Dear EarthTalk: Since Obama took office, have any new incentives been put in place for homeowners looking to increase energy efficiency and reduce the overall environmental footprints of their homes?

In fact, yes. Homeowners can get up to $1,500 back from the federal government for any number of energy efficiency upgrades at home. If you upgrade to energy efficient insulation, windows, doors, heating, air conditioning or water heaters between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010, you are eligible for a tax credits of up to 30 percent of product costs.

The credit is capped at $1,500 combined; meaning it only applies to $5,000 in total costs. More details are available at the website of the Tax Incentives Assistance Project, a coalition of public interest nonprofit groups, government agencies and other organizations focused on energy efficiency.

Of course, the Obama administration is also thinking long term, and would like to leave its mark in furthering efforts to wean ourselves off foreign oil and increase our production and use of homegrown clean renewable energy. In light of such priorities, tax credits are also available for 30 percent of the cost—with no upper limit—on the installation of renewable energy equipment at home, such as geothermal heat pumps, solar panels, solar hot water heaters, small wind energy systems and fuel cells.

Homeowners won’t get the money back when they initially pay for equipment or upgrades, but they can add the credit amount to their overall tax refund, or deduct it from what they owe, when filing their federal income tax forms at the end of the year. Unlike tax deductions, which merely lower the total amount of taxable income, tax credits reduce dollar-for-dollar the amount of tax owed.

Homeowners should know that they can also get federally backed mortgages to pay for a variety of energy efficiency measures, including renewable energy technologies, on their new or existing homes. The federal government supports these loans by insuring them through the Federal Housing Authority or Veterans Affairs programs, allowing borrowers who might otherwise not qualify to pursue upgrades, and securing lending institutions against loan default.

Don’t own a home? Depending upon make and model, you can get between $250 and $3,400 back from the federal government for buying or leasing a new hybrid or high efficiency diesel automobile. And the automakers themselves—through their own “Automotive Stimulus Plan”—are giving consumers up to $4,500 back on the purchase of a new or used vehicle that gets gas mileage of at least two miles per gallon better than their old model.

A number of new energy-efficiency incentives are also available at the state level across the country. The Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy website provides up-to-date listings of what may be available in your neck of the woods. With so much encouragement, how could you not want to go green?

CONTACTS: Tax Incentives Assistance Project, www.energytaxincentives.org; Automotive Stimulus Plan, www.automotivestimulus.org; Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy, www.dsireusa.org.

SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. EarthTalk is now a book! Details and order information at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalkbook.

Check it out! I just started putting together a store for The Good Human, filled with all sorts of natural products, reusable bottles, etc. – It’s not done yet, but it’s getting there!

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4. The Stimulus Package And Green Jobs.
5. Summary Of The Waxman-Markey Climate Bill: American Clean Energy and Security Act.

Today is Blog Action Day – a day where almost 9,000 9,400 bloggers around the world get together to write on one single topic in the hope of creating a new awareness. The topic this year is Poverty. And while I could write a thesis on the subject and how its impact is felt around the world by both the poor and wealthy alike (in different ways), I wanted to talk about poverty as it relates to our current economic crisis here at home. I read a quote the other day that went as follows:

That says so much doesn’t it? Here we have the bankers on Wall Street and the wealthiest Americans crying wolf, and the government jumps to attention to bail them out. Over 70% of the population did not want to fund this bailout because they knew it would do nothing for the regular people and only help out the banks and the wealthy. But Congress did it anyway, and is taking $700 billion of our tax dollars and “saving” the banks and CEO’s. However, each and every day in this country, there are people going hungry, children in failing schools, people living on the street, and 46 million without health insurance. Why is it that we don’t hear their cries? Why is it that there isn’t $700 billion to help these people? It is amazing to me that the wealthiest country on earth (well, up until maybe 2 weeks ago) cannot manage to come up with a few million or billion dollars to help those who need help each and every single day, but can manage to “find” $700+ billion to give to banks and CEO’s. I understand that a lot of people have been losing money in the market; I have lost quite a bit myself. And for those nearing retirement, these are scary times indeed. But the collapse is the fault of these banks and mortgage companies that got greedy, and now they are getting bailed out with our money. Poor people? Never mind them, we can’t hear them – we can ignore them completely. This goes on around the world on a daily basis, and just because you cannot see or hear them does not mean they doesn’t exist.

In honor of Blog Action Day 2008, I will be donating any and all advertising income from all my sites to Kiva.org, which is one of the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending websites, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. These entrepreneurs use their loans to start businesses that lift them and their communities out of poverty. If you would like to donate as well, please check out the Blog Action Day Lending Team.

