Disclosure of Climate Risk

Companies need to disclose climate risk: investors

May 31, 2012 - Institutional investors and environmental advocates on Thursday urged companies to disclose their risks from the impact of climate change, two years after the Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidelines for firms to do just that.

While the SEC guidelines do not force publicly traded corporations to assess such climate-related events as severe storms, droughts, floods and heat waves, some companies have done so anyway.

But those disclosures have not been particularly useful, according to Maryland State Treasurer Nancy Kopp.

"Among those who disclosed, they used different procedures, different rubrics, different metrics," Kopp said in a telephone interview. "So the idea of having some basis for comparing companies consistently is an important thing to us, to investors. Otherwise you get a hodgepodge of data that's not useful information."

Kopp, who chairs the $36 billion Maryland State Employees and Teachers Pension Fund, was among those backing a new guide for corporations on how to disclose climate change risk, released one day before the official June 1 beginning of the hurricane season. read more>>>

Jobs21!

A Nationwide, Grassroots Campaign for Good Jobs in the 21st Century

America's jobs crisis is at a breaking point. What we need is a bold, national jobs plan that maintains and creates the good jobs America needs to move us back to prosperity. And we need a plan that will lay the foundation for our children and grandchildren to lead the world in the 21st century clean energy economy. read more>>>

Republicans vs. the Military

The GOP's putting Big Oil profits ahead of the safety of our troops is truly shameful. The Senate is debating the defense budget now. Help build pressure on Republicans in Congress to abandon this brazen shilling that hurts all of our security:

If you are on Facebook, click here to post the petition to your Wall.

If you have a Twitter account, click here to automatically tweet: Shameful! GOP forcing military to use dirty #oil that endangers our troops http://bit.ly/Jv4d3P cc @johnboehner @BuckMcKeon @SenJohnMcCain

Spreading the word is critical, but please only pass this message along to those who know you -- spam hurts our campaign.

Thanks,

--The CREDO Action Team

And Sign On Yourselves

New Solar Power Record - Not the Once Leading U.S.

That once led in many area's of economic and innovative growth across many many area's, that started being striped away some forty years back, as to alternatives and special interests blocking same, then giving our many experienced innovative trades to others. And now many finally getting their wish and destroying more then just unions but all workers rights and the respect they deserve from their experience and once innovative economic growth contributions! As little private investment is being done here as to free market economic growth capitalism, multi-millions being spent on elections, and public investments being blocked!

Germany sets new solar power record, institute says

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May 26, 2012 - German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity per hour - equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity - through the midday hours on Friday and Saturday, the head of a renewable energy think tank said.

The German government decided to abandon nuclear power after the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year, closing eight plants immediately and shutting down the remaining nine by 2022.

They will be replaced by renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and bio-mass.

Norbert Allnoch, director of the Institute of the Renewable Energy Industry (IWR) in Muenster, said the 22 gigawatts of solar power per hour fed into the national grid on Saturday met nearly 50 percent of the nation's midday electricity needs.

"Never before anywhere has a country produced as much photovoltaic electricity," Allnoch told Reuters. "Germany came close to the 20 gigawatt (GW) mark a few times in recent weeks. But this was the first time we made it over."

The record-breaking amount of solar power shows one of the world's leading industrial nations was able to meet a third of its electricity needs on a work day, Friday, and nearly half on Saturday when factories and offices were closed.

Government-mandated support for renewables has helped Germany became a world leader in renewable energy and the country gets about 20 percent of its overall annual electricity from those sources. read more>>>

Greener Economy Could Generate 15 to 60 mil. Additional Jobs Globally

And for each of those the spin off jobs created, especially if these were paid according to real capitalism ideology of sharing in the fruits of ones labor, would be astronomical in numbers, especially in the poorer countries!!

Transition to green economy 'could yield up to 60m jobs'

31 May, 2012 - The transformation to a greener economy could generate 15 to 60 million additional jobs globally over the next two decades and lift tens of millions of workers out of poverty, according to a new report led by the Green Jobs Initiative.

