Green solutions and green jobs are a hot topic in this country. Not only can the green industry make our planet healthier, but it can bring employment opportunities to repressed areas as well.
But the question remains how to turn this into a reality. Which is why California took the initiative and conducted a study on how to help Los Angeles County adjust to climate change and to help both the public and policymakers make educated decisions and preparations about it.
The Los Angeles Solar and Efficiency Report (LASER) is the brainchild of the Environmental Defense Fund and the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. Data that was collected includes information on current environmental health risks, temperature increases and areas susceptible to climate change.
Armed with this knowledge, communities can now pinpoint areas and projects in which to invest to increase renewable energy jobs and decrease electrical bills.
The research team used a data driven mapping tool to show the county’s renewable energy potential. Focusing on rooftop solar energy generation and energy efficient measures, the map details where the county is currently — and where it could be with a few simple adjustments.
Currently, Los Angeles County only uses two percent of its solar power potential. However, by increasing that number to just 10 percent, theoretically, the county could create 47,000 jobs and reduce their CO2 emissions by 2.5 million tons. Not bad, huh?
The report also focuses on providing solutions for vulnerable areas, which right now, numbers about 3.7 million people, or 38 percent of the country.
According to Colleen Callahan, the head researcher of the report and deputy director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, the report is being released at the perfect time. “The project is timely because with new state funding sources becoming available, LASER can help inform how the region invests resources to address pressing environmental challenges while providing job opportunities in its most impacted communities,” Callahan told EcoWatch.
And with the White House calling for states to become more environmentally aware, the LASER report is a leading example and has received praise from the administration for its work.
As it should, because of the information it gives to policymakers, helping them make smart investments. After all, doing something wise with greenbacks can grow some major green results.
MORE: 5 Inspiring Green Initiatives Moving America Towards a Bright Future
Tag: Environmental Defense Fund
Driving an E-Car: Not Good Just for the Planet’s Health, but Your Health, Too
If you want to improve your health, perhaps you should seriously think about investing in an electric car.
Sure, that might seem a bit extreme, but did you know that half of the toxic pollutants in the air are caused by petroleum-chugging motor vehicles?
We all know that electric cars are much better for the environment, and now we’re learning that they provide incredible public health benefits as well.
The Atlantic published findings from a recent report by the Environmental Defense Fund and the California chapter of the American Lung Association that analyzed California’s ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The report found that California’s cap-and-trade program (which has a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to levels of what they were back in 1990) and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) that requires petroleum-based fuels to reduce the carbon intensity by 10 percent by 2020 has already shown remarkable progress.
MORE: Why New Farm and Construction Equipment Will Improve Air Quality and Save Lives
“By 2025, the health benefits of the LCFS and [cap-and-trade] will save $8.3 billion in pollution-related health costs such as avoided hospital visits and lost work days,” the report said. “In addition, these policies will prevent 38,000 asthma attacks as well as 600 heart attacks, 880 premature deaths, and almost 75,000 lost work days — all caused by air pollution.”
Simply put: Electric cars = less air pollution = happy lungs = longer lives. Now, just imagine how the whole country would benefit if more people drove plug-ins.
ALSO: What the Demise of Car Ownership Means for the Planet
If you believe that you can’t afford a plug-in, think again. The heavy price tag of e-cars is actually a popular misconception. CleanTechnica does a good job of debunking that myth, listing several electric cars that actually cost less than the average new car, including the Nissan Leaf, Fiat 500e, and Ford Focus Electric.
With climate change showing no signs of abating, going electric sounds like something that physicians should start prescribing alongside healthy eating and exercise.
A Landmark Project Brings Water Back to the Colorado River
Visit the Colorado riverbed in northwest Mexico this spring, and you’ll see something that hasn’t been witnessed in the area for decades: Flowing water.
The Los Angeles Times reports that authorities recently opened the gates of the Morelos Dam that sits between the international boundary of Yuma, Ariz., and Los Algodones, Mexico, with the goal of pouring 105,000 acre-feet of water into the barren Mexican side of the delta for eight weeks.
Besides the welcome sight of water, there are even signs of wildlife such as hawks, egrets, ospreys and beavers, the newspaper reports.
MORE: Robert Redford and Will Ferrell Team Up to Save Colorado River
This thirst-quenching move has been described by the Associated Press as a “landmark agreement” between the United States and Mexico, who are putting aside their bickering over water rights in an effort to restore the wetlands and wildlife that once flourished south of the border.
Conservationists are hailing this project as a victory. “Never before have we deliberately sent water below the Morelos Dam … to benefit the environment,” Jennifer Pitt of the Environmental Defense Fund, who was involved with the flooding project, wrote on her blog, according to the AP. “By abandoning the old framework of ‘who gets what’ and establishing cooperative management of our shared resource, the U.S. and Mexico are achieving benefits for communities and nature alike.”
At a time when the water-pinched West is experiencing a devastating drought, this restoration project can’t come soon enough.
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