USGBC to Obama Administration:
Yes We Will.
Nation’s Green Building Leader Promotes Green Jobs as the Cornerstone to Reviving and Restoring America’s Economy

In his first full week as president, President Barack Obama is moving swiftly and boldly with the full support of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to chart a new course for our struggling economy – a path that invests in our buildings, from our homes to our schools, and that creates millions of new green-collar jobs and saves Americans billions in energy.

Expanding on its 16 years of work to transform our nation’s buildings and communities, USGBC is engaging closely with the Obama administration to demonstrate that immediate and long-term investments in green building and in the green economy are the down payment needed to restore America’s economic leadership.


From the East Room of the White House on Wednesday morning, President Barack Obama urges support and swift passage of an economic recovery package “so that we can climb our way out of this crisis.”


Whether meeting directly with the administration on its economic recovery plan, providing strategic advice to senior energy and environmental officials on transforming the country’s built environment, or presenting bold new ideas on expanding the green economy, USGBC is advancing green building as a central plank to rebuilding a healthy and sustained economy while putting Americans back to work.


Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council, and Valerie Jarrett, a White House senior adviser, after President Barack Obama’s speech Wednesday in support of his economic recovery plan.


“Our member companies across the country provide examples of success to an administration that is seeking new answers and a new direction,” said Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC President, CEO and Founding Chairman. “USGBC will continue to deliver innovative and deliberative plans of action that will simultaneously create millions of green-collar jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and advance proven opportunities to deliver greener, more energy-efficient buildings.”

Read Rick's public policy ideas in Roll Call »

USGBC is actively monitoring and informing deliberations about the economic recovery package urged by President Obama and now under development in Congress. Even with passage in the House yesterday, the specifics of the plan are not yet final—and are currently the subject of debate and negotiation in both the House and Senate. Nevertheless, the following elements of the packages proposed by both chambers hold particular promise for green building and represent an important recognition of the transformative potential of existing buildings:

• Green Schools: The House and Senate economic recovery plans currently provide multiple billions of dollars for modernization of K-12 and higher education facilities, with preferences or requirements for green improvement projects.
• Green Federal Buildings: Both the House and Senate plans currently include several billion dollars for the General Services Administration’s Federal Buildings Fund, with green or energy efficiency requirements for funded facility projects.
• Weatherization Assistance Program: Both plans would provide multiple billions of dollars for and expand the reach of the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program, which provides weatherization services to help improve the energy efficiency of homes and enable lower energy bills for low-income families.
• Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants: The House and Senate plans currently provide multiple billions of dollars for block grant funds for states, localities, and tribes for energy efficiency projects.
• Public Housing: Both packages currently provide several billion dollars for the Public Housing Capital Fund to support improvements to public housing developments, including authority or priority for energy efficiency incentives and projects.
• Green Job Training: Both plans would provide billions of dollars for job training programs, with a preference or requirement that portions of such funds be used to prepare workers for jobs in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors.

USGBC will continue to support the new administration, working to ensure the final passage of an economic recovery package that taps the full potential of green building to advance the new green economy of the future.

Green Building Creates Jobs, Saves Energy, Saves Money

Message to the Transition: Green Building Creates Jobs, Saves Energy and Saves Money
USGBC Advances Green Building as Essential to Economic Recovery

Facing an unrivaled financial crisis, President-Elect Obama and the new 111th Congress have been moving quickly and decisively to develop a plan to revive the economy through swift passage of the single largest economic recovery package in U.S. history. With a commitment to transformative change aimed at catapulting the U.S. into a position of leadership in the new green economy, the incoming administration plans to make a significant down payment on major green initiatives that will spur innovation, put money back into the wallets of hard-working Americans, and create millions of green jobs.

In ongoing talks with the transition’s energy and environment team since November, the U.S. Green Building Council has advanced vital green building policy priorities that will simultaneously create millions of green-collar jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and advance proven opportunities to deliver greener, more energy-efficient buildings.

