For any readers in the greater Sacramento area, there is a great business networking opportunity on Tuesday, June 17th at the Mondavi Center at UC Davis: The New California 100. Billed as the Central Valley’s first leadership summit, the event will honor the top 100 companies in Northern California that generate more than $50 billion in revenue and employ more than 250,000 people. The event will feature 100 companies, 100 C-level executives, and 100 entrepreneurs and investors, so it will be a good opportunity for entrepreneurs or leadership-minded graduates to meet some influential individuals.

There will be a keynote address by Steve Sabol, President of NFL Films, discussions on the growing network culture among businesses, and some appealing showcases on the High Technology and Internet/New Media Industries. The summit will also have sessions focused on cleantech, manufacturing, consumer products, healthcare, land development, and more.

• The event is designed to bring together the top 100 companies in the 19-county area that stretches from Redding to Bakersfield through the Central Valley
• The economy in this area is different than in San Francisco, LA, San Diego or other coastal counties
• The goal is to bring together the leaders of these companies, along with several early stage companies from the region, and hope to stimulate ongoing dialog and business activity among them to benefit the area
• The primary producer of the event is Golden Capital Networks, based in Chico, and the producer of several regional venture capital events (Venture Vineyard in Napa, Silver & Gold in Reno and Angel & VC Investment Summit in El Dorado Hills)

The New California 100 summit should offer many opportunities for CEOs, entrepreneurs, VCs, development professionals and professional services providers, but Josh Morgan, principle of Morgan/Dorado Public Relations, also wants to draw a younger crowd out to the leadership event this year. I know that there are special rates for students and free press passes available for a select few business- and entrepreneurship-oriented bloggers. Follow me on Twitter and send me a direct message to get connected to Josh for student/blogger passes. Or you can contact Josh directly via Twitter.

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: California 100 Leadership Summit at UC Davis Next Week

It’s been a long time since I wrote about sustainability, but it is one issue that will challenge Generation Y like no other generation yet. I’ve shied away from it because I got tired of reporting on news that always seemed to be negative. I got tired of feeling like a doomsayer, which—unfortunately—is what a lot of environmentalists come off sounding like. But Wired Magazine’s 15th anniversary issue has stirred up a lot of talk in the global warming circles that caught my attention yesterday.

Despite the fact that the discussion can be a depressing one, and the options can at times seen hopeless, it remains that climate change is a huge, looming threat for human society, and it will have a huge influence especially on those of us who will still be around in 30 to 50 years. A lot of my peers are passionate about green living and sustainability, and that’s encouraging, because the choices we make with our daily lives, and more importantly the advances we make in science and industry in our lifetimes will have a large influence on whether our planet will sustain human life for the next several hundred years.

I’m not here to argue how much human behavior has impacted global warming—that’s a moot point if you ask me. In my opinion, yes, climate change—to some extent—is inevitable, even without the impact of human society. But the fact still remains that we must either learn to deal with global warming one way or another, or our species may not be able to survive on this changing planet. Regardless of who’s fault it is, our generation has an opportunity to make some big changes. And the difference between failure and success could be several million human lifetimes. I’d rather see our generation preserve the Earth as a hospitable place for our children and grandchildren.

Wired’s latest cover story asks environmentalists, and all the rest of us, to rethink what the green movement means. The writers propose ten controversial “solutions” that run counterintuitive to traditional environmental agendas, citing that “winning the war on global warming requires slaughtering some of environmentalism’s sacred cows.” Here they are: Wired’s ten unconventional remedies for global warming. Click through to learn more.

Wired’s 10 Green Heresies

1. Urban Living Is Kinder to the Planet Than the Suburban Lifestyle
2. Air-Conditioning Actually Emits Less C02 Than Heating
3. Conventional Agriculture Can Be Easier on the Planet than Organics
4. Harvest Old-Growth Forests That Can Actually Contribute to Global Warming
5. Coal-Coughing Industrial Giant China Actually Leads the Way in Alternative-Energy Technology
6. Bio-Engineered Crops Could Put a Real Dent in Greenhouse Gas Emissions
7. Carbon Credits Were a Great Idea, But a Carbon Tax Would Work Better
8. Face It. Nuclear is the Most Sustainable Source of Industrial-Scale Energy
9. No-Brainer: Test-Drive a Used Car Instead of That New Hybrid
10. Climate Change Is Inevitable. Get Used to It

The Wired blog is attracting a lot of discussion—most of it negative. I can sympathize with those who place a great deal of value on conventional environmentalist tenets like conservation and energy efficiency, but I think it’s important to recognize that only a very small percentage of the population is ready to embrace the “less is more” mentality. As the article states, “We must accept that the world’s fastest-growing economies won’t forgo a higher standard of living in the name of climate science.” All across the world, as societies become more affluent, they become more materialistic and they consume more resources and energy. Changing that intrinsic human behavior will prove to be a much more difficult challenge than adapting to it. It’s time to find solutions that can work in our business-centric, materialistic world. That’s the real world.

What do you guys think? Am I off my rocker for embracing used cars and nukes? Do you think Generation Y stands a chance of turning the world sustainable? How do you hope to contribute? Or do you still think all this global warming stuff is bunk?

