US Solar Energy Gets United Steelworkers Backing

Posted on December 3, 2011 by quest

The back and forth between US and Chinese solar companies continues with Leo W. Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers (USW) issuing a statement , commenting on a letter sent by 59 members of Congress to President Obama calling for action on Chinese clean energy protectionism.”Today’s congressional letter to President Obama highlights the imperative of confronting China’s predatory, protectionist and illegal trade practices in the alternative and renewable energy sector. The time for dialogue has come to an end — now is the time to put an end to their efforts to dominate this vital sector of our economy.

“Ten years ago, China ascended to the World Trade Organization (WTO) with a promise to abide by free and fair rules of trade. China continues to massively subsidize their industries, to exclude others from exporting competitive products to their markets, to require transfers of technology and engage in countless practices to the disadvantage of other trading nations. “Ten years is long enough to know that they have no intention of playing by the rules unless we challenge them and utilize the leverage of our market to provide a level playing field.

“Alternative and renewable energy can provide an enormous opportunity not only to promote energy security, but to also enhance environmental protection while promoting the revitalization of manufacturing and job creation. America has been a leader in developing these technologies, but not in manufacturing the resulting products due to China’s actions.”That’s why the Steelworkers filed a comprehensive trade case under Section 301 of our trade laws last year. President Obama and his Administration should end their review of that petition and act on the comprehensive set of issues identified in that case. Coupled with acting on the solar products trade case, we can begin to restore the promise of green energy as an engine of economic growth and job creation here in the U.S.”

A Solar House Divided

Eco-Friendly Marley ‘One Love’ Sponsors Jingle Ball

Posted on December 3, 2011 by quest

With its expanding line of eco friendly products, The House of Marley is sponsoring two of the biggest concerts of the year and the most anticipated music events of the holiday season. The KIIS-FM’s Jingle Ball will be held on Dec. 3 at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live and Z100′s Jingle Ball will take place on Dec. 9 at Madison Square Garden in NYC. The House of Marley also carries its message of peace, love, and unity to Ski Dazzle 2011: The Los Angeles Ski Show and Snowboard Expo, December 1 – 4, 2011, helping to celebrate the 48th anniversary of the world’s largest consumer ski & snowboard show and sale. The House of Marley delivers premium quality, eco-friendly products that embody the Marley family’s values of equality, unity, authenticity, sustainability, and charity. MARLEY is comprised of three collections – Jammin’, Freedom, and Destiny – and features noise isolating in-ear and on-ear headphones, active noise canceling over-ear headphones, docking stations, and portable audio systems. The MARLEY headphones are currently available at Becker Surf, Karmaloop, CCS, Beachworks and many other snow, surf and skate shops nationwide. Docking stations and speakers will be available in early 2012.

One Love

Working together for a better world, The House of Marley was created from the belief in Bob Marley’s vision of “One Love,” offering a range of eco-friendly, innovative audio electronics products that adhere to the Marley family core values: equality, unity, authenticity, sustainability and charity. The House of Marley donates five percent (5%) of its annual profits to 1Love.org. The epicenter of a global movement, 1Love.org is dedicated to spreading Bob Marley’s message of unity and peace by lifting up a new generation of “young gongs” to strike the hammer for charities, causes and ideas that can change the world.

“Action sports has always been important to us, because that’s where the roots people hang out,” said Rohan Marley, Bob Marley’s son, on behalf of the family. “Through his music, my father spread messages of love, hope, unity, and peace, and it is our family’s responsibility and mission to bring his vision to a new generation. MARLEY audio products make perfect sense and are created with a focus on using sustainable products and providing exceptional sound that our family is proud to call our own.”

World’s Tallest Solar Tower Set To Rise In Arizona

Solar Embedded Fashions Energizing Mobile Devices

Posted on December 1, 2011 by quest

The solar industry is shining its light on just about every part of society.This time a company called Silvr Lining is impacting the solar and fashion industry. The Los Angeles based clothing designer has introduced a line of solar powered outerwear called the Go Collection, which is all hand made, individually cut & sewn garments. The garments are ethically made clothing from organic & recycled fibers and allow you to charge your phone with your pants, jacket or vest. The GO Collection is an urban sportswear line featuring integrated solar charging for personal mobile communication devices.

In addition to GO Collection Silvr Lining offers multi-functional, high-tech fashion and lifestyle brands. The Dugwear, Modbox lines are progressive and green, and pursue sustainability and renewability of materials and processes. Fully and independently functioning solar power supply panels are provided for the front pockets of the of the GO Director’s Jacket, GO Utility Vest, GO Myer’s Topper,and side cargo pockets of the GO Cargo Pant. Output power is highly precise and conditioned for automatic charging of personal devices. These panels can also be used as self‐contained, carry – anywhere chargers and are USB 2.0 compliant.

Sandra Garratt—Design Director of Silvr Lining describing Silvr Lining said,”Too many of us believe that a “rich, creative life” belongs to a chosen few select people who “do that sort of thing. Wrong, creativity is in everything we all do daily. Beauty is a choice, creating it for any circumstance is an initiative for designers. We all want a happy, healthy, well-balanced lifestyle, not just more clothes. SilvrLining is making a design statement about an emerging Green lifestyle that is techwise and embraces active living in the Sun. We try to integrate Nature & Technology with Style while breathing beauty into busy modern everyday life.The designers and “science guys” at SilvrLining believe that there is new Green inspiration, a focus on energy independence that is moving us forward with progressive, new ideas that help us know that it is time to leave the past behind.”