Already, the President-Elect issued a recent commitment to make the U.S. a global leader in green, energy-efficient government facilities, calling for an overhaul of 75% of federal buildings in an effort to save $2 billion through energy efficiency alone. On schools, the President-Elect has said repeatedly that green school funding will be another priority in the economic package.

These commitments, as well as other green building solutions for strengthening the economy, are powerful reminders of not just where we need to focus immediate recovery investments, but also reflect the experience and ingenuity that has long characterized the green building movement and the work and mission of USGBC. Throughout the country, our members and green building advocates are transforming our nation’s living, working, and learning spaces—creating buildings and communities that embody our shared environmental, economic, and social values and aspirations.

Informed and energized by these successes, and channeling the momentum generated by its recent Greenbuild conference, USGBC will continue to advance innovative and effective policy solutions to assist Congress and the presidential transition in crafting a bold economic recovery plan.

USGBC remains committed to accelerating the shift to a revived and prosperous green economy, and is spearheading the following initiatives in talks with the transition and Congress as part of an essential, solutions-oriented response to the mounting economic challenges we face today:

• Provide Robust Support for Green Schools
  Across the country, thousands of school buildings suffer the effects of age, lack resources for renovation, and offer unhealthy and unsafe learning and working environments. USGBC recommends that the federal government provide robust funding for school construction and renovation projects that comply with energy efficiency and green building standards, in recognition of existing project backlogs nationwide and the vast environmental and economic opportunities they present. USGBC also proposes the creation of a White House Green Schools Taskforce to unite experts from the federal government, states and localities, the nonprofit sector, and other stakeholders to promote green schools as a component of national education, energy, and environmental policy.

• Create a Revolving Loan Fund to Spur Investment in Green Building
  Mounting environmental challenges and a sluggish economy demand that innovative new incentives be created to trigger and support investment by the private sector in green building strategies and technologies. USGBC recommends the creation of a multibillion-dollar revolving loan fund, accessible to state and local governments, to support retrofitting and green building projects that create energy savings and a positive return on investment. Utilizing a revolving loan fund mechanism whereby loans are repaid through energy and other savings from funded improvements could dramatically reduce future federal budget liability for green initiatives.

• Provide Robust Support for Green Job Training
  With unemployment rates on the rise and the health of both the economy and environment in peril, the need for bold action to revive the American workforce is clear. USGBC recommends full funding of the green job training programs outlined in the Green Jobs Act of the 2007 federal energy law to ensure the preparation of America’s workers for the new green economy. Additional incentives are necessary to encourage private employers to seek training for their existing workforces. As an important first step, USGBC recommends the creation of a new tax incentive for businesses and organizations that pay for their employees to participate in training programs administered consistent with the framework of the Green Jobs Act.

• Fund Green Building Projects in Government Facilities
  Across the country, backlogs of public facility projects highlight the need for significant investment to ensure the safety and sustainability of our nation’s public buildings. These projects represent an important opportunity to demonstrate leadership by example in the use of green building practices and energy-efficient technologies, and to create green jobs for the low-carbon economy of the future. USGBC recommends that the federal government provide significant funding to support green building, retrofitting, and energy efficiency projects in federal facilities, in recognition of the tens of billions of dollars in estimated repair and improvement needs reported by federal agencies. Significant investment in green building and renovation projects in state and local public facilities is similarly essential. Full funding of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program created by the 2007 federal energy law is a critical step to this end.

• Invest Boldly in Green Affordable Housing
  The deteriorating state of many public housing facilities compounds the difficulties posed by a troubled economy. Indeed, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities recently reported that state and local housing agencies owning and operating public housing face an estimated repair and maintenance backlog of $22 billion. USGBC recommends that ample funding be provided for green building and retrofitting projects in public housing facilities. The federal Weatherization Assistance Program offers additional, proven opportunities to create green jobs, reduce energy consumption, and increase the affordability and comfort of America’s homes. USGBC recommends that the federal government provide robust funding for this critical initiative.

