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Greetings!
This year will be critical for locking in the gains California has made in building a clean energy future while increasing the visibility and voice of business leaders who support important state policies.
Just last week I was reminded about the need for continuing to educate Sacramento policymakers, the media and the public at large about the significant business benefits of fully implementing AB 32, California's landmark clean energy law, when Capitol Weekly invited me to submit an op-ed on the topic of who is working to derail AB 32 and related policies.
For those of you interested in recent news and opinion editorials that the Business Alliance has spearheaded, you can read a sampling of op-eds here. You can also read past issues of the eNews here. If you'd like to see your business' commitment to clean energy highlighted in a future newsletter or on our website, please send an email to greenbizalliance@gmail.com.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support of and membership in the Business Alliance.
~Susan Frank
Director, California Business Alliance for a Green Economy |
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*In The News
In this Capitol Weekly op-ed, Business Alliance Director Susan Frank argues, "California businesses  and the public at large are beginning to reap the substantial rewards of our state's landmark clean air and energy policies. Unfortunately, this progress is in significant jeopardy thanks to the oil industry and other dirty energy companies that continue to do everything possible to undermine these laws." *Chevron and its allies take aim at California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard
The San Jose Mercury News reports that " Chevron is leading an aggressive campaign to delay implementation of California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard, a cornerstone of the state's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The fuel standard requires the oil industry to gradually reduce the "carbon intensity" of transportation fuels like diesel and gasoline by at least 10 percent by 2020. Chevron and its allies, including the Western States Petroleum Association, are trying to undermine the standard by rallying opposition, financing critical studies and lobbying the Democratic-controlled Legislature, state agencies and Gov. Jerry Brown." |
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*Obama Talks Climate Change. California Is Acting on It  Time Magazine profiled California's cap and trade program saying, "that means that the most populous state in the U.S. and the ninth biggest economy in the world has legally committed itself to reducing its carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020." *California To Invest $2.5 Billion To Retrofit
Energy-Wasting Schools  Forbes reported on the $2.5 billion investment to retrofit energy-wasting schools in California thanks to the passage of Prop 39 in November 2012. "The revenue offers California the opportunity to make smart investments that should provide the state's chronically underfunded schools a hedge against the next economic downturn."
*Victory! LA City Council OKs Feed-In Tariff Business Alliance member Jim Jenal, who founded Run on Sun in Pasadena, testifed at Los Angeles City Hall in favor of the passage of the new LA DWP 100MW Feed-in Tariff program. He observed that "a number of councilmembers demonstrated both an understanding of the issues and a powerful commitment to the benefits of rooftop solar in the LA basin...councilmember Paul Koretz said, 'LA is famous for its smog. It is time that it became famous for its solar!'" *California Hits Renewable Energy Milestone The San Jose Mercury News reported that, "California has hit a major milestone in renewable energy: state regulators reported Thursday that more than 1 gigawatt -- or 1,000 megawatts -- of solar power has been installed through the California Solar Initiative, which encourages homeowners, businesses, local governments and nonprofit organizations to install solar panels on their roofs. One megawatt is enough to power 750 to 1,000 homes."
*California and Texas Led the Way in Creating Three Million Jobs in 2012
The Denver Post reported that, "a jobs index created by the  Ecotech Institute found that there were 3 million clean job postings in 2012, with the top five states for clean job creation being, in order, California, Texas, New York, Illinois, and Michigan. The index defined these jobs as ones that provide goods or services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources, or jobs that involve making production processes more environmentally friendly, including those jobs that help processes use fewer natural resources." Additionally, the report listed California as one of the top five states for renewable energy and efficiency state incentives. |
Business Alliance Blog
 Our blog features updates from Director, Susan Frank, and other members. We invite |
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Featured Event
Navigating the American Carbon World (NACW) is the largest and most comprehensive gathering for information, discussion and networking in the carbon landscape. NACW 2013 will take an in-depth look at California's cap and trade program, market structure, litigation threats, program oversight, international market activities, U.S. federal activity, complementary programs to cap-and-trade and offsets and offset supply. And, NACW will provide a platform for discussing innovative environmental initiatives, community benefits from environmental programs and business leadership. The event takes place April 16-18 in San Francisco and is hosted by the Climate Action Reserve, the most experienced, trusted and efficient offset registry to serve the carbon market. Register now at www.nacw2013.com. |
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Featured Activity
Prop 39 and Orange County
A Lunch Conversation with Kevin de León
With the recent passage of Proposition 39, many are now asking how the State of California will allocate the funds generated by the measure. Senator Kevin de León, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a lead advocate for Prop 39, will be joined by Aaron Klemm, Energy Manager for the City of Huntington Beach, and Joe Dixon, Assistant Superintendent for Facilities for Santa Ana Unified School District, to share the municipal and school district perspectives on Prop 39 implementation.
Analysts anticipate that up to $550 million dollars will be available annually through 2018 for energy efficiency retrofits and renewable energy generation projects for schools, universities, and other public facilities. These funds may also be appropriated to assist municipalities in establishing PACE programs, in-depth technical assistance for solar power purchase agreements, and workforce development training.
