Tag Archives: Renewable energy

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Renewable Energy creates jobs


Union of Concerned Scientists

A Clean Energy Bill Congress Can Agree On

Urge Congress to support tax benefits that will unleash the power of private investment to make renewable energy even more competitive and create clean energy jobs.

Take Action Today!

www.ucsusa.org

ACTION ALERT Tell Congress to Level the Playing Field for Renewable Energy Congress stands poised to take an important step toward leveling the playing field on which renewable energy and fossil fuels compete for financing. But policy makers in Washington need to hear from you today to break the gridlock on clean energy. Urge Congress to support a level playing field for clean energy today.

www.ucsusa.org Renewable energy has been denied access to certain tax benefits and low-cost financing made available to the fossil fuel industry for decades. Bipartisan legislation now before the U.S. House and Senate will finally give renewable energy projects access—unlocking billions of dollars of low-cost financing for clean energy. Let’s make sure Congress does not fail to seize this opportunity to ensure renewables compete on more even ground with fossil fuels. Take action today!

www.ucsusa.org

Sincerely, Megan Rising Megan Rising Energy Campaign Manager Climate & Energy Program Union of Concerned Scientists

 

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Will they listen to what the science says?


Union of Concerned Scientists

For decades, coal dominated American energy. Now that’s beginning to change.

With many of the oldest, dirtiest coal-fired power plants due for retirement, our nation is at a crossroads: do we invest in renewable energy, or do we keep generating electricity by burning fossil fuels that are not only expensive but threaten our planet?1

We’ve launched a campaign to make sure we head down the right path. Our groundbreaking Ripe for Retirement report identified 353 of the worst, most out-of-date coal-fired plants, and since its publication, 45 of the plants we named have been slated for closure!

We’ve mobilized thousands of UCS supporters to contact key power companies, urging them to switch to cleaner, renewable sources of energy. It’s working, but we’ve got to do more. With over 300 plants left to close, we can’t let up.

www.ucsusa.org

The fossil-fuel industry wants you to think that wind and solar aren’t dependable or economical, but we know the truth: renewable energy is already powering homes and businesses across the country—and we’ve only just begun to see the benefits.2

With your support, we’ll move past fossil fuels to a clean energy future. Together, we can make clean energy a reality by:

  • Protecting and expanding state-based clean energy policies. We’re inspiring voters and lawmakers to support requirements that utility companies generate a certain amount of their electricity from renewable sources. Since March, we’ve delivered 40,000 letters to over 4,000 state lawmakers nationwide!
  • Building momentum to cut the nation’s projected oil use in half. We’ve developed a realistic, science-based plan that shows how we can cut our dependency on oil in half in just 20 years. Now we’re getting thousands of people working to support our strategies—meeting with concerned citizens and officials, producing videos and webinars, and mobilizing scientists to educate the public and policy makers.
  • Fighting to make nuclear power safer. In March, we released our latest nuclear safety assessment while Congress began working on a comprehensive nuclear safety bill. Dozens of news outlets across the country covered it, ensuring that lawmakers heard about the critical issues at stake.

We’re building momentum for a clean energy future—the wind is at our backs. The question is: will we forge ahead with science, or accept the misleading claims that fossil fuels can’t be beat? It’s up to us, Carmen, and we can’t turn back now.

www.ucsusa.org

When we work together, we get tough things done. We’ve won critical whistleblower protections for government scientists, helped craft game-changing vehicle emissions standards, and pushed companies like Pfizer to stop funding the anti-science Heartland Institute.

I hope you’ll stand with us today so we can pull out all the stops to win this next fight.

Sincerely, Kevin Knobloch President

1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2013/03/13/coal-to-gas-moves-are-generating-economic-waves 2. http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/smart-energy-solutions/increase-renewables/ramping-up-renewable-energy-sources.html

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The G8 Summit: Iain Keith – Avaaz.org


In three days, world leaders could agree to a plan that could stop climate change! The plan would transfer the $1 trillion our governments give to polluters every year and invest it in renewable energy. Key leaders including President Obama support ending these crazy payments, and he is hosting the G8 summit this weekend. Let’s build a massive public campaign for Obama to lead this plan that could literally save our planet! Sign the urgent petition:

Sign the petition

This weekend, the eight most powerful leaders in the world will meet at the G8 summit and could agree to a plan that could literally stop climate change!

