IN TODAY’S AUDIO REPORT: Another step forward in the House for climate and energy legislation — but is it enough? PLUS: YOU are brilliant, and The Earth is hiring! …. All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail, legislative sausages? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (links below): “Sun For Rent”: Massachusetts initiates creative financing to make solar cheap & easy; Recycling used parachutes; Another beef recall due to E.coli in the Midwest; House Democrats hire Speed Reader — see him in action; PLUS: How to “Green” Your Workplace, a Net Impact Special Report …See below for more!

Info/links on stuff we talked about on today’s episode, plus MORE green news, all follows below…

• Let Your Voice Be Heard: CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES — CLICK HERE
• House panels will make haste on climate bill, Hoyer says
  But there are two committees that want a piece of the debate: Ways and Means and Agriculture. Hoyer said he would work with the chairmen of both panels and did not expect much of a problem.

  House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) wants significant concessions for farm-state lawmakers, and he threatens to bring between 40 and 45 House Democrats along to vote “no” on the bill if that does not happen.

• Waxman-Markey: Carbon Offsets and Committee Jurisdictional Issues
  One of the many concerns agricultural stakeholders have with the legislation is the lack of a defined role for farmers on the carbon sequestration issue.
  …
  So there is going to be some battles over just how much jurisdiction agriculture is going to be allowed to have on this bill. It may end up if you want to have more role for agriculture its going to have to come from an amendment on the floor, and whether that amendment will be allowed will be another matter- in terms of making this bill more beneficial for farmers, there is still a lot to play out.”
• Ban says U.S. climate bill plan “not enough”
  Ban applauded President Barack Obama’s engagement on global warming but said that other countries were doing more, and added that a new global climate pact meant to be agreed in December could not wait for the United States to pass its domestic rules.
• Top U.S. climate official says deeper emissions cuts unlikely
  But in the run up to UN talks in Copenhagen in December charged with delivering a new global climate deal, developing countries such as China and India have said that this is not enough.

  Their position has been echoed by many climate experts as well as the European Union, which has committed to a 20 percent reduction by 2020, 30 percent of others follow suit.

• World Business Leaders Hear Catastrophic Climate Warnings
  “This will not be easy,” warned [UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon]. “Fundamental change never is. But if we get it right, we can reasonably look forward to sustained growth and prosperity. If we get it wrong, we face catastrophic damage to people, to the planet and to the global marketplace.”
• Climate change odds much worse than thought: New analysis shows warming could be double previous estimates
  The difference is caused by several factors rather than any single big change. Among these are improved economic modeling and newer economic data showing less chance of low emissions than had been projected in the earlier scenarios. Other changes include accounting for the past masking of underlying warming by the cooling induced by 20th century volcanoes, and for emissions of soot, which can add to the warming effect. In addition, measurements of deep ocean temperature rises, which enable estimates of how fast heat and carbon dioxide are removed from the atmosphere and transferred to the ocean depths, imply lower transfer rates than previously estimated.
• With Billions at Stake, Trying to Expand the Meaning of ‘Renewable Energy’
  Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico and chairman of the Senate energy committee, said that if too many new technologies beyond core renewable sources like wind and solar were to be included, “the whole purpose of the renewable electricity standard is defeated.”
• Regulated utilities, merchant generators battle over allowances
• The Unforgettable Commencement Address by Paul Hawken to the Class of 2009, University of Portland, May 3, 2009:
  There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive, and in case you didn’t bring lemon juice to decode it, I can tell you what it says: YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH IS HIRING. The earth couldn’t afford to send any recruiters or limos to your school. It sent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine, and that unbelievably cute person you are dating. Take the hint. And here’s the deal: Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in the time required. Don’t be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’: More green news not covered in today’s audio report… See below!

• Sun for rent — State hopes affordable leases will make panels an electricity option for more homeowners:
  It’s an old energy problem with a new solution: After decades of facing prohibitively high costs to install solar panels, Massachusetts residents will be able to lease the panels for a tiny fraction of their upfront cost.

  Instead of paying $25,000 or more to buy solar panels, homeowners will have to shell out only about $1,000 to install the energy collecting devices on roofs. The companies involved in the leases say most homeowners will be able to recoup the initial cost within seven years through electricity savings – and then save money on future bills by locking in the rate they pay for the electricity generated by the leased panels.

• Paraglider Fabrics Recycled into Cool Bags and Accessories
  Apparently, the devices last only two to three years and are renewed for security reasons. The synthetic fabrics are then discarded.
  …
  Apart from colors and aesthetics, the accessories relate to sport for their lightness and the ability to be compressed to travel (all of them can be reduced to 5% its size), but incorporate links to urban life like iPod pockets and alike.
• VIDEO: Speed Reader Brings Levity to ‘Cap and Trade’
• E. coli infection kills Cleveland girl, 7; Case may be linked to Illinois company’s beef recall
  Cleveland Health Director Matthew Carroll said the case might be the latest in a cluster of E. coli infections traced to Valley Meats LLC of Coal Valley, Ill.

  The company pulled nearly 100,000 pounds of hamburger patties Thursday after a U.S. Department of Agriculture investigation confirmed that three Cleveland-area residents were infected by eating the same tainted ground beef.

  Illnesses related to the recalled meat also have been reported in Pennsylvania and Illinois, the USDA reported on its Web site.

• Inside Job: Making Your Impact at Work
  Net Impact’s new report, Making Your Impact at Work: A Practical Guide to Changing the World From Inside Any Company, offers fresh ideas for greening your job without finding a new one.

  And it reinforces a commonplace among career counselors: Volunteering and taking the initiative to do what you’re passionate about is one of the smartest ways to gain new skills and advance your career.

  The free report—and accompanying case studies and discussion, available to Net Impact members—shows how entrapreneurs in different functions and divergent industries have created positive change and, sometimes, new jobs as sustainability leaders.