Found an interesting article on Green Collar Economy, via PESWiki, about Thorium Nuclear Reactors.  These have been proven, effective energy generation plants (to the tune of 1000 MW production), that have much lower risk profiles than uranium-based nuclear generation.  According to the article on PESWiki:

The thorium nuclear fission cycle eliminates the risk of meltdown and weapons proliferation while the byproducts have a reduced half-life on the order of 1/2 century rather than thousands of years. Thorium can be recycled and poses no direct risks to our environment unless the facilities themselves were attacked. Even in this situation we would not have another Chernoble.

Man, a half-life of 50 years?  That changes the game on nuclear waste storage in a massive way.  Why haven’t we all heard of this?  Why are we not discussing a way to roll out 100 of these plants?  I am definitely going to look into this more.  Here is a Google Tech discussion of the concept for more details.

Apparently there is a bill going through Congress right now called the Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2009.  This is one we should all demand more information about and work to get moving.

Just read a post on Green Inc., always one of my favorite blogs about the Green Collar Economy, that says the reactions to (read criticisms of) the Waxman-Markey energy legislation that recently passed the house subcommittee on energy and commerce, have been pouring in. With a bill this large and complex, I can’t say I was surprised to hear that there is a bunch of screaming going on. A lot of groups are going to want to have their say, and honestly it is going to cause a substantial impact on the economy (as you know, I believe this will be mostly positive).

So I was surprised to see the people called out as complaining were even more predictable than I’d figured, for example: the president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (yeah, um, no kidding), whose main argument is that:

The role of government is not to pick winners and losers, Mr. Drevna continued. “Such polices fail consumers by effectively limiting individual preference and choice for vehicle and fuel type.”

Don’t worry about it too much petroleum-guys. Even if we move at breakneck speed, you’re going to be running at full capacity for years to come. Let the American entrepreneur develop the innovative solutions that will satisfy the consumer, because big oil and big auto certainly haven’t done it.

The other main group identified as complaining was Greenpeace. I know they are an important organization, and they are saying the right things for the planet when the insist that the bill should go further, but all they do when they speak up is make people in the center or right cover their ears and stomp their feet.

They post also claims that the legislation is going to face some still resistance from the agriculture lobby when it goes to the full house. I’m sure it will be costly to agriculture to reduce carbon emissions, but I have an idea. Let’s pay for it with those billions and billions of dollars in subsidies that you keep getting that nobody thinks you need. Easy peasy.

So, all in all, not too bad. I’m starting to think that this thing may have an actual chance of moving forward, and I think that if this is all the screaming we’re going to hear, I agree with Fred:

Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, hailed the bill as a “masterful legislative job,” in a conference call with journalists.

I wanted to get this post up yesterday, but it was one thing after another all day long. Great news for those of us who believe that sustainability is the road to prosperity and the great economic engine of the 21st century. Van Jones was named Special Advisor to the Obama administration for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. Sweet.

As the Fresh Greens column at US News and World Report puts it:

Author, activist and think tank fellow Van Jones will be joining the Obama administration next week as a special adviser on green jobs, reported the White House Council on Environmental Quality today. Jones will work with agencies and departments to advance the administration’s climate and energy initiatives, with a special focus on improving vulnerable communities, according to a White House statement. Jones is the founder of “Green For All,” an environmental group dedicated to bringing green jobs to the disadvantaged, and the author of “The Green Collar Economy.” Environmental groups are, of course, thrilled with the decision - in their opinion, no one knows green jobs like Van Jones.

Given how hard Van has worked, the impact he’s had and the vision we share, put us down in the column of those who are ‘thrilled with the decision’. Good luck Van….we’re all counting on you.

Just received an email from Van Jones (the green evangelist who wrote a book named after our website - Green Collar Economy, see right sidebar to purchase) and he was suggesting that we all watch the Discovery Channel tomorrow night (Wednesday, March 11). Here is a preview of the show.

This is a 52 second summation of the Green Collar Media philosophy and mission. Our goal is to lubricate the wheels of commerce so that the vision these people are dedicated to becomes a reality as quickly as possible. I especially love the line when the guys says “I am a capitalist, not an environmentalist”. The beauty of the time we live in is that there really is no longer a difference.

A portion of the transcript of President Obama’s address to the joint session of congress and the American people. Terrific news that our President is not taking his eye off the ball on energy - February24, 2008

It begins with energy.