USGBC looks forward to working with Congress and the new Administration to promote the uptake of policies and initiatives that advance green building, energy conservation, and healthy, livable communities.

Greening the White House 2009

As President Barack Obama moves into the White House on Jan. 20, he has an opportunity to lead by example by making his new home – the “people’s house” – a model of sustainability. A Greening the White House 2009 initiative, looking to energy efficiency and responsible stewardship of our natural environment, would show that change begins at home. USGBC proposes this initiative for President Obama's first 100 days in office as a way to demonstrate, through a metrics-based educational initiative, how best to improve the energy and environmental performance of America’s homes. No building is better suited to lead the way than the White House. USGBC has a rich history of working with past administrations to improve the environmental performance of the White House while respecting the historic and symbolic nature of this treasured building. Informed by its membership and its experience with its LEED® Green Building Rating System, USGBC looks forward to supporting and advising the Administration on this critical initiative.

Supply & Demand?

By Moe Fakih

I remember listening to talk radio in June while filling up my Honda Accord Coupe with 89 Octane at $4.68 per gallon. The oil companies were claiming that refineries have been unable to keep up with demand and that finding new sources and extracting those sources was a costly endeavor - thus $4.78 per gallon in a gas station located in Orange County, California.

People were swearing as they entered fueling stations and they were swearing more upon leaving. It may be interesting to research the statistics on road rage violence during the period where gas was over $4 per gallon.

Today, the United States is on the verge of a major economic meltdown as layoffs are gaining momentum and as the auto industry is eagerly awaiting a loan from the government so they may keep their plants open and keep more American jobs online. If the automakers go under, this will send a shock wave through the economy.

So have the oil companies finally decided to "be nice" and lower prices to help out Joe and Jane American? How can an industry complaining months ago that petrol chemical price hikes were justified since the cost of doing business was high?

It is obvious that market manipulation has been taking place and continues to take place. Today gas is around $1.85 per gallon at the same pump I used in June - that's a difference of $2.83. Has a meteorite full of crude oil landed in some remote desert? How are the oil companies determining this price point? Perhaps the answer wrests with the circle of powerful business interests and bankers that run the show.

I'm not complaining about the price reduction, I'm just asking for a logical explanation based on market dynamics that explains these price fluctuations? Does Anyone know?

Low Carb Diet

By Moe Fakih

In 2006 the California State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 32 - The California
Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32).  AB 32 requires the California Air
Resources Board (CARB) to develop regulations and market mechanisms that
will ultimately reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by
2020. Mandatory caps will begin in 2012 for significant sources and ratchet down
to meet the 2020 goals.  State law vests CARB with direct authority to regulate
pollution from motor vehicles, fuels, and consumer products.  

This means that city and county governments must create policies that measure
or quantify greenhouse gas emissions and take action to reduce those emissions.  
Some of these actions may involve creating green building programs, offering ride
sharing programs to reduce vehicle trips, or provide hybrid vehicle only parking
spaces throughout the region. 

In September 2008 The State of California passed Senate Bill 375 (SB 375),
which uses incentives and requirements to encourage local municipalities and
developers to concentrate growth within urban cores or close to public
transportation hubs in an effort to reduce Californians' use of cars, thus reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.  SB 375 makes findings that, based on Item 1 of the
Bill, “Require significant changes in land use and transportation policy in order to
meet the greenhouse gas reduction goals established by AB 32.”  

As a result local governments will be redirecting growth into urban areas which
means taller buildings with access to public transit will become en vogue.  These
same governments need to quantify how greenhouse gas emissions are reduced
either by counting vehicle trips, by calculating the amount of energy saved as a
result of energy efficient buildings, or by other means; however, cities and private
agencies are awaiting more direction from CARB as to how exactly they may reduce
these carbon footprints.  CARB has until December 31, 2009 to report to local
agencies about how to start quantifying and reducing carbon outputs.

So it seems the launch of the green revolution is being mandated by the state to
compel local governmental implementation greenhouse gas reductions.  A few cities
such as the City of Irvine and the City of Santa Monica have begun to aggressively
pursue these measures, and they may serve as test models for other cities to follow. 

