Want to save some $ while supporting sweet local businesses like Sticky Fingers (mmm, vegan treats!), Clean Currents (yay! wind cheaper than coal!), and Zipcar? (ok, so Zipcar’s not local. They’re still pretty awesome.)
Now you can with LiveGreen, a new organization where, for a membership of only $13, you get special deals and discounts from local eco-friendly businesses, from energy auditors to yoga studios to clean energy businesses. Check it out!
Now that’s what I call going green.
The Maryland Clean Energy Center announced the location of its new home today, right here in Montgomery County. This new center, a non-profit organization working jointly with the Maryland Energy Administration, Montgomery County, and the University sytem of MD, was created to promote clean energy development across the state, and create green jobs in MD.
County executive Isiah Leggett says of the center:
The center will provide a coordinated approach to building a strong clean energy economy in Maryland through technology commercialization, business incubation, and workforce development and training.
Even though it’s not quite up-and-running, this is a great step of hitting MD’s goal of creating at least 100,000 green jobs by 2015, and one more resource that we have in making a clean energy revolution a reality. Bonus: there are already job listings of green jobs that are hiring right now on their resources page. I encourage you to check it out, register your clean energy business (or non-profit activities) for their database, and help get this green jobs ball rolling.
Once again, MD does something awesome.
You all probably all know this by now, but the MD House of Delegates passed the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act 107-31 last Friday. Woo! Celebrate! (you should probably get your beer-drinking in while you still can)
Now you’re probably wondering a few things: What else needs to happen for the bill to become law? And, more importantly, what exactly will this piece of legislation do, and what does it mean for MD and the US?
Easy question first. The bill will go back to the Senate, where they will vote again to accept the minor amendments passed by the House (things like a provision to make sure that the Department of Agriculture is involved in discussions of offset programs). Then, it will be headed off to Governor O’Malley’s desk. To find out how your elected officials voted, click here (enter your zip code to see your legislators), and then send them a thank you email (or a spank you email, if they are still thinking that global warming is actually caused by sunspots).
So what does GGERA actually do, and why do we love it so much? GGERA sets a hard cap on carbon – meaning that the state has a mandate to reduce our global warming pollution at least 25% below 2006 levels by 2020. In addition, GGERA calls for the Maryland Department of the Environment to create a comprehensive plan on how we’ll get to these reductions by 2012. This does NOT mean that we are holding off on taking action until 2012 – instead, that is the date by which MDE must have all of the necessary programs up and ready to go. For more details on the nitty-gritty of the bill, check out this factsheet put together by MDE.
This bill has broader implications as well. First off (time for me to brag about MD), this is the STRONGEST bill passed by any state on climate legislation, especially when it comes to short term reduction targets. This also means that MD’s passage of a strong climate bill will help push our federal officials into passing a strong bill. Want to help? Become a Climate Precinct Captain, and organize for federal solutions in YOUR community.
Follow our twitter feed @ccan to get the latest updates on GGERA, Maryland’s awesome global warming bill. It already passed in the Senate, and just passed the 2nd reader in the House.
Update or comment on Twitter with #ggera in your tweet!
An article in today’s New York Times features stories of nearly 60 million in stimulus money that will be spent on projects that will be underwater by century’s end.
“The stimulus project includes shovel-ready projects, which will literally be underwater,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “I think the real tragedy is there’s so little planning for sea level rise anywhere.”
The article talks about Ocean View Avenue in Norfolk, Va., which will have $2 million in stimulus money invested in improvements. But as you can see in the image below, with just 1 meter of sea level rise, as is predicted in the latest reports, the Norfolk area will be more salty than stimulated.
Annapolis update: Since our lovely global warming bill is looking great [UPDATE – just passed 2nd reader in the House!], take a minute to talk to you legislators on other legislation that will help decrease our global warming pollution!
The ask of the day? Support smart and fair growth! Smart growth and good land use policies are designed to do things like reduce vehicle miles traveled, encourage public transit use, with added bonuses of improving water quality and creating affordable housing. So – fight global warming through good land use planning!
Take a minute RIGHT NOW and email your Delegate, asking them to vote for HB 295 as amended by committee, and to resist any further amendents.
Check out this awesome video about energy efficiency set to MIA’s “Paper Planes.”
Want to see some sexy efficiency at Mike Tidwell’s Takoma Park home? Register for the next Clean Energy Open House on April 18.
Clean Energy Open House
Come see solar panels! View electric, biodiesel, and hybrid cars firsthand! Eat solar-baked cookies and barbecued veggie burgers from a grill that burns corn kernels! Learn how to landscape your yard with native plants! Buy wind power certificates and energy-saving light bulbs! Test drive a tofu-powered lawn mower! And more! Sponsored by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Chesapeake Native Nursery. Free admission to all ages.
Register now>>
Activists expose coal-to-liquids as a false solution
Washington, DC.
This past Saturday I joined a dozen other hybrid owners on a gorgeous spring day to… Circle the Capitol in Richmond! Yes, you read that correctly, I woke up early and covered my friend’s Toyota Prius in streamers and balloons and battled downtown Richmond traffic and construction on Broad Street. I did this to send a message that was loud (horns were honked) and clear (in bold font across the side of each of our fuel efficient vehicles). We support Governor Kaine amending legislation that made it through the general assembly session to include the 19% efficiency target that his own Commission on Climate Change recommended this past fall.
Energy efficiency is the cleanest, quickest and cheapest way to meet Virginia’s energy needs. With federal legislation in the works to regulate carbon to stave off the most devastating effects of climate change, the Commonwealth can’t afford to miss this opportunity. Energy efficiency equals tens of thousands of jobs for our state, how much longer do we plan to wait?
I will admit that I don’t usually get really angry and pumped up about taking action online. But then I got an update from this organization called “White House 2,” which is basically an exercise in direct democracy, where citizens can post their priorities for Obama, and have other people vote to support or oppose them. Since they’ve gotten a bit of attention and are expanding to share the priorities of Real Americans with Congress, I figured I’d check it out and see how my priorities were doing.
Yay! “Invest in clean energy and create 5 million green jobs” is in the top 10! Woo! Oh wait a minute. So is “Drill for Oil in our own country.” I would encourage you to go and oppose that one.
This was not promising, so I decided to delve deeper. And – horror upon horrors – there are more people OPPOSED to “Joining the International Community on Climate Change” than there are in support of it. And there was NO priority calling for a science-based, industry-wide cap on carbon. Well, until I made one. (vote for it! It’s priority number 1061 or something really ridiculously low right now)
Come on, climateers! We’ve got to make sure that the discussion on climate change is not dominated by special interests and climate deniers. So take a few minutes for strategic clicking, and get our priorities back on the map.