recession

Tips for managing a green business during a downturn

consumers say they'll use more coupons during downturn

Today the Bank of England joined the race to the bottom on the interest rate scale - a 0.25% rate cut - not quite as dramatic as the Fed but then the BoE doesn't have to care about people - only inflation.

Perhaps the scariest aspect of the recession lurking on the edges of the economy is whether it will cause corporate cost-cutters to move in and trim away all the good green initiatives that have recently taken root in companies.

Roger Ballentine, President of Green Strategies Inc., and former environmental adviser to President Bill Clinton,  is interviewed on the growing marketplace forgreen technology, the investment environment for such technologies and discusses climate change regulation in the United States and worldwide.

Community Commerce Centers provide a systemic solution for the problem of reducing the energy cost of getting workers to their workplace, which reduces greenhouse emissions while also reducing taxes that would otherwise be used for infrastructure construction and the cost of reducing roadway congestion. In addition, Community Commerce Centers provide the opportunity for increased growth in commercial and residential construction not only in larger metropolitan population areas but also smaller population areas.

New bipartisan legislation helps forests by reducing fire risk and will restore jobs to rural areas hard-hit by the recession. The bill could also boost localized biofuel production. Sounds like just what the country needs.

Mark Wolfe, Executive Director, National Energy Assistance Directors Association, is interviewed about how rising energy prices is making it harder for low-incomeAmericans to pay their home heating and cooling bills. He also talks about efforts in Congress and the states to deal with the problem.

Economist Doug Reynolds discusses the effect that peak oil will have on the US economy.

How else will the destructive effects of growth be stopped?

However hard governments might work to reduce carbon emissions, they are battling the tide of economic growth. While the rate of growth in the use of energy declines as an economy matures, no country has yet managed to reduce energy use while raising gross domestic product. A recession in the rich nations might be the only hope we have of buying the time we need to prevent runaway climate change.

Amid turmoil in the housing market, there are opportunities, as well as challenges, for greens and those who want to protect open space. Will we see more green building to increase value and energy efficiency? Or will an economic downturn mean people abandon going green?