US Stimulus Yields Jobs
In a refreshing breath of good news, the Obama administration announced that the government’s fiscal stimulus program has helped create or save almost 650,000 jobs. ”We’re moving in the right direction. We’re starting to make real progress on the road to recovery,” said Vice President Joe Biden. “Quite simply, the Recovery Act is performing as advertised.” While the final tally on where all the new and saved jobs are coming from won’t be available until tomorrow on Recovery.gov, it seems a safe bet to guess that a good number of new jobs are “green” jobs, aimed at helping to build a cleaner planet.
The Obama Administration also announced earlier this week that it is investing $3.4 billion to help fund the largest single energy grid modernization in U.S. history. This money will help to create tens of thousands of jobs across the country. These jobs include high wage, high skilled opportunities for smart meter manufacturing workers, engineers, electricians, IT system designers, cyber security specialists, data entry clerks, database administrators, analysts and more.
All this adds up to great news for the US economy and environment. Putting people back to work in a meaningful way was exactly what the stimulus set out to do, and making sure we get this program right will help drive the next wave of innovation to propel us into a cleaner, brighter future. We at Carbonetworks are proud to be a living, breathing example of a company that is growing fast – and every job we create is a green job.
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October 31st, 2009 by Michael Meehan - President & CEO
While EPA Hearings Continue, CNN Finds 60% of Those Polled Favor Cap-and-Trade
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its analysis of climate legislation currently under consideration in the Senate, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, and found no significant change in the estimated cost to American families, compared with legislation passed this summer by the House of Representatives. This news proceeded the legislative hearings this week on Capitol Hill, where senators will hear testimony from more than 50 witnesses over the course of three days.
Meanwhile, a poll released by CNN/Opinion Research Corp shows that 60% of respondents favor a cap-and-trade plan in which the federal government would limit the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) that companies could produce in factories or power plants. Thirty-seven percent oppose the proposal, which would charge companies that exceed emissions limits.
As the United States prepares for the Climate Conference in Copenhagen this December, where world leaders will discuss their progress on climate change legislation, it is exactly this kind of momentum that will help best position its leadership. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu was optimistic during the hearings, stating, “When we gear up our research and production of clean energy technologies, we can still surpass any other country.” The world is moving fast when it comes to clean energy technologies as we hear daily of developments in China, United Kingdom, India and on and on. We must seize on the momentum to move our world in a new direction when it comes to the possibilities these exciting technologies can bring.
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October 28th, 2009 by Michael Meehan - President & CEO
President Obama Voices Support for Immediate Climate Action
Today, President Obama gave a rousing energy-themed speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He made a powerful case for why energy leadership is so critical for America’s future, and voiced his support at a time when landmark legislation is being considered in the Senate:
“ From China to India, from Japan to Germany, nations everywhere are racing to develop new ways to producing and use energy. The nation that wins this competition will be the nation that leads the global economy. I am convinced of that. And I want America to be that nation. It’s that simple.”
At Carbonetworks, we commend the President for his vision. We’ve always believed the idea that innovation is the key to sustaining our leadership and finding new jobs for the next century. Along with climate change legislation comes the opportunity for the United States to develop new technologies and create thousands of jobs that conserve energy and use alternate energy sources. A Pew research study found that even prior to the federal economic stimulus package, green-collar job hiring increased at more than double the rate of conventional jobs.
More of President Obama’s speech can be viewed here.
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October 23rd, 2009 by Michael Meehan - President & CEO
Key Washington Leaders Show Support for Climate Change Bill
More progress on climate change legislation this week, as the senior Republican on the U.S. Senate energy panel, Senator Lisa Murkowski, said she would consider voting for a cap and trade climate change bill if it also contains a vigorous expansion of nuclear energy and domestic oil drilling. The full interview, broadcast Sunday on C-SPAN, included Murkowski saying, “count me as one of those who will keep my mind open as we move forward.” Full interview can be seen here.
Murkowski’s support is timely, as it comes on the heels of Murkowski’s fellow Senators Lindsey Graham (a Republican) and John Kerry (a Democrat) vowing to work together to advance legislation tackling global warming. Carbonetworks is a staunch supporter of this critical legislation, which in addition to a cap and trade provision, will reduce carbon emissions by 2050 and provide increased investment in alternative energies.
