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U.S. Government 2014

VIEW Proposals
Proposal creation

CoLab members create proposals

Mar 9, 2014 08:00 EDT - Jul 20, 2014 11:59 EDT
Semi-Finalist selection
Expert judges select semi-finalists

Jul 21, 2014 12:00 EDT - Aug 5, 2014 08:00 EDT
Proposal revisions
Semi-finalists can improve their proposals

Aug 5, 2014 08:01 EDT - Aug 16, 2014 11:59 EDT
Finalist selection
Expert judges select finalists

Aug 16, 2014 08:00 EDT - Sep 3, 2014 12:59 EDT
Voting period
Public Voting Period

Sep 3, 2014 12:00 EDT - Oct 2, 2014 12:00 EDT
Winners awarded
Winners are announced for the Judges’ and Popular Choice Awards

Oct 2, 2014 12:01 EDT
What new actions or policies can the U.S. government agencies implement to mitigate climate change?

The United States is the world’s second largest carbon emitter. If we are going to tackle climate change, the U.S. government must take initiative. Although Congress is not passing many laws, the executive branch of federal agencies is showing a willingness to act. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is regulating power plant emissions, the Department of Energy (DOE) is advancing clean energy technologies, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is increasing vehicle fuel economy.

Washington D.C. think tank Third Way thinks there’s much more that U.S. federal agencies can do to mitigate climate change, particularly agencies besides the DOE. Consider that, as a whole, the U.S.government is the single largest energy user in the country, with the largest fleet of vehicles, the most building space, and by far the most land. With their ability to regulate and their procurement power, federal agencies have a significant opportunity to drive innovation and shift the market, especially in the energy sector. This contest seeks new and innovative actions or internal policies that U.S. federal agencies can implement to mitigate climate change. Click here for contest details.

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28 Proposals
A people-funded green energy revolution that reconnects people to energy and repositions the US as a global leader
Development of a licensing process for advanced nuclear reactors will enable the rapid deployment of GigaWatt-scale clean nuclear energy.
USG agencies support for Marine Bio-Energy and Carbon Sequestration (MBECS) development/demand can be achieved through established programs.
Transforming solar power into a benefit that any company can offer to its workforce.
Postal vehicles of 1990 vintage get about 9 miles per gallon; their flat buildings are perfect for solar--the USPS needs resources to change
Raise fees for extracting carbon-based fuels from public lands to at least the social price of carbon as first step to phasing out its use
Federal agencies should require all diesel-engine vehicles on US Govt funded projects to have black carbon filters, chargeable to project
Prove by calculate absorbCO2/creatO2 of plants before/after we build buildings . Prove environmental laws is wrong by data .
How could capitalism deliver a just, fair and genuinely sustainable world?
The BLM should include climate damages in estimating the Fair Market Value of auctions of fossil fuels extracted on Federal and Indian lands
Tipping the balance towards creating hurricanes and tornadoes will naturally counter the thermal effects of greenhouse gas emissions.
We need a national HVDC grid to bring wind power from the plains and solar power from the SW to every corner of the lower 48 states.
Everything you see in here today has been created with fossil fuels. Yet the greatest form of energy goes Over Looked. It is Kinetic Energy.
Asphalt is very HOT during daytime hours when the sun is out. Transfer that heat energy into mechanical energy then into electrical energy.
Thermal energy & kinetic energy conversion of the Gulfstream to lower Co2 GHG emissions anywhere between 300ppm/350 ppm in 20 years.
Industrial plants waste tons of water that is still hot and has a lot of energy left in it. My idea converts that waste heat to electricity.
Use heat from solar cells to make electricity making the solar cell produce more watts per square foot.
Use stack gas temperature to run a Rankine Heat Engine to produce electrical power and reduce GHG's.
Install large turbines above stacks of fossil fuel plants to rotate for power prodution using the velocity of exit gases & heat energy
Use exhaust heat from internal combustion engine exhaust system to run a closed cycle Rankine Heat engine to make electrical power.
Use condenser & plant cooling water to run a heat engine like those that run a ocean thermal energy conversion OTEC rankine cycle engine
Internal Combustion engines use combustion forces to move drive train of automobiles.My idea uses the wasted heat to move drive train too.
The US Government needs restructuring to assimilate,integrate,prioritize, and implement plans, policies, budgets, and programs to fight AGW.
To increase support for climate legislation, engineer a less partisan Congress by giving redistricting power to the minority Party.
Protection of existing forests and social greenary promotion will help the ecosystem adoptably running.Air and water pollution decrsed/tech.
We are about to obliterate 60% to 80% of life on Earth, what can be done if shutting down the whole global economy is not an option?
In disasters like Katrina, federal help may be slow in coming. But what if everyone was already prepared?
Front page news: US Fish & Wildlife Service Habitat Restoration Programs Create 3,973 New Jobs, Pump $327.7 Million into Local Economies