Sweet Orange

The City of Irvine has been ranked as one of the country’s “Smarter Cities,” by the Natural Resources Defense Council for its strides in environmental stewardship, sustainable growth, and livability. Irvine ranked 13th among the 178 medium-sized cities surveyed.–City of Irvine website

One of the programs that helped Irvine obtain the “Smarter Cities” award was the giveaway of over 60,000 CFL light bulbs to Irvine residents.

An ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.–EPA

Irvine’s award-winning program that distributed 71,706 to Irvine residents between 2006 to 2008 achieved the following benefits:

• An annual saving to Irvine residents of $392,000
• Annual carbon emissions reduction of 1,421 tons
• The carbon emissions reduction is equivalent to taking 241 cars off the road every year.

The City exceeded its goal of distributing 60,000 CFLs to Irvine residents.

To see a list of additional programs that make the City of Irvine one of the country’s “Smarter Cities,” see the City’s Environmental Programs page.

Graphic Courtesy City of Irvine

You might be surprised to learn that the Big Orange is a green jobs hub. In addition, green jobs on the national level are growing faster than most other job categories. Here is a breakdown of how green jobs are an important feature of our economy:

Green jobs on the county level:

Orange County will likely add 3,130 new energy-related jobs over the next three years, most of them in the realm of project managers for construction or design work, according to a new report by a local college-affiliated group.–Pat Brennan, “Report: O.C. to add 3,000 jobs in energy sector”

Green jobs on the state level:

From January 2007 to January 2008, green jobs in California increased by 5 percent, while jobs decreased by 1 percent in the economy as a whole.–Pat Brennan, “Need a job? Think ‘green’ - jobs booming in O.C., statewide“

Green jobs on the national level:

The push for clean energy could lead to explosive job growth in the United States, according to a new report by a clean-energy research group.

The report, Clean Tech Job Trends 2009, says activity is high in the renewable energy market, with some predicting the biggest chance for wealth and job creation since the rise of computers and the Internet.–Pat Brennan, “Report: job potential high in renewable energy“

Green jobs and national security:

According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, going green is important not only because of the personal job benefits it might bring us, but also for our national security.

We are transferring our wealth to countries around the world who don’t agree with us and, in many cases, are funding the very terrorists that we are sending our young men and women out to fight….We have got to get somehow or other to [energy] independence. It’s doesn’t matter if you are a greeny or not. The bottom line is we cannot keep funding our enemies.–Michael Bloomberg on Meet the Press

For more information on green jobs and the economy, see:

• Energy Efficient Occupations in Orange County, Center for Excellance, California Community Colleges
• Green Business by Media Planet
• EDF’s Clean Energy Jobs State Fact Sheets
  

Graph Courtesy Wikipedia

Earlier this year, we all turned our clocks back one hour to observe daylight savings time. Daylight savings time was first adopted in the U.S. to conserve resources and, therefore, aid the war effort during World War I.

Today, with the development of fluorescent light bulbs, we have another way to conserve our resources–and money. According to the EPA:

Lighting accounts for close to 20 percent of the average home’s electric bill. Changing to CFLs costs little upfront and provides a quick return on investment.

If every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an Energy Star-qualified CFL, it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 800,000 cars annually.

So, in addition to saving resources on the national level, using CFLs can save money on the personal level. Although the CFLs cost more upfront, the cost of the monthly utility bill will be lower, and the result will be a net savings.

Statistics from the EPA back this up:

An ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.

Note: This is a rework of one of my Redfin posts.