Even though they may be able to reduce vehicle trips, local municipalities cannot
control what kind of vehicles people drive or vehicle technologies.  If California or
the nation wants to implement a successful green house gas reduction campaign,
it will also have to address the impact of the automobile directly. The United States
ranks last with regards to fuel economy measures with an average of 25 miles per
gallon per vehicle.  Australia and  Canada average 34 miles per gallon, Japan is at
43 miles per gallon and Europe’s fuel efficiency average is 46 miles per gallon.  

AB 32 and SB 375 will require municipalities to reduce green house gas emissions
by providing a denser mix of land uses with direct access to jobs like in the City of
Los Angeles, create improved mixed use neighborhoods like in Pasadena and
provide access to public transit like the Cities along the southern California
Metro-link transit route. However, if people are unable to link their homes to mass
transit and to jobs, they will continue to drive the most inefficient automobiles in the world. 

Perhaps similar legislation can be passed to compel the auto companies to provide
additional fuel efficient vehicle choices to help reduce green house gas emissions.  
For now it seems most of the pollution reduction pressure is being placed on cities,
counties, transportation engineers, city planners, architects and developers.  Oil
companies and the auto industry will be engaged in business as usual unless the
consumer can compel them to help change direction.  It is only practical to include
all segments of society in tackling the issue of using air as a sewer system especially
the industries that are the grossest violators.

A New Energy Economy

The New Agenda: A New Energy Economy and 5 Million Green Jobs

US Green Building Council

With more than 500 energy and climate advisors, President-Elect Barack Obama campaigned on an aggressive and detailed plan to strengthen the economy, spur green job creation, and protect the environment.

Harnessing the amazing momentum and progress of the green building community, USGBC is now working to promote sound policies in the next administration that will stimulate a green economy, create millions of green jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, advance greener, more energy-efficient buildings, and spur green infrastructure. The following policy proposals, advanced by the President-Elect during the campaign, offer particular promise for advancing green building:

• Green Building: President-Elect Obama has proposed the expansion of federal grants to assist states and localities in building more efficient public buildings through the use of LEED. In addition, under President-Elect Obama's plan, all new federal buildings would have to be carbon-neutral by 2025. This plan also would commit all new federal buildings to a 40% improvement in efficiency within five years and would seek a 25% improvement in the efficiency of existing federal buildings within the same period.


• Building Efficiency Goals and Incentives: President-Elect Obama has proposed a goal of carbon-neutrality for all new buildings by 2030. This will be achieved by establishing a goal of 50% greater building efficiency for new buildings and 25% greater efficiency for existing buildings over the next decade. Under the plan, the federal government would award grant funds to states and localities that implement new, energy efficient building codes, and would provide matching grants to states that promote building retrofitting through public benefits funds.


• Green Jobs and Job Training: President-Elect Obama has proposed an investment of $150 billion over 10 years to spur the development of renewable and other technologies, promote energy efficiency, and advance new fuel and smart electricity infrastructure. This plan would direct funding to the manufacturing sector for job training and transition programs, and would create an estimated 5 million new green jobs. Additional training programs, including a Green Jobs Corps for disadvantaged youth and a Clean Energy Corps, have been proposed to stimulate the development of a highly skilled workforce.


• Transportation and Infrastructure: President-Elect Obama has proposed the consideration of smart growth principles in the transportation funding process, as well as renewed support for public mass transit projects. The President-Elect's proposed plan also includes the creation of a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to direct $60 billion over 10 years to infrastructure projects that could create some 2 million new jobs and $35 billion annually in economic activity.

With strong federal support, the green building community will be able to accelerate its spectacular wave of growth and innovation, and help ignite a rebuilt, revived green economy. USGBC looks forward to working with the new administration to support these and other initiatives that create jobs, save money and energy, and promote the creation of sustainable buildings and communities.

