“Reader suppose you were an idiot.
And suppose you were a member of Congress
(and/or Florida's leadership)
But I repeat myself."
–Mark Twain

Why isn’t Florida, The Sunshine State,
leading the world in solar and clean energy technologies?

The high cost of energy
By JOHN ALGER, New Smyrna Beach
April 27, 2010 12:05 AM
While the Legislature is winding up its session, it has been made clear that the state solar rebate program will very likely not be funded.

What a shame. We all know that the state is facing severe financial shortfalls and given a choice between keeping our teachers working or paying our rebates for solar systems, who would not vote for teachers, police and other necessary services. The tragedy is that there have been plans to shore up this program which helps to create jobs and put trades people like plumbers and electricians back to work. A public benefits fund has been proposed which would essentially add about $3 to each property-tax bill per year.

Yet, some of our representatives have promised to kill this idea or any other plan that adds any property-tax liability especially to the low-income families. The reality is that many of these families are already paying for that and more in the form of an increase approved by the Public Service Commission in 2007 which allows FPL and Progress to add $10.71 per month to each rate payer to finance new nuclear plants that may or may not ever get built. In fact, that cost is estimated to rise to $44.86 per month by 2016. That's every month.

In addition, there has been a move to classify nuclear as a clean energy source because it does not emit carbon dioxide. I am in favor of nuclear but I don't see how a fuel that has a waste product that is used to make nuclear weapons can be called a clean fuel. If the waste is clean, how about pouring some of it on these proponents front yards?

Gainesville's city utility implemented a feed-in tariff last year to promote renewable energy. They actually pay out 32 cents per kilowatt-hour for electrical generation and it is open to anyone with a rooftop or open land area. What is the cost to the rate payers to fund this program? About 90 cents per month, a figure that their rate payers felt was a bargain to proliferate this technology and create jobs.

I don't think that most people realize how much money is spent on conventional energy in the form of tax subsidies, clean up, and environmental degradation. We will never replace coal and nuclear in our lifetime however, for less than many are spending on the status quo, we can jump-start a new industry and make Florida the sunshine state that we claim to be.

We need a funded rebate program and a statewide feed-in tariff to make sure our solar industry gets traction. If not, we stand to fall behind not only in jobs creation, but the technology and development that has happened in California and of all places, New Jersey (second in the country for renewable implementation).

We have a shot to jump ahead of Georgia,
Alabama,
and the rest of the southeastern states
if we act aggressively now

“Rising Above the Gathering Storm."
OR

Solar Promise Being Broken
The Florida House
(under Marco Rubio)
continued to
just let Saudi have their way with us

Oil giant Saudi
to become solar power centre
- oil minister
In the last few years,
as the
Middle Eastern Gulf nations
have begun to worry
about the eventual need
to convert from an oil-based economy
to a knowledge-based economy,
they have started offering lavish inducements to
American universities
to bring their expertise
to the region.

Four energy technologies that could replace oil
Jim Motavalli Mon May 10, 2010 3:52 pm ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100510/sc_ygreen/fourenergytechnologiesthatcouldreplaceoil

Every time there's an energy-related disaster, it boosts the prospects for clean alternatives. Last month's devastating explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine killed 29, and got people wondering if all that ancient coal shouldn't just be left in the ground. And the spreading oil slick from the Deep Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico led to a flurry of Congressional bills banning offshore drilling, and rising public sentiment for cleaner alternatives.

The problem is that people's memories are short. Old arguments, such as coal is "native energy" or offshore oil offsets foreign imports, reassert themselves to reinforce the status quo. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's approval of the Cape Wind Project in Massachusetts April 28 could spur development of the dozen other offshore projects pending in the U.S. (and, indeed, also jumpstart other stalled energy projects).

Since it was first proposed in 2001, Cape Wind has been fighting determined opposition from Cape locals who don't want to look at spinning white turbines. The tremendous cost of fighting those well-funded special interests has given both developers and potential funders pause. But if Cape Wind now goes forward (the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound and its allies are filing lawsuits) it could be a green light for green energy.

Here's a progress report on four green energy technologies:

Solar Power Scales Up
"I think the future of solar is in all sizes, from the dinky cell powering your calculator to large utility-scale projects that need to be hooked up to utility lines," said Bob Noble, CEO of Envision Solar, whose company builds solar "groves" that also include electric car charging. The solar-powered calculators have been are on the market for decades, but utility-grade solar will take longer.

