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Eric Schmidt has been a long time supporter of the Smart Grid, part of Obama's Energy Bill:

I’m delighted to announce that Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt has agreed to speak at our GreenBeat event on Nov. 19, which focuses on the overhaul of our nation’s electrical grid.

Schmidt has been a vocal proponent of our nation’s need to invest in a cleaner, more efficient electrical grid, arguing that it part of a “second industrial revolution” that, if done properly, will create jobs and new industry.

In fact, Google has emerged as an aggressive player on the grid in its own right. It recently launched PowerMeter, a tool for consumers to gauge the amount of energy their various household devices are using with a central, online dashboard. In the U.S, you can get PowerMeter easily by buying the $200 device called TED 5000 (manufactured by Energy Inc.). The device is so popular that it is back-ordered right now (we’re trying to get one, and will let you know what it’s like. The home energy management system is rolling out to thousands of households this year. You can also get it in the U.K., by buying anAlertMe system).

Schmidt’s support for investments in the nation’s energy infrastructure comes at a crucial time. A majority of scientists say it urgent for us to shift our energy reliance from carbon-based sources to renewable sources, but theU.S. Congress appears to be stalling on legislation that would push this forward, blocked by special interests. Sadly, many U.S. states, represented by both democrats and republicans have businesses and utilities that rely on fossil fuels for their main energy supply or significant revenues. They fear a shift would hurt their businesses.

Schmidt has been avidly supporting the Obama administration’s smart grid initiatives over the past few weeks, for example going on MSN, and saying that such support is a big deal because our existing grid was built in the 1950s and 1960s and it’s important that we upgrade it for the digital economy — especially now that we’re moving to a two-way grid that allows people to feed their own solar and wind-generated power back to the grid. More sophisticated communications are needed for this. He also invited Energy Secretary Steve Chu to speak at Google last week (see video below). Google is seen as such a formidable player in the space that Chu chose it as his venue to announce $151 million in grants for global warming projects.

We recently covered Schmidt’s argument that in fact, the cost of legislative measures will be relatively minor, and the benefits huge. Schmidt uses California as an example: It leads the nation in efficiency, has established strong renewable energy requirements, and decoupled utility revenue from how much power customers use (giving utilities an interest in helping people conserve). As a result, consumers and businesses alike have redirected their energy spending to other goods and services, creating more than a million jobs with a payroll of more than $45 billion, according to Schmidt. (See Schmidt’s column written with his wife Wendy, here.)

The California Air Resources Board, the agency responsible for implementing a law that will reduce California greenhouse emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, predicts $33 billion in increased economic production as a result of the policy, Schmidt noted. In addition, the state’s gross product will increase by $7 billion, and personal income will grow by $16 billion.

By the way, you can get early-bird discount tickets for GreenBeat here, until Nov. 5.

Here’s that video of Chu at Google:

VentureBeat is hosting GreenBeat, the seminal executive conference on the Smart Grid, on Nov. 18-19, featuring keynotes from Nobel Prize winner Al Gore and Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr. Get your discounted early-bird tickets before Nov. 5 atGreenBeat2009.com.

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• Google, British Gas Help AlertMe Launch Home Energy Control (Seeking Alpha)

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 http://green.venturebeat.com/2009/11/02/newest-greenbeat-speaker-google-ceo-eric-schmidt/

Greenbuild 2009 International Conference and Expo is being held in Phoenix, Arizona from November 11th - 13th.

Former Vice President Al Gore will be the opening Keynote speaker tonight, November 11th at the Greenbuild conference. You can watch his speech and other keynote speakers live or as archived video later here at GreenbuildExpo.org.

WOW! Bill McKibben's 350.org International Day of Climate Action was a huge success. According to their website people in 181 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. At over 5200 events around the world, people gathered to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis.

I have just spent the last hour marveling over all the phenomenal pictures and videos that people sent in from all over the world. Check them out HERE.

There were several events planned in my area of Phoenix, Arizona like climbing up a mountain with Arizona State University students and bike rides. My husband and I met up on Thursday, October 22nd with some local members of 1Sky to take a 350.org photo in Old Town Scottsdale by the big LOVE sculpture in the park to signify our love of home, community, and our planet. Here is our picture.

We were in the park for about an hour taking photos and of course people walking by would question us about what we were doing. I had printed up small cards with what 350.org is all about and what it means. So when asked I would just pull out a card from my pocket and give it to them.

After the photos were taken some of the group went on for a bike ride, but my husband and I went to the Scottsdale ArtWalk where the local art galleries open their doors to the public and show off their work. This particular ArtWalk was a Taste of Art ArtWalk where you could sample food and wine as you stroll and look at art. So we opted out of the long bike ride in order to eat, drink wine and look at art which is more to our liking. (lol) I kept my 350.org gear on while at the ArtWalk and of course I was asked numerous times what does 350 mean, so I would whip out one of those printed cards and hand it to them. I had printed up 24 cards and only came home with three.

When you are in love with your home, and I don't mean your house, but where you live, for me it's the glorious Sonoran Desert, then you are always happy to support any organization that wants to protect it and keep it pristine, beautiful and healthy.

There is an effort to show the world the positive future that a sustainable society would create initiated by Bill Becker of the Presidential Climate Action Project. A new website is up called "The Future We Want." Check it out. They will continue to add more as technologies progress. 11th Hour is also featured!

http://www.futurewewant.org/