It’s crazy, but right now, our governments give nearly $1 trillion a year of our taxpayer money to Big Oil and Coal to destroy our planet. Key leaders, including President Obama who is hosting the G8, have already agreed to stop these polluter payments. Now, if we demand they act on their word and divert this huge sum into renewable energy, experts say we could actually save our planet!

It’s a simple no-brainer that our leaders have already agreed to. Let’s hold their feet to the fire, and push President Obama to lead the world’s largest economies to turn these polluting subsidies green. Sign the urgent petition below and forward this to everyone — a massive campaign now can force them from talk to action:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/a_new_plan_to_save_the_planet/?vl

The only reason we shovel cash into the coffers of Big Oil is their lobbyists have a stranglehold on our governments. But if we demand that our leaders green our tax-money, we’ll increase total global green investment by 400% making solar and wind energy cheaper than oil and coal — in the process saving the planet by putting Big Oil out of business!

We’re rapidly reaching a point of no return on climate change and a treaty to prevent catastrophe is years off. Fortunately, momentum behind this new planet saving plan is building. New Zealand, Mexico and Switzerland are calling for an agreement now, and policy makers from 20 countries including the US, Brazil, and China have just voiced their support. All G8 leaders have publicly committed to ending these dirty subsidies, and right now President Obama is pushing for US legislation to stop them.

Our planet is being destroyed at a terrifying rate and this is our best chance to stop it. Now is the time for action, but without massive public support, the powerful polluters could stall the proposal. It’s up to us to counter the lobbyists with extraordinary people power. We have three days left to get Obama to lead. Sign the petition:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/a_new_plan_to_save_the_planet/?vl

For too long, progress on a global solution to climate change has been held back by self-interest and the profits of Big Oil, Coal and Gas. But, finally governments are realising that cutting subsidies will benefit the climate and help balance out the global economy. If we speak up now, together, our movement can force our leaders to action and free the world from the tyranny of fossil fuels.

With hope,

Iain, Joseph, Alice, Ricken, Diego, Kya and the rest of the Avaaz team

More information:

Hansen: Game Over for the Climate (New York Times):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/opinion/game-over-for-the-climate.html

A Congressional Push to End All Fossil Fuel Subsidies (The Nation):
http://www.thenation.com/blog/167831/congressional-push-end-all-fossil-fuel-subsidies

Obama says tax breaks for Big Oil need to end (Financial Post):
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/29/obama-says-tax-breaks-for-big-oil-need-to-end/?__lsa=7934943e

Fossil-fuel subsidies: Helping the richest get richer (Los Angeles Times):
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/05/opinion/la-oe-mckibben-stop-oil-subsidies-20120404

Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies could provide half of global carbon target (The Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/19/fossil-fuel-subsidies-carbon-target

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Urge congress to support wind power …Union of Concerned Scientists

3 Comments

Union of Concerned Scientists

 
 
Show Your Support for Wind Energy!
Let Congress know that a strong production tax creditfor wind power is good for America and good for our economy.

Urge Congress to Support Wind Power!

Dear Carmen,

Using more clean, renewable electricity from sources such as the sun and wind will increase our energy independence, save consumers money, and reduce our global warming emissions. One of the primary drivers of the growth in wind energy in the United States is the federal production tax credit (PTC), which gives developers tax incentives for generating energy from renewable sources.

Despite the PTC being a driving force of wind development, the federal government has allowed it to expire on three separate occasions since 1999. These lapses in the PTC led to a boom-bust cycle that drastically slowed the wind power industry for many months at a time, costing jobs and economic development opportunities.

The current PTC for wind power is set to expire at the end of 2012. The expiration of the PTC threatens one of the country’s fastest growing clean energy industries and could put tens of thousands of Americans out of work.

Please ask Congress to extend the PTC today.
   WWW.UCSUSA.ORG
Extending the production tax credit will help maintain the wind industry’s access to financing, allow developers to begin planning installations for 2013, and ensure that the best and most cost-effective projects are built. Wind power is a clean, homegrown energy source that improves public health and poses little threat to the environment while creating jobs and boosting local economies.

Urge Congress to extend the PTC. The continued growth of the industry can support 54,000 American wind jobs through 2016.

