Solutions in Progress

	Energy efficiency, good for us and for our climate

Energy giants back program to cap and trade emissions. 1/18/08 Houston Chronicle.

What is cap & trade? Slideshow by Terry Moore of Austin Sierra Club.

Exxon cuts off funding for climate skeptics. Says we should start carbon limits with electricity not gasoline. Wall Street Journal 1/11/07

City of Houston joins Cities for Climate Protection. Sugar Land signs Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement. Report by CLEAN. More

"Focusing on energy efficiency will do more than protect Earth's climate; it will make businesses and consumers richer" Amory Lovins, Scientific American More

Cutting CO2 is good for business Two studies commissioned by Republican California Governor say his planned cuts in carbon dioxide emissions will be good for the state’s economy. More

US Army - "Our best options for meeting future energy requirements are energy efficiency and renewable sources." More

Houston - Former Secretary of State, James Baker called for the United States to get serious about global warming in a speech to Houston Forum in March 2005. More

Houston Chronicle editors - 12/13/05 “The longer the United States waits to join the rest of the world and act decisively to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the more likely our children will face a future where deluge, droughts and rising oceans will be the norm rather than the exception.” More

Cheap oil is becoming a part of history.

In Houston in fall of 2007, ASPO-USA will host the World Peak Oil Conference with help from Houston Peak Oil Progressives.

Texas now imports more oil than it produces.  Texas production peaked in 1972 and, even though drilling went up, it declined 30% in ten years.  Natural gas prices are going up because US natural gas is in decline. "The era of plentiful, low-cost fossil fuels is approaching an end." said Hirsh, hired by US Department of Energy to study this issue. More.

"Peak oil theory states: that any finite resource, (including oil), will have a beginning, middle, and an end of production, and at some point it will reach a level of maximum output ..." More

Houston energy investment banker, Matthew Simmons passionately warns the world to prepare now for peak oil.

"Energy efficiency is the least expensive, most readily available, and environmentally friendly way to stretch our current energy supplies." US Army internal report, Sept 2005.

Energy efficiency is the cheapest, cleanest, fastest way to address our energy challenges and also protects the climate.

Texas has abundant wind power resources.   West Texas wind farms produce electricity at the competitive rate of 5 cents per kilowatt hour. More More

Electrification of transportation is a practical response to peak oil.

Folks Pledge to Protect the Climate
Since January 10, 2007, 358 cities have signed the Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement  including Sugar Land, New Orleans, Dallas, Laredo, and Austin.

Evangelical Christian Leaders pledged climate protection

Insurance Companies find it increasingly difficult to predict risks in a destabilizing climate. It threatens the survival of the industry. So two of the largest re-insurance companies, Munich Re and Swiss Re, have joined with other industry groups, California, London, Austin Energy, etc. in the Climate Group to encourage leadership on climate change. More

Sierra Club voted global warming and energy as their priority issue.

Nations focus on energy efficiency and clean energy.
China has made renewable energy and efficiency a national priority.  Worldwatch warns they are taking the lead on the new growth market, energy efficiency.  More

In the Kyoto Protocol, international cooperation on the climate becomes legally binding.