BofA Leader Wants Government to Help , Ken Lewis, the CEO of the Bank of America, ranked 12 in the Fortune 500 and with about $1.3 trillion in assets, had a terrific op-ed in the "FT" today. In it he notes the critical importance of government's role in "working to build a new economic future based on clean, renewable energy." He says "our partners in public policy need to do more to help create a market environment in which sustainable energy alternatives are economically competitive." He specifically calls on Congress to renew and extend the renewable energy and efficiency tax credits. (See this from the blog.) He also calls for a cap-and-trade bill. Why renewables? Lewis's answer: "energy security, resource conservation, reduction of pollution and protection of natural habitats." Works for me!
Bank of America is also building the BofA Tower in midtown Manhattan. It is seeking the top US Green Building Council LEED certification, Platinum, as "one of the world's most environmentally responsible high-rise office buildings."
In April, BofA signed the Carbon Principles, "to evaluate and address carbon risks in the financing of electric power projects." In February, I noted that three of the world's biggest investment banks, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, and Citi, had, in creating the Carbon Principles, made an implicit admission of the riskiness of putting money into coal-fired plants.
Green Roofs , This story from Reuters' "Planet Ark" service caught my eye this morning: Mexico City Plants Lawns On Roofs To Fight Warming. Public buildings will have roofs planted and incentives will be given for privately owned buildings to do the same. It's all part of Mayor Marcelo Ebrard's five-year, $5.5 billion program to reduce GHG. I had a student do a great paper last fall on green roofs. There are any number of compelling reasons to go this way. See the exceedingly informative Greenroofs.com, "the international greenroof industry's resource and online information portal." This is a hot idea for a cooler planet.
You can also go to their "TV station" to see some great videos, like this one from Chicago.
Flash from the Past , Here's another video, not-a-little startling when you consider when it was made , 1958. When I was a kid, there were a great series of educational movies from Bell Labs. The man who took you through all sorts of various wonderful subjects was Dr. Frank Baxter. I particularly remember the one on blood and the circulatory system, "Hemo the Magnificent." What I didn't know then was that Dr. Baxter was an English Professor, not a scientist or an actor, and that some of these movies were done by the legendary Hollywood director, Frank Capra.
So, get this: It's 1958 and this sequence, part of a film on weather, "The Unchained Goddess," nails global warming on the head. Not incidentally, I saw this at the indispensable DeSmogBlog.
