L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled a long-range plan to have solar power meet one-tenth of L.A.'s energy needs by 2020 and make L.A. the hub of the solar energy industry.  The plan calls for solar energy to produce 1,280 megawatts of power, through a combination of private and public generating facilities and the installation of solar panels on homes.

The three Bay Area mayors, Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, Chuck Reed of San Jose and Ron Dellums of Oakland, announced a policy plan to transform the Bay Area into the Electric Vehicle (EV) Capital of the U.S.  The three Mayors said that they would work with the region’s cities, counties, regional governmental organizations as well as with private sector partners to plan and implement the region’s economic and environmental future around electric transportation.

On Friday, the Institute for Washington's Future and the Sno/Sky Agricultural Alliance, a farming group that promotes cultivation of biofuel crops, each received a ceremonial check from the USDA Rural Development division for grants that are helping to build a forward-thinking biofuel infrastructure in Snohomish and northern King counties.  

A group of local Snohomish County organizations, working together as the nonprofit, Qualco Energy Corp., has developed a biomass digester, designed to consume waste from local dairy cows, prevent runoff into local streams and provide electric power to local utilities.  The plant has been built south of Monroe in the Tualco Valley between the Skykomish and Snoqualmie River floodplains.  The digester is processing manure from 1600 cows from three local dairy farms. 

Al Gore is asking us to go for 100% clean electricity within a decade.  That would mean using no coal.  Currently, 50% of US electricity comes from coal.  So, were we to eliminate coal from the energy equation, we'd have a bit of work to do as a nation (not counting fighting those who would benefit from staying with coal). 

A. Siegel, commenter at Firedoglake and a founder of "Energize America", has a plan to get us to a coal-free electrical system by 2030 - and improve the economy at the same time.  In fact, he takes us over the goal line with room to spare, using what he calls the portfolio approach.  Here's the outline of the plan with the strategy and the amount of current electricity usage it would address:

California's energy-efficient policies have generated 1.5 million jobs since 1977, according to a study released this week - and those weren't even "green jobs".  The study, conducted by David Roland-Holst, an economist at the Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Sustainability at UC - Berkeley, found that when consumers are able to reduce the amount they spend on energy, they spend more on groceries, appliances, consumer goods, etc.  It's not rocket science but it's good to have the validation. 

An article in the New York Times reports on the study and its unique focus.  Typically, economists focus on the costs and benefits of dealing with the carbon dioxide sloughed off by the fossil-fuel economy or the cost of converting over to new energy industries.  The UC - Berkeley study adds in another dimension.