Many of the biggest projects are either in Europe or involve European companies. Abengoa Solar announced this week that it had started commercial operation near Seville, Spain of its 50-megawatt Solnova 1, which uses parabolic trough solar technology. The plant can power 25,700 homes, or offset 31,400 tons of carbon dioxide.
But Abenoga is also moving ahead with two large concentrating solar plants in the U.S., including Solana (in the desert outside Phoenix) and the Mojave Desert Project (California). Another Mojave project, backed by BrightSource and $160 million in investment, got a big boost in February when it received a conditional $1.4 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.

U.S. solar electric capacity is still relatively small-just over 2,000 megawatts, enough to power 350,000 homes. But revenue climbed 36% in 2009. Last year $1.4 billion in venture capital reached solar companies in the U.S. Total U.S. volume is $4 billion. The largest users in the U.S. are in California, including Pacific Gas & Electric (the most installed capacity) and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (the most solar watts per customer).
The key to parabolic technology as backed by Abenoga and BrightSource is mirrors, huge ones. Solnova 1 covers 280 acres. The mirrors concentrate solar radiation onto heat-absorbing pipes carrying a super-heated liquid. Heat transfer turns water to steam, and that steam powers a turbo-generator to create electricity.

Clean tech funder Vinod Khosla, in a briefing paper on utility-scale solar, recently called for stable U.S. and European government incentive schemes, and for the "formation of large-scale, low-cost capital to underwrite low-carbon energy projects" of $100 million to $1 billion. According to Khosla's paper, a 100-mile by 100-mile solar-equipped section of Nevada desert could meet the full electricity demand of the U.S., and one percent of the world's desert areas could meet global electricity demand as forecast for 2030.

Khosla predicted that the price of photovoltaic cells is dropping from $2 a watt today to $1 in the near future. Noble of Envision also points out that technical advances have made large-scale solar adoption more feasible. And there are frequent breakthroughs: An MIT group recently coated paper with solar cells, meaning you could put panels up with a staple gun.

The New Wave
Wave energy is still a technology awaiting widespread commercialization, though costs are coming down rapidly. According to a federal Department of the Interior study, results from the first commercial-scale projects that capture electricity from the restless movements of the ocean are encouraging. The report said that early facilities in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Massachusetts were able to generate electricity at nine to 11 cents per kilowatt-hour (after tax incentives). The report estimated that the total wave potential from U.S. coastlines to a depth of 60 meters is 2,100 terrawatt-hours annually.
The biggest problem is cost. "These facilities are very capital intensive," the report said, ranging from $4,000 to $15,000 per kilowatt. "Significant breakthroughs in capital cost would be needed to make this technology cost competitive." Ocean-based systems take a beating, especially since it's roughly true that the rougher the water the more energy they can produce.
But wave projects off Scotland could soon be commercialized on a massive scale. According to MIT's Technology Review, six wave and four tidal projects proposed for the Orkney Islands could produce 1.2 gigawatts. "This industry is about to grow up," said Martin McAdam, CEO of Edinburgh-based Aquamarine Power.

Talking Trash
Traditional trash-to-energy plants have a bad name in the U.S., mostly because they simply burn garbage and emit lots of chemicals out of their smokestacks. But a new type of plant that turns trash to electricity and heat is catching on in Europe, and its key feature is filters that capture mercury, dioxin and other toxins before they're emitted.

According to the New York Times, energy pioneer Denmark (a leader in wind power) has 29 clean trash-to-energy plants, and there are 400 in Europe (Germany and Holland are also leaders). "Their use has not only reduced [Denmark's] energy costs and reliance on oil and gas, but benefited the environment, diminishing the use of landfills and cutting carbon dioxide emissions," said the Times.

Unlike Europe, the U.S. has plenty of low-cost landfill space, and that combines with the low public opinion of the older technology to create a barrier to adoption of the cleaner approach. Higher upfront costs are also a barrier. Meanwhile, they're so accepted in Europe that they don't even affect property values.

Fresh Wind
Google Maps maintains an interactive map of the status of some of America's pending offshore wind projects. The developing trend is for turbine farms to be located much further out to sea than Cape Wind (which is five miles offshore). There are projects moving forward off the coasts of Rhode Island (Deepwater Wind, 100 turbines, 400 megawatts), New Jersey (Deepwater Wind/PSEG, 96 turbines, 345 megawatts), Delaware (Bluewater Wind, 60 turbines, 450 megawatts) and New York (Con Ed/Long Island Power Authority, size to be determined), among others, and according to the American Wind Energy Association they total a whopping 2,500 megawatts.

