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climate change policy Archive
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Incentives and Financing for Renewables Spawn Growth
The Solar Expansion Project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. In March, the Forest was given $400,000 to add 250 additional solar panels to a facility that already had 50 previously installed. D.J. Group from Beverly, Ohio was awarded the contract. Photo by Alex Snyder According to the New [...]
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Berkeley Solar Finance Plan will be National Model
The program is expected to greatly boost solar installations. According to Vice President Joe Biden, the solar financing plan that sprouted in Berkeley in 2007 will become a national model. The program, called Recovery Through Retrofit, creates a framework for cities, counties and states to set up tax districts that allow residential and business property [...]
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San Francisco and San Jose go for Zero Waste
San Francisco recycling facility. On October 21st, San Francisco’s Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance took effect. The ordinance requires everyone in San Francisco to separate their refuse into recyclables, compostables and trash. According to SF Environment’s website, no one may mix recyclables, compostables or trash, or deposit refuse of one type in a collection container [...]
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India-US Partnerships for Energy Efficiency and Solar Power
The US Department of Energy and the All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG) have launched a joint training program on energy efficient and green cities in Goa, which will train Indian experts, universities, local governments and civic bodies on helping cities to move to solar powered energy.
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The Union of Concerned Scientists Climate 2030 Blueprint for the U.S.
The Union of Concerned Scientists recently released Climate 2030 Blueprint analyzes the economic and technological feasibility of meeting stringent targets for reducing global warming emissions, with a cap set at 26% below 2005 levels by 2020, and 56% below 2005 levels by 2030
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Financing for Renewables and Energy Efficiency with AB811
AB 811, passed last summer in the California state legislature, authorizes all cities and counties in California to designate areas where property owners can obtain low-interest government loans for the installation of solar panels and energy efficiency upgrades as long as they are permanently fixed to the property.
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California’s Approach to Land Use and Climate Protection
The passing of Senate Bill 375 in California last year was a landmark occasion marking a new approach to land use and climate protection. The bill, authored by Senate President-Elect Darrell Steinberg, is the first law in the nation to tie billions of dollars in federal and state transportation funds to plans to shorten commutes, build sustainable communities and reduce global warming.
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US Cities May Have to Shrink to Survive
The U.S. government is considering replicating a pioneering de-urbanization effort in Flint, one of the poorest U.S. cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature. Local politicians in Flint believe the city must shrink by as much as 40%, concentrating the diminishing population and local services into a more viable area.
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A Short Guide to Setting Up a City-Scale Retrofit Program
Green For All and COWS have just released A Short Guide to Setting Up a City-Scale Retrofit Program (pdf, 308 KB), a guide to designing and implementing energy efficiency retrofitting programs on a citywide scale. The organizations aim to make these retrofits available to more households and to provide good, entry-level jobs with career tracks that are accessible to low-income communities and communities of color.
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Smart Growth and Sustainable Development on new U.S. Agenda
The Environmental Protection Agency is joining forces with the Department of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development to create a strategy for sustainable, smart growth in the US. The new partnership means that there will be a new focus on environmental issues when the nation’s housing and transportation needs are being considered.