A Green Revolution: Creating Green Jobs and Economic Recovery through Green Building

USGBC estimates that 2.5 million new green jobs could directly result from a 100% commitment to energy efficiency in our homes, schools, and offices. Indeed, McKinsey & Company reports that 85% of future incremental electricity needs in 2030 could be met through energy efficiency in buildings, appliances, and industry. For more than a decade, the U.S. Green Building Council's members have been at the forefront of the green building movement. Building by building, neighborhood by neighborhood, we are already witnessing the positive impact of green buildings on the planet, and we are making equally impressive progress in support of the other two "p's" that guide our work -- people and prosperity. Through the deployment of new, green projects, products and technologies, the green building movement is harnessing the entrepreneurial spirit of our country, creating green jobs for the future, and providing opportunities for individuals from all walks of life to enjoy healthier, more environmentally responsible, and prosperous buildings and communities. Informed by our collective experience with more than 2,000 LEED certified facilities and nearly 16,000 LEED registered projects, we must now dedicate ourselves to restoring not only our environment, but also our economy.

New technical expertise and skills will be required to transition from our carbon-intensive economy to the green economy of the future. Large-scale investment in building efficiency and renewable energy, among other areas, can spur the creation of millions of new, green jobs -- reviving domestic industries and communities while advancing our environmental goals.

Building a Green Economy

Building a Green Economy:
Meeting the Needs and Sharing the Opportunities

by Fabian Núñez

California’s emerging green economy continues to grow with astounding momentum and potential. With millions of dollars being invested in that green economy, we need to identify and address its workforce needs.

In 2006, through an unusual partnership between Democratic legislators and a Republican governor, we passed AB 32, otherwise known as The California Global Warming Solutions Act. AB 32 establishes regulations that will phase in a 25 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions from the state’s largest emitters by 2020.

The California Air Resources Board’s recently-released AB 32 draft scoping plan noted that not only will this effort reduce green house gasses, it will add a much-needed boost to the economy. That backs up information we received during the passage of AB 32, when the Climate Action Team – a group of state agencies coordinated by the California Environmental Protection Agency – found that meeting the 2020 limit on pollution will increase the income of Californians by $4 billion and create 83,000 jobs. Another study by UC Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group and the Goldman School of Public Policy found that investments in green technologies produce jobs at a higher rate than investments in comparable conventional technologies.

Government is also investing in this green future. To achieve the state’s carbon reduction goals it is estimated we need to replace 20 percent of our gasoline consumption with lower-carbon fuels and increase the state's number of alternative-fuel or hybrid vehicles by more than 7 million. To help push this forward, I wrote AB 118 last year to fund incentives for more alternative fuels and to help make clean-car technologies affordable for more Californians. With these incentives, California drivers will have more opportunities to retire their old gas-burning, carbon dioxide-emitting cars, and companies will step up production of clean technologies and fuels.

With all this investment potential, what are we doing to train the workforce we will need? As the author of AB 32, I know first hand how important the promise of green technologies, investment in green industries and a new energy economy are. For me, elected from inner-city Los Angeles, environmental justice and economic opportunity are powerful motivators. I want the economy for our children to be a clean economy. I want the neighborhoods they live in to be clean neighborhoods. A green economy can be an effective path out of poverty.

I want Californians to have opportunities along the entire green spectrum — from high tech work in the lab, to installing one of our million solar roofs, to weatherizing homes and businesses. The dot-com boom of the mid-1990s almost completely circumvented employment of our most vulnerable and underserved populations. This time, I want to make sure that we have the necessary infrastructure in place to ensure no one is overlooked. The green tech and clean tech movement cannot be merely another bubble; it must be a solid and sustainable cornerstone of our economy.

To that end, two years after AB 32, I have also authored AB 3018. AB 3018 adds a green collar jobs special committee to the state’s Workforce Investment Board. The council will be tasked to develop a comprehensive set of strategies including training programs, partnership opportunities, statewide and regional data and funding sources to build the needed workforce.

