You can use their form to submit this opinion to your government, join their mailing list, or spread the word to friends. The video below is their recent ad!

As always California is ahead of the game when it comes to new ways to reduce their environmental impacts. The most recent legislative effort will ban the selling of black/dark cars by 2012. This unusual sounding proposal is based on the fact that cars’ environmental systems have to work noticeably harder to cool down in cars with higher radiation collecting properties. The movement is also calling for reflective coatings to be put on new cars that will allow for less solar radiation absorption and in turn less cooling (if you are MPG-aware then you already know how much cranking the AC on full-blast affects your gas economy).

The California Air Resources Board (CARB), has a PDF posted here that shows the results of their testing.

I subscribe to a few great sites like 1sky.org, climateproject.org and wecansolveit.org all of which make efforts to raise awareness through the almighty boob-tube which is all too often slathered with anti-environmental products and services. Some of the more recent ones have been rather popular and even one was directed by an academy award-winning pair of directors! Check them out after the jump.

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Why would you print an email? (why not forward it or save it?) Why would you edit digital images as printouts, then scan them then print them out again and repeat? (why not just edit them digitally) If you ask these sorts of question at your office then you’re under the age of 25 and haven’t been poisoned by the lazy, outdated, habits of the office jockeys of yesteryear.

If you are one of those folks who actually leave their computer on because they think it takes too much energy or time to boot it up then you might want to read this, and start thinking instead of following old examples.

If you are an older manager and wonder why your electrical bill is so much higher than it used to be then you may want to read this.

If you are now an enlightened non-generation-X office worker then you should continue to read my site to reduce your ignorance. For now you can read this or this, for some easy power management tips!

Don’t be an old-fogey, use your brain!

As if they weren’t bad enough… now they went and just up and gave up on the prospect of renewables. Slashdot has a few links in their breif reference article that are worth checking out.

I understand that they want to try to stay afloat, but aren’t businessmen supposed to be long term thinkers? Come on people, think past 20 years, will ya!

Climate scientist find that our situation is worse than we’d previously realized with nearly every advance in predictive warming models. So, why aren’t the media and government making it clear that the paths we plan are just not going to do the job fast enough to avoid more permanent damage? Over at 1Sky they realize this and have (for the first time) disagreed with Obama. His “reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020″ plan is far too little, and by then, far too late. The people with the money (oil companies), the agonizingly slow pace of mindless-bureaucracy, and the inevitable lack of foresight that comes with the “I ‘ll be gone by then” syndrome are the reasons which are slowing us down and will be the cause for the devastation our future generations will see. If you want to stand up against these fools, check out this 1Sky’s petition. Don’t just send the letter, spread the letter, spread the news and spread the sense of urgency!

Why hasn’t Obama strengthened his target? After all, he has made global warming a top priority and said his decisions will be grounded in science. A recent speech from Obama’s top climate negotiator provides the answer. Speaking about the 2020 target, the negotiator said: “At the same time we are being guided by the science and doing the math, we cannot forget that we are engaged in a political process and that politics … is the art of the possible.”

Any climate targets will have to pass Congress. President Obama is concerned there isn’t enough political support for the strong pollution reductions that are needed–that corporate lobbyists and Washington insiders are more likely to pay attention to policy details like a 2020 emission reduction than citizens and voters like us.

Let President Obama and congressional leaders know we’ll provide the grassroots support that will make stronger pollution reduction targets possible.

Let them know you care and you’re not ignorant of the danger that awaits!

A local solar business sends out enewsletters every month and on this month’s there is a brief mini-faq about how the new tax benefits and bailout will effect your solar investments.

Between the bank bailout and the stimulus package, it’s been hard to keep track of all the changes in renewable energy incentives. On top of that, it’s a good idea to involve your accountant or tax professional. On that note, here is my attempt at a summary of the changes. NOTE: Some of these changes happened with the bailout bill, others were part of the the stimulus package.

• Extended the 30% investment tax credit by 9 years
• Removed $2,000 cap on the 30% investment tax credit for residential solar electric systems (the tax credit can be spread over two years too)
• Removed the $2,000 cap on the 30% investment tax credit for solar hot water systems.
• Removed the $4,000 cap on the 30% wind income tax credit
• Non residential solar projects may be able to get a 30% DOE grant in lieu of the 30% investment tax credit.

If you live in the New England area or simply want to learn about some solar products and see their take on the industry go check out thier site at New England Breeze.

This long coveted price point may have been reached, but could this be the lower limit? Hopefully not, but even if it has, that is only for this type of metal based panel so don’t lose hope. Read the full article over at Popular Mechanics’ site.