As numerous articles on this very blog attest, we're growing increasingly frustrated with the longevity industry-based distortions claiming that bold measures to deal with global warming will result in financial disaster. To be sure, some of the dizzying spin being launched is so blatantly false as to be quickly discredited, and lawmakers and judges alike are increasingly knocking down broader claims. Still, while a lot of great positive statistics and effective debunkings are out there, the challenge of making a broader case that truly sticks has nevertheless loomed.
Enter Silicon Valley venture capitalist Noel Perry, who founded a non-partisan, non-profit group called Next 10 to regularly assess California's progress toward the twin goals of emissions reductions and growing a clean-energy economy. Stacy Feldman of SolveClimate.com runs down the highlights of the resulting California Green Innovation Index, while Mindy Lubber of the sustainable-investment coalition Ceres summarizes the impact (emphasis added):
With all the green talk today, the report gives something scientists and policy makers clamor for: Long term data. The Golden State began its energy efficient and green innovation efforts in the 1970s, far earlier than anywhere else in the country. That has allowed a rare glimpse into a reduced carbon future, and is sealing California's reputation as a leader in innovation...
As economists and policy makers debate climate change, the resistance is often accompanied by soundbites that the economy will suffer or the fixes are too expensive. But the California story turns this logic on its head....
Even the largest obstacle that the report discusses strikes us not only as a challenge worth meeting, but one that officials and planners in California and elsewhere are already working on:
Of course, the state still has some challenges. Californians may drive less per capita than any other state, but they still drive a heck of a lot. Given the population growth of the state, the report notes that the next wave of innovation must be larger, faster and more powerful than the last to drive greenhouse emissions below 1990 levels.
Sustainable growth planning will be critical for continuing California's long-term commitment to clean energy, and modeling the path that the nation as a whole will need to take. Public officials who latch onto this issue aren't merely finding a new way of promoting themselves as climate campaigners; rather, they're on the cutting edge of the kind of "green innovation" that we're seeing more and more is both necessary and profitable.
Concerning growing a green, clean, sustainable economy - check-out the latest green investing news at www.investingforthesoul.com
The site also offers a free e-newsletter.
Best wishes, Ron Robins
Posted by: Ron Robins | November 27, 2007 at 03:54 PM