The wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) has been extended through the end of 2005 as part of a tax package signed by President Bush in October 2004. The PTC makes available a tax credit of 1.8 cents for each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by wind turbines. Although the PTC had expired at the end of 2003, the recent extension is retroactive to that point. More than 1,600 megawatts of wind generation capacity were installed in the U.S. in 2003, bringing the total capacity near 6,400 megawatts. “This year, a sharp drop in new installations is expected due to the absence of the incentive for nine months,” according to a press release from the American Wind Energy Association.

The New York State Public Service Commission has adopted Governor Pataki’s proposal that 25% of the state’s electricity come from renewable energy sources by the end of 2013. “Our decision today is based on a detailed examination of the costs, benefits, and potential impacts on system reliability of implementing an efficient and forward-thinking renewable energy policy for New York Sate,” said Commission Chairman William Flynn. The requirement includes energy from wind, solar, biomass, and wave sources, as well as fuel-cell systems, hydropower upgrades, and new low-impact, run-of-river hydropower plants. The agreement should result in the creation of 3,700 megawatts of new renewable energy capacity by the end of 2013.

The U.S. Green Building Council is seeking applicants for the Mark Ginsberg Sustainability Fellowship. Established in honor of Ginsberg’s work in the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the three-month fellowship will focus on market developments and emerging trends in green building. Details are online at www.usgbc.org/Jobs/jobs_main.asp.

The FedEx Corporation and the city of Oakland have announced plans to build California’s largest corporate solar electric system atop the FedEx hub at Oakland International Airport. The 904 kilowatt system will be made up of nearly 6,000 photovoltaic modules comprised of more than 300,000 solar cells from the Sharp Electronics Corporation and will cover 81,000 ft² (7,500 m²) on the roofs of two buildings. The system is scheduled for completion in May 2005.

U.S. buildings are blamed for the deaths of nearly one billion birds each year, a statistic that bird experts will address during the first conference anywhere focused on designing buildings to be more bird-friendly. Chicago’s Department of the Environment, Department of Planning and Development, and Ornithological Society are planning the conference, “Birds & Buildings: Creating a Safer Environment,” for March 11, 2005, with sponsorship from a number of organizations, including BuildingGreen. More information is available online at www.birdsandbuildings.org.

Americans spent a total of 3.5 billion hours waiting in traffic during 2002—about 46 hours per peak traveler—according to the 2004 Urban Mobility Report, published by the Texas Transportation Institute. “Congestion has grown everywhere, in areas of all sizes,” according to the report. Collectively, we wasted 5.7 billion gallons (216 billion liters) of fuel. Translated into dollars, that time and fuel represents a whopping $63.2 billion. The full report, which includes detailed statistics for 85 U.S. cities, along with the effects of various solutions, can be downloaded from mobility.tamu.edu.

Kimpton Hotels has teamed up with eco-fashion authority Danny Seo to design “Eco Rooms” on dedicated “Eco Floors” at all of their 38 boutique hotels around the U.S. The Eco Rooms will conserve energy and water while playfully educating their occupants about environmental issues; a portion of room charges will be donated to environmental organizations. A number of the Eco Room designs will be led by celebrities, ranging from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Woody Harrelson to Seo himself.

Energetech America, LLC has announced plans for “GreenWave Rhode Island,” America’s first wave-energy project. The 500 kilowatt project will tap the power of an “oscillating water column” to force compressed air through a turbine. An existing undersea cable will then transmit the power to the New England electrical grid. The structure will be built in Rhode Island and secured to the ocean floor more than a mile off the state’s coast, where it will rise 40 feet above the water. The $3.5 million nonprofit pilot project received $1 million in planning and development support from the renewable energy funds of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut and is intended to demonstrate the economic viability of wave-energy technology. If the plan gains the necessary state and federal permits, GreenWave Rhode Island should be operational in 2006. Details are at www.energetech.com.au.

Just two years after New York City scrapped its recycling plan, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in September 2004 a 20-year contract with the Hugo Neu Corporation, one of the country’s leading recycling companies. Under the contract, Hugo Neu, which is based in Manhattan, will build a $25 million, state-of-the-art recycling facility on city-owned land at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park. The new commitment is expected to reduce truck traffic in the city by 55,000 vehicle miles per year and save nearly $20 million per year over the cost of the previous recycling plan. It’s also expected to affect recycling-policy decisions in local governments around the country. Details are online at www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2004b/pr244-04.html.

DuPont has reached a tentative settlement in a three-year-old class-action lawsuit that could cost the company $343 million for exposing Ohio and West Virginia communities to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C8 (see

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Vol. 13, No. 3). In the agreement, DuPont will pay $108 million, including $23 million to cover legal fees of the Parksburg-area residents, $10 million for new water-treatment systems at six facilities to reduce the levels of C8 in drinking water, and $5 million to study the health effects of exposure to C8, which is used to make Teflon

^® and other products. If that study finds a link between C8 and health problems, DuPont could be liable for up to $235 million to cover the ongoing monitoring of the health of a half-million people who live near DuPont’s Washington Works facility in Washington, West Virginia. “We want to make very clear that settling this lawsuit in no way implies any admission of liability on DuPont’s part,” according to Stacey Mobley, DuPont general counsel. This settlement will not affect a case against DuPont filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which could cost the company an additional $300 million (see

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Vol. 13, No. 8).