Renewable Energy

The Maplewood Homes Community, a development of The Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino (HACSB), has received this year’s Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits “Development of Distinction” award for outstanding achievement in the Renewable Energy category.  The project was designed and constructed by HelioPower, an integrated energy solutions company based in California.

The Developments of Distinction Awards were established as an annual event to recognize excellence and outstanding achievement in the development of tax credit projects using the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), historic tax credit (HTC), renewable energy tax credit (RETC), Section 1602 Exchange Program grant funds and/or tax credit projects using U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program financing.

Past winners in the category include the Coastal Community Action Program of Aberdeen, Washington, and its Coastal Energy Project, a 6 megawatt wind development near the Washington coastline in Grayland, Washington.  Honorable mention in 2010 went to Make It Right – SOLAR, a subsidiary of the Make It Right Foundation, founded by actor Brad Pitt, which serves as a renewable energy developer focused on affordable housing. MIR-Solar has completed more than 40 residential solar panel installations in New Orleans’ historic Lower 9^th Ward.

Maplewood Homes, an almost 70 year old affordable housing site with 296 units in the city of San Bernardino, California, is being honored for

View of Rooftops with Solar Panels installed by HelioPower at Maplewood Homes

HACSB’s use of the U.S. renewable energy 1603 tax credit. The Housing Authority’s collaborated with HelioPower to apply the credit and California Solar Initiative grant money to reduce the community’s energy costs, create jobs, educate tenants, and foster an environmentally green community.

In 2010, the HACSB received a $1.84 million grant from Southern California Edison’s Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) Track 2 program – the largest program grant awarded. The Housing Authority worked with HelioPower to design, develop, engineer, and construct a 302 kilowatt solar photovoltaic facility, a system that is among the largest and most innovative roof mounted solar projects in San Bernardino. The project consisted of 1,288 solar panels atop 100 units. 85% of its production will benefit residents directly and 15% will offset common area energy load, with the savings directed to help fund on-site employment. The solar facility will offset over 1500 kilowatt hours (kWh) per unit annually, reducing resident’s energy bills on average by 30% or $166/unit/year.

HACSB is monetizing the savings from the green energy generated on the common area meters and channeling those funds into the green job

HelioPower solar crew at Maplewood Homes, San Bernardino, CA

training programs now underway. HelioPower trained and hired two residents and one community member giving them the opportunity to learn a new trade and gain solar industry expertise. HelioPower also conducted workshops for residents of Maplewood Homes about the benefits of solar and energy efficiency, how it works, what it means for them, and other tips on reducing wasteful energy and water consumption.

“This project is the first of many that the Housing Authority is pursuing to show commitment to implementing green initiatives to increase sustainability and save energy, and provide on-going employment opportunities for its residents in the growing green-building industry,” states Susan Benner, HACSB’s President/CEO.

The renewable energy honorable mention 2011 winner was the BioFuels Energy LLC project, which took a wasted, environmentally damaging resource, in this case methane gas being flared at the City of San Diego Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Facility, and built a system to convert it to renewable energy.

“Each year we gather to honor the best and the brightest in the tax credit industry, and each year I’m amazed at the caliber of so many deserving projects; this year’s winners truly are members of an elite group,” said Michael J. Novogradac, managing partner of Novogradac & Company LLP. “It is heartening that there are so many deserving housing, historic and renewable energy tax credit developments being built to serve residents in need and, more broadly, serve communities in which they are located. I congratulate this year’s winners and invite all with a housing, historic and renewable energy development to enter next year.”

Full descriptions of the 13 projects winning Developments of Distinction Awards are available at http://www.novoco.com/low_income_housing/dod_awards/2011/index.php.  A video presentation of the renewable energy winners is available at http://www.novoco.com/low_income_housing/dod_awards/2011/renewable_energy.php.

by Glenna Wiseman
Vice President, Marketing, HelioPower

Children running in the grass.  Volunteers securing tents.  Dignitaries making their way to a donor’s reception. The many hands that have helped shape a sustainable community where once violence ran amuck all gathered last Thursday.  Those who have volunteered, supported and helped build this bright light of an affordable housing community in an oppressed neighborhood in San Diego came together to celebrate another milestone in the history of Las Serenas.  Las Serenas Goes Solar!

