From Environment Council

We'd like to see a stronger push for wind power, nationally and internationally.  Here's a recent note we received which bears consideration.  We love the green jobs coming out of investments in clean energy.

"Wind power companies are laying off thousands of workers across America — and that means less clean, renewable, American wind power for our homes and our communities.

And it's all because House leaders refuse to renew a simple tax credit that enjoys rare bipartisan support.

Tell John Boehner: Stop listening to ExxonMobil, the Koch brothers, and the coal industry and renew the American Wind Power Tax Credit.
This should be a no-brainer. Instead, it's turning into an American tragedy. Thanks to the Wind Power Tax Credit, wind power is an American success story. It has grown 20-fold since 2000, providing 75,000 jobs and generating as much energy as 44 coal plants… enough to power 13 million homes. If we can keep it up, that will mean even less dependence on fossil fuels, less global warming pollution, less mountaintop removal, and less fracking and tens of thousands more jobs over the next 4 years.

Yet the tax credit is due to expire on Dec. 31. So far, House leaders have refused to act. Talk about "regulatory uncertainty" ...wind power companies have let go thousands of workers in past few months because of the uncertainty about the future of the tax credits. 37,000 jobs are expected to be lost if the tax credit expires at the end of the year..."

See the rest by clicking on the link.  

Good radio show yesterday

As we touched on an institute implementing standards for packaging and recycling into manufacturing, while creating new jobs, and got introduced to an amazing new technology--wireless electricity.

When you can listen and let us know what you think.  Here's the link:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/renewable-now/2012/10/15/wi-tricity

Special Radio show today

On both WARL 1320 AM and Blog Talk Radio, Renewable Now channel as we go live today, 12-1P, EST, and repeat on Weds, our normal time, 12-1P, EST, so that we can go on the road for the rest of the week (which may mean will miss a few blogs this week, but we will try to post each day as we traverse the West Coast of the US).

My co-host today is Jack Gregg, our Boston-based real estate expert and founder of Carbon Day in Boston, and we have 2 great guests.  Here's some background:

Dave Schatz, Director of Business Development, will be talking about WiTricity.  Here's sneak preview on the company:

Imagine a future in which wireless electricity makes everyday products more convenient, reliable, and environmentally friendly.

Cell phones, game controllers, laptop computers, mobile robots, even electric vehicles capable of re-charging themselves without ever being plugged in. Flat screen TV’s and digital picture frames that hang on the wall—without requiring a wire and plug for power. Industrial systems and medical devices made more reliable by eliminating trouble prone wiring and replaceable batteries. WiTricity Corp. is working to make this future a reality, developing wireless electricity technology that will operate safely and efficiently over distances ranging from centimeters to several meters—and will deliver power ranging from milliwatts to kilowatts.

WiTricity Corp.’s vision is to develop a family of wireless electric power components that will enable OEM’s in a broad range of industries and applications to make their products truly “wireless.” Wireless electric power delivered over room scale distances, and with high efficiency. Wireless electric power that is safe for people and animals. Wireless electric power—imagine no more… it’s here!

Our second guest is Scott Cassel, CEO and Founder of a great non-profit, doing great work, The Product Stewardship Institute.  Take a look and listen in today: 

The Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) is a national non-profit membership-based organization located in Boston, Massachusetts. PSI works with state and local government agencies to partner with manufacturers, retailers, environmental groups, federal agencies, and other key stakeholders to reduce the health and environmental impacts of consumer products. PSI takes a unique product stewardship approach to solving waste management problems by encouraging product design changes and mediating stakeholder dialogues.

What Is Product Stewardship?

Product Stewardship is the act of minimizing health, safety, environmental and social impacts, and maximizing economic benefits of a product and its packaging throughout all lifecycle stages. The producer of the product has the greatest ability to minimize adverse impacts, but other stakeholders, such as suppliers, retailers, and consumers, also play a role. Stewardship can be either voluntary or required by law.

What Is Extended Producer Responsibility?

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a mandatory type of product stewardship that includes, at a minimum, the requirement that the producer’s responsibility for their product extends to post-consumer management of that product and its packaging. There are two related features of EPR policy: (1) shifting financial and management responsibility, with government oversight, upstream to the producer and away from the public sector; and (2) providing incentives to producers to incorporate environmental considerations into the design of their products and packaging.

What We Do

Using the Principles of Product Stewardship as its guide, PSI offers the following services:

• Research, Pilot Projects, and Evaluation
• Facilitation and Consensus Building
• Legislative Tracking, Analysis, and Advocacy
• Build Product Stewardship Capacity through Education and Empowerment

Enjoy the show and tour 2012

Yesterday's radio show

Is now available 24/7 on the Renewable Now channel on Blog Talk Radio.  All of our prior shows are archived there as well.