Click here to register. |
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Member Highlight
Tom Bowman,
Bowman Design Group,
& Founding Member
of the Business Alliance
The importance of "stretch goals"
Tom Bowman of Bowman Design Group, spoke to attendees at the Sustainable Napa County's Policymakers Summit on January 17, in Napa, California. His remarks focused on how to engage community stakeholders in effective climate responses, and he also challenged those in attendance to make progress on sustainability by setting "stretch goals" - goals that literally seem impossible at the outset but that are in fact, achievable. In contrast to small-step goals, which allow people to procrastinate and tinker around the edges, stretch goals force people to re-examine everything they do, who they do it with, and how the company or organization goes about its work in fundamental ways.
 Stretch goals worked for Tom's company, Bowman Design Group, and they've worked for eco-leaders in the business world. Tom illustrated how well stretch goals worked for one of the forum participants - Sonoma County Water Agency - which decided to go carbon-neutral by 2015 and has already achieved a 97% reduction since 2006. Tom challenged the policymakers at the summit - who represented Napa County and several of its cities including American Valley, Napa, St. Helena, and Calistoga - with a question: do you have a shared goal? Is it a big stretch goal? He also urged policymakers to engage local small businesses in their communities, and involve them in efforts to reach their goals, as a way to help build support and encourage "peer pressure." In reflecting on the event, Jeri Gill, CEO of Sustainable Napa County (and a new Business Alliance member), said that Tom "provided just the right amount of inspiration and big picture information along with practicality and ideas for action. Whether Tom was talking about setting big audacious goals or providing real-world examples for other business people to follow, he pushed us all toward greater achievements in sustainability." |
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Alliance Member Profile
SMALL BUSINESS CALIFORNIA
Small Business California (SB-Cal) is a proactive, non-partisan business advocacy organization whose only agenda is the well-being of California small businesses. SB-Cal knows that small businesses are the backbone of California's economy, providing flexibility and quick responses to social and economic changes. Small businesses also create a pool of entrepreneurial experimentation from which successful firms emerge and provide economic opportunity for women and minorities.
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by Jennifer Jamall, Communications Director,
Smart City San Diego unveiled its Solar-to-EV Project at the San Diego Zoo - a 90-kilowatt solar photovoltaic canopy that directly charges electric vehicles (EVs) in the Zoo parking lot.
The nation's first of its kind, the Solar-to-EV Project harnesses energy from the sun to directly charge plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), stores solar power for future use and provides renewable energy to the electrical grid. The project features 10 solar canopies producing 90 kilowatts (kW) of electricity - enough energy at peak capacity to power 59 homes - as well as five EV charging stations, with one station located in a nearby ADA-accessible parking space.
The clean energy produced by the Solar-to-EV project is equivalent to removing 189,216 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually, or the same as planting 2,788 trees annually.
Located in the heart of San Diego's world-renowned Balboa Park, the Zoo is visited by more than 3.5 million people each year. Installing the Solar-to-EV project at the Zoo is an important opportunity for Smart City San Diego to showcase the region's commitment to clean energy for visitors from across the globe.
Watch a video about the Solar-to-EV Project here.
Read the full blogpost here. |
Best,
Susan Frank
Director, California Business Alliance for a Green Economy
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| Upcoming Events
- Feb. 5-7: Wind Power Finance and Investment Summit 2013 (San Diego)
-Feb. 6-7: 9th Annual Cleantech Investor Summit
(Palm Springs)
-Feb. 8: Prop 39 and Orange County: A Conversation with Clean Tech OC (Santa Ana)
- Feb. 13-15: Solar Power-Gen 2013 (San Diego)
- Feb. 21: CalCAN 2013
Farming for the Future: California Climate & Agriculture Summit (Davis)
- Feb. 26: What A Mayor Can Do To Green A City (Los Angeles)
- March 7-8: This Way to Sustainability Conference VIII (Chico)
- March 8: Cool Roof Workshop hosted by ClimateResolve (Los Angeles)
- March 18-20: Cleantech Forum 2013 (San Francisco)
- April 16: Pathways to 100% Renewable Energy (San Francisco)
- April 16-18: (NACW) Navigating the American Carbon World (San Francisco)
- April 18-19: Greening by Example (Sacramento)
- April 19: LABC Sustainability Summit (Los Angeles)
- April 26: Sustainable Enterprise Conference
(Rohnert Park)
- April 29 - May 1: Brainstorm Green hosted by Fortune (Laguna Niguel)
- May 1-2: Ceres Conference 2013 (San Francisco)
- May 3: Energy and Sustainability Summit hosted by SVLG (Redwood City)
- June 3-6: Sustainable Brands '13 (San Diego)
- July 9-11: Intersolar North America (San Francisco)
-Oct. 3-4: California Women's Conference (Long Beach)
-Oct. 28-30: Advanced Biofuels Markets: The race for scale (San Francisco)
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Send Us Your Event Notices
If you have events to submit for a calendar listing, email the name of the event, date, location and a brief description to greenbizalliance@gmail.com.
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eNews and Sign-Up
for Future Issues
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Help Grow the Alliance
The Alliance is made up of more than 1,250 mostly small and mainstream businesses and associations from around the state. Help spread the word and grow our numbers! |
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