We applaud Senator Murkowski coming forward to share her views on this critical issue, and are enthusiastic about the growing support around climate change legislation. The bottom line is this bill is good for business and good for environment.
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October 19th, 2009 by Marketing
Message to Business: We Can Lead
Earlier this week, Carbonetworks had the privilege of gathering with over 100 other business leaders in Washington, DC to support climate change legislation. During the two-day event, our distinguished group met with top Obama Administration officials, Senate and House leaders, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, officials from EPA and others to make the case for action this year.
The legislation currently under consideration by Congress is critical, and includes provisions to reduce carbon emissions by 2050, a carbon cap and trade provision, increased investment in alternative energies, such as wind and solar, and increased investment in retrofits. Together with companies like Dow Chemical, Nike, Timberland and Starbucks, we made a powerful demonstration to the Obama administration and to Congress that sustainability and smart use of energy are not only good for the planet, but also good for business. We built Carbonetworks around this idea, and we hope that we embody the opportunity that energy technology offers to drive the American economy in the years ahead.
More information on the effort can be found at www.wecanlead.org. To view Carbonetworks CEO Michael Meehan discussing the issues of climate change legislation on ABC News’ “Ahead of the Curve”, play the video below.
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October 9th, 2009 by Marketing
Introducing Carbonetworks GHG Jumpstart
This week has witnessed a sea change in our field. On Tuesday, September 22, the EPA issued a mandate for greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting. For the first time, large emitters of heat-trapping emissions must collect GHG data under a new reporting system.
The EPA Rule affects suppliers of fossil fuels or industrial greenhouse gases; manufacturers of vehicles and engines; and facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more per year of GHG emissions. For comparison, this threshold is equivalent to the amount of GHG emissions from the annual energy use of 2,200 homes or 4,600 passenger vehicles. Enterprises and facilities in the affected categories will be required to submit annual reports to EPA. The gases covered by the rule include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and other fluorinated gases, including nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and hydrofluorinated ethers (HFE).
Participating enterprises and facilities must collect data beginning January 1, 2010 — that’s less than 100 days from now. The first annual report must be submitted to the EPA by March 31, 2011. This mandate affects nearly 10,000 facilities in the United States, representing approximately 85% of U.S. GHG emissions.
The EPA reporting mandate brings significant challenges: How to implement a systematic process that produces consistent, auditable, and accurate GHG information? How to effectively collect data from disparate systems in geographically dispersed facilities? How to assure your senior management that you meet EPA requirements with marginal risk and cost? The short timeline makes these challenges that much more difficult.
To help you address these challenges, we’ve created Carbonetworks™ GHG Jumpstart: software and services to consolidate and report GHG emissions data quickly, effectively, and economically. Our Carbonetworks™ Information Manager (CIM) product consolidates your GHG data for EPA reporting, and provides a scorecard for measuring EPA GHG compliance at the corporate, business unit, and facility levels. Our integration module, Carbonetworks Extensions, facilities interoperability with a variety of other systems, from spreadsheets to legacy EMIS/EHS, ERP and in-house software, ensuring that you can continue to leverage existing systems. CIM is a fully managed SaaS web application that requires no on-premise software, can be accessed via any modern web browser, and offers robust yet easy to use functionality. (Of course, we do much more than EPA compliance; click here to learn more about the Carbonetworks Performance Management Platform.)
So, what should you do to get started? Here’s a checklist:
- Familiarize yourself with the materials that the EPA has provided on the mandate, in particular their FAQ, fact sheet, and overview presentation.
- Review the EPA’s screening tool to better understand how your facilities are likely to be affected.
- If you think you’ll need to report emissions data to the EPA, register for a free 30 day trial of GHG JumpStart. To learn more, email epa.solutions@carbonetworks.com or call toll free (800) 571-0694.
With over a decade of experience and 6,000 sites implemented to date, Carbonetworks has helped hundreds of customers to manage their GHG data. Our global customers include some of the leading firms in oil & gas, utilities, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications, technology, financial services, and consumer products. We look forward to helping you meet the challenges posed by the new EPA GHG emissions reporting mandate.
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September 25th, 2009 by Michael Meehan - President & CEO