Here's the link to a terrific show, thanks to our guest, Peter Gill Case, sustainable architect and president of the Rockefeller Family Fund, which is doing some great work on the environmental side.

Here's the link. Send your comments:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/renewable-now/2012/10/10/sustainable-developing#.UHWfMUBREHU.aolmail

How to spark a 'renewables revolution' Part 2

Continuing from yesterday

We particular agree with his statement that we need to push ahead, aggressively, on reduced use of fossil fuels, through all available investments in efficiency, as we build clean energy sources.

Let us know your thoughts.

"...This international intrigue isn't new for Lovins. As co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute and a longtime energy consultant, he's spent decades dealing with global energy issues; according to his RMI bio, he has "briefed 21 heads of state, given expert testimony in eight countries and 20+ states, delivered thousands of lectures, and written 31 books and more than 450 papers." He also quickly saw Japan's potential after the Fukushima crisis, writing in a March 2011 op-ed that "perhaps this tragedy will call Japan to global leadership into a post-nuclear world."

While Japan may be more open to an energy shift than the U.S. is, both could phase out finite fuels like uranium and coal without economic harm, Lovins said at Thursday's roundtable. It's actually in their best interest, he added, since nonrenewable fuels are costly to extract and will eventually run out. "They're not embedded in the economy because it's cheaper to leave them in the ground," he said. "Smart investors are diversifying to get out of that business and into something much more durable."

The shift to renewable energy won't happen overnight, Lovins acknowledged, but he pointed out that countries can still make improvements in the meantime by using current fuels more efficiently. Energy waste has been a focus of his for decades, from designing lighter cars that use less gasoline to pushing for simpler, decentralized electrical grids. (He even coined a term 20 years ago, "negawatt," to describe a unit of saved energy.) And while political friction tends to slow the switch to new power sources, he argued Thursday that saving energy and money has bipartisan appeal. "It's hard to find people who don't like efficiency," he said.

Lovins discussed a range of ways to promote efficiency in the U.S. or anywhere, such as performance-based design of industrial facilities, self-sufficient microgrids that reduce the need for "big, vulnerable power plants," and letting companies expense their efficiency investments. He conceded "it's hard to do big things without Congress" — where many lawmakers want to end federal support for wind and solar power — but also cited smaller, subtler ways of speeding the shift to renewables, such as cities charging utilities for their water use to discourage water-intensive fossil fuels.

The future of energy is "small and granular," Lovins said, with more diversity and distribution of power sources instead of the traditional "big and lumpy" approach. Such a paradigm shift could curb the main causes of climate change, but Lovins is more focused on the economic and logistical benefits, suggesting nonrenewable fuels and inefficiencies aren't necessarily embedded in our economy — just in our heads.

"There's a lot of hidden value that's not being recognized," he said. "But once it is, you may find yourself in a much quicker transition than you thought."

Listen to us today at 12p EST, WARL 1320AM and Blog Talk Radio

As we interview Peter Case.  Here's his bio:  


Peter Gill Case – BIO October 2012

"Peter Gill Case is a sustainable architect and developer living in Providence, RI. Through his
work at Truth Box, Inc. he continues to demonstrate that conscientious green design enhances
the revenue and balance sheet of all real estate ventures. Peter’s recent work includes
retrofitting foreclosed three family homes into green affordable housing and building energy efficient

new structures with renewable and/or reusable materials, the most notable of which is
the Box Office in Providence, made from 35 recycled shipping containers.
Peter is also president of the Rockefeller Family Fund, a leading advocate for reducing the
sources of climate change and advancing economic justice for women (among other program
areas) in the US. Peter has recently been focusing on the impact of climate change on the New
England region and how property owners and the construction industry should respond to the
changing environmental landscape.

Peter also serves as president of The Steel Yard – an arts-centered organization that provides
resources and opportunity for anyone to develop skills in the arts and metalworking trades. The
Steel Yard is building a sustainable campus on a newly remediated 3-acre brown field site in
Providence.

Peter received a MArch from RISD, BA in Urban Studies at Brown, and a M.Ed from Harvard."

Don't forget you can reach us through Blog Talk--chat room--and by Facebook and Twitter.  You can call in as well.

This show will be available 24/7 on Blog Talk Radio, Renewable Now channel, within 24 hours of our live broadcast.  All of our shows are archived there as well.