We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century. And yet it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient. We invented solar technology, but we’ve fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it. New plug-in hybrids roll off our assembly lines, but they will run on batteries made in Korea.

Well, I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders, and I know you don’t, either. It is time for America to lead again.

(APPLAUSE)

Thanks to our recovery plan, we will double this nation’s supply of renewable energy in the next three years. We’ve also made the largest investment in basic research funding in American history, an investment that will spur not only new discoveries in energy, but breakthroughs in medicine, in science and technology.

We will soon lay down thousands of miles of power lines that can carry new energy to cities and towns across this country. And we will put Americans to work making our homes and buildings more efficient so that we can save billions of dollars on our energy bills.

OBAMA: But to truly transform our economy, to protect our security and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy.

So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America. That’s what we need.

(APPLAUSE)

And to support — to support that innovation, we will invest $15 billion a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power (OTCBB:SOPW) , advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more efficient cars and trucks built right here in America.

(APPLAUSE)

Speaking of our auto industry, everyone recognizes that years of bad decision-making and a global recession have pushed our automakers to the brink. We should not and will not protect them from their own bad practices.

But we are committed to the goal of a re-tooled, re-imagined auto industry that can compete and win. Millions of jobs depend on it; scores of communities depend on it; and I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, none of this will come without cost, nor will it be easy. But this is America. We don’t do what’s easy. We do what’s necessary to move this country forward.

As the details of the stimulus package come to light, the New York Times claims that there is about $80 Billion in:

spending, loan guarantees and tax incentives aimed at promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, higher-mileage cars and coal that is truly clean. As a stand-alone measure, these investments would amount to the biggest energy bill in history.

Not too shabby, but the point that they make and that Green Collar Media definitely agrees with is that while this is the type of investment that is critical to jumstart job creation in the green collar economy, these measures should not be confused with an energy plan that will get us where we need to go.

In addition to this spending and incentivizing, the government will need to open up the arsenal of tools at its disposal, including a carbon cap & trade, new green building standards, tax incentives to stimulate green investment, increased mileage and emission standards for vehicles, firm and consistent subsidies for alternative energy production, as well as about 1000 other things that can be done to send clear price signals to the markets. Our belief is that the first substantive legislation addressing all of these issues will be implemented prior to the end of the Obama administration’s first term. If we’re right, hold onto your hats, because the pace of innovation and change is going to blow us all away.

Keep it tuned here as more green details from the stimulus package are clarified. I feel a lot better about burdening my children with this debt knowing that a big portion of that investment will go to getting us on the road to a green future.

When the government sends price signals to the market it matters. What is a price signal you ask? It is an action by the government that establishes the lines on the playing field in a particular market. These groundrules allow the marketplace to respond with the confidence that they understand the lay of the land and if they invest and innovate the rug isn’t going to be pulled out from under them. (I’m trying to come up with as many mixed metaphors in the first paragraph as possible…how am I doing?).

A great example of a green price signal was sent last week when President Obama issued an Executive Order insisting that the EPA re-examine the request by California (and 13 other states) to increase automotive mileage and emission standards in the face of the threat from Global Climate Change (see my most recent post).

This was meant as a clear signal to the market that the administration is going to support - and probably nationalize - efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions from our transportation fleet. The response from Detroit? Typical screaming that this will kill them and hurling an army of lobbyists into Washington to fight against it. Are these guys nuts? Don’t they realize the the president just told them in politi-speak that there is going to be a guaranteed market for all of these next generation green cars they are working on building?

What do I mean? Well, California (if it were a country) has the 5th largest economy in the world. The other states that helped sue the governement when the Bush adminsitration REFUSED to do anything about the request for the waiver (Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey (whoo hoo!), New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington) make up an enormous chunk of the country’s GDP. Other states that are going to support it include Illinois, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, and Utah. Are you kidding me? What other economic powerhouse states aren’t playing ball?

If I am an executive for the car companies (not that these guys have proven themselves to be very smart), I look at this and say, ‘wow, the people in over half the country are going to HAVE to buy these things we are working on because the laws in their state will insist on it…and we are probably going to have a federal standard insisting on it soon…this is a no brainer’. Instead, the boneheads are fighting it. Remind me again why we are bailing these guys out.

And it isn’t just the car companies…what about the battery companies, the tire companies, fuel cell manufacturers, biodiesel and ethanol producers and distributors, and all the other businesses that are now looking at a new exploding marketplace to invest and innovate in. Check out the transporation directory at Green Collar Economy to see the types of businesses that will benefit from this price signal.

