In last week’s State of the Union address, Obama challenged America to embrace a "Sputnik Moment":
So tonight, I challenge you to join me in setting a new goal: by 2035, 80% of America’s electricity will come from clean energy sources. Some folks want wind and
In the latest installment of green energy finance, I will address government incentives and other programs. I will also highlight some factors that may make green incentives go from rare bird to endangered species.
As always, I am not a finance professional, and the goal of these posts is simply to give a high-level overview of government
Because of the enormous popularity of last week’s post on green project finance–Let’s Make A Deal–Top 10 Rules Of Green Project Finance–I have decided to do a series on the various aspects of green project finance.
Today we will discuss alternative financing mechanisms for green projects. Over the
The first step to any green building or renewable energy project of any size is finding the financing to make it possible. Since the bottom fell out of the economy, finding investors and financial institutions willing to finance building projects of any sort has been close to impossible. Real estate finance prognosticators, however, indicate that
When the clocked struck 12:01 on New Year’s, two important green regulations went into effect that may have a long term influence on green building and renewable energy. If successful, either of these regulations would do more to change the green industry than any legal challenge to LEED’s legitimacy (see the continued coverage of the Gifford v. USGBC case
Although most of you are probably in St. Martin enjoying fruity cocktails on the beach, we here at GBLB are hard at work. So take a break from your mai-tai to read about a very interesting appellate decision out of California on weighing the relative priorities of green development. The case, brought to our attention by a loyal
Ahhh holiday time, when the sound of the clerk’s stamp on green litigation rings merrily in my ears. On December 9, 2010, the Builders’ Association of the Twin Cities (BATC) sued Minnesota Green Star (GreenStar). The Complaint and Motion for a temporary restraining order is available here.
One of my loyal readers was kind enough to bring to my attention a troubling article from the Washington Post in which a man who had earned 9 green certifications and sent out hundreds of resumes still has yet to receive a single job offer.
In September, I spoke at a Woodrow Wilson Foundation event on green jobs for women.
The General Services Administration is one of the largest owners of real estate in the country, composed primarily of office buildings and courthouses, land ports of entry, and warehouses. The GSA owns and leases more than 354 million square feet of space in 8,600 buildings across the nation.
The GSA is also the owner of one of the greenest real estate porfolios. As of the
I have curly hair. More heat and humidity = bad hair days. Thus, from a purely personal perspective, climate change-caused increases in temperature and intensity of storms will be, for me, a nuisance.
Apparently, my perspective on this does not count as much as that of the Supreme
I have been tracking the green stimulus spending since June 2009. In November 2009, actual dollars spent on green projects was $1.5 billion. Now, in November 2010, dollars actually paid to date on green projects is approximately $11 billion. It amounts to approximately 7% of contract spending from the Stimulus bill
Last week I attended GreenBuild in Chicago, and spoke on a panel with my fellow green law bloggers about the future of green building law and policy. We are planning a joint follow-up post on our predictions with Lloyd Alter at Treehugger which will come out in the next few days. But there were many other highlights of the conference:
Yesterday the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a pilot program to finance $25 million in home efficiency upgrade loans: Backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), these new FHA PowerSaver loans will offer homeowners up to $25,000 to make
My two and a half year old daughter likes conversations about pee. She is not the only one in my life, apparently. To my infinite surprise, one of the top rated posts on GBLB over the past year was the one I did in February on waterless urinal problems.