[source: Wired.com]

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: 10 Controversial Climate Change Fixes to Spark Discussion—From Wired.com

For years under the Bush administration, the Environmental Protection Agency has argued that it has no authority to regulate carbon emissions. Imagine that, the one government office in charge of–what other than protecting the environment–hasn’t been doing its job? Well, five Supreme Court justices ruled yesterday that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases DO count as “air pollutants,” and are thus within EPA regulatory jurisdiction under the authority of the 1990 Clean Air Act.

A Supreme Day for Clean Air in America [PR Newswire]

What will this mean? It means the EPA is getting a slap on the wrist and will have to reexamine and limit the greenhouse gas pollution from new motor vehicles. While all the rest of the developing world has been working together to cooperate under Kyoto and producing cars with twice the mileage as US automakers, the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world (with the most resources to concentrate on the problem) has not been held responsible for its contributions to global warming, and once and for all, we finally WILL be responsible for our vehicle emissions. The ruling should please California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as it will empower him to enforce a law in that state that will require car manufacturers to produce lower-emission vehicles by 2009.

Environmental Defense (ED) President Fred Krupp said after the Supreme Court verdict Tuesday, “Today, the highest court in the land decided that the Clean Air Act clearly empowers the EPA to address the pressing problem of global warming pollution. Unfortunately, the EPA has refused to act and swift congressional action will be critical to ensure real progress. The Court did all it can, but if we’re really going to fix climate change, Congress has to pass a cap on global warming pollution, and soon.”

The high court also wrapped up an old Clinton-era lawsuit on Monday, Environmental Defense et al v. Duke Energy Corporation, in favor of ED, and in unanimous support of a federal initiative to install pollution controls at older coal power plants.

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: Supreme Court Rules In Favor of Global Warming

My good friend Steve Gorlick recently came across a popular green energy program in my hometown of Sacramento.

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is offering one of the nation’s largest and easiest renewable home energy programs. SMUD’s “Greenergy” program is certified by the Green-e Renewable Electricity Certification Program, and offers either a 50% option ($3/month) or 100% option ($6/month). For the small fee(plus tax) each month, they guarantee to actually replace your energy you would have bought from their traditional sources with either solar, wind, or biomass energy that actually goes into your grid (as opposed to an energy credit)! According to their website, over 30,000 customers in the SMUD service area have already joined the program, which is very exciting. Although it costs a small premium, this is one easy way to ensure you are making a positive impact on climate change with your own household’s energy consumption.

For more, check out SMUD’s Greenergy page or call them at 1-888-742-SMUD (7683). My house is definitely signing up so we can lessen our carbon footprint!

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: SMUD Leads the Nation with Consumer Renewable Energy Program

Sources tell me that the House of Representatives voted in favor of H.R. 6 today, the “Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act of 2007,” or “CLEAN Energy Act of 2007.” Representatives Jerry McNerney (CA), Charles Rangel (NY), and Nick Rahall (WV) introduced the Act on Tuesday for the House’s first 100-Hour Agenda, a bill that will repeal approximately $13 billion in tax incentives and subsidies extended to big oil companies and re-allocate those funds toward alternative renewable energy sources and energy efficiency measures.

The Apollo Alliance for Good Jobs and Clean Energy said in a recent study that major investment in alternative energy sectors has the potential to create 3.3 million jobs and stimulate $1.4 trillion in new GDP. In their press release, Apollo Alliance President Jerome Ringo says:

“Passage of the CLEAN Act is a signal of change and the sign of a Congress that is ready to meet the challenge to end our nation’s dependence on foreign oil. But this is only the first step. Our nation needs to undertake a crash program to make America the leader in clean energy technology, create jobs of the future for the next generation of American workers, rebalance our nation’s relationship with the global environment and prepare us to meet the challenges of climate change.”

Journalists are saying President Bush’s annual speech to Congress next week will most likely encourage increased ethanol usage and changes in environmental policy, but not go so far as to call for mandatory caps on emissions. Hopefully someone will hasten that research into more sustainable methods of producing ethanol.

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: Are You CLEAN Or Dirty??

Terrapass is a Menlo Park-based alternative energy company that sells carbon credits to consumers who want to balance out their “carbon footprint,” or the amount of carbon dioxide emissions they generate through travel and other energy consumption.

You can buy a credit (starting at $30 a year depending on what kind of vehicle you drive and how many miles a year you travel) for your car that funds clean energy projects enough to balance your global warming impact. The way they do this is through supporting things such as wind energy farms; biomass energy, which burns methane collected from dairy farms for energy; and other voluntary carbon dioxide emissions cap-and-trade systems. Click here for more information about the company and about the projects they support. They also sell credits to balance your airline travel and energy consumed in your home.

I thought this was a pretty neat solution for environmentally-conscious consumers! I think I might look into purchasing a credit for my car this year! Also, if you sign up for their email newsletter, they’ll send you a coupon for 10% off the cost of a credit. What other types of enviro-conscious solutions have you come across?

-Calculate the emissions impact of your vehicle on TerraPass.com

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: Eliminate Your Vehicle’s Carbon Footprint