Hope For A Greener Future

Here in New York this week, it is a mishmosh of traffic, random mystery motorcades, amazing talks and panels, and more traffic.  It's like this every September during the week of the summit of world leaders at the United Nations.  President Obama certainly has a lot on his plate.  Near the top is the ongoing negotiations on climate change.  This morning, Secretary Ban Ki-moon (who wrote an eloquent op-ed in the NY Times last Thursday), is convening a meeting with over 100 heads of state to specifically discuss the issue of climate, with Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao addressing the group.

There is tremendous pressure on both developed and developing countries to reach a deal at the upcoming Copenhagen summit.  Pressure not only derived from the noble desire to protect our environment, but also growing pressure from investors and businesses within the green industry.  Here's hoping that we can finally reach some sort of consensus in the upcoming months.  To keep that hopeful vibe going, here are a few articles that demonstrate how varied and effective green technologies can be.

The first one looks at Germany's massive expansion of their offshore wind farm program.  The next - about the upcoming construction in New York of a spinning flywheel, of which a single 20 megawatt plant will have the equivalent carbon emissions reduction impact of planting 660,000 trees. More offshore wind farms in Denmark, and finally, an article arguing that China is far surpassing the US at the moment in pioneering clean energy solutions.