According to Barbara Hill, executive director of turbine-supporting Clean Power Now, "There are a number of offshore wind projects proposed up and down the East Coast, though none of them have yet filed the required applications to the Minerals Management Service. As Secretary Salazar said, Cape Wind is the first of many wind farms."

Clean Energy Fading in Florida
Solar industry sees widespread layoffs as state fund has dried up.

By ZAC ANDERSON
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Published: Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 9:36 p.m.

Despite all the attention Florida has gotten for its clean-energy efforts - including President Barack Obama's recent visit to a solar plant in Arcadia - many experts say the state's clean-energy market is on the verge of collapse.

Across Florida, solar companies are laying people off
because the state fund used to subsidize solar energy for the past four years
has dried up and nearly 8,000 solar rebate applications are on hold.
The fund faces an estimated $25 million backlog.

The Florida Legislature,
which convened its annual session last week,
appears unlikely to restore the fund this year,
and prospects for several other bills promoting alternative energy also look dim.

By not moving forward on alternative energy at a time when other states -
as well as nations such as China -
are making solar, wind and other alternative sources a priority,
one prominent state economist says
Solar Promise Being Broken
Florida is missing a crucial opportunity.
"It's a big risk when you aren't investing in the future of the state's economy,"
said Sean Snaith, an economist with the University of Central Florida Institute for Economic Competitiveness.

However, some legislators say renewable energy is a luxury when critical services such as education and health care might be cut. And they worry that many energy-reform ideas could raise rates for electricity customers at a time when budgets are strained.

"I think we need to have the debate on energy but the biggest issue is to balance the budget and there may not be money for things like rebates," said Rep. Ken Roberson, R-Port Charlotte.
The prevailing view in the Legislature contrasts sharply with that of President Obama,
who has made the push for clean energy a priority.
"The country that leads in clean energy and energy efficiency today,
I'm absolutely convinced, is going to lead the global economy tomorrow,"
the president told reporters Friday while touring a Virginia business.
"I want that country to be the United States of America."

Fund dries up
Alternative-energy proponents are so frustrated with Florida's leaders that they talk of bypassing the Legislature and seeking voter approval for a constitutional amendment to boost their cause.

"There is some thought that the only way we're going to get something in place is with a referendum,
and maybe that's the next step,"
said Mike Antheil with the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy.

Unless something is done in the short term, however, many solar-energy businesses could go under.
Begun in 2006, the solar rebates have been hugely popular. The state pays up to $20,000 for the cost of a home solar system and up to $100,000 for businesses.

The number of licensed solar contractors in Florida
swelled from 32 to 149 after the rebate program began.
This year, the $14.4 million rebate fund was drained in months.

Nearly 8,000 people have applied for rebates since June but cannot collect until the fund is replenished.
Florida Solar Energy Industry Association executive director Bruce Kershner said roughly $25 million will be needed just to clear the backlog of people seeking rebates, let alone to fund new solar systems.

Crist has proposed much less, just $10 million for solar rebates in his budget.
Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, said solar rebates may be a luxury the state can no longer afford.
"We can't subsidize forever,"
she said.

"Eventually you have to be cost effective.
We get all these companies that want the government to pay them to be a solar company.
That's not happening."

Some lawmakers are proposing alternative ideas to rebates like allowing homeowners to finance solar projects by increasing their property tax assessments.
That is little consolation to Sunbelt Solar Energy sales manager Peter Marron, whose company has sold just one solar system in recent months after selling more than a hundred in the previous three years.

"The work is just drying up and we're worried the state is moving backwards,"
he said.
"If something doesn't happen soon, it's probably going to kill the solar industry in Florida."
Dim prospects
The solar rebate fund is just a piece of a larger opportunity advocates see to take advantage of Florida's abundant sunshine and diversify the state's economy beyond tourism, real estate and agriculture.

And several bills in the current legislative session would do just that.
Detert, R-Venice, is sponsoring a bill that requires electric companies to generate 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020.

Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, has crafted an alternative-renewable energy bill that would allow electric companies to build 735 megawatts of renewable energy during the next three years, enough to power thousands of homes.
A third major piece of legislation, sponsored by Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, allows electric companies to tack on a renewable energy charge to customers' monthly bills. The money would go into a fund to pay for solar and other projects.
Altman, Detert and Bennett's bills are among a dozen pieces of alternative energy legislation already filed. Whether any of them will pass is already in doubt.

