By Marc Stuart Secretary Clinton’s weeklong trip to Asia was notable for a number of firsts. The first time a new Secretary of State of a new administration has opened her tenure by flying west, rather than east. Well, George Schultz apparently went south, as the exception that proves the rule. It’s also the first [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi as posted to Huffington Post For most of us in the Eastern U.S., January was a really tough month to endure. In Cleveland, it was almost ceaselessly cloudy, snowy and cold. It was really easy to get into a funk. So, I have an iota of sympathy for Kevin O’Brien, a [...]
Last Spring, our friend and colleague Dr. Ed Beardsworth undertook a new assignment as the Technology Director of the Hub Lab (in parallel with his continuing role at Jane Capital). Given the Hub Lab’s mission, and Ed’s role in the cleantech industry as the consummate technology scout since the mid 1990s before cleantech was cleantech, [...]
By John Addison. Momentum continues for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. BMW is already leasing its freeway speed MiniE. Sports car lovers navigate curving mountain roads in their Tesla Roadsters. Toyota is putting 500 plug-in Priuses into fleet tests this year. Next year, Nissan, Chrysler, BYD, and Ford plan to start taking consumer orders for [...]
By David Niebauer It’s hard to argue against any program that advocates the replanting of forests, or the avoidance of destroying forests in the first place. We all know from grade school science that, through a process called photosynthesis, trees “breathe in” carbon dioxide and “exhale” oxygen, generating the energy they need to grow from [...]
By Marc Stuart One of my favorite quotes of all time I heard attributed to Barry Diller, the guy who worked for Rupert Murdoch long enough to get the Fox Network up and running, thereby kick starting The Simpson’s and many family moments of mirth in the Stuart household. At some point, Barry purportedly said [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi A few weeks into the Obama era, most of the attention has been focused on the raging economic stimulus bill debates. Of course, the economic stimulus package includes significant provisions related to energy and environmental issues, and these will be dissected in great detail as the final bill becomes more widely [...]
The Address on Climate Policy I’d Like from President Obama July 2009 My fellow Americans: When I took office six months ago, I made it clear that my highest priority would be addressing the financial crisis that overcame us in 2008. As you well know, all indicators now point to the beginning of a slow—but [...]
By John Addison. Last year, Americans drove 100 billion miles less than the year before. They also used public transit and participated in commute programs in record numbers. Regional transportation plans have the opportunity to accelerate these trends, help people cost-effectively meet their transportation needs, and be part of the global warming solutions now needed. [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi “Think Globally, Act Locally” has long been one of the most widely-used slogans in the sustainability movement. But in a highly-interlinked global economy, it’s not always so easy to do. Here in Cleveland, a number of major institutions — including the City of Cleveland, the Cleveland Clinic, the Cleveland Museum of [...]
Written by Karla BellcloseAuthor: Karla Bell Name: Karla BellSite: http://www.carbonflow.comAbout: Pragmatic Environmentalist and Entrepreneur A long time pragmatic environmentalist, Karla is probably best known as the driving force behind developing the Green aspect of the Olympics starting with the first Green Olympic Games in Sydney, while working for Greenpeace in the Atmosphere and Energy campaign. [...]
By David Niebauer In an earlier article, I reviewed the issues and obstacles to generating carbon offsets through reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) in a post 2012 global climate regime. A recently published research paper written by Eduard Merger titled Forestry Carbon Standards 2008 (November 2008) reviews standards for forestry projects in the [...]
By John Addison. Ford will introduce a battery-only commercial van in 2010, followed by a passenger car built on the same technology in 2011, and exciting plug-in vehicles by 2012. To accelerate commercialization, Ford will partner with leaders in drive systems, lithium batteries, specialty electric vehicles, and electric utilities. Ford will build on its existing [...]
By Lisa Jacobson President Barack Obama took office in January amid the worst economic crisis this nation has faced since the Great Depression. As unemployment rises and businesses struggle, Congress and the Administration must enact bold solutions suited to our times—not a New Deal, but a Green Deal. A Green Deal would revive the economy [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi Generalizations are always tricky, but it’s safe to say that many employees of many electric utilities whose generation plants are mainly coal-fired have a hard time feeling very enthusiastic about renewable energy. You can imagine the rants: renewables are tiny and negligible, renewables aren’t baseload, renewables are for wimps. So, it’s [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi as posted to Huffington Post About 60 miles west of Cleveland, Cedar Point is world-renowned for its scary roller-coasters. However, Cedar Point has nothing on the oil markets. At the turn of 2007/2008, oil was at the cusp of $100/barrel — a price that was considered a kind of mythical barrier, [...]
By John Addison. Enlightened communities are in the transition from being car-centric to being people-centric. Homes, public transportation, and businesses that serve neighborhoods are designed in close proximity. A people-oriented development often has a rapid transit station at its center, or at least a bus stop that is frequently served. Nearest to the station are [...]
By David Niebauer The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), a forest policy think tank, recently (December 2008) released a report on the proposed REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation) mechanism for slowing climate change. The report, titled “Moving ahead with REDD: Issues, Options and Implications”, (the “Report”) reviews the challenges facing REDD and [...]
by Richard T. Stuebi Jim Rogers, the CEO of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), has been widely touting the phrase “the fifth fuel” as a synonym for energy efficiency. As many analyses have shown again and again, such as the very prominent 2008 work of the McKinsey Global Institute, the most cost-effective approach for reducing emissions [...]
First there was “Peak Oil’, then there was talk of ‘Peak Water’, but ‘Peak Phosphorus’, may trump them all as a sustainability issue without rival. Fact: Phosphorus is a non-renewable resource for which there is no substitute. Phosphorus is the currency of energy in every living cell. Our ability to provide enough food to feed [...]