Donors, dignitaries, politicians, federal and state program representatives, construction partners and the community itself all rallied to help Community HousingWorks (CHW) celebrate another accomplishment for Las Serenas.

Las Serenas, on the border of National City and San Diego, is a shining example of the impact CHW has on communities as the rehabilitation of this 108-unit apartment complex transformed a formerly high-crime block into an attractive safe-harbor anchor in a struggling lower income community.  This time the cause for celebration was free solar energy for its tenants and the many tenant based benefits derived from a creative combination of state and federally funded initiatives.

In November 2009, CHW was awarded the first Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) Track 2 grant by the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) to install solar energy in the Las Serenas affordable housing community. CHW worked with HelioPower to develop and fulfill the Las Serenas project.

The grant funds provide free solar energy to the low-income families at Las Serenas. The program also provided residents with job training and educational support on all aspects of sustainable living.   The simultaneous  “green” apartment improvements grant from federal NeighborWorks funds provided  installation of low-e, dual paned windows, water-saving tub and kitchen fixtures, and related kitchen and bath repairs.

On Thursday, Community HousingWorks staff was joined by Congressman Bob Filner (D-Calif.),  NeighborWorks America CEO Eileen Fitzgerald,  Irene M. Stillings, CCSE Executive Director and solar installation partner, HelioPower, among many others to celebrate their solar and green building initiatives.

100% of the clean energy generated from the solar power system will benefit the Las Serenas tenants, offsetting on average 20% of their annual electricity bills.  Additional ‘green’ apartment improvements, funded through a grant from NeighborWorks America, will also lower tenant utility bills and create a more sustainable community.

Community HousingWorks President, Susan M. Reynolds spoke eloquently of the victories accomplished by her team and those at the

community itself, “Today we are celebrating the victory of our residents over those who would say we cannot be free from violence and despair,” she said.

Las Serenas tenant, Lillian Wellman, brought the benefits of the solar energy system to life when she spoke to the gathered crowd. “When I got my electric bill, I was so excited because I could afford my bill now,” said Lillian. “My first bill went from $60 a month to $36, which makes a huge difference for my family.”

“Look around you.  We are surrounded by energy.   And just about all of it comes from the Sun.   Wind comes through differential solar heating, hydroelectric power from the sun driven water cycle.  The food we eat – biofuels – calories – come from the Sun via plant photosynthesis.  Food is energy – human energy.  And Las Serenas is ultimately a story of energy,” said Tom Millhoff, Vice President of Business Development for HelioPower.

“We are surrounded by solar energy.  Some of it you can see. These 300 solar panels will produce about 100,000 kWh annually – enough to replace 76 tons of carbon dioxide– or the amount of C02 sequestered by a 15 acre pine forest.  You may see sleek black glass on these roofs… I see an urban forest and it’s beautiful.

These photovoltaic panels absorb photons – light – and that energy knocks loose electrons, which race through the panels and electrical

equipment, and every single kWh benefits Las Serenas residents… enough to reduce their electric bills by 20%.  The hardware you see is supported by software that monitors and measures the solar production and shows just how much clean solar energy is benefiting residents – you can see it today in the community center, and you’ll see it soon on the web.  But that’s just part of the story.

We are surrounded by human energy.  Creative, energetic and inspired people who’ve taken this effort far beyond a solar installation, and created a truly integrated energy initiative, who’s components include:

• Energy Workshops – conducted in both Spanish and English to increase resident awareness and appreciation of the benefits of solar & energy efficiency
• Ongoing Outreach – “Green” bi-lingual curriculum that teach residents how to live a more environmentally conscious life.
• Green Job Training and Job Creation – as part of this initiative HelioPower conducted solar installation workshops and hired Las Serenas residents to participate in the installation and get hands-on job training.
• Wireless Internet access – to improve this community’s communications and access to information and educational resources.
• Energy Monitoring – in the community center and soon on the web

This Las Serenas Clean Energy Initiative is a shining example of what can happen when the public, nonprofit and private sectors work together,” closed Millhoff.

At the solar celebration, CCSE presented CHW with its $412,000 rebate check for their MASH Track 2 initiative at Las Serenas.

