For Immediate Release: Eco Investment Club San Diego Reaches Across Various Industries to Establish the First Annual Green Leaders Week July 21st - 25th, 2008

San Diego -- July 4, 2008 San Diego and Los Angeles Eco Investment Club Chapters are organizing a week-long buffet of events for investors, who are interested in getting face-to-face time with the Green leaders of southern California. “Everyday consumers” are invited to enjoy the week’s series of educational events, each with different times, locations, and topics of interest. Attendees will also be delighted by Eco Caters, a 100% organic catering company and sponsor.

Eco Investment Club San Diego -- Our mission is to support the progression of the Green Movement in San Diego by promoting Sustainable businesses, education, networking, relationship building, and Eco Investing, which ultimately drives the Green Economy. Our