Green Economy

Although I don’t think the Girl Scouts are going to be selling boxes of CFL lightbulbs instead of cookies any time soon—why change a good and delicious thing?--groups of other stripes are always looking for creative ways to raise money for their organizations. Now your group can choose to sell recycled paper goods, green home cleaners, energy-efficient showerheads, and yes, low-energy lightbulbs through several Web-based green fundraising organizations.

The Presidential Forum on Renewable Energy is sponsoring a nationwide essay contest for college students between the ages of 18 and 24 asking them to submit a plan on renewable energy, sustainability, and conservation for America. Each of three winners will receive an educational prize of $10,000 to coincide with the celebration of Earth Day in April.

But hurry: the essay is due by February 1, 2008. You can enter online here.

UPDATE: After we posted this story, we heard from the folks at Divide The Ride, a service that busy parents can use to form carpools for their kids. Parents enter their kids' activity schedule and invite families they know and trust to join the carpool. A carpool calendar is created and families who join the carpool will be emailed a complete schedule and reminders. Divide the Ride claims it's the only service designed exclusively for parents...and what parent couldn't use an extra set of wheels, for free?

MonsterTRAK, an online career and recruitment Web site, wants to help you out with that major decision. It has developed GreenCareers, a site for college students and recent graduates listing environmentally responsible jobs and internships. GreenCareers includes entry-level, part-time, volunteer, and internship opportunities at organizations of all sizes that positively impact the environment. These are both "green jobs" and jobs at "green companies." The site also features career advice and articles on living green, green activism, and related news.

Two members of the New York City Council have introduced a trailblazing bill, Intro. 104, the Electronics Collection, Recycling, and Reuse Act, which, if passed later this year, would be the first mandatory municipal electronics recycling law in the country. It would make manufacturers responsible for collection and disposal of products when no longer usable, instead of leaving this task to consumers, who often simply dump them in the trash.

On Thursday former President Bill Clinton spoke at the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Summit about the possibilities of a "green economy."

"In my view for the United States, it is the greatest economic opportunity we've had since we mobilized for World War Two," Clinton said. "If we do it right, it will produce job gains and income gains substantially greater than the 1990s."

Clinton said initiatives to combat global warming, such as the retrofit of old buildings and switching to more fuel-efficient cars, would create jobs and boost wages.

Read the whole story on Environmental News Network.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global sales from clean energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal power and biofuels could grow to as much as $1 trillion a year by 2030, U.S. bank Morgan Stanley has estimated.

Global population growth and soaring prices for fossil fuels are driving the market, along with dropping costs in clean energy and concern about energy security and climate change, the bank said in a research note issued on Wednesday.