Under AB 3018, if signed by the governor, The California Workforce Investment Board (WIB) has until April 2009, to establish a Green Jobs Council. The CWIB may utilize its existing members and also call on other state agencies, higher education representatives, industry representatives as well as philanthropic, nongovernmental, and environmental groups to serve as consultants in the development of this strategic initiative.

Among the concrete steps the Green Jobs Council will take are:

• assist in identifying and linking green collar job opportunities with workforce development training opportunities throughout the state, and encourage regional collaboration in local workforce investment areas (LWIAs) to meet regional economic demands;

• create and develop public, private, philanthropic, and nongovernmental partnerships to build and expand the state’s workforce development programs, network, and infrastructure;

• provide policy guidance for job training programs in the clean and green technology sectors to assist and prepare specific populations, such as at-risk youth, displaced workers, veterans, formerly incarcerated individuals, and others facing barriers to employment;

• develop, collect, interpret and distribute statewide and regional labor market data on California’s new and emerging green industries workforce needs, trends, and job growth;

• identify funding resources and make recommendations on how to expand and leverage these funds;foster regional collaboratives in the green economic sector.

I’m excited about the potential of the Green California Community College Summit. A recent news story referred to California’s community colleges as “the modest workhorses” of California’s higher education system. Now, modesty is a fine trait, but the community college system has nothing to be modest about in the role it plays in changing lives and expanding opportunities for thousands of California students.

I am thrilled that our community colleges will be playing a key role in helping provide a trained and educated workforce to meet the needs of our emerging green economy. The needs and the opportunities are so great it will take each of us doing all we can individually and together. And this time we get to start from a new beginning, where we can build social equity and economic opportunities across the board for workers, professionals and entrepreneurs.

I like to say gold built the California economy – but green will sustain it.

Fabian Núñez is California Assembly Speaker Emeritus

A Plan for Creating Two Million Green Jobs in Two Years

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. holds the potential to generate two million jobs in two years with a $100 billion investment in cleantech, according to new report.

"Green Recovery: A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy" describes a green recovery program that could lay the foundation for sustainable economic growth while boosting the country's energy security. The program calls for $100 billion worth of tax credits, government spending and federal loan guarantees to cut unemployment and spur growth in six cleantech and efficiency areas.

"We can be certain that the green recovery program will serve as a strong counter-force against pressures that are currently pushing unemployment up as well as more broadly increasing economic disparities," the report said. "The green infrastructure investments proposed here will also generate significant long-term advances toward creating the clean energy economy we need."

The program targets building retrofits, expansion of mass transit and freight rail, wind and solar power, biofuels and constructing a smart electrical grid.

The package would break down into three investment streams: $50 billion in tax credits to give private businesses and property owners access to building retrofits and renewable energy systems; $46 billion in direct government spending on mass transit expansion, smart electrical grid and public building retrofits; and $4 billion in federal loan guarantees to help finance renewable energy and building retrofits.

Spending the money in these areas would create four times as many jobs as investing an equal amount in the oil industry, and triple the number of jobs paying more than $16 an hour, the report found. It also would lower the unemployment rate from 5.7 percent to 4.4 percent and offset the 800,000 jobs lost in the construction sector.

Some jobs would be found in specialized areas, such as installing solar panels, but most would include existing jobs already being performed throughout the U.S. For instance, investment in wind power generation could create jobs for environmental engineers, iron and steel workers, truck drivers and machinists. Growth in second-generation biofuels may drive demand for chemists, agricultural supervisors and blending machine operators.

The report suggests raising the money by auctioning carbon permits in a national greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program.

Researchers from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst prepared the report on behalf of the Center for American Progress.

Tidal Power in France

Coming on the heels of the inauguration of the world’s first commercial scale tidal power turbine, Electricite de France (EDF) has announced that it plans to build a pilot tidal turbine system. The plan calls for 3 to 6 turbines to be built with capacities between 4 and 6 MW by 2011.

The location of the site (off Paimpol in Brittany) was chosen due to the extremely strong currents in the area.