Check it out! I just started putting together a store for The Good Human, filled with all sorts of natural products, reusable bottles, etc. – It’s not done yet, but it’s getting there!

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EarthTalk is a weekly installment from E/The Environmental Magazine.

Dear EarthTalk: I want to offer my employees a 401(k) plan that is socially and environmentally responsible. Are there such plans and, if so, where do I look?

Even though socially responsible investing (SRI) has been around for decades, only recently have some companies begun to offer their employees greener options for 401(k) retirement investment accounts.

According to Rona Fried of SustainableBusiness.com, SRI options for retirement plans are still only offered to about 20 percent of employees, but that’s changing fast. One survey found that more than two-thirds of employees want such choices. And a 2007 survey by the Social Investment Forum found that 60 percent of benefit plan sponsors polled plan to include SRI options for retirement funds by 2010.

Retirement accounts are big business in the U.S.: Some 50 million Americans have invested $2.5 trillion in 401(k) plans to date. With so few SRI options out there now and employees eager to make their savings work for the environment, greener 401(k) plans are sure to take a bigger and bigger slice of the pie moving forward. “It’s a matter of simple supply and demand,” says Paul Hilton of Calvert Funds, which currently offers one SRI retirement fund option but plans to add two more within the next couple of years. “Corporations are responding to the increasing desire of Americans to invest with their values.”

Right now health care and government agencies are those most likely to include an SRI option for employees’ retirement accounts, but a handful of large companies have gotten in on the act as well. For instance, chipmaker Intel began offering its employees an SRI retirement plan option eight years ago.

“In 2000, we were trying to create a culture of corporate social responsibility and it made sense for us to practice what we preach by including this option in our retirement plan,” says Dave Stangis, Intel’s director of corporate responsibility. “In addition, Intel itself is a top holding in many SRI mutual funds and we wanted to reinforce that with our employees. It’s a way for us to be a role model.”

Still, most plans give employees only a limited number of funds to choose from, often from Calvert and another SRI mutual fund leader, Domini. Both firms ply the three main tenets of SRI: (1) rigorous research to assess the social and environmental integrity of companies being considered for inclusion in an investment portfolio; (2) using investors’ positions as stockholders (i.e. owners) of companies invested in to advocate for good corporate citizenship (often through the introduction of corporate resolutions); and (3) channeling affordable credit to needy communities ill-served by traditional lenders to rebuild neighborhoods and create jobs. SRI funds are also increasingly making “early stage” investments in new companies on the cutting edge of environmental progress, such as alternative energy companies.

In order to help diversify the marketplace for SRI retirement plans, consultant Rob Thomas started Social(k) in 2005 to offer companies a full array of SRI options for their 401(k) plans. Social(k) offers 140 different SRI funds from which employees at participating companies can choose. Thomas’s goal is to offer as many funds as possible and become the one-stop shop for retirement investing. Companies can offer either Social(k) alone, or as a secondary option alongside an existing 401(k) plan.

CONTACTS: SustainableBusiness.com, www.sustainablebusiness.com; Calvert Funds, www.calvert.com; Domini Social Investments, www.domini.com; Social(k), www.socialk.com.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881 USA; submit it at EarthTalk; or e-mail us. Read past columns at our archives.

Check it out! I just started putting together a store for The Good Human, filled with all sorts of natural products, reusable bottles, etc. – It’s not done yet, but it’s getting there!

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Congratulations to the winners of the 2 Envirosax kids reusable bags!

The winner of the pink pig bag, Christina, had this to say – “My kids would be thrilled with either one! The Envirosax I use for shopping are a bit too big for my little ones to carry so these would be perfect. They love to help, and why not encourage eco-friendliness from the start?! My kids and I never leave the house without something we need to haul around and having their own special bag that they can carry would be a great help to me too.”

The winner of the dinosaur patterned bag had this to say – “I know my son would love the dinosaur envirosax. His mom and I are always teaching him the importance of the 3 Rs and about doing all he can to lessen his negative impact on the environment. When we go shopping, he almost always reminds us to grab the “greenie” bags from the trunk. I think having a specialized one of his own would make him super happy.”

You will be receiving an email from me regarding this, so please reply with your mailing address so I can get these bags out to you. And thanks to Envirosax for letting me give these away!

Check it out! I just started putting together a store for The Good Human, filled with all sorts of natural products, reusable bottles, etc. – It’s not done yet, but it’s getting there!

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1. Announcing The Winner Of Revolution in a Bottle: How TerraCycle Is Redefining Green Business.
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4. And The Winners Of DisneyNature’s “Earth” Are…