speakers at America's Finest Green City Leadership Forum of April 22nd, Earth Day

"Solind attends Americas Finest Green City Leadership Forum in San Diego

Energy Civil Rights: The Case For Solar Net Metering

SDNN: SanDiegoEarthWeek.com News and Interviews

San Diego Earth Week Leaders Forum: Mayor Jerry Sanders, Councilmember Donna Frye, Elected Offices Speak

House Climate Leaders Introduce Mega Green Legislation

National Nightmare of Science Repression Over

Obama Administration Follows UCS Recommendations to Protect Scientific Integrity

Obama Features Clean Energy at Denver Stimulus Signing

Organizational Change, Revolutionary Sustainability: Peter Senge

Dr. Mel Averner: NASA Visionary and Friend Evolves

Global Warming: Gore's Senate PPT On The Crisis

Job Loss High, Obama Calls For Bold Action

Economy Down, Public Down On Global Warming Concerns

Jim Hansen: Obama Has "4 Years To Save Earth"

MLK Legacy: Inauguration of An Organizer and Environmental Justice

ASES Study: 37 Million Green Jobs By 2030

AIAA Notes "License to Change: Will NASA?"

License to change: will NASA?

License to change: will NASA?

by Joan Vernikos and Kathleen M. ConnellMonday, January 12, 2009

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Business Wants Smart Grid Subsidy, Exxon Wants Carbon Tax!

Researcher: Arctic Ice In "Death Spiral": Beyond Tipping Point

California Greening: Aggressive Plan, Revenue Capture OK

by Joan Vernikos and Kathleen M. Connell
Monday, January 12, 2009