From Green Right Now Reports

Clean energy and Fortune 500 executives arrived in Washington D.C. today for the fifth and final leg of the “Race for American Jobs: Clean Energy Leadership,” a coast-to-coast virtual race to drive home the economic and job-creation benefits of national climate and energy legislation.

Sponsored by We Can Lead, a coalition of business leaders from 30 states who are pushing for new  energy and climate policies in the United States, the  the four-week campaign included events in Oregon, Colorado, Ohio and New Hampshire, before moving to Washington.

A “race” baton, calling for swift passage of comprehensive climate legislation, was delivered at Congressional today on Capitol Hill. The baton was signed by executives from Best Buy, Nike, Starbucks, Levi Strauss, Jones Lang LaSalle and Stonyfield, and others from clean energy companies, union leadership, and investor and youth groups.

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

If you had the money and connections, you could build a snappy green house these days. Sink a geothermal heat pump to tap Mother Earth’s energy, slap up some solar panels, finish it out with non-toxic drywall, cork floors, denim insulation, recycled glass countertops and floors made from sunken ship decking.

Green house (Image: Axepin/dreamstime.com)

But does a green house a green home make? The answer to that is….of course not. Green builders, and those who live in green houses, soon bump up against what some land planners have known all along: It takes a village to bring green to its fullest expression.

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and the Environmental Defense Fund, with the support of The Meadows Foundation have developed the Texas Green Jobs Guidebook.

The project highlights that in an emerging green energy economy, green means dollars. There are more than 200 green jobs listed in guidebook, as well as specific training and education opportunities across Texas, and the list is expected to grow. Green is not a short term trend, but a fundamental shift in political, corporate, and personal decision making, according to those advocating for green jobs.

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While Washington leaders debate whether the stimulus money has done enough for the economy, Wisconsin has latched onto money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to kick start a wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Wisconsin Rapids, a small city in the center of the state. The new factory is expected to be the most advanced in North America and employ more than 600 people.

The Energy Composites Corp. (ECC) facility will be built with the help of $238 million in municipal tax-free bonds from a pool of money (the state’s Recovery Zone Facility pool) created with federal stimulus dollars.

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(Photo: Nissan)

From Green Right Now Reports

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced today that the Department of Energy has made a $1.4 billion loan to Nissan North America that will pay for the modification of the automaker’s Smyrna, Tenn., manufacturing plant to produce the new all-electric Nissan LEAF.

In addition to producing the zero-emission EV at the existing plant, a newly built plant will make the lithium-ion battery packs to power the next-generation car.

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From Green Right Now Reports

The Coalition of Legislators for Energy Action Now (CLEAN), a national bipartisan group of state legislators working with the White House to pass federal clean energy jobs legislation, sent a letter to members of the United States Senate today pressing for urgent action on pending clean energy jobs and climate change legislation.

The letter, signed by 1,198 state lawmakers from both parties and 49 states, seeks energy reform legislation that would meet three goals:

• Strengthen America’s national security by cutting dependence on foreign oil
• Grow jobs and economic opportunity to every state in the nation
• Protect the environment by major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions

“Until now, states have been carrying the torch on clean energy reform,” state Rep. Jeremy Kalin (D –Minnesota), the chair of CLEAN, said in a statement. “State legislators have led the way on growing clean energy jobs and addressing climate change. Our ‘Made-in-America’ clean energy solutions are the key to our economic prosperity and national security. It’s time for Congress to pick up the torch and lead America into the 21st-century clean energy economy.”

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From Green Right Now Reports

Who says America can’t take the lead in wind power? Not General Electric. The global corporation based in Schenectady, N.Y., announced today that it has signed contracts to supply 88 wind turbines to HECIC New Energy Co., Ltd., a leading wind energy developer in China.

The turbines are destined for three new projects in the Hebei and Shanxi Provinces in China, which is the world’s 4th largest producer of wind power (after Germany, the U.S. and Spain).

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From Green Right Now Reports

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced $187 million in awards to nine projects aimed at improving the fuel efficiency and emissions of heavy-duty trucks and passenger cars.

Three of the projects focus on trying to improve the efficiency of long-haul freight trucks by at least 50 percent.

Secretary Chu announced the awards in Columbus, Indiana, a state that is increasingly front and center with auto developments, with a firm that makes batteries for electric cars and a city readying a plant for the Finnish electric automaker THINK.

He noted that the development of cleaner engines, more efficient truck systems and improved gas mileage vehicles will help improve the energy security of the nation.

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Green Right Now Reports

Annie Leonard is back at it. The creator of the witty Story of Stuff, which broke through the fog of denial on how we are consuming our planet by over consuming stuff, has taken on Cap and Trade, the market-based plan that supporters say will save the planet but that others (like Leonard) believe will miss the mark, with tragic consequences.

The Story of Cap & Trade from Story of Stuff Project on Vimeo.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell announced today that one of the world’s most competitive and innovative thin-film solar panel producers will open a manufacturing facility in Philadelphia’s Navy Yard, creating 400 jobs and leveraging hundreds of millions of dollars of private investment.

The governor said the planned project by Heliosphera US represents an exciting development for Pennsylvania’s green economy that will bolster the state and city’s reputation as an emerging leader in solar technology and development.

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

Over the last eight years, green construction has created 2.4 million jobs and contributed $173 billion to the US economy. It is estimated that in the next four years, despite an unstable economy, both numbers will more than triple, according to a new study from the U.S. Green Building Council and Booz Allen Hamilton.

The study reports that green building will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs, adding $554 billion into the American economy, including $396 billion in wages.

“The study demonstrates that investing in green buildings contributes significantly to our nation’s wealth while creating jobs in a range

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A field monitor checks a gas meter for leaks. (Photo: Department of Energy)

From Green Right Now Reports

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell announced today that the first installment of $123 million in federal Recovery funds for weatherization will begin to be released Nov. 2, part of $253 million that the state will use for this purpose.

The Governor said the funding represents an unprecedented level of investment that will help to create new, “green” jobs, save money for struggling families, and stimulate local economic activity as weatherization agencies buy required material, vehicles and equipment.

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