Green Harbor

I know it may seem impossible but some Republicans do understand the need for comprehensive climate and energy legislation.

Given, some may not entirely believe the climate change thesis, many do understand the national security, oil, and job creation aspects of it.

The most outspoken Republican is Sen. Lindsey Graham  who has been working with Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman to develop a comprehensive energy bill that all parties can agree on. He was recently quoted as saying that an energy bill that does not regulate carbon would be “half-assed”.

Sen. Graham continued to emphasize the importance of regulating carbon since it will lead to the investment in alternative technologies that will create new jobs, reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and allow us to be come a leader in such technologies.

Sen. Graham also expressed his concerns of China’s continued push into alternative and green technologies and stated that the longer the U.S. waits the further we will fall behind.

Another advancement in technology may one day make our personal electronic gadgets even more Green and energy efficient.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed, created, and constructed the world’s first solar powered circuit.

For a few years now the only way to have a solar powered personal device was with a external device or chunky backs full of low-grade solar technology. But these new solar power circuit could essentially turn any touchscreen or optical device into both an electrical charger and a computer chip.

The technology still has a long way to go before it becomes viable and the photovoltaic cell can produce enough energy; but, just the fact that there has been  a new technological breakthrough such as this can only lead to even more and greater possibilities.

Now that there has been a few days to really dissect the Obama Administration’s 2011 U.S. Federal Budget, we find that there is some good news for clean technology.

Even though at first glance the major headlines of the 2011 budget showed an increase to $54 Billion in loan guarantees for nuclear power and an extremely flimsy cap-and-trade description, it is not all worrisome and there are some areas of good news.

According to the 2011 U.S. Federal Budget, clean technology investment spending is increasing by about 92%. Given, the specific numerical amounts don’t sound as large or impressive, but this is the direction in which we all want the Obama Administration to be moving.

Everything from electric and hybrid vehicle technology to efficient building materials to wind power are all receiving increases of investment funds.

Fortune 500 companies continue to listen to their consumers and even reach their environmental impact reduction goals early.

Global food company Kraft Foods has recently announced that the company has reached its reduced packaging materials goal 2 years early.

In 2005 Kraft Foods announced multiple initiatives that would be enacted to reduce the company’s environmental impact. One of the initiatives involved reducing the amount of packaging material used on the company’s products.

At the end of 2009, the company has reported that they have reduced packaging by 150 million pounds and reached their goal 2 years early. This reduction in packaging translates into multiple areas of impact reduction from the energy needed to manufacture the packaging to transportation to solid waste reductions in landfills.

U.S. President Barack Obama presented the country’s budget for the year to Congress yesterday for approval. The budget contained a lot of language discussing a wide range of topics, but there was not much language on carbon markets.

Last year, the proposal for a carbon trading market failed when the administration estimated that the market could generate $646 billion in revenue for the federal government. Unfortunately, Republicans were able to latch on to this number and use it against the administration call it an extra “tax” on business.

This year, President Obama has learned from his mistakes and the budget now only contains language that states, “a comprehensive market-based policy” should be used to fight climate change. Also, the amount of federal development loans offered to nuclear power plants has been tripled to $54.5 billion.

There has been quite a mixed response to the rhetoric from the President has given up on cap-and-trade to the budget means nothing in regards to climate policy.

Hopefully, it is the latter and the administration will continue to pursue carbon markets as a way to reduce carbon emissions.

Last week, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn stated that a “green fund” must be created within the IMF.

The IMF director told the World Economic Forum that they needed to come up with innovative ways to help developing countries finance climate change issues.

Strauss-Kahn isn’t sure whether or not such a fund is possible, but preliminary estimates state that the “green fund” could potentially raise $100 billion per year to help countries tackle their climate initiatives.

The IMF director understands the argument behind asking the developed countries to pay for the fund, however, he feels that is not the entire answer and will be meeting with finance ministers and central banks so see what can be done.

Secretary Chu of the U.S. Department of Energy (D.O.E.) announced today the closing of a $1.4 billion loan for Nissan to develop their new all-electric Leaf in the U.S.

The loan was a part of the U.S. Advanced Technology Vehicle Loan Program and was originally set for $1.6 billion.

The funds will be used to develop and manufacture Nissan’s all-electric vehicle Leaf in the state of Tennessee. The loan will also create 1,300 new full-time jobs plus other construction jobs developing the manufacturing facility.

Also within the announcement Secretary Chu discussed all forms of new electric and hybrid vehicle technologies including cleaner gasoline development and natural gas power.

Even through the recession, alternative energy was still able to make an impact, push forward and create jobs. Nearly 10,000 megawatts of wind power electrical generation came on-line in 2009.

To put that in perspective, enough wind power was added in the U.S. last year to power 2.4 million homes.

This was a tremendous accomplishment given the economy, however, the latest wind energy report was not without its bad news.

Even though Green Collar Jobs were created, they were created on the installation side and not manufacturing. Also, the numbers are skewed a bit since some projects scheduled for 2008 were pushed back to 2009. And, lastly, energy demand has gone down over the past two years creating a lack of demand.

Some industry experts worry that without a strong federal stance on renewable energy, the state legislations that have been passed will not be enough to stimulate demand with natural gas near all-time lows.

But, experts remain confident that demand will increase as the economy improves.

The top 5 states in the U.S. leading in wind power are Texas, Iowa, California, Washington, and Minnesota.

Even though new climate legislation and reform is still being debated, that does not mean the original Clean Air Act doesn’t apply. A Kansas utility company found that out once it agreed to a $500 million fine for greenhouse gas emission violations.

It is unfortunate that some executives and companies believe they can do whatever they want. If you can’t play by the rules then you shouldn’t be playing at all. The Green Sector has its own problems with some companies attempting to “Greenwash“ their products or services.

For several years the Jeffrey Energy Center, which is owned and operated by Westar Energy, has been illegally emitting 2 million tons of nitrogen and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere.

In the past several years the Jeffrey Energy Center modified all of it energy production units but failed to install the proper environmental protections. We can only assume they did so believing they could get away with there actions under the prior administration.

However, the U.S. EPA opened an investigation and Westar Energy has agreed to a $500 million greenhouse gas emissions violation as well as agreeing to reduce the Jeffrey Energy Center emissions to 85% below 2007 levels.

Remember, cheaters never prosper and they never have the last laugh.

As the old saying always goes, “Buyer Beware” and that saying is certainly not lost on those navigating the Green Sector. With the Green Business sector still in infancy buyers must be ever vigilant to ensure their desired products really are Green and organic.

In the most recent press release from the German version of the British Financial Times, investigators have discovered that some “certified organic cotton” being exported from India actually contained Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

Of the exported Indian cotton that was independently tested by the German investigators, about 30% of the cotton contained the GMOs. This is definitely a blow to India’s efforts of becoming a reliable Green source of raw materials.

The non-organic cotton has come from Indian farms that were certified by EcoCert and/or Control Union. Clothiers that purchased cotton through these certifiers are H&M, C&A, and Tchibo.

At this time it isn’t entirely known whether or not the clothing companies knew they were purchasing GMO cotton and labeling it as “organic” (Greenwashing). However, this is just another reminder that it is best to do your own research before making your Green Lifestyle and Green Fashion purchases.