Joint efforts for a greener California

Lina from the Beyond Blond Team says;
Finally back in L.A. where the SACC E-days' cluster on Entertainment has a one-day program in Fox International. We will soon head over to the residence for the film networking reception, but I wanted to share some interesting numbers with you that James Boyd, vice-chair of California Energy Commission gave in his speech in San Diego on Monday: 8, 37, 27, 2, 12 and 3. (No, the speech was not about the next Super Lotto...)

According to James Boyd, California is currently the world's 8th largest economy with a population of 37 million people and 27 million (!) motor vehicles. The pollution from transportation vehicles has led to California becoming the 2nd largest emitter of greenhouse gas in the US and the 12th largest in the world. Because of this problem, the governor and his administration developed a 3-part strategy to encourage a) reduced travel, b) advanced technology and c) alternative fuels. That is why they are interested in working with Sweden in the field of environment and energy.

In June 2006, California and Sweden signed a Science and Technology agreement for cooperative RD&D. (In our internal office lingo we call it a MoU, which is short for "Memorandum of Understanding"). Another agreement followed in June 2007. Anna Carin in our office has been working actively on the implementation of the agreements and will give more information on the MoU at a later stage.

Now we must hurry to the film reception in Beverly Hills. It is a 30 minute drive from the office in Westwood, so we should all try to car pool...