Irene M. Stillings, CCSE Executive Director, started her remarks quoting the June 7^th New York Times Thomas Friedman column, “You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century — when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornadoes plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all — and ask ourselves: What were we thinking? How did we not panic when the evidence was so obvious that we’d crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once? The answer is denial.”

"But not in California, not in San Diego and not at Las Serenas," proclaimed Stillings.

To memorialize the day’s celebration, the children of Las Serenas created a storybook about solar at the community, which they presented as a thank you gift to Congressman Filner. “The families were able to use the gift from the sun to supply energy to their homes and lighten their burdens,” stated one young resident!

PHOTO CREDIT:  Maria Robinson, www.DRMPhotography.com

It is the world’s largest gathering for the agricultural market.  Celebrating its 44^th year, the World Ag Expo draws over 100,000 visitors, 80% of which come from California. The show opens next Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 9am in Tulare, CA and HelioPower will be there.  An integrated energy solutions company with over 1600 solar and clean energy systems engineered and installed since 2001, HelioPower will bring its agricultural energy experience to the expo. This year the company is offering an opportunity for commercial attendees to win a Samsung Galaxy tablet.

Agricultural industry attendees who sit down with HelioPower at the World Ag Expo could win a Samsung Galaxy. They will learn how leading industry companies are reducing their energy costs and how they can too!

The HelioPower team provides energy solutions to the agricultural market from the ground to the grocer.  The company’s industry clients include Sunnyland Mills, Valley Wide Beverage, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Giumarra Vineyards and Safeway.

The proprietary HelioPower energy analytics software puts clients in control of their energy costs. It empowers clients with actionable energy intelligence to lower their energy costs.  Energy analytics can be tracked in real time, online and via the Samsung Galaxy.

At the World Ag Expo, HelioPower will be in Pavilion C, booth location 3930.

Spend a few minutes with the HelioPower energy solutions experts at the World Ag Expo to learn how you can reduce your energy costs. You will see how some of the leading agricultural and food processing companies are saving money on their energy expenses and generating their own distributed clean energy. Then you will be registered for the HelioPower Samsung Galaxy give away! Meetings are taking place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the show.

For more information, disclaimers and restrictions please go to the HelioPower World Agriculture Expo promotion page.

With the plethora of renewable energy technologies hitting the market and their steady decrease in price, more corporations and businesses are beginning to consider on-site renewable energy generation. Companies of all sizes, with varied electricity needs, can tailor one or a combination of several renewable energy installations to fit the needs of the enterprise. There are multiple technologies to consider during the evaluation process and an in-depth cost/benefit analysis should be performed. Post-installation requires ongoing monitoring and maintenance, and thoughtful publicity to capitalize on the environmental and social benefits of the project.

The conference will be held on Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at the Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto, CA.  Bloom Energy’s,  Asim Hussain, Director of Product Marketing and Michael Bangs, PE, Director of Global Facilities of Adobe are also on the agenda which will be moderated by Jon Guice, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Research of AltaTerra Research Network. 

For more information and registration, see the Agrion registration site.

HelioPower will participate in the US Green Building Council – Inland Empire Chapter’s 1st Annual Inland Empire Green Building & Business Expo on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at The Frontier Project, a LEED Platinum facility at the Cucamonga Valley Water District headquarters in Rancho Cucamonga. The expo begins at 3:00 pm with the program running from 3:30 pm until 8 pm.

This green building event will join Inland Empire Municipal Policy Makers with local architects, engineers, contractors, developers, realtors and green product vendors with the intent to further the development of a sustainable and energy efficient future.

For registration please go to: http://usgbc-ie-gbbe10272010.eventbrite.com/

HelioPower’s Ty Jagerson joins the panel for The EcoGreen Group’s Sustainability Forum "Bridging the Energy Gap,” tonight at the Cisco Building in San Jose, CA.  The program starts at 5:30 pm and features California energy leaders and new technology entrepreneurs. 

Moderated by Eric Wesoff of Greentech Media, the panel includes Mike Arenson, President, Arenson Solar; James Hoffman, President of solar startup, Sun Synchrony; Noah Long, Energy Program Attorney, National Resources Defense Council; Marc St Raymond, Recurve and Mary Tucker, City of San Jose Environmental Services Department. 

