How LIVGreen Media gets Greener
Here at home, LIVGreen Media aspires to reach progress, not perfection.
Through consistent networking, LIVGreen Media has expanded its media relations in Minnesota and aspires to expand nationally.
Since the release of our May / June 2009 issue, we have made many changes.
LIVGreen Media now publishes out of a home office in downtown St. Paul, within walking or bicycling distance for most staff. Over dinner, desert or coffee, LIVGreen Media brainstorms and conducts decision-making right at home.
President Obama’s Green Stimulus
President Obama’s greatly debated American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, allocates $60 billion for green stimulus projects. This is how the money is being spent:
• $6 billion for clean and safe water, creating more than 200,000 jobs
• $4.5 billion for greening federal buildings
• State energy grants, issued through the Treasury Department, that will fund renewable energy projects that are eligible for the available tax credits
• Funding for the state energy program, which includes important utility reforms and building code conditions
• $2.5 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy Research and Development
• $5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program, creating approximately 90,000 jobs
• A multi-year extension of the renewable production tax credit
• A more effective tax credit for home efficiency upgrades
• $6 billion in loan guarantees for renewables, transmission and leading edge biofuels
• $2 billion for advanced batteries
• $9.3 billion for intercity rail, including high-speed rail
• $27.5 billion for highways (this large pot of money is not exclusively for highways, and states and cities must use this flexibility to invest in fuel-efficient public transportation)
• $8.4 billion for transit
• $1.5 billion in competitive grants for transportation investments (which could be used for public transportation)
• $125 million to restore trails and abandoned mines
• $146 million for trail maintenance at National Park Service sites
• $140 million for volcano monitoring systems
• $600 million for the Environmental Protection Agency Superfund environmental cleanup program
• $200 million to clean up leaking underground storage tanks
• $500 million for forest health and wildfire prevention
Tax Credits for Wind Energy.
• A three-year extension for tax credits for wind energy.
* Facts provided courtesy of Brian Merchant, NRDC and TreeHugger post
Federal Green Rebates
Free Federal Tax Incentive Decoder
Most of us are confused about how to qualify for the green tax credits available to every homeowner under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which was signed into law by President Obama in February 2009. The ARRA provides tremendous opportunity for all of us to save money if we weatherize our homes. But how much will it cost the average family and what exactly do we have to do to reap the rewards? Green building efficiency expert Charlie Szoradi and his team have spent the last several months reading and deciphering the 400-page legislation. They have distilled it down to 11 pages of easy to read information so homeowners can focus on next steps instead of wading through the official language of the ARRA. GREENandSAVE is now offering this Federal Tax Incentive Decoder for free and can be downloaded at: http://www.greenandsave.com/homecheckup/free_federal_tax_incentive_decoder
For more information contact: laurel@cachetcommunications.com
Laurel Fairworth 215 219-9358