While the recently installed SeaGen tidal power system in Ireland was certainly revolutionary, the French plan is as well. France alone has 80% of the potential in Europe for generating electricity from tidal currents—enough to theoretically create 10 million MWh per year.

This is not France’s first tidal power endeavor; The Rance tidal power plant in Brittany was the world’s first electrical generating system powered by tidal energy. The plant, constructed in 1966, outputs about 68 MW of power per year. However, the Rance plant has had severe environmental consequences due to its placement in a fragile estuary.

Fortunately, the new plan will not have such issues—unlike the polluting barrage system used in older tidal plants, the EDF turbines are free-floating.

And the EDF plan has big implications—if all goes well with the pilot project, France hopes to make tidal power an integral industry in the country.

Electric Car Innovation in Palestine

By Nick Chambers

Published on July 11th, 2008

Posted in Electric Cars (EVs), International issues

The Christian Science Monitor (CSM) has reported on two business partners in Gaza who have converted a 1994 Peugeot 205 into an electric car capable of going 110 miles on a single charge using 34 standard lead-acid car batteries.

After more than a year of being blockaded by the Isreali government, Gazans find themselves facing out-of-sight prices for fuel.

Instead of letting that get the better of them, civil engineers Waseem Khazendar and Fayaz Anan claim to have developed an electric motor that is different than other electric motors and allows for improved efficiency.

The converted Peugeot has 15 horsepower and can travel at a top speed of 60 mph. To most Americans this may seem underpowered, but on the 25 mile long and 7 mile wide Gaza strip this amount of power and speed is more than satisfactory — and in reality, it’s probably more than satisfactory for most Americans too.

The business pair say that they already have a few thousand orders to convert gas cars into electric cars, but due to the blockade they only have enough supplies to convert 30-40 more vehicles.

The conversion purportedly costs a mere $2,500 dollars to accomplish. As reported by the CSM, US experts are baffled as to how the conversion could be done for so little money and that using even the cheapest parts available in the US it would cost 3 times as much to do the conversion here.

Kahzendar and Anan are in the process of trying to patent their invention and hope to work together with Israelis to create a multimillion dollar business.

A quote in the CSM from an Israeli businessman after considering the possibility of working with the Gazans sums it up nicely: “I believe that business creates peace, and any peace project is good for everybody.”

Global Warming: Does it Matter?

By Moe Fakih

If you have lived in Tucson Arizona since the 1960s, you have been witnessing that record low temperatures happen much less than they were from 1910 to 1960. The City of Tucson's population is also growing and with an increasing number of people comes a proliferation of concrete and steal. As more buildings and roads are built a heat island develops. Asphalt and concrete absorb heat at different rates depending on how dark the item. Typically the darker the concrete the more heat it absorbs. Lighter surfaces will reflect heat or absorb less heat than darker objects. So as Cities expand, so does their heat absorbing, paved areas; therefor since most major cities are growing, it is believed that heat islands will also increase. Perhaps this contributes to Earth's average mean temperature increases.

The snow is melting on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Kenya. This is a fact. Another fact is that the rain forest at the base of the mountain is being shredded, thus less moisture is whispped up the mountain, less moist air becomes cooled, and less snow is replenishing white caps. Could the fact that the destruction of the local ecosystem have contributed to glaciers dissapearing on Kilimanjaro and not Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth?

Are we witnessing Global Warming or are there other explanations where areas of the Earth is getting hotter or cooler like in Punta Arenas (at the tip of South America), where they have a GISTEMP station record posted on the wall which shows a long-term cooling trend? The middle of Antarctica is also cooling and large glacier sections are getting thicker.

Those are some arguments against Global Warming.

Is global warming a real threat or are there other factors that may explain why the mean surface temperature of the Earth is getting hotter?

Honestly, who cares?

As we watch pundits, politicians, and arm chair politicos debate over whether global warming is a fear tactic to change behavior or a legitimate scientific concern, we should rise above the muck and consider the other reasons why we should design cities so they do not place added strain on resources and the environment, for example. We should consider what products we procure especially when they could come from a rain forest slaughter mill or which region we need to patrol to protect our petrol-chemical intrests. As my friend comments below, humans need to rethink how their behavior affects the environment.