The panel will explore the investment and innovation opportunities needed for California to meet the state's energy needs and the RPS goals for 2020 at an 'affordable' price.  It will explore:  What are the 2010 California needs vs. projected 2030 needs? What part of the gap will renewables be able to fill?  What policy and legislation are needed to bridge the gap? What is the impact of delaying the implementation of AB-32?  What are the investment and job growth opportunities in bridging the gap?

Ty Jagerson, recently named president of energy solutions firm, HelioPower, will address “Integrated Renewables: Building and Financing Profitable New Energy Solutions.”  As part of the panel, “Forward Looking Analysis of the Energy Gap” his subject will cover : Why and how a more integrated approach to renewables is needed;  PV: a key building block in the renewables mix;  Energy Efficiency: the lonely stepchild;  The role of finance in expanding clean energy and On the horizon for new technology solutions.

Startup company Sun Synchrony will talk about their solar-energy products based on their revolutionary ArcSol modular architecture of self-orienting CPV (concentrating photovoltaic) elements.

For more information and registration including onsite ticket sales, please go to the EcoGreen registration page at http://ecoggfallforum.eventbrite.com/

HelioPower Offers Upcoming Community Solar Events starting Tuesday, August 17

Are you curious if solar will help your family budget?  Maybe you've gone solar and would like your friends and family to enjoy the same benefits you are getting from solar? If yes is the answer for either question then we'd like to invite you to one of our upcoming solar community events.

Our solar community events are designed to be no-pressure, informational

The Needham's in Murrieta watch their meter spin backwards as solar by HelioPower cuts their electric bill.

style meetings.  They will give you, your friends and family members a chance to learn how solar works and if it can help you reduce or eliminate your electric bill.  As our utility bills continue to rise, freeing up the money spent on electricity can help your family's budget and return financial benefits for years to come.

Free community events will be conducted for solar information in San Diego, solar in Corona, solar in Redlands, solar in Valley Center and The Frontier Projects event for solar in Rancho Cucamonga. You can find out about the specific programs available in your region and if solar can assist you in reducing or eliminating your rising electric bill.

To reserve your seat at a solar community event near you click here or call us directly at 1 87-SOLAR-888.

One solar customer's story

From the Needhams’ in Murrieta, HelioPower solar power customers since 2006: Over the past few years we have been seeing our energy bills rise as much as 30% annually with no end in sight. Having always had a passion for energy conservation, we thought it was time to take action. When we heard about the state solar rebate that covers one third of the cost, the $2,000 federal tax credit (is now 30% no cap), and the instant increase in our property value… we figured that even at our age it was worth the investment.

After researching solar providers, we found HelioPower provided the best solar panels on the market and offered the lowest price. The installation was a treat for us. They were the most efficient and neatest installers we have ever seen in action. There was never any mess at the end of the day and it took a short 3 days to install. The panels blend nicely into our roof and if we did not brag about it so much, we doubt our neighbors would ever notice.

About six weeks later we received our rebate check from the state. Our panels were turned on April 19th, 2006 and we have not paid for electricity since. We LOVE to watch the meter run backward, especially with all the heat this past summer. We would recommend HelioPower to anyone interested in Solar Power.

Bill and Peggy Needham

Solar Home in Murrieta, CA

By Derek Girling

HelioPower Solar Energy Consultant

Like most of my colleagues at HelioPower, I joined the solar industry because of my concern for our environment.  As a recreational outdoorsman, I appreciate the need to escape the city and spend time in our undeveloped wilderness areas as often as possible. The more I understood the detrimental effects on both our environment and our health from conventional energy production, the more I wanted to be a part of the solution! With it’s proven technology, helping homeowners and businesses go solar is one of the fastest and best ways to make an impact.

Although the environment is what attracted me to solar, I find myself spending most of my time discussing money. While almost everyone would agree that we should be environmentally responsible, our own budgets usually are a big determinant in our ability to commit. Fortunately over the last few years, solar electricity generation has become affordable and an extremely attractive investment. Investment in the form of government tax credits and stakeholder subsidies has driven this cost reduction and prices are now the same or lower as utility rates in many parts of the country.

Economics aside, we must never forget the environment.

