The Department of Defense will invest nearly $3 billion in energy efficiency and renewable energy in 2013, an article on the White House blog said.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, addressing attendees at an Environmental Defense Fund reception in honor of the DoD’s leadership in advancing the nation’s security through 21st century clean energy and environmental initiatives, said, “I want those gathered here tonight to know that… we are working to be a leader and an innovator in environmental stewardship, energy efficiency and energy security. Our mission at the Department is to secure this nation against threats to our homeland and to our people.”

From a security and financial standpoint, we are deeply committed to finding better energy options, including reducing the amount of fuel used by our equipment and spending less on fuel and energy so that more of our financial resources are put toward other critical defense priorities, he continued.

“In the next fiscal year, we are investing more than $1 billion in more efficient aircraft and aircraft engines; hybrid electric drives for ships; improved generators and micro-grids for combat bases; and combat vehicle energy efficiency programs. We are investing another $1 billion to make our installations here at home more energy efficient, and we are using them as a test bed to demonstrate next-generation energy technologies. Meanwhile, the Army, Navy, and Air Force have committed to adding about three gigawatts of renewable energy to installations in the coming years – one of the largest commitments to clean energy in the nation’s history,” he added.

ROI for some of the investments will be long-term, but for many, the results will be immediate, Frank Kendall, Acting Undersecretary for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics at the Department of Defense, said on the White House blog.

“3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment deployed in 2010 with first generation ExFOB gear. The results spoke for themselves. The Marines operated two patrol bases solely on renewable energy, reduced energy use by 90 percent at a third base, and executed a three-week foot patrol without battery resupply, reducing load on Marines by 700 lbs. In less than a year, technologies demonstrated at this first ExFOB were deployed widely to combat forces in Afghanistan,” he also said.

“Let me assure you that DoD is helping to lead this nation when it comes to preserving our environment and building a more sustainable and secure energy future…That’s our mission, that’s our goal, and that is the key to giving our children a better life in the 21^st Century,” Panetta said at the reception Wednesday night.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

The International Finance Corp. (IFC) is raising $500 million for climate-friendly investments in developing countries via the United States bond market, according to MarketWatch.com.

IFC is offering a “green bond” targeting U.S. investors. Funds raised from the bonds will be put into a separate account to be used exclusively for investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and other climate-friendly projects in developing countries.

“This bond will strengthen our ability to invest in innovative energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects that can help these countries confront climate change,” Lars Thunell, the IFC’s chief executive said, according to MarketWatch.

“Green bond issues in the U.S. market have been rare, compared to Europe and Asia. IFC green bonds are an alternative investment opportunity for this market, offering both development impact and a safe investment vehicle of a top triple-A issuer,” Jingdong Hua, IFC vice president and treasurer, said, according to MarketWatch.

According to MarketWatch, IFC said the move was well-received by investors, which included BlackRock, California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), TIAA-CREF, and United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

Scheduled energy-efficiency upgrades worth more than $2 billion will put Americans back to work, an article on The White House website said.

As part of President Obama’s “We Can’t Wait” initiative, the president challenged federal agencies in December to make at least $2 billion worth of energy-efficiency upgrades to its buildings over the next two years. According to the article, federal agencies have identified $2.1 billion worth of projects that will “pay for themselves using performance-based contracts.”

More than $100 million in Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Utility Energy Savings Contracts (UESCs) has been awarded for the projects already. An additional $1.2 billion in projects are in development.

“These federal agencies join leading corporations, colleges and universities, hospitals, cities, and states that together have committed nearly $2 billion in private capital investments, and more than 1.6 billion square feet of building and industrial space to upgrade energy performance by at least 20 percent by 2020 through the Better Buildings Challenge,” the article said.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

In response to climate change, plants are flowering 8.5 times faster than scientists predicted, a study appearing in the journal Nature reveals.

This response could wreak havoc on food chains and ecosystem services such as pollination, nutrient cycles and water supply, the study said, according to Reuters.

“We compared phenology (the timing of recurring life history events) in observational studies and warming experiments spanning four continents and 1,634 plant species using a common measure of temperature sensitivity (change in days per degree Celsius)…Across all species, the experiments under-predicted the magnitude of the advance — for both leafing and flowering — that results from temperature increases,” the study said.”

“We show that warming experiments under-predict advances in the timing of flowering and leafing by 8.5-fold and 4.0-fold, respectively, compared with long-term observations,” the study also said.

“Predicting species’ response to climate change is a major challenge in ecology,” researchers at the University of California San Diego and several other U.S. institutions said, according to Reuters.

We may need to improve the design of future experiments to better predict how plants will react to climate change, the researchers concluded, according to Reuters.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service recently launched an initiative designed to protect ecologically valuable environments in the Tampa Bay area before, during and after severe weather and other disasters, an article on the NOAA’s website said.

The pilot project, called Weather-Ready Nation, will provide “enhanced decision and ecosystem support services to help protect residents and visitors in the Tampa Bay area,” the article also said.

“With hurricane season just around the corner, timely and accurate weather support is more critical than ever,” Bill Proenza, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service Southern Region, said, according to the article. “This project will allow the Tampa forecast office to respond to emergency managers during a storm or when handling a hazardous material spill, while maintaining normal weather forecast operations for area residents.”

The Tampa Bay area qualified for the pilot project because of the region’s diverse ecosystem, active cargo port, and its open-water estuary — the largest in the state — which supports more than 200 species of fish and the most diverse colonies of waterbirds in the country. Additionally, the region was chosen because billions of gallons of hazardous materials pass through Tampa Bay each year.

Emergency Response Specialists assigned to the National Weather Service office in Tampa will collaborate with local port authorities and local environmentalists to expand on support services that focus on environmental and public health issues. Initial projects include developing a Marine Route Forecast, enhancing current Harmful Algal Bloom forecasts, improving the local provision of storm surge warning information, and developing graphical smoke plume and visibility hazard forecasts.

“These collaborations and new products will serve to mitigate future risk and impact from hurricane storm surge, environmental and ecological effects in the Gulf of Mexico, and provide safety and high-impact weather information for marine navigation through the Port,” Brian LaMarre, meteorologist-in-charge of the Tampa forecast office, said, according to the article.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

Economic growth is most likely to blame for increases in greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, a study by the University of Michigan says.

According to UPI, researchers from the university assessed the effects of several factors on year-to-year changes in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. The team looked at both natural (eruptions and the El Nino weather pattern) and human factors (world population and the world economy). Of these four factors affecting CO2 concentrations, the researchers found that growing global economies were the most likely source of increases in greenhouse gas.

For every year between 1958 and 2010 that the worldwide gross domestic product was above average, there were greater increases in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, the researchers said in a university release reported Tuesday, according to UPI.

To put an end to this, the world’s economies would need to halt economic growth, Tapia Granados, a researcher at the university’s Institute for Social Research, said, according to UPI.

“Since the 1980s, scientists like James Hansen have been warning us about the effects global warming will have on the Earth,” Granados added. “One solution that has promise is a carbon tax levied on any activity producing CO2 in order to create incentives to reduce emissions.”

But “if ‘business as usual’ conditions continue, economic contractions the size of the Great Recession or even bigger will be needed to reduce atmospheric levels of CO2,” Granados said, according to UPI.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

Attendees of the third Clean Energy Ministerial — hosted this year by the UK — announced major steps toward accelerating the transition to clean energy technologies, an article appearing on the White House website said.

According to the article, U.S. Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu announced that the Super-Efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative, which seeks to reduce energy consumption with energy efficient equipment and appliances, could save consumers more than $1 trillion over the next two decades.

The UK announced that it would pledge more than $100 million to promote carbon capture, use and storage in the developing world. Spain, Denmark and Germany announced the creation of a global renewable energy atlas — an online resource for governments or companies working to bring renewable energy sources to market.

Meanwhile, the United States and Italy announced the launch of Lighting India — an initiative which will bring modern lighting services to two million people by the end of 2015. The United States also announced the creation of the Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) women’s initiative — a new program that strives to close the gender gap in clean energy.

Additionally, dozens of public and private sector leaders shared ideas for promoting clean energy, energy efficiency and sustainable energy worldwide.

Ministers from more than 20 participating countries attended this year’s forum. The fourth Clean Energy Ministerial will be held in India in 2013. The fifth Clean Energy Ministerial will be held in Korea in 2014.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold two public meetings on limiting nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions, a press release on the agency’s website said.

The decision came following a recent proposal the agency made at the Reid Gardner Generating Station in Moapa Valley, Nev. “as part of a national effort to reduce regional haze that impairs visibility at protected national parks and wilderness areas,” the press release states.

The proposal will “establish lower limits for NO_x emissions under Federal and state plans that require the facility to install Best Available Retrofit Technology to control these emissions,” the press release states.

The two hearings will be held Thursday, May 3, 2012 — the first to be held at the Big Auditorium in the Administration Building of Moapa Band of Paiutes at 1 Lincoln Street in Moapa from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and the second to be held at the Ron Dalley Theater of Moapa Valley Empowerment High School at 2400 St. Joseph Street in Overton from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 pm. Informational sessions will precede both meetings (11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for the first session and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. for the second session).

Interested persons may provide written comments, oral comments and/or data pertaining to the proposal at either the public hearings or directly to the EPA on or before June 4, the close of the public comment period. The EPA will respond to comments and take final action no later than July 13.

For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/region9/air/actions/nv.html.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

Is it really too late to do anything about global warming? Yes — at least that’s what some climate scientists say.

According to these scientists, the world is close to reaching tipping points that will make global warming irreversible. The tipping point for ice sheets has already been passed, Will Steffen, executive director of the Australian National University’s climate change institute, said, according to Reuters. The West Antarctic ice sheet has shrunk over the last decade, and the Greenland ice sheet has lost around 200 cubic km (48 cubic miles) a year since the 1990s.

And as emissions continue to grow, the world is close to reaching thresholds beyond which the effects on the global climate will be irreversible, such as the melting of polar ice sheets and loss of rainforests, the scientists added.

In a 2010 interview with Alison van Diggelen of Fresh Dialogues, Robert Ballard, a U.S. oceanographer best known for discovering the sunken Titanic, had this to say about global warming: “It’s too late…There’s a lag, and it’s already in the system.”

Despite this, Ballard suggests that we continue to make efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. While we can’t do much about natural global warming, we can do something about manmade global warming, which increases the severity of natural warming, he said.

But exactly how much can we do about it? The writer of an article on Grist.org makes this point: “Even if our government did act, we can’t control the emissions of the developing world. China is now the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet, and its inherently unstable autocratic political system demands growth at all costs. That means coal.”

Climate change talks in the past have been unsuccessful, including a decade of discussions between the United Nations’ ICAO and the European Commission over carbon emission. At the UN’s annual climate change talks in Durban, South Africa in 2011, India, among other nations, voiced its opposition to a global treaty on greenhouse gas emissions that includes all of the world’s largest carbon emitters. And let’s not forget about the many Republicans, including Senator James Inhofe, who insist on telling the world that global warming is just a hoax and that we shouldn’t even be focusing on it at all.

Given the damage that’s already been done and the fact that so many are unwilling to fight against global warming, it just may be too late after all. What do you think?

Energy efficiency projects completed by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) in 2011 saved New York State taxpayers $9 million and created more than 3,000 jobs statewide, Governor Cuomo announced Friday, according to the Saugerties Post Star.

The projects are expected to lower peak electricity use by more than 10 megawatts and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 36,000 tons. The upgrades, which were completed at no cost to taxpayers, included new lighting fixtures, heating and ventilating systems, electric motors, automated energy management systems, fuel cells, and solar power installations. Facilities that received the upgrades included schools, colleges, police and fire stations, municipal buildings, transit facilities, public housing, libraries, and wastewater treatment plants.

“The energy efficient upgrades implemented across the state are a win-win, saving taxpayer dollars by lowering energy costs while also reducing carbon pollution,” Governor Cuomo told the Saugerties Post Star. “New York State has always led the way in progressive energy and environmental reforms, and my administration is committed to continuing this legacy. We will continue to do all we can to provide low-cost, clean power to New York homeowners, businesses, and state facilities, and by doing so, save taxpayer money and create jobs.”

NYPA Chairman Michael J. Townsend told the Saugerties Post Star: “The Power Authority is committed to energy efficiency and helping to meet Governor Cuomo’s ambitious goals for managing electricity demand and expanding the state’s use of renewable power. The governor has made it clear that he will be giving priority to expanding efforts in these areas as a major part of his energy policy. NYPA will continue to give this maximum attention in supporting the governor in this endeavor.”

Meanwhile, Gov. Cuomo, in a meeting last week, announced that NYPA will finance approximately $800 million in cost-effective energy efficiency projects over the next four years, including $200 million to be financed in 2012. According to the governor, the projects will reduce energy consumption in state buildings by 20 percent. The funding will go toward the state’s most inefficient buildings.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.