California Sets Global Warming Score Going into effect as law at the start of next year for all 2009 model cars, the California Air Resources Board says this label will give consumers the information they need to choose a vehicle that “saves gas, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps fight smog all at once.” The board also hosts a Web site providing consumers with information on the cleanest, most efficient cars on the market. The new label law will force each car to display a global warming score, on a scale of one to 10, based on how vehicles in the same model year compare to one another. The higher the score, the cleaner the car is. Data for the scores is being provided by auto companies to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who is taking into account emissions related to production of fuel for each vehicle as well as the direct emissions from vehicles. The score will be displayed next to the already-required “smog score,” which also rates cars on a one to 10 basis for how many smog-forming emissions they emit. California is the first state to pass a global warming labeling law. New York follows close behind when a similar law comes into effect for 2010 model year vehicles. According to the Air Resources Board, Californians purchase around two million new vehicles each year. Renewable Energy Jobs Growing Worldwide Yet data is “incomplete due to the fact that researchers couldn’t look at traditional economic statistics to see the number of renewable jobs,” notes Michael Renner, researcher and author of the “Jobs in Renewable Energy Expanding,” report. Using available information, the Worldwatch study shows Germany had 259,000 renewables jobs, Spain had 89,000 direct and 99,000 indirect jobs, and the United States close to 200,000 direct and 246,000 indirect jobs in 2006. Rough estimates put close to a million people in China working in the renewables sector. Long-term outlooks put the number of wind energy jobs by 2030 globally at 2.1 million; solar energy jobs that same year at 6.3 million. As summarized by the report, leaders in renewables technologies can expect considerable job gains in the near future, particularly in manufacturing solar panels and wind turbines for both domestic and export markets. Green Investing Growing Investment firms Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini put total global investments in clean technologies in 2007 at $117 billion, which is up 41 percent from investments in 2005. Most of the investments are from wealthy private clients. As disclosed in the report, 12 percent of individuals with more than $1 million in financial assets, and 14 percent of individuals with at least $30 million (Ultra-HNWIs) in financial assets have invested in green technologies. Ultra-HNWIs Clean Technology Investments - Global Averages: Asia-Pacific: 14% Europe: 20% Latin America: 17% Middle East: 21% According to Greenbiz.com, at the same time the report was released, www.lynxstreet.com was launched. This site provides a forum where people can auction off their patents or concepts related to clean technologies to potential investors.
Soon it will mandatory in California for cars to be labeled with the following "global warming score":
Renewable energy accounts for the employment of 2.3 million people worldwide, according to a recent Worldwatch Institute study. Using available data, the study estimates there are 1 million biomass and biofuel jobs, 624,000 solar thermal jobs, 300,000 wind jobs and 170,000 solar photovoltaic jobs. These figures include jobs directly in the renewables sector and jobs indirectly related, such as suppliers who provide equipment.
According to the World Wealth Report 2008, "high-net-worth" individuals (HNTIs) around the world have boosted their investments in green technologies.
North America: 7%
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