By almost every measure, the energy source that causes the greatestdestruction of our environment and degradation of our health is coal. Burning coal generates 54% of the electricity consumed in the U.S. (and 70% in China!) and virtually every step of the process including mining, transporting, burning, and disposing of the remnants represents an environmental as well as human catastrophe.

To start, the most economical method of getting to the coal is by using explosives to literally blow away the surface of earth covering the veins of coal. In 2006, 1.72 million metric tons of explosives were used for coal removal. The remaining contaminated earth is then pushed into adjacent areas destroying life and fouling nearby watersheds.

Next the coal must be broken up and transported via trucks to be burned at the power plants. This uses a tremendous amount of fossil fuel. The trucks also require new roads and introduce tons of exhaust fumes into the mountains of the mostly rural coal-rich areas. Burning the coal to generate electricity then releases millions of more tons of pollutants into the atmosphere. In fact, burning coal is the number one source of air-pollution in the US.

The coal industry, sensing a turning tide, markets the term “Clean Coal.” This is an oxymoron. Their theory is that scrubbers will remove many of the solid particulates that become airborne during combustion. These particulates are then collected into toxic slurry, which is then transported, again via truck to be buried underground further threatening groundwater supplies. Remarkably, some of this by-product called fly ash is used as a soil amendment!

Two recent events underscore the dangers of coal –  the billion ton sludge spill in Harriman, Tennessee in  20o8 and the West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 miners in April of this year. These events drive home the fact that coal is devastating to the environment and puts human life at risk. As James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Sciences, concludes phasing out emissions from coal “is 80% of the solution to the global warming crisis.”

By contrast, solar panels, once assembled and installed, passively sit in the sun producing electricity for decades and emit nothing!

Installing a solar power system today will not eliminate coal-generated

HelioPower solar installation team!

electricity. But millions of homes and businesses installing solar panels as well as other energy efficiency measures over the next decade will reduce our coal dependency significantly!

My mid-life career change into solar was motivated by my desire to positively effect our environment. Every system HelioPower brings online represents a step in the right direction.

We don’t have to drop what we’re doing and go back to the stone age; I’m a firm believer in the possibility of a future of sustainable energy and food sources, one that creates a future where our children enjoy an even higher quality of life than ours! However, to realize this future, we must assume responsibility and become part of the solution. Relatively small steps like eliminating bottled water, buying sustainable foods, and backyard composting, or more substantial commitments like installing solar panels on your home repeated hundreds of thousands and soon millions of times by concerned consumers will start this process. Don’t wait for your utility company or grocer to change their ways – you can help get this green ball rolling in the right direction right now!

Contact Derek at DGirling@HelioPower.com

Friday, May 28, 2010. An editorial reprinted from Green Builder Media by Sara Gutterman, CEO & Publisher.

To many people, Memorial Day means a hot barbeque, a much welcome three-day weekend, and the beginning of summer vacation. It's easy to forget the significance of the holiday, which, originally called Decoration Day, is a commemoration of U.S. citizens who died while in military service.

Memorial Day, originally enacted after the American Civil War, is an historical reminder of the virtues and values that our country has believed to be worth fighting for—equal rights, democracy, freedom.

This Memorial Day, I'd like to pay special homage to the individuals who have sacrificed their lives for the sake of our nation's current leading cause: energy. These courageous warriors have given us the tremendous gift our luxurious Western lifestyle.

In honor of the people have who died this past year in the explosion on the Deep Water Horizon, in collapsed mines, and on the battlefields of the Middle-East, I challenge each of us this Memorial Day weekend to determine what we can do to turn the tide in the losing battle for oil.

It's time to fight for a new kind of freedom—freedom from the tyranny and hypocrisy that enables terrorism; freedom from closed markets that enable the suppression of clean energy alternatives; freedom from the business greed that enables horrific disasters like the runaway BP oil spill.

It's time for our nation, and our global community, to add proper stewardship to the list of values that we hold dear. A religious man would say that this type of stewardship is our God-given right. A scientist would say that it is a responsibility that we need to respect in order to ensure the proper functioning of global environmental services. An atheist would say that it is simply good common sense.

It's time to enter into the Sustainability Age. Let us turn our swords into plowshares and our military might into creative ideas that will stimulate our economy and preserve our natural world.

