Last Friday, the California legislature approved a new renewable energy standard for the state requiring 33 percent of its electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020, but Governor Schwarzenegger has vowed to veto it.

The good news is that it's not the size of the clean energy standard that the governor has an issue with, it's the part of the bill that requires two-thirds of that energy to be generated in-state.  Schwarzenegger plans to issue an executive order that also calls for a portfolio of 33 percent renewble energy by 2020, but puts no limit on the amount of clean energy the state can import.  It's possible that he will also expand the definition of "clean energy" to include nuclear and hydroelectric power.

One downside of this portfolio standard coming as an executive order is that it may no longer be binding when Schwarzenegger leaves office in 2010.  He's supposed to issue the order by the end of the week.

Either way, California will end up with the largest renewable energy standard in the country.  The state is already requiring its largest utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010 - a goal none of them are likely to meet.  One of those utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric, only got 6.1 percent of it electricity from clean sources last year.

via LA Times

Six colleges and universities are participating in a pilot program using the Kindle for accessing textbooks.  Princeton University, the University of Virginia, Case Western Reserve University, Reed College, Pace University and Arizona State University are all testing the technology in select courses this fall.

In May, Amazon announced its launch of a new version of the Kindle (the Kindle DX) with a larger screen designed for textbook and periodical reading and a better web browser.  This pilot program is putting the new e-reader directly in the hands of its intended market.

The colleges are hoping the pilot program will lead to another way for them to increase their sustainability by reducing their use of printed paper.  Textbooks and other course materials will be made available online for the classes and students selected to use the Kindles.

This idea is great, but mainly because textbooks and course materials should be available electronically at all schools for all classes, whether they're accessed by a Kindle, a laptop or on a computer at the library.  It seems like that conversion is long overdue for textbook makers and universities.  The universities participating are ones that have a bit of influence, so let's hope that if they adopt electronic course materials, others will quickly join them.

via Green Inc.