The study "Working towards sustainable development: Opportunities for decent work and social inclusion in a green economysays that these gains will depend on whether the right set of policies are put in place.

"The current development model has proven to be inefficient and unsustainable, not only for the environment, but for economies and societies as well", said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. "We urgently need to move to a sustainable development path with a coherent set of policies with people and the planet at the centre".

"The forthcoming "Rio+20" United Nations conference will be a crucial moment to make sure decent work and social inclusion are integral parts of any future development strategy", he added.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said: "This report comes on the eve of World Environment Day on 5 June under the theme Green Economy: Does it Include You?".

"The findings underline that it can include millions more people in terms of overcoming poverty and delivering improved livelihoods for this and future generations. It is a positive message of opportunity in a troubled world of challenges that we are relaying to capital cities across the globe as leaders prepare and plan for the Rio+20 Summit," he added. read more>>>

Ford Sees Green, Smart Technologies as Key

After some forty years of the special interests, the auto industry being one, successfully blocking the growth of the alternative and clean energy technologies, same still trying to, an industry with spin offs, it's about time!

Rebuilding Michigan Economy, Making it the Silicon Valley of Mobility

May 31, 2012 - Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford calls for implementation of key policy reforms to ensure Michigan's competitiveness and spur future innovation

Bill Ford says Michigan can become the Silicon Valley of mobility, lead the generation of more high-tech jobs and help solve the challenge of urban mobility through integration of vehicle and communications technologies

Ford announces Motor City Innovation Exchange, a collaboration between Ford Motor Company, TechShop Detroit, AutoHarvest and TechTown to encourage Michigan innovators and entrepreneurs; affordable work/hacker space and support also being offered to spur job-creating businesses

At today's Mackinac Policy Conference, Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford calls for key policy reform and the need to foster innovation as critical to ensuring Michigan's competitiveness and creating new, high-tech jobs.

"While Michigan is the home of the auto industry, the trends affecting our industry offer a great opportunity to make it the home of a variety of other industries as well," said Bill Ford. "We are heading in the right direction to grow Michigan by putting the right policies in place and investing in Michigan's future."

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"No other sector of the economy creates as many spinoff jobs as the auto sector. For each job created in autos, nine more jobs are created to support it," said Ford. "In the past two years, half of the new jobs that have been created here were manufacturing-related."

Continuing to lead the green transformationFord also highlighted the benefits Michigan has realized by being at the center of exciting developments in green technology, including electric vehicles and battery innovation. read more>>>

Renewable Energy Integration

Becoming a Higher Priority for Smart Grid Projects, Says Pike Research

May 31, 2012 - Smart grid technologies are often portrayed as being vital to efforts to increase renewable energy production, yet this aspect of the smart grid is the least developed. While there are multiple companies currently active in this market, their efforts have largely been relegated to PowerPoint presentations, pilot programs, and long range planning. According to a new report from Pike Research, this situation will change over the next several years, creating a significant expansion of the market opportunity for smart grid technologies that enable the integration of renewables. Revenue from smart grid renewables integration will reach almost $4 billion in 2012, the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts, and climb to $13 billion by 2018. The sector's compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over those six years will be nearly 23%.

"The success record of smart grid renewables integration to date is a mixed bag," says senior analyst Peter Asmus. "European countries are boldly plowing forward while many U.S. utilities exhibit 'electrotrophobia' -- the fear of change linked to greater reliance upon intermittent renewable energy resources. That will change as many utilities launch comprehensive programs and place significant investments in the ability of the smart grid to lower the costs of integrating renewable generation at the transmission, distribution, and residential levels."

The leading technology in terms of smart grid renewables integration market revenue in 2012 is microgrids, which will capture more than $3 billion, or 81% of the total pie. Remote microgrids will represent approximately 92% of this total, a reflection of the challenges of integrating distributed solar and wind in regions of the world where a reliable utility power grid is lacking. In 2018 microgrids will continue to lead the market, with 77% of total worldwide revenue. read more>>>