Therefore, Greenpeace (and many other environmental
organizations) have begun working with these new powerhouse allies
in the fight to avert climate catastrophe. We expect it will bear a
lot of fruit.
The two quotes below demonstrate the sea change that has
occurred in the world of finance.
Can you guess who wrote the following
statements?
Quote 1:
An economic
revival for rural America.
Developing wind power is an
investment in rural America.
To witness the economic promise of
wind energy, look no further than Sweetwater, Texas.
Sweetwater was typical of many small
towns in middle-America. With a shortage of good jobs, the youth of
Sweetwater were leaving in search of greater opportunities. And the
town's population dropped from 12,000 to under 10,000.
When a large wind power facility was
built outside of town, Sweetwater experienced a revival. New
economic opportunity brought the town back to life and the
population has grown back up to 12,000.
In the Texas panhandle, just north of
Sweetwater, is the town of Pampa, where they are currently building
the largest wind farm in the world.
In addition to creating new
construction and maintenance jobs, thousands of Americans will be
employed to manufacture the turbines and blades. These are high
skill jobs that pay on a scale comparable to aerospace jobs.
Plus, wind turbines don't interfere
with farming and grazing, so they don't threaten food production or
existing local economies.
Know who said it?
Quote 2:
The Carbon
Principles
The Intent
We the undersigned financial
institutions have come together to advance a set of principles for
meeting energy needs in the United States (US) that balance cost,
reliability and greenhouse gas (GHG) concerns.
The Principles are:
Energy efficiency. An effective way to limit CO2 emissions is
to not produce them.
Renewable and low carbon distributed energy technologies.
Renewable energy and low carbon distributed energy technologies
hold considerable promise for meeting the electricity needs of the
US while also leveraging American technology and creating
jobs.
Conventional and advanced generation. In addition to cost
effective energy efficiency, renewables and low carbon distributed
generation, investments in conventional or advanced generating
facilities will be needed to supply reliable electric power to the
US market.
Know who said this one?
The Green Finance Initiative works at the intersection of
markets, policy, and business. Enough money has to be at stake so
that large and small corporations have the incentives to grow their
green businesses AT THE EXPENSE of their dirty business units.