Gov. Charlie Crist, who in the first years of his tenure strongly promoted alternative energy,
is facing a conservative backlash in his run for U.S. Senate and is far less vocal in his support.

The obstacles are even bigger in the Florida House, traditionally more conservative than the Senate.
House members question the threat posed by global warming and warn that passing alternative energy reforms could put another burden on struggling businesses.

The biggest roadblock, however, could be the House's attempt to combine alternative energy with legislation opening Florida's coast line to oil drilling. The House tried to link the two last year late in the session, but the bill did not pass.
"It was kind of a Mexican standoff and I sure hope we don't have that again," Detert said.
"I still think we've got a real good shot because the No. 1 focus of this session is job creation and this does create jobs because it's a whole new industry."

Others are not so hopeful.
"You kind of get the sense with the governor leaving office,
they may be trying to move the clock back,"
said Susan Glickman, a lobbyist with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

We think:
Congress needs to renew incentives to promote alternative energy
Washington, D.C.

Florida

will play a key roll

in either passing

or killing

this energy bill.

H.R. 6 “CLEAN Energy Act of 2007”

A Vision for a Green Economy and Equitable Development

Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act
http://capwiz.com/y/issues/votes/?votenum=40&chamber=H&congress=1101
Vote Passed (264-163, 8 Not Voting)
This House bill is intended to encourage development of alternate sources of
energy.
We,
the residents of Volusia County ,
said no twice
isn’t that special:)
Rep. Tom Feeney ( East Deltona ) voted NO
Rep. John Mica ( West Deltona ) voted NO
IMAGINE THIS ON HOWLAND & I-4

H.R. 364
establishes an
Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E)
within the U.S. Department of Energy,
similar to the successful DARPA program within the Department of Defense.
With a lean and agile organization ARPA-E will assemble cross-disciplinary research teams focused on addressing the nation's most urgent energy needs
through high-risk research
and the rapid development of
transformational clean energy technologies.

By leveraging talent in all sectors - from private industry, to universities, to government labs - ARPA-E will foster a robust and cohesive community of energy researchers and technology developers in the U.S. This bill follows on the direct recommendations of the
National Academy of Sciences’ report

After a nine year career as an aide in the US Senate
and over 25 years as a registered renewable energy lobbyist,

I am still always amazed at the machinations and changes of course in the legislative arena.

This year just typifies the mercurial nature of the legislative process.

We all know,

that the tax incentives are what drives investment

into these portfolio of clean energy industries —

both to companies and projects.

Loss of the credits or even just a small extension could be devastating.

Anne Smith ,

a consultant hired by

the Florida Chamber of Commerce

thinks(?!?!)

The state doesn't have the capacity to produce renewable energy(?!!??),

Smith said, because it's too cloudy for solar power

It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble.
It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.
— Mark Twain
The sun shines 70% of the time in Florida gentlemen and Anne Smith,
imagine that someday we could LEAD the world
in solar instead of lagging behind,
until then……..

Cloudy Germany unlikely hotspot for solar power
By Erik Kirschbaum Sun Jul 29, 8:05 PM ET

BONN , Germany (Reuters) - It rains year round in Germany. Clouds cover the skies for about two-thirds of all daylight hours. Yet the country has managed to become the world's leading solar power generator.

Even though millions of Germans flee their damp, dark homeland for holidays in the Mediterranean sun, 55 percent of the world's photovoltaic (PV) power is generated on solar panels set up between the Baltic Sea and the Black Forest .

So far just 3 percent of Germany 's electricity comes from the sun, but the government wants to raise the share of renewables to 27 percent of all energy by 2020 from 13 percent.

It is a thriving industry with booming exports that has created tens of thousands of jobs in recent years, posting growth rates that surpassed the optimistic forecasts made by the fathers of a pioneering 2000 renewable energy law.

This law, known by the acronym EEG, has helped this cloudy, rainy country on the northern rim of central Europe become a solar giant.

"The EEG was the single most important vehicle to boost the solar energy market," Frank Asbeck, chairman of SolarWorld AG, told Reuters. The law, which offers cash incentives to people introducing renewable energy sources, was designed to help fight climate change and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

"There has also been an enormous interest for solar power from the public in general," added Asbeck, who in 1988 started his Bonn-based company making and marketing PV products. Its 1,350 staff have doubled in number in the last two years.

