GreenMark Public Relations®, Inc.

At the U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen on Dec. 9, President Obama will pledge that the U.S. will cut greenhouse-gas emissions 17% from 2005 levels by 2020 and 83% by 2050. We strongly support these goals. Critics will quickly jump to defend coal-mining and oil-drilling, but fail to recognize the green jobs that will be created by these measures - from the manufacturers to the analysts. Coal and oil are still resources that will be used. They will not simply disappear. Ironically, they will disappear if we keep doing what we’re doing now. There’s not a magical endless ocean of oil beneath our feet, you know. Those who don’t want to consider environmental reasons should consider economic reasons. Coal is profitable now, but will it be 50 years from now? What happens when it runs out? How many jobs would be lost then?

Let’s also not forget that Obama’s goals aren’t much different than the road-map we are currently on in the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, which aims on a state level to lower energy demand across the country by 50%, achieve more than $500 billion in net savings over the next 20 years, and reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 90 million vehicles.

We applaud the leaders of the world for coming together to discuss reducing emissions and we hope talk turns to action carefully, but swiftly. We especially thank President Obama for not backing out of this conference as his predecessors have done (Kyoto Protocol).

According to the Copenhagen Climate Council web site, in order to set a firm foundation for a sustainable economic future it is imperative that the following six steps are implemented:

1. Agreement on a science-based greenhouse gas stabilization path with 2020 and 2050 emissions reduction targets that will achieve it;
2. Effective measurement, reporting and verification of emissions performance by business;
3. Incentives for a dramatic increase in financing low emissions technologies;
4. Deployment of existing low-emissions technologies and the development of new ones;
5. Funds to make communities more resilient and able to adapt to the effects of climate change, and
6. Means to finance forest protection.

Read more about Obama’s pledge and some of the pledges from other nations on the article published by the Wall Street Journal, here.

Learn more about the upcoming event and get more points of view at the Copenhagen Climate Council web site, here.

Does replacing the light bulbs in your house with more energy-efficient bulbs really make a difference?

According to Brian F. Keane, President of SmartPower, “Seven percent of all energy consumed in the nation is a result of our lighting needs, and 40 percent is consumed by residential and commercial buildings.” Recently, President Obama has announced a plan to make major changes in energy conservation for household and commercial lighting, with a commitment to spend $346 million on building efficiency efforts. This amount of money is small change when taking into consideration the $4 billion in annual savings. The president’s lighting order will avoid the emission of up to 594 million tons of CO2 from 2012 through 2042 (equal to removing 166 million cars from the road each year). It will also save enough electricity to power every home in America for up to ten months.

With initiatives like this, Americans who look forward to a sustainable future can breathe easier. You may not think changing the light-bulb in your lamp makes a difference, but what if everyone does it? What if everyone drove a little bit less, purchased produce locally every now and then, or took a canvas bag to the grocery store instead of wasting ‘paper’ and ‘plastic’ for the five minute drive home? We’d all be better off economically, socially and intellectually.