British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced what he called a “green revolution” that would sharply increase the country’s use of renewable energy, particularly wind power, and create hundreds of thousands of green-collar jobs.
Brown said his plan would use government incentives to spur £100 billion ($197 billion) in private investment in alternative energy and conservation technologies and would work with homeowners and businesses to sharply reduce energy consumption. By 2020, Brown said, renewable energy sources would supply 30 percent of the UK’s electricity, 14 percent of its heat, and 10 percent of transport fuels. The prime minister promised to make the North Sea “the equivalent for wind power of what the Gulf of Arabia is for oil.”
Meanwhile, California officials, whose state is the world’s 14th largest emitter of greenhouse gases, announced what would be the most comprehensive energy and climate program in the United States. The plan includes the U.S.’s most far-reaching carbon cap-and-trade initiative and would change the way the state builds homes and cars and generates electricity. The plan would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels within 12 years and aims to slash CO2 emissions by 80 percent by mid-century.
Meanwhile, California officials, whose state is the world’s 14th largest emitter of greenhouse gases, announced what would be the most comprehensive energy and climate program in the United States. The plan includes the U.S.’s most far-reaching carbon cap-and-trade initiative and would change the way the state builds homes and cars and generates electricity. The plan would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels within 12 years and aims to slash CO2 emissions by 80 percent by mid-century.