"Germans have a fondness for inventing and developing technologies -- especially when it might lead to big export rates. Helping fight climate change is a bonus," said Asbeck, who plans to nearly double the staff again within two years.

LEGIONS OF HOMEOWNERS

There are now more than 300,000 photovoltaic systems in Germany -- the energy law had planned for 100,000.

Spread out across the country, they are owned by legions of homeowners, farmers and small businesses who are capitalizing on the government-backed march into renewable energy.

By tapping the daylight for electricity -- which power companies are obliged to buy for 20 years at more than triple market prices -- they are at the vanguard of a grassroots movement in the fight against climate change.

"It's grown much faster than anyone thought it would," Juergen Trittin, the former Environment Minister who masterminded the scheme, told Reuters. He was mocked at the time for his claims it would create jobs and not hurt the economy.

There are now 250,000 jobs in Germany in the renewables energy sector. Asbeck expects the number of jobs in solar power alone to double to 90,000 over the next five years and hit 200,000 in 2020.

The law has also since served as a model for other countries including Spain , Portugal , Greece , France and Italy .

GUARANTEED PAYMENT

Germany 's photovoltaic systems generate about 3,000 megawatts of power -- 1,000 times more than in 1990.

Asbeck said political decisions in the 1990s made it easy and even lucrative for ordinary people to put the systems on their roofs.

At the heart of the scheme is a "feed-in tariff" giving anyone who generates power from solar PV, wind or hydro a guaranteed payment from the local power company. The power firms are obliged to buy solar electricity for 49 cents per kilowatt hour -- or nearly four times market rates.

This can work out at a better return than putting money in the bank. So despite the cloudy weather, the investment pays for itself within 10 years.

There are some critics of the solar power incentives who want the government to phase out the program faster than now planned. The lucrative feed-in-tariffs are, however, guaranteed for 20 years for all existing owners.

Gerhard Mueller-Westermeyer, a climate researcher at the German national weather service (DWD), said most of Germany is covered by clouds between five and six eighths of the time and there are only a handful of days each year with no clouds at all. Many German towns have annual sunshine of some 1,500 hours -- about half as much as in Spain .

"Obviously, there would be a better return on solar panels set up in sunnier places like Africa ," he said. "But the energy would have be transported and that's difficult. So it makes sense to build solar panels where people need them."

For analysis on carbon markets and climate change policy please join the online Reuters carbon community at http://www.reutersinteractive.com/carbon.
Electrifying Women
India’s “barefoot engineers” light up the world
The solar power initiative is run by the Barefoot College in Tilonia, a village in Rajasthan, India.
Founded by Indian activist Bunker Roy in 1972,
the college helps Indian villagers become self-sufficient and puts special emphasis on developing women's skills.

"Many have been inspired by women in nearby villages
who left for Tilonia with hope and returned grasping the power of light,"
reports Sathya Saran in an article for Ms. Magazine.
"Most of the women are unlettered, extremely poor and often widowed or abandoned.
But their eyes blaze with newfound confidence."

Rural women
from
India, Afghanistan, Ghana, and Syria
are trained at the college and then dispatched to train other village women
-- who in turn pass on their knowledge --
to construct and run
solar energy units.

These initiatives can enable the poor
to set up small income-generating businesses and
achieve autonomy and
independence in energy generation.

AFP/File – Solar cells.
Australia
fast-tracks
renewable energy funding
Australia
will bring forward millions of dollars in funding
for solar
and other renewable energy sources,
in part to help boost the economy,
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Sunday.(AFP/File/Barbara Sax)
"It's time for Australia
to begin the solar revolution,
a renewable energy revolution and
we have got to fund it for the future"
he told reporters in his home state of Queensland.
"It's good for jobs,
it's good for stimulus,
it's good for acting on climate change."
Rudd said the government's 500 million dollar
(329 million US)
renewable energy fund will now be spent over the next 18 months
rather than spread
over six years as previously planned.
Obama Keeps Options Over Offshore Drilling
He isn't chanting "drill, baby, drill," but President Obama
is quietly keeping his options open on offshore oil projects
Obama
has given mixed signals on offshore drilling.
While campaigning in Florida last June,
he vowed
to keep the drilling ban intact.

Mike Sole, Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, blasted the report.

