Smart Energy

Wow, the normally conservative Forbes has a full on endorsement of green building as a way to mitigate the effects of human-caused climate change:

Increasing storms, violent floods, fluctuating global temperatures, unstable energy costs and global water shortages. All of these threaten to derail, destroy or bankrupt businesses around the world. Businesses that can't afford to rebuild if they are destroyed, or stay profitable as energy prices rise while the global economy sinks. In today's environment businesses can no longer wait for governments to help shape solutions to deal with climate change.

via Seven Keys To Green Building – Forbes.com.

The piece includes a video about the “seven keys” which are:

1. Consolidate office space
2. Set green building performance goals
3. Reduce equipment and load requirements
4. Conserve energy
5. Design comfortable work environments
6. Consider renewable energy
7. Additional strategies

We may take exception with the order of some of these (doesn’t conserving energy entail reducing equipment and load requirements, for instance?) but the mere fact that a magazine that toes the bottom line of the Profit Generation is talking about this is significant.

A feel-good elevator short, this film brings together local Washington state and national leaders in green building, climate change, manufacturing, and work-force development to make the case for green buildings capacity to create jobs and boost the economy while not further imposing on our environment. The transcript is available here. For more info about the film and the economic outlook expressed therein, contact Rachael Jamison, Green Building Coordinator (Washington Dept. of Ecology), at (360) 407-6352 or email rjam461@ecy.wa.gov.

Here’s some snips from an email I got yesterday from the Campaign for America’s Future:

A planned $1.5 billion dollar Texas wind farm — seeking financing with US stimulus money — will create only 30 permanent jobs here, but 2000 jobs in China manufacturing wind turbines.

This is according to a Wall Street Journal article from Oct. 30: “Chinese-Made Turbines to Fill U.S. Wind Farm.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer is pressing Energy Secretary Steven Chu to take action. Yesterday he sent Dr. Chu a letter saying, “I urge you to reject any request for stimulus money unless the high‐value components, including the wind turbines, are manufactured in the United States.”

It is imperative for our economy to support Schumer and call on the Energy Department to direct American stimulus money towards creating American green jobs.

Click here to tell Energy Secretary Chu: Don’t send our tax dollars overseas. Stimulus funds must create American green jobs.