There are going to be a whole bunch of price signals coming out of Washington over the next year. And this means that the handcuffs will finally be taken off of the American marketplace and we will be positioned to lead the world in going green. Finally.

When I read this amazing open letter to President Obama from Stavros Dimas, the European Union’s Commisioner on the Environment, I had two conflicting feelings, depression and pride.

Depression because it made it very clear how far behind the EU we are in fighting global climate change. Not only from an implementation perspective, but from a commitment, regulatory and innovation perspective as well. They are seeing the fruits of a green economy starting to ripen and it is not destroying their economy (as the former administration and lovers of the status quo would have you believe) but is instead strengthening it.

Pride because the letter spells out how desperately the Europeans and the rest of the world want us to get our act together because they know we will kick ass.

America’s support will be an essential part of any successful global effort. Innovation and new technologies will certainly be a part of the solution and America has some of the best universities and best researchers in the world. I am convinced
that many of the new ideas that will move us away from our carbon addiction will come from America. What is more, your country has the proven ability to translate research into results.

To take it over the top and play on our patriotic heartstrings, he concludes the letter with a call to action from a former US President,

Against the background of the Cold War, President John F. Kennedy announced a great
change when he launched the Apollo Programme. He noted that “These are extraordinary
times and we face an extraordinary challenge”. He went on to conclude that “Now it is time
for a great new American enterprise - time for this nation to take a clearly leading role [in
space achievement], which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth… I believe
we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are that we have
never made the national decisions or marshalled the national resources required for such
leadership.”
President Kennedy’s conclusions could be applied almost word for word to today’s
“extraordinary challenge” of the war against climate change. The biggest difference being that the future of our planet did not depend on man setting foot on the moon.

I wish America every success as it faces up to this challenge.

If this type of call to action can’t get you excited to change the world then I don’t know what can.  A little leadership and some good old fashioned American ingenuity, entrepreneurialism and elbow grease and we will lead the world out of this mess - environmentally and economically.

It has been a heck of a first week in office for the new President. Let me see if I can sum up some of the things he’s done:

• Established the toughest lobbying regulations ever for members of the executive branch
• Ordered the closing of Guantanamo
• Implemented governmental transparency (check out http://whitehouse.gov to see what this looks like)
• Eliminated the executive orders banning stem-cell research
• Sent a clear message to the Arab and Muslim world that a new conversation is starting

All very important and exciting actions.  My favorite without question however, is the Executive Order titled: State of California Request for Waiver Under 42 U.S.C. 7543(b), the Clean Air Act which is an unequivicol step in the direction of making America’s transporation system A LOT greener.  President Obama has ordered the EPA to re-examine California’s request (along with 13 other states) for a waiver to insist on tighter emission standards for cars and trucks in their state.  Remember, this is the request that the Bush administration was doing back flips to keep from being approved. 

Even after California sued the federal government and the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA was empowered and obligated to act under the Clean Air Act, the Bush adminstration came up with some of the lamest reasons ever not to do anything.  President Obama wasn’t putting up with that nonsense, and told the EPA to get moving on his 4th day in office. 

This is exactly the kind of price signal that the marketplace needs to start kicking ass and coming up with game changing products.  If we know that we need to jump over a higher bar, there is no economic engine in the world that is more capable of inventing and deploying breakthrough technology than the American market.  There is no matching legislation at this point, but the EPA can go a long way to changing mileage and emission standards without congressional debate or approval. 

The guys in Detroit are fighting it like crazy (probably with our bailout money paying for the lobbyists), but I don’t feel too bad for them.  This is exactly the type of thing they need.  There is now going to be a guaranteed market for more efficient products.  Isn’t this what every company would want. 

There was an interesting artice in Green, Inc. (the New York Times green business blog, which I usually like), called Will the Mileage Tax Replace the Gas Tax. The premise of the article was that a tax on mileage driven may be more effective than a gas tax….or at least will be if mileage really starts to go sky high.

Here’s the thing. This idea is absurd until we are many, many years down the line, if ever. What we need to be doing right now as a society is sending price signals to the market that are easy to implement and change behavior in a way that is beneficial to the country. A gas tax fits the easy to implement bill and we know from experience that expensive gas changes behavior quickly. The goal of an increased gas tax is to drive down greenhouse gas emissions.

I couldn’t care less if people drive a lot as long as they are not releasing green house gasses.