Sole said it drastically inflated carbon costs, undervalued Florida's solar power and biomass capacity and failed to account for future price increases for fossil fuel.

"There seems to be somewhat a bias in the analysis," Sole said.

FYI

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot.

And suppose you were a member of Congress

(and/or the Florida Chamber of Commerce)

But I repeat myself.”

–Mark Twain

Someone needs to tell ANNE SMITH

and the "Good ole Boys" in

"her chamber":

The sun shines 70% of the time in Florida

and.........

"As we all know, Florida is one of the sunniest places in America,

but this is the sort of thing,

if they can prove it works(??!!??),

it can be done

in sunny places all over the world,"

Clinton said.

OH NOOOOooooo!!!

About a decade ago,

while "Mr. Bill",

aka former President Clinton.

was "BUSY"
entertaining young "star" struck interns with his "gun"

HE was allowing oil companies to

duck royalties due

on oil drilled on federal lands,

The week before Christmas in

OUR

Senate

"Unintended"

Loophole in Energy Bill

will cost the

Nation's solar industry plenty

but Senators want to keep it- intentionally this time

Lessons from The Political Process ( a good read)

One thing you learn in Washington, D.C., is that politics is never predictable.

The Interior Department is under fire for other problems in the royalty program as well.

It is struggling without much success to correct leasing mistakes

that could allow oil companies

to escape $10 billion in royalties

over the next decade or so.

''There's hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars out there,

and I don't think we should be scared of the oil companies,''

said Bobby L. Maxwell,

a former senior auditor who,

as a private citizen,

sued the Kerr-McGee Corporation,

claiming it

intentionally cheated

the

government

(READ YOU & I)

of royalties for oil and gas

it produced in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Interior Official Steps Down After Report of Rules Violation (May 2, 2007)
• Ex-Auditor Says He Was Told to Be Lax on Oil Fees (March 29, 2007)
• Report Says Interior Official Overrode Work of Scientists (March 29, 2007)
• Another Energy Inquiry On Royalties Collection (February 16, 2007)

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot.

And suppose you were a member of Congress

But I repeat myself.”

–Mark Twain

Follow Germany on renewable energy: Clinton

By Jeff Mason Fri Jan 11 ,2008 8:29 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton wants America to follow Germany's lead -- and her own -- in using environmentally friendly fuel sources and making homes and buildings more energy efficient.

The New York senator and former first lady has made fighting climate change and reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil a big issue in her campaign for the White House.

Investing in renewable energy technology, such as solar or wind power, is one way to achieve both goals.

"Take Germany," Clinton told supporters near Los Angeles on Friday. "They have put nearly 300,000 people to work in a much smaller economy installing solar panels."

She said the United States could create tens of thousands of "green-collar" jobs by doing the same thing, boosting the economy and protecting the environment at the same time.

"These renewable energy jobs are high-wage jobs that cannot be outsourced," she said to applause. "Other countries are ahead of us. But that doesn't mean anything because we can catch up in a hurry if we put our minds to it."

On Friday, Clinton proposed speeding up $5 billion in investments in energy efficiency and renewable technology as part of a plan to stimulate the U.S. economy and avoid a recession.

She said she and husband Bill, the former president, had taken measures to make their house less wasteful of energy.

"We had a whole energy audit done on our home," she said, adding the couple had switched to renewable power sources with their utility company and started to install thicker windows on their old farmhouse in New York state.

"We've now moved all of our lighting to compact florescent bulbs," she said.

Experts say people can slow global warming simply by switching to more energy-efficient light bulbs
Obama Keeps Options Over Offshore Drilling
He isn't chanting "drill, baby, drill," but President Obama
is quietly keeping his options open on offshore oil projects
Obama
has given mixed signals on offshore drilling.
While campaigning in Florida last June,
he vowed
to keep the drilling ban intact.
Statement of Edison Electric Institute President Tom Kuhn on
Senate Passage of Economic Stabilization and Energy/Extenders Tax Legislation
"The Senate bill extends the tax credits for wind and solar projects, appliance and building energy efficiency improvements, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
It also provides incentives for adoption of advanced metering technology and tax credits for certain carbon mitigation projects.
"Both the House and Senate have worked tirelessly to craft legislation to stabilize our economy and boost investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
Businesses and consumers are now counting on House lawmakers to pass this critical legislation as quickly as possible."
The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) (http://www.eei.org/) is the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric
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