The village has made becoming the country’s first zero carbon emissions community its goal, according to a piece by Sarah Mukherjee, environment correspondent for BBC News. It all started when Garry Charnock, a local resident, attended a literary festival where he heard the government’s former chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, talking about the need for action on climate change. “I came away wondering how I could make a difference,” he told the reporter. “And I realized that the little things, switching off lights, turning down your thermostat, that sort of thing, could make a big change overall if you did it at a community level.”
Charnock pulled Roy Alexander, another villager who is also professor of environmental sustainability at the University of Chester, on board, and the idea took off. Now, by doing the easy things like turning down the thermostat, the village has reduced its energy consumption by 23 percent. Charnock and Alexander even convinced the skeptical owner of the local pub to pitch in, telling him he could save as much as £250 by turning off his cooker in the mornings and keeping the beer outdoors rather than running the cooler in the winter.
Now the village is home to solar panels, wind turbines and other sources of alternative energy. And residents have successfully lobbied for a path linking the school, the railways and other communities to encourage walking. But the biggest plus to come out of the whole endeavor was the sense of community the project inspired. “I’ve lived in the village for 25 years, and I’ve met people I’ve never met before as a result of the project,” Lynn May, a local businesswoman, told the BBC.

I returned just two hours ago, from a trip to Washington — and a face-to-face meeting with Energy Secretary Steven Chu. I took Dr. Crow with me (although I forgot to bring him back). We talked to the Secretary about the importance of renewable energy sources — the importance of freeing ourselves from our dependency on foreign oil – and the jobs that will come to the city that leads on this issue.

I told him that Phoenix would lead – and we’ll do it with “Green Phoenix” – a 17-point plan which, in short, is designed to make Phoenix, America’s first Carbon-Neutral City – America’s Greenest City. It is a plan that already has the Secretary’s endorsement – and a plan I am excited to share with you today.

Apparently details have yet to emerge, but stay tuned.

Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) commissioned a study from the German Aerospace Center. Based on that study, Greenpeace is putting forth the Energy [R]evolution U.S. Scenario, a  blueprint for how the U.S. can use energy more efficiently and increase renewable energy generating capacity to cut current CO2 emissions levels some 23% by 2020 and 85% by 2050.

Here’s the press release with an overview of the bottom line elements. Keep reading for another overview:

The German Aerospace Center summary says:

- A sustainable energy supply can be achieved, even under conditions of global economic growth – this is the outcome of the updated global energy scenario developed on behalf of Greenpeace International and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) by the Institute of Technical Thermodynamics (Institut für Technische Thermodynamik) of DLR in cooperation with over 30 other scientists and institutes.

The report states, “According to the University of Massachusetts’s Political Economy Research Institute, investments in wind and solar power create 2.8 times as many jobs as the same investment in coal;  mass transit and conservation would create 3.8 times as many jobs as coal.” We project that the Energy [R]evolution Scenario would create 14.5 million more new jobs by 2050 than would be created by meeting our energy needs with continued dependence on fossil fuels.

The U.S. could incur as much as $271 billion in expenses by 2025 from the impacts of just four consequences of unchecked global warming: hurricane damage as storms become more powerful and more frequent, severe water shortages, higher energy costs, and real estate losses from rising sea levels.

The Energy [R]evolution report proposes that we can solve global warming and create millions of new jobs plus secure our energy future without being subject to the volatility of energy prices due to the fluctuating costs of imported fuels.

Several considerations are addressed:

1. Achieve science-based emissions reductions to minimize climate risk
   Every year the U.S. emits over 7 billion tons of global warming pollution, with 85% coming from fossil fuels. The Energy [R]evolution U.S. Scenario would reduce C02 emissions from fossil fuel combustion by 83% below 1990 levels by 2050 and phase out fossil fuels worldwide by 2085.
2. Ensure equity and fairness
   A third of the world’s population has no access to electricity, while the most industrialized countries consume way more than their fair share. If we are to truly build a sustainable clean energy economy, we must ensure that the benefits of energy services – light, heat, power, transport – are available to everyone. The Energy [R]evolution U.S. Scenario aims to achieve energy equity as soon as technically feasible.
3. Implement clean, renewable solutions and energy systems
   Renewable energy and energy efficiency measures are not only ready and viable right now, but they are becoming increasingly competitive. Wind, solar, and other renewable technologies have experienced double-digit market growth for the past decade. The Energy [R]evolution U.S. Scenario aims to create a sustainable, decentralized energy system powered by renewable energy sources, which produce less carbon pollution, are cheaper, more efficient, more secure, and involve less dependence on imported fuels, all while creating jobs and empowering local communities.
4. Decouple economic growth from fossil fuel use
   For far too long, economic growth has been predicated, at least in part, on the combustion of fossil fuels. We need to end this practice and start using the energy we produce more efficiently, while making the transition away from fossil fuels quickly in order to enable the growth of a clean and sustainable economy.
5. Phase out dirty, unsustainable energy
   The next decade is the right time to make substantial structural changes in the electricity sector, as many dirty energy plants in the U.S. are nearing retirement. The Energy [R]evolution U.S. Scenario advocates a new political framework that enables the creation of renewable energy and cogeneration power plants as well as dramatic increases in energy efficiency across all sectors of the economy, from electricity generation to construction and transport.

“What this report shows is that doing what science says is necessary won’t just provide the planet a living future, it actually will create far more jobs and save far more money than business as usual,” says Greenpeace global warming campaign director Steven Biel. “And it will do it without exposing us to the unnecessary risks and pointless boondoggles that would come with any further investments in nuclear or coal.”