It's not only about Global Warming. It's about how we perceive ourselves in relation to the Country and to the World. Is our job to take care of the bordered fencing on our plot of land? Is our only concern that Conner, Sally, and Alex make it to soccer and cheer practice on time while mom looks for a second job to pay down last year's Holiday expenses? Or should our concerns expand beyond the mind numbing noise, endless chatter and bleeding mass media headlines that help keep us captivated and distracted?

I'm picturing an Ostrich with its head in the sand right now where its wallet, its way of life, its values and its substance is being compromised. It has been sold that having a head in the sand is American, it's good for the economy, and will help fight terror.

It's so much more than Global Warming.

Rethink U.S. goals
by Omar Masry

It seems like every day, I can open up the Register to a healthy debate over the ramifications of global warming and whether global warming even exists or if it's even the fault of humans. As a city planner, I sometimes wonder if it even matters anymore. The climate is changing in ways we can't simply reverse, no matter our intention, and whether it's due to humans doesn't undo the present. What matters more to me, especially as a veteran of the Iraq war, is how dependent we are on unstable areas for the energy that powers so much of our economy.

It's time to ask: Where is our space race? Where is our generation's challenge? Where is our paradigm shift to rethink American?" Heck, even crotchety oilmen like T. Boone Pickens are saying it's time for change. Surely, that change has to be something more than the next iPhone.

Omar's comment is published in the Orange County Register:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/doctrine-oil-congress-2091254-fairness-newspapers

Renewable Energy Jobs Growing Worldwide: Study

By Jonathan Bardelline

Renewable energy accounts for the employment, directly or indirectly, of 2.3 million people worldwide, with the largest gains made where governments support renewables, according to a Worldwatch Institute study.

"It depends very, very strongly on government policy and investment private companies take," said Michael Renner, Worldwatch researcher and author of the "Jobs in Renewable Energy Expanding" report. "Even in the years up to now, we have clearly seen countries that give consistent, strong support, for example in Europe, in Germany and Spain."

Using available data, the study estimates there are 1 million biomass and biofuel jobs, 624,000 solar thermal jobs, 300,000 wind jobs and 170,000 solar photovoltaic jobs. Figures include jobs directly in the renewables sector and jobs indirectly related, such as suppliers that provide equipment components.

The data is incomplete due to the fact that one can't look at traditional economic statistics to see the number of renewables jobs, Renner said.

Using what's available, the Worldwatch study shows Germany has 259,000 renewables jobs (a figures estimated to grow to 500,000 by 2020), Spain has 89,000 direct and 99,000 indirect jobs, and the United States, due mostly to support from individual states, had 200,000 direct and 246,000 indirect jobs in 2006.

Renner notes that as renewables jobs have expanded, employment in the coal, oil and natural gas industries have shrunk. In the past 20 years, output of coal has grown by one-third while the number of coal jobs was slashed in half.

Long-term outlooks put the number of wind energy jobs by 2030 at 2.1 million and solar jobs by that same year at 6.3 million. More people will be employed not only in manufacturing wind turbines and solar panels, the study says, but in installing, operating and maintaining the equipment, all jobs that will contribute to local employment growth. Kenya, for example, has 10 large solar photovoltaic companies and 1,000-2,000 solar technicians.

Even though governments have supported the growth of renewables, Renner pointed out that at least in one case, government does not need to increase or maintain high subsidies.

"In Germany for example, the level at which alternative energy, solar, wind and so on are being subsidized deceases each year," he said. "The key is it provide the overall framework that allows investors to say, 'This is something that is not going to lose money forever, this really is a good prospect...this can stand on its own feet.'"

Other factors that have helped renewables grow are guaranteeing renewable energy will be available from the grid and setting guaranteed rates for buying renewable energy.

http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/07/11/renewable-energy-jobs-growing