GREENBIZ: Americans' Interest in Green Sags During Downturn

OAKLAND, CA — A growing number of American consumers would like to tell President Obama to focus on the economy first before tackling environmental issues, according to research published today. The finding, part of the monthly Green Confidence Index, is that while significant numbers of Americans support the administration's environmental stance, their principal concern remains focused on the economy. The number of Americans preferring that the president "focus on the economy first" or "keep a balanced perspective" rose over the past month, while the number urging President Obama to "educate us about the issues" dropped.

The Green Confidence Index is a monthly snapshot of Americans' attitudes about and confidence in their leaders and institutions, nationally and locally, on the subject of environmental responsibility, as well as in their own understanding of issues and their willingness to make green purchasing choices. During October, the Index fell four points from a month earlier, from 103.6 to 99.5. The Index was set in July 2009 at 100.0.

According to Chief Research Officer Amy Hebard of Earthsense, whose company creates the Index: "Should we worry about a four-point drop in the Index? Not yet. Confusion in this market is broad and deep and, with the economy still in jitters, consumers' confidence in going green will take time to build before we realize the pent-up demand we've seen. As we approach the holiday season, a key question will be whether or not the drop we saw in October is the start of a downward slide or just a one-month blip." Article continues

Greenpeace's Solar Generation Activists, Local Youth Organizers Install Solar Panels in Home of President Obama's Paternal Grandmother "Mama Sarah" in Kenya

Thanks to Greenpeace's Solar Generation Activists and local youth organizers, President Barack Obama's paternal grandmother, affectionately known as "Mama Sarah," got the present of a lifetime -- solar panels on her home. Solar panels were also installed on the Senator Barack Obama School in Kogelo, Kenya. According to Greenpeace, the solar installations are part of a 20 day renewable energy workshop hosted by Solar Generation with 25 participants from the Kibera Community Youth Program and community members of Nyang’oma Kogelo. The program helps young Kenyans learn how solar photovoltaic panels generate electricity, about their installation and maintenance and the fabrication of self-assembling solar lamps and their marketing potential.

Mama Sarah  was understandably happy and said, “I am very pleased that my home has been improved thanks to solar energy and I'll make sure my grandson hears about it. Solar power is clean, reliable and affordable, unlike paraffin that is widely used in the area. Also, we now have qualified youth in the village who can help with the upkeep of the systems.”

Climate impacts reach Kenya

Kenya, like many other countries in Africa, is on the climate impacts frontline. It has seen a drastic reduction in rainfall in recent years. Drought is amplifying problems in agriculture caused by poor land use and desertification, making Kenya’s large scale hydro power unreliable.

Faced with these challenges, investing in solar energy technologies is a win-win strategy. It strengthens the economy and protects the environment, while ensuring a reliable and clean energy supply. The solar industry is ready and able to deliver the needed capacity. There is no technical impediment to doing this, just a political barrier to overcome as we rebuild the global energy sector. Source: Greenpeace

There is so much work to do in so many other countries across our globe. If each person with the means and the skills would make a conscious effort to help our less fortunate and impoverished brothers and sisters in other countries, then the world would be in better shape environmentally.

Obama Administration Moves To Block Building Roads In National Forests, Defends 2001 Rule Imposed by former President Bill Clinton

The Obama administration says that it will defend a 2001 rule, which was imposed by former President Bill Clinton, that blocked road construction and other development on millions of acres of remote national forests.  Conflicting court opinions have variously upheld and blocked the so-called Roadless Rule, which prohibited commercial logging, mining and other development on about 58 million acres of national forest in 38 states and Puerto Rico, but no surprise, a subsequent Bush administration rule had cleared the way for more commercial activity there.

A federal appeals court threw out the 2005 Bush roadless rule last week, saying the rule "had the effect of permanently repealing uniform, nationwide, substantive protections that were afforded to inventoried roadless areas" in national forests. The California-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the 2001 rule offered greater protection to remote forests than the 2005 rule. The Aug. 5 ruling, one of dozens in recent years related to roadless forests, was not the final word on the issue.

The Wyoming case is pending in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where environmental groups are appealing a ruling by a federal judge repealing the Clinton roadless rule. Arguments are expected this fall before an appeals panel in Denver. Source: Huffington Post

The latest move by the Obama administration is a step in the right direction.

Obama Administration to Halt Uranium Mining on One Million Acres Near Grand Canyon

CARVING OUT THE CANYON FLICKR/L.BRUMM PHOTOGRAPHY

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will announce that the department will temporarily bar the filing of new uranium mining claims on about one million acres near the Grand Canyon. The land is being "segregated" for two years so that the department can study whether it should be permanently withdrawn from mining activities, an official said.

The announcement comes ahead of Tuesday's congressional hearing on a bill to set aside more than 1 million acres of federal lands north and south of the canyon. The bill's sponsor, Democratic U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, and environmental groups had been looking to Salazar for temporary protections at the Grand Canyon while the legislation is pending.

The Interior Department under President George W. Bush was unresponsive to efforts to ban new uranium mining claims. The House Natural Resources Committee invoked a little-used rule to stop any new claims for up to three years, but Interior officials refused to recognize the action and continued to authorize additional mining claims. A coalition of environmental groups sued, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management later rescinded Congress' right to withdraw lands from mining and other activities in emergencies. Since then, environmentalists and Grijalva have been hanging their hopes on Salazar for temporary protections.

Any companion bill to Grijalva's in the Senate is unlikely to come from Arizona's two U.S. senators. Republicans John McCain and Jon Kyl told Grijalva in a letter last month that adequate protections already exist.Conservationists contend mining leaves the Grand Canyon vulnerable to environmental damage and that no new operations should be proposed when the old mining sites haven't been cleaned up.

There are as many as 10,000 existing mining claims on BLM and U.S. Forest Service lands near the Grand Canyon for all types of hard-rock exploration. Some 1,100 uranium mining claims are within five miles of the Grand Canyon National Park. Source: The Huffington Post

I applaud the Obama Administration for this latest move, but the ultimate goal should be a permanent withdrawal.

Obama Administration Approves First Logging Contract In Alaska's Tongass National Forest, Many Enviromentalists Upset

President Barack Obama will, no doubt, be criticized by environmentalists for his latest decision to allow logging in the Tongass National Forest. His administration has approved the sale of timber in the nation's largest temperate rain forest, which is home to both endangered species and native Alaskan tribes. Alaskan Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich both supported the administration's decision to allow the timber sale, saying that it would provide jobs to the area's underemployed loggers. Personally, I think logging in national forests is destructive.

According to The Wilderness Society:

American taxpayers have not only watched as the Tongass has been picked apart by road building and logging, they've paid for the privilege. The tab extends beyond $750 million over 20 years. In a single year alone, the Forest Service spent $36 million on the Tongass timber program and got back in revenues only $1 million. Subsidies for logging roads account for nearly half of timber program costs annually.

I think the rain forest should be left as it is. What are your thoughts on the President's decision?

US High Speed Rail Association to Advocate for High-Speed Rail Network Across the USA

USHSR Network

As you know, President Barack Obama strongly supports high-speed rail and the Federal Railroad Administration is now reaching out to other countries that have had success with it. It's about time the United States got with the program and make high speed rail a reality. The questions on the table are what kind of system will be built, how extensive will it be, how fast and how integrated will it be? Enter the US High Speed Rail Association, which tags itself as the only organization in America focusing entirely on advancing a state-of-the-art national high speed rail network across the country. The nonprofit trade association, based in Washington D.C., "is chartered to organize and mobilize the industry with a shared vision for a 21st century, 17,000 mile national high speed rail system built in phases for completion by 2030."

The Association’s advancement of this national transportation plan will help develop an entirely new industry, which will revive our economy and manufacturing sector by creating millions of new jobs. This new, electric rail system will greatly reduce our dependence on oil and significantly lower our carbon footprint. Source: USHSR

The organization unveiled a map showing what a complete national system, built in 4 phases and completed by 2030 (for the animated version, click here). The map bears a resemblance to the "Vision for High-Speed Rail in America" unveiled by the Obama Administration in April. Both are based on the same 10 regional corridors, but the Association's plan seriously raises the bar. It calls for 17,000 miles of track, multi-modal stations and travel speeds of 220mph, the proposal bears a greater resemblance to rail maps in Europe.

The USHSR plans to generate support for the plan and help advance the industry by organizing a series of public events and conferences, with the first scheduled for October 22-23 in Washington DC. The group also formed a partnership with the International Union of Railways in Paris, and plans on hosting tours of European and Asian high-speed rail systems.

President Obama's plan to drastically improve the current railroad system as we know it, is poised to effectively modernize the system and the very concept of traveling by rail. The $8 billion investment is the biggest of its kind in American history and the president hopes to build upon the model currently in place by installing railroads to link cities in other parts of the nation, an effort he believes could help revitalize the Midwest. A faster rail service could relieve traffic congestion, conserve energy, prevent pollution, and offer greater accessibility for intercity travel.