The Energy Foundation

Presidio Building 1012, 2nd Floor, Torney Avenue
P.O. Box 29905
San Francisco, CA 94129-0905
United States of America

Tel: + 1 (415) 561-6700
Fax: + 1 (415) 561-6709

E-mail: energyfund@ef.org

The China Sustainable Energy Program:

The Energy Foundation-Beijing Office
CITIC Building, Room 2403
No. 19, Jianguomenwai Dajie
Beijing, 100004 P.R. China

Tel: 86-10-8526-2422
Fax: 86-10-6525-3764

The Energy Foundation is a partnership of

major foundations interested in sustainable energy.

It was launched in 1991 by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation,

The Pew Charitable Trusts, and The Rockefeller Foundation.

The Mertz-Gilmore Foundation joined as a funding partner in 1996, and The McKnight Foundation joined in 1998. In 1999, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation joined to support two programs: the U.S. Clean Energy Program (now the Climate Program) and the China Sustainable Energy Program.

Traffic congestion and deteriorating air quality are mounting problems in major cities throughout the world. Municipal governments are struggling with these challenges in the face of escalating urbanization and ballooning vehicle populations.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Energy Foundation sponsored a World Enviroment Day workshop: Transforming Public Transportation on June 3, 2005, which introduced innovative solutions¡ªcost-effective public transit and community planning that together deliver reduced congestion and cleaner air. Enrique Peñalosa, presidential candidate from Colombia and former mayor of Bogot¨¢, gave a keynote address on sustainable cities and Bogot¨¢'s TransMilenio system, one of the world's most advanced multi-modal public transportation systems. Experts from China, Mexico, and the U.S. described successful multi-modal transportation system examples.

Exclusive-lane bus rapid transit (BRT) provides efficient, station-to-station, high-speed mass transit at only 1/10th the cost of subways. These systems are demonstrating that the world's megacities can be developed to enhance community and the quality of life for urban residents while substantially improving public health and environmental quality.

Washington state passed several laws this spring emerging from the West Coast Governors Global Warming Initiative and the stakeholder-developed climate plan, including adoption of California's clean car standards, appliance standards, and new incentives for renewable energy. For more information, visit Climate Solutions.

Governor Kulongoski of Oregon has accepted the recommendations of his Global Warming Task Force and set carbon reduction targets for the state. For more information, visit the governor's website.

Schwarzenegger kicked off World Environment Day 2005 by announcing economy-wide carbon pollution reduction targets for California. The reduction goals, enshrined in an executive order, are to reduce the state's greenhouse gas pollution to 2000 levels by 2010, 1990 levels by 2020, and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. For more information, visit the governor's website.

A new report released by the Energy Foundation and Navigant Consulting, Inc. describes the vast market potential for rooftop solar photovoltaic systems (PV) in the United States. The study, "PV Grid Connected Market Potential in 2010 Under a Cost Breakthrough Scenario," provides a state-by-state analysis of the market potential.

In November 2004, the Governors of Washington, Oregon, and California approved a series of detailed recommendations to reduce global warming pollution that the three states have developed over the past year. They also directed their staffs to broaden their efforts on global warming mitigation strategies in the coming year.

The Lawrence Berkeley Lab has found that renewable energy and energy efficiency can reduce natural gas prices and save America billions of dollars on their natural gas bills. For example, the 18 existing state renewable portfolio standards (RPS) could provide natural gas bill savings of $7 to $18 billion, while the California RPS alone could deliver national consumer savings of $3 to $9 billion.

August 12, 2005