Please write to me at sara@greenbuildermag.com with your thoughts about how we can win our energy wars.

For more information about clean, green "USA energy" generated from solar power please visit us at HelioPower.

Today from the Contra Costa Times, reporter HEATHER HACKING

The world is poised for the third industrial revolution, said economist Woodrow Clark, a keynote speaker at Butte College's third annual Sustainability Conference, which continues today.

Clark was among members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.

That effort, which included members from 130 countries, created greater understanding of man-made climate change and shared information about what remedies are needed.

Before the report to the United Nations, there was not consensus that climate change was due to human activity, and the United States (then under the Clinton Administration) provided the most vocal opposition to that idea.

With the report and stronger consensus among leaders across the globe, those protests have waned.

The second industrial revolution relied on fossil fuels and has lasted 100 years, Clark said during an afternoon presentation.

The third industrial revolution will involve renewable resources and "leveraging resources in a way that doesn't keep violating our environment," he said.

"We live in a world where what we do here impacts other parts of the world," and vice versa, he said.

And the way that developed countries use resources is affecting the world climate.

But things can change.

He used the example of Mongolia. The area is rich in coal, a resource used throughout the world for energy production. Clark said that current discussions are about "clean coal," which he said is an oxymoron.
Mongolia is intriguing because the area does not need to transition from coal to fossil fuels, he said.

Mongolia, with natural resources including wind, geothermal and sun, has the opportunity to leap-frog past the fossil fuel era and go right into what Clark envisions as the third industrial revolution.

He cited Germany, which most Americans do not realize is the leader in solar energy.

The country is cold and rainy, but the nation's willpower to use solar has put it at the top of the solar list.

He said the rest of the world should not wait to shift over to renewable resources merely because existing energy sources are cheaper right now.

The hybrid car is nothing new, Clark continued. However, as the use of automobiles grew there was a decision that fossil fuels would be the route taken.

"We have now reached the peak of oil and gas" supplies, Clark said, showing charts of current dwindling supplies.

Some people argue that nuclear power generation is the next step, but there, too, known supplies are dwindling. Clark's slides stated that uranium supplies would only last another 61 years.

The current state of resources "allows us to all have a paradigm change," he continued.

Recent history has shown us that supply-side economics does not work, Clark said. If it did, the current economic recession would not have hit world leaders by surprise.

Another recent economic disaster was California's energy reform, which was, in theory, to increase competition and lower prices. Instead, profits for energy suppliers skyrocketed, Clark noted.

He lauded the community colleges, including Butte, that have invested in renewable energy and have not waited for the rest of the world to lead the way.

Businesses, such as the car industry, have failed to capitalize on new innovations. As an example, Clark pointed to technology used in the Toyota Prius. The car has a regenerative braking system, developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, which allows the battery to be recharged through the vehicle's braking system.

The U.S. auto industry was given first right of refusal on the technology, he said.

Now, Japan is selling the Prius to consumers in the United States.

"We have to stop this," he said.

He predicted China will soon become the biggest producer of electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Clark also said that the current energy grid system, with central production and mass distribution, should become history.

For renewable energy, different technologies should not be isolated, but can be considered as a whole, he said. Each building can be considered for how it can be self-sustaining — solar panels on roofs, wind generators along freeways.

Other options, not yet fully developed, could include anaerobic digesters that create fuel from waste products.

He also said in California, water districts could be working with the energy sector on how to move water while generating power.

Clark also criticized the state government leadership. Four years ago, the state had Proposition 98 on the ballot, which narrowly failed in a state vote. The measure would have taxed oil and gasoline in ways similar to what is done in Texas and Oklahoma.

If that had been done, the state would have an estimated $4 billion to $6 billion in tax revenue, he said.

Instead, the state is now bankrupt, Clark continued. "Chevron funded the opposition."

He also was critical of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's actions to lower automobile licensing fees, which would have generated billions in revenue.

For a national approach to a new energy path, Clark said he would like to see the president create a new department of sustainability. This would take an overall look at things such as energy, agriculture, transportation, defense, economics and the environment, so that these issues do not overlap, and all have a sustainable goal.

Clark's book "Qualitative Economics: Toward a Science of Economics," was published in 2008. His next work "Sustainable Communities" will be published in November.