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Finally, Good News About Global Warming and the Economy |
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PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, Mar. 17 -/E-Wire/--
PITTSBURGH (March 15, 2008) – Amidst increasingly dire news about the economy and climate change, Architecture 2030 released good news that could help turn the US economic crisis around while dealing a much-needed blow to climate change. At the Good Jobs Green Jobs Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, Edward Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030, illustrated how a small investment of only $21.6 billion in the Building Sector would produce 216,000 permanent jobs and save 86.7 Million Metric Tons (MMT) of CO2 in a single year. This same amount invested each year for five years would net over one million permanent jobs and save 433.5 MMT. “Although difficult, the economic and global warming crises are the motivation we need as a nation to retool our thinking. If we’re smart enough to jump on this opportunity, we will not only solve global warming, we will set the US up for unprecedented economic success,” Mazria said.
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Mazria delivered his dinner keynote, ‘Life is Good’, to a packed room of leaders, representing local, state and federal policy makers, business, the environment and public health, investors, scientists and technology experts, economic and workforce development specialists and labor, which included the United Steelworkers and Sierra Club among others.
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According to Mazria, of the energy and climate change solutions proposed today, the one that costs the least and offers the greatest benefits to both the planet and the economy, is energy efficiency in buildings. Buildings are responsible for almost half (48%) of all energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the US annually. With an investment of just $21.6 billion, building energy efficiency would replace 22.3 conventional coal-fired power plants, reduce CO2 emissions by 86.7 MMT, save 204 billion cu. ft. of natural gas and 10.7 million barrels of oil, save consumers $8.46 billion in energy bills and create 216,000 new jobs. As Mazria explained, because building is a local activity (construction jobs cannot be outsourced), the money invested in the Building Sector cycles through local economies several times, bolstering the entire US economy.
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Neither ‘clean’ coal plants (with carbon capture and sequestration) nor nuclear plants can compete with the clean energy, cheap price, widespread economic benefits and job creation of building energy efficiency. Investing the same money in either ‘clean’ coal plants or nuclear plants costs significantly more (rather than saving consumers money), replaces far fewer conventional coal plants, reduces CO2 by far less and would create no new jobs, since the jobs at these new plants would be replacing existing ‘conventional’ coal plant jobs.
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To bring the energy use of the Building Sector under control, Architecture 2030 issued the 2030 Challenge in January 2006. The 2030 Challenge calls for all new buildings and major renovations to reduce their fossil- fuel GHG-emitting energy consumption by 50% by 2010, and incrementally increasing the reductions every five years so that all new buildings are ‘carbon neutral’ by 2030.
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Based on this information, and the momentum of the 2030 Challenge, Mazria has developed the ‘2030 Blueprint’, a roadmap for turning the global warming and economic crises into an historic opportunity. The 2030 Blueprint calls for the US to i) implement an immediate moratorium on conventional coal plants, and gradually phase out all existing plants, ii) require that all developments using federal funds meet the 2030 Challenge, iii) upgrade the National Energy Conservation Code Standard to the 2030 Challenge and iv) invest $21.6 billion each year for five years in building energy efficiency to stimulate building construction, reduce Building Sector energy consumption by 5 QBtu’s, reduce US CO2 emissions by 433.5 MMT CO2 and create over one million new jobs.
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To kick off the 2030 Blueprint, Mazria called on all groups in the audience to support their new BYOBlue campaign. The campaign is calling on everyone to wear blue for Earth Day 2008 (April 22nd) to signify a vote for ‘No Coal.’ “We need to show our leaders there are significant numbers behind a moratorium on the construction of any new ‘conventional’ coal fired power plants in the US and around the world.” said Mazria.
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About Architecture 2030:
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Architecture 2030 is a non-profit organization working to achieve a dramatic reduction in the global-warming-causing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of buildings by changing the way they are designed and constructed.
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Contact Info:
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For more information, contact:
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Kristina Kershner
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Director: Architecture 2030
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Telephone: 505 930 7799
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Email:Kershner@architecture2030.org
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Web site: www.architecture2030.org
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Website : Architecture 2030
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/SOURCE:
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Architecture 2030 |
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03-17-2008 |
/CONTACT:
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For more information, contact:
Kristina Kershner
Director: Architecture 2030
Telephone: 505 930 7799
Email:Kershner@architecture2030.org
Web site: www.architecture2030.org |
| /WEB SITE: |
http://www.architecture2030.org
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