Take Action Today!     WWW.UCSUSA.ORG

Thank you for your continued work to promote the transition to a clean energy economy.

Sincerely,
Megan Rising
Megan Rising
National Field Organizer
UCS Climate & Energy Program
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Official Google blog … Clean Power Finance- Green blog


 

Taking in more sun with Clean Power FinancePosted: 27 Sep 2011 09:00 AM PDT

(Cross-posted from the Green Blog)This morning, at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum (REFF-West) in San Francisco, I announced a new $75 million investment to create an initial fund with Clean Power Finance that will help up to 3,000 homeowners go solar. This is our second investment in residential solar, and we’ve now invested more than $850 million overall to develop and deploy clean energy.As we said when we made our first residential solar investment, we think it makes a lot of sense to use solar photovoltaic (PV) technology—rooftop solar panels—to generate electricity right where you need it at home. It greens our energy mix by using existing roof space while avoiding transmission constraints, and it can be cheaper than drawing electricity from the traditional grid.Purchasing a solar system is a major home improvement, but the upfront cost has historically been one of the biggest barriers for homeowners. Solar installers across the country don’t always have the resources to find financing for customers, or the capital to provide it themselves. And for investors like Google, banks and others, it can be difficult to enter a fragmented solar market with many companies, and get connected to individual homeowners.

That’s where Clean Power Finance comes in. They’ve developed an open platform that connects installers with investors like Google to provide financing to homeowners. Solar installers sign up with Clean Power Finance to get access to the company’s comprehensive sales solutions, including consumer financing from investors, like the Google fund. This enables installers to sell more systems and grow their business. The installer builds the system, the investor (in this case, Google) owns it, and homeowners pay a monthly payment for the system, at a price that’s often less than paying for energy from the grid. Maintenance and performance are taken care of by Clean Power Finance and its network of installers.

Owned by Google, operated by Clean Power Finance and installed by American Vision Solar, the Colin family of Santa Clarita, Calif. has a 4.14 kW solar system

This innovative and scalable model makes business sense for Google, Clean Power Finance, solar installers and homeowners too. We’re excited to be one of the first investors to partner with Clean Power Finance and enable the company to continue forging strong relationships with solar installers (like the ones they announced last week with SunLogic, California Solar Systems, American Vision Solar—learn more on Clean Power Finance’s website). By making financing more readily available, the Clean Power Finance platform has the potential to lower costs and accelerate adoption of solar energy.

We’ve already installed a 1.6MW rooftop solar installation at the Googleplex back in 2007. Now, through Clean Power Finance and our previous investment this year, we’re hoping to have an even larger impact. We look forward to watching our funding help more than 10,000 homeowners generate clean electricity from the sun.

Posted by Rick Needham, Director of Green Business Operations
European Commission President Barroso takes your questions on YouTubeWorld ViewPosted: 27 Sep 2011 03:12 AM PDT

(Cross-posted on the YouTube Blog)Tomorrow, September 28, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso will deliver his annual State of the Union Address. In these turbulent times, we wanted to give people a chance to make their voices heard and ask their questions about the EU.  So we teamed up with broadcaster Euronews and invited President Barroso to answer your questions in a special, live YouTube World Viewinterview that will take place on Thursday, October 6 at 10:00am Central European Time.Starting today, we invite you to submit your questions for President Barroso via youtube.com/worldview. Questions can be on any topic, from the Euro crisis and austerity measures to growth and jobs, from foreign policy and immigration to ethnic minority issues, human rights and the environment. You can ask written or video questions—and view and vote on other people’s questions—in any of the European Union’s languages, thanks to Google Translate.During the interview on October 6, hosted by Euronews anchor Alex Taylor, the President will answer a selection of the most popular questions, as determined by your votes. The interview will be streamed and broadcast in multiple languages on both YouTube and Euronews.

President Barroso’s interview will be the first multi-lingual livecast in the World View series, which gives anyone with an Internet connection the ability to pose questions, vote on what’s most important to them and get answers directly from senior politicians and world leaders.  President Barroso’s interview follows interviews with U.S. President Obama, President Kagame of Rwanda, U.K. Prime Minister Cameron, Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Whatever your question, President Barroso wants to hear from you. Be sure to submit your question via the World View channel before midnight CET on Wednesday October 5.

Posted by Al Verney, Head of Communications, Google Brussels