From Green Right Now Reports

Ready to spend a little time in the dark to show that you aren’t in the dark about climate change? Earth Hour 2010 is just around the corner.

Image: myearthhour.org

The event – organized by the World Wildlife Fund and scheduled for 8:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, March 27 – once again will feature millions of Americans turning out their lights for one hour in support of action on climate change. In 2009, an estimated 80 million people in the U.S. and nearly a billion around the world participated on some level, resulting in the lights going dim at such iconic venues as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, New York’s Empire State Building, the Sydney Opera House and the Great Pyramids of Gaza.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Image: Governors' Wind Energy Coalition

While there is no shortage of hot air swirling around various plans to harness wind energy to power our homes and businesses, a group of United States governors has hammered out a plan and is ready to take it all the way to the top.

On Tuesday, Iowa Governor Chet Culver and Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri released Great Expectations: U.S. Wind Energy Development, the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition’s 2010 Recommendations. Culver and Carcieri are the chair and vice chair of the 29-state organization, which is attempting to shape a national policy to make wind power both viable and cost-effective.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Image: Chevron Energy Solutions

Difficult times call for innovative ideas, and the San Francisco Bay Area may be a cleaner place as a result. Faced with dwindling revenues and budget cuts, the San Jose Unified School District once again turns to renewable energy, breaking ground March 11 on a 3.7 MW solar project to be installed over six school sites.

When the sites come online later this year, the district anticipates saving more than $1.5 million in electric utility costs the first year, $7.6 million over five years and $36 million over the life of the project. Those figures are based on lower electricity costs, state incentives and sale of renewable energy credits.

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From Green Right Now Reports

New York University released its Climate Action Plan (CAP) today, which outlines the first steps toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2040.

The plan was developed after the university took a greenhouse gas inventory, and it outlines the projects and methods it will use to reduce or offsets its emissions.

NYU officials credited both Mayor Bloomberg’s PlanNYC Climate Challenge and the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) for initiating and helping shape its actions. The school is a signor of the ACUPCC .

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From Green Right Now Reports

Calling themselves “Clean Energy Patriots,” dozens of environmental leaders today asked the U.S. Senate to quit serving the interests of “Big Oil” and take action on behalf of Americans who want clean energy and climate solutions.

The leaders from nearly 50 environmental and social responsibility groups signed a declaration at the U.S. Capitol. It demands that the Senate quit stalling on climate action, and kicks off a 40-day countdown until Earth Day, which celebrates its 40th anniversary on April 22.

They urged citizens to join in what they are calling the Earth Day Revolution.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Live Earth today announced a series of concerts in April as part of the Dow Live Earth Run for Water to raise awareness and funds to help solve the global water crisis. Melissa Etheridge will headline the event in Los Angeles and Rob Thomas will perform in Atlanta.

Organizers said the events will take place in nearly 100 cities across 50 countries around the world on April 18. Additional artists will be announced for events in Chicago, Minneapolis, and New York.

Dow Live Earth Run for Water will include a 6km run/walk (the average distance many women and children walk every day to get water), along with a water education village and other live musical performances.

Etheridge, who won an Academy Award winner for Best Song for the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth, said she believes “strongly that it is our duty as a society and as individuals to preserve our planet and its resources.”

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From Green Right Now Reports

Looking to rent an apartment? Make sure it has all the amenities you’ll need: laundry facilities, exercise room — and a car for occasional long-range errands.

In San Francisco, they are not leaving that last one to chance. The Planning Department mandates that for every 50 to 200 units in a new residential building, at least one space must be made available for a car sharing vehicle.

The idea is that parking for an apartment complex shouldn’t shut out, but should encourage, those who use car sharing. And if the space has got a car at the ready — all the better.

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By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now

In Durham, N.C., homes will get an energy retrofit. In Salt Lake City, they’ll develop a plan to reduce auto pollution. In Sacramento, they’ll be improving the landscape around a river to reduce pollution runoff. And in Denver, they’ll be looking at a little bit of all that — energy efficiency for homes and businesses, bike sharing and renewable energy.

It’s all being made possible by $10 million from the EPA’s Climate Showcase Community Grants, set up to help communities develop their plans to reduce greenhouse gases and lighten their carbon footprint.

Durham, N.C.

Retrofiting by insulating pipes in Durham, N.C.

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Williams currently has evacuated tube solar collectors on Fort Hoosac, a graduate dorm. (Photo: Williams College)

From Green Right Now Reports

The Roberts Environmental Center at Claremont McKenna College released an analysis of sustainability reporting for the Top 50 U.S. liberal arts colleges. The report contains a compilation of Pacific Sustainability Index (PSI) scores evaluating the environmental and social reporting of these colleges. PSI scoring is based on the transparency, intent, and performance for both environmental and social issues.

The top 10 in overall sustainability are:

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Green Right Now Reports

In a blow to the nuclear power industry, Vermont’s State Senate is pulling the plug on the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, which has been beset by environmental problems ranging from missing fuel rods to the uncontrolled release of radiation.

The Senate voted this week (26-4) to not renew a requested extension of the plant’s 40-year license, which expires in March 2012. The vote came after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledged this week that yet another radioactive leak had occurred at the Yankee reactor in 2005. It also followed President Obama’s declaration of a new era for nuclear, beginning with $8 billion in federal loan guarantees for a large nuclear power plant near Augusta, Ga.

Vermont’s House of Representatives may vote on the issue, but if either chamber denies the extensive of the license, the plant must be closed. The Vermont Yankee Power Plant, commissioned in 1972, is licensed until March 2012, according to the DOE.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Plans are taking shape for Earth Hour 2010, the annual event in which landmarks around the world switch off their lights as a symbol of their commitment to resolving the issue of global warming.

This year’s event will be held at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 27. Among this year’s participating global icons are CN Tower in Toronto, Table Mountain in Cape Town, the Grand Palace in Bangkok and the world’s second tallest building, Tapei 101. U.S. landmarks that will go dark include the Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building, Mount Rushmore and the lights of Las Vegas, will switch off in a decisive display of climate action from one of the most significant nations on the climate landscape.

The actions shown by cities of the world and their inhabitants are crucial to leading a low-carbon resolution to climate change, says Earth Hour Co-Founder and Executive Director, Andy Ridley. He noted that the C40, a climate leadership group of many of the world’s largest cities, says that cities are responsible for up to 75 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa today confirmed earlier reports that the city will partner with RecycleBank to launch an incentive program that will reward households for Blue Bin recycling. Initially, a pilot program will serve 15,000 single family homes along selected routes in the West Valley and North Central sections of the city.

The program is designed to encourage additional Blue Bin recycling.

The mayor said the program is designed to encourage additional Blue Bin recycling, increase recycling rates and put meaningful savings in the pockets of participating residents.

“The City of Los Angeles has worked tirelessly to ensure that recycling is accessible to every single resident. Los Angeles’ ambitious environmental agenda is one of the reasons why we already recycle more than any other big city in America and why we will be the cleanest, greenest big city in America,” Mayor Villaraigosa said in a statement. “To reach our goal of zero waste, we are building innovative partnerships that will employ outside resources. We are proud to be the biggest city to work with RecycleBank, since the program will motivate residents to recycle more and will pump money directly back into the local economy.”

RecycleBank measures the amount of material recycled in a community and converts that amount into points that can be redeemed for rewards at hundreds of local and national RecycleBank Reward Partners. Rewards come in the form of groceries, gift cards, school supplies, restaurants, among other choices. RecycleBank works to involve local merchants so residents can enjoy savings while helping the local economy.

There also is an option to donate reward points to local schools through the RecycleBank Green Schools Program. National RecycleBank partners include retailers and brands such as Kraft Foods, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ruby Tuesday and CVS/pharmacy.

The goal of the pilot program is to elevate environmental stewardship, personal responsibility and volunteer action in recycling on a community wide basis. Residents in the pilot areas must sign up for their personal RecycleBank account, either online or by phone, to begin earning reward points.

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