UN Climate Conference In Durban South Africa

Hollywood Spotlights Green Sustainability

Posted on November 23, 2011 by quest

Kermit the Frog is slowly having to take his words back,”It ain’t easy to be green” More and more Hollywood production companies are taking front in measures to reduce costs and toxic wastes on big productions. The film and television industry traditionally consumes vast amounts of energy and unsustainable resources with productions around the world. With seed funding and support provided by Disney, Fox, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros., the Green Production Guide was created by the Producers Guild of America Foundation and PGAGreen.org with the aim of breaking that tradition by helping film and television professionals find the resources and partners necessary to make use of sustainable practices their productions.

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Peabody Award Winner and Co Founder of Green for All, Majora Carterreported on Mike Fantasia a Hollywood production and location manager in her series The Promised Land. Mike has been on the forefront of “greening up” big movie productions. In fact Hollywood now has the equivalent of a sustainability manager to cut wastes on the set. Solvie Karlstrom who writes for NRDC’s Smarter Living recently published,”The Planet Was Not Harmed During the Making of This Film“, covered the activities of Yazmin Watkins. Yazmin is the environmental steward at the shoot, she’s the person responsible for reducing the amount of waste produced on set and cutting down on the energy, water, and other natural resources that go into production — not an easy task on a project with a reported $40 million budget that involves months of shooting and thousands of cast and crew members.

On the renewable energy front; This year’s 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards used a 50-kilowatt solar panel system from Solarworld to power the official live pre-show “Countdown To the Emmys,” We know some big stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Natalie Portman, Robert Redford, Don Cheatle and Daryl Hannah have been advocates for green living for some time, but now Hollywood movie producers are making movies that are even greener…and being green is getting easier than it used to be.

Green Investing

New Flights Into Costa Rica’s Ecotourism Haven

Posted on November 22, 2011 by quest

Costa Rica is truly a magical place and apparently JetBlue Airways realizes this because they recently announced four new weekly non-stop flights to Liberia, in Costa Rica’s rich Guanacaste region; from its home base at New York’s JFK Airport. Liberia, on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, will be the airline’s second destination in the country. JetBlue has served Juan Santamaria International Airport in the capital, San Jose, with nonstop service from Orlando, since 2009. Named after the national tree of Costa Rica, Guanacaste is one of the country’s most popular vacation and ecotourism destinations thanks to nearly a dozen well-known biological reserves, national parks and wildlife refuges. Known as a haven for nature lovers and outdoor adventurers alike, stunning Pacific coastlines are plentiful in this northwestern province, as are the seemingly endless hours of summer sunlight.

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JetBlue five-hour flights between New York and Liberia will be operated with the airline’s fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft, featuring convenient, assigned seating; a first-checked bag free; complimentary and unlimited name brand snacks and drinks; comfy leather seats; more legroom than any other carrier in coach ; and its award-winning customer service.

Nestled between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, Costa Rica is located in Central America between Nicaragua and Panama. The country represents only .05 percent of the planet’s surface but shelters almost 5 percent of the world’s biodiversity and 3.5 percent of the world’s marine life. Costa Rica is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, four types of forest, 12 microclimates and more than 500 species of flora and fauna, with more than 26 percent of its territory comprising national parks and other protected areas, making the country one of the most popular sustainable tourism destinations in the world. To celebrate, the airline is also offering an inaugural fare of only $119 if booked by December 1, 2011 for travel through February 15, 2012. We look forward to welcoming JetBlue passengers into our country, where they can experience first-hand our rich culture, commitment to sustainability and the happiness that is unique to our country,” commented Costa Rica Minister of Tourism Allan Flores.

Integrated Solar Energy Powering Homes And Cars

Posted on November 21, 2011 by quest

Its exciting to see home builders, solar panel makers and electric vehicle companies coming together to find cost effective and clean energy solutions that people can use right now. With the just completed “Plug Into History” press event featuring the Nissan LEAF with a City Ventures home pre-wired for electric cars, the dream is now realized. Integrated with each residence, City Ventures homes feature solar power and energy-efficient design, bringing energy bills to near net zero. The coupling of high-tech solar home with advanced electric car completes the circuit, allowing low-cost, low-carbon, gasoline-free living. The City Ventures earth-friendly neighborhoods, comprising over 190 homes, represent the largest collection of new, solar, no-gas homes in the United States. They are currently under construction in the California cities of Signal Hill, Santa Barbara and Brea. Prices for these homes start in the high $200,000s.

Savvy home buyers are now seeking homes with solar panels and electric vehicle charging capability. So it comes as no surprise that KB Home, one of the nation’s premier home builders, has also just announced that it is significantly expanding its popular solar initiative by making solar power systems a standard feature of homes in nearly all of its communities across Southern California. Including the high-efficiency SunPower solar power systems – now available at 28 communities – with a new KB home can help KB homeowners reduce their monthly energy bills by as much as 80% and lower their cost of homeownership for years to come. Consumers who buy a Built to Order KB home get the value of a custom home-like experience plus the tremendous energy efficiency of our latest advanced building techniques.

Jeffrey Mezger, president and chief executive officer of KB Homes said, “The response to our solar initiative has been overwhelmingly positive and we are excited to expand our program so that many more homebuyers in Southern California can take advantage of this unique opportunity.”To illustrate the potential benefit of solar power systems and the many other energy-efficient features of its homes, KB Home provides consumers with its Energy Performance Guide, which shows an estimate of monthly energy costs for each home as designed. A new KB home is could to save a homeowner about $2,000 annually on energy costs. Even if you don’t buy a house that has been built “green” from the ground up and process of greening up an existing home can be very rewarding.

US Could Save $80 Billion With Renewable Energy

China on U.S. Solar Panels Complaint