Green Traveler: California

Nissan Leaf electric vehicle charging up in Santa Monica, California.

December 24, 2011-January 2, 2012 -- California is on the cutting edge of America's green revolution, so whenever I visit the Golden State there is always something new to write about on Green Forward.

San Francisco Airport

The last trip to the Left Coast took me first from Washington Dulles International Airport on Virgin America (the best domestic airline in my humble opinion) to San Francisco International Airport's spectacular new Terminal 2, where I was greeted by a Google representative at something called a Chrome Zone pop-up shop. He explained to me that as a promotion, Google was renting out their new Chromebook laptop to Virgin America customers. The Chromebook could either be used while waiting in the terminal for a connecting flight or on a flight to another airport with a similar pop-up shop where it could be returned.

Green Traveler: Wilmington, Delaware

April 7-8, 2012 -- A weekend in Wilmington, Delaware reveals why Vice President Joe Biden took the train up from Washington every day for 36 years (last year Wilmington's Amtrak station was named for Biden, who was instrumental in securing funding for the rail station's renovation). The city and the state provide citizens with well-planned outdoor recreational areas to enjoy nature.

The Northern Delaware section of the East Coast Greenway runs right through the heart of Wilmington and is frequented by walkers, joggers and bicyclists. The East Coast Greenway is a project to create a nearly 3,000 mile urban path to connect major cities along the Eastern Seaboard from Maine to Florida. So far, 25 percent of the trail is complete.

As Playoffs Heat Up, NHL Aims to Ice Global Warming

Photo credit: Chealion/Michael J. at Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/chealion

Game three tonight between the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals promises to be a scorcher. But it is the heat outside of the Verizon Center that could play a factor.

Washington, D.C. and more than 90 other American cities already experienced the warmest March on record. And today temperatures are expected to reach historic highs of near 90 degrees fahrenheit in the nation's capital, which could cause problems with the Verizon Center ice surface. Despite being indoors, a hot day outside can affect ice conditions. Warm weather can soften the ice, making it difficult to skate and control the puck.

Will GOP’S Solyndra Witch Hunt Backfire?

Energy Secretary Chu and President Obama. Credit: U.S. Department of Energy.

(Cross-posted at Winning Progressive)

Solyndra was never about the facts. It was never meant to be. House Republicans put on a cynical show trial to attack the Obama Administration’s clean energy policies. They dragged Nobel Prize-winning physicist and Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu to Capitol Hill in order to brow beat one of the most respected scientists in the world over the DOE Loan Guarantee Program.

Sadly, Republicans might have committed serious damage to American competitiveness in the global clean energy race. The United States is attempting to compete with China, Germany, Brazil and other nations whose governments are massively investing in the renewable energy sector. The Loan Guarantee Program is crucial to ensuring success in the industries of the future. Now comes the news that because of Solyndra, the DOE is being overly cautious in issuing loans. The first victim could be California-based luxury electric car maker Fisker Automotive’s plans to build a hybrid-electric car factory in Wilmington, Delaware for their new model Atlantic. The project was supposed to create 2,000 factory jobs and more than 3,000 vendor and supplier jobs. Wilmington’s unemployment rate stood at 10.4 percent as of last December so the city could really use those jobs. So Fisker is now considering placing the plant and all those jobs in Finland. Fisker already manufactures its Karma plug-in hybrid luxury sedan in Finland. Fisker founder Henrik Fisker was quoted in ABC News as saying the following:

Is Obama Serious About Climate Change Action?

President Obama speaking recently at the Solar Panel Field at the Copper Mountain Solar 1 Facility in Boulder City, Nevada, the largest photovoltaic plant operating in the country.

(Cross-posted at Winning Progressive)

When it comes to climate change action, the Obama Administration is feeling the heat. Literally. All the president needs to do is step outside the White House doors and spend some time in the Rose Garden to feel Washington’s warmest winter on record. And cities across the United States have been experiencing record high temperatures this winter. Obama’s campaign headquarters is in Chicago, where the Windy City last Wednesday hit a high of 87 degrees Fahrenheit. The next day the temperature at O’Hare Airport was 83 degrees, capping nine straight days of record-breaking or record-tying high temperatures in Chicago.

While there is a difference between daily weather changes and climate patterns over time, the “summer in March” has climatologists concerned. “Global warming boosts the probability of really extreme events, like the recent U.S. heat wave, far more than it boosts more moderate events,” climate scientists Stefan Rahmstorf and Dim Coumou wrote recently in the RealClimate blog.

What the End of Gasoline Looks Like: Green Cars in America

The 2012 Ford Focus Electric Vehicle on display at the Washington Auto Show.

There is a green revolution taking place in the American automobile industry—cars are getting smaller, more fuel efficient, more electric and more capable of carrying cleaner burning alternative fuels like ethanol and biodiesel. This long overdue shift to low and zero emission vehicles is largely thanks to the Obama Administration's increased fuel efficiency standards. The fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions rule adopted in 2010 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) took effect in 2011 and will increase miles per gallon requirements every year until 2025, when the window sticker rating must be 54.5 MPG. That means less trips to the gas station, more money savings, more energy security with less reliance on foreign oil, cleaner air to breathe and combating climate change by reducing CO2 emissions.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and EPA's website www.fueleconomy.gov provides consumers with fuel saving tips, information on the new fuel economy and environment label designs for the new generation of vehicles that will begin model year 2013, and helps car buyers choose the most fuel efficient vehicles on the market.

Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe Charged Up About Green Economy

Terry McAuliffe in a Greentech electric car.

Yes Virginia, there are forward-thinking leaders in your state. I know it seems like all hope is lost with the Republican legislature, governor and attorney general determined to turn the clock back by forcing a radically divisive social agenda upon the residents of the Old Dominion. The right-wing regime in Richmond would like to roll back all the progress that has been made. That’s one reason why it was refreshing to hear former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe give a positive message about clean energy jobs and growing the green economy.

The McLean resident spoke this past November at George Mason University’s School of Public Policy in Arlington about his electric car company and how to get Virginia and the United States competing in the global green economy. The event was titled “The Green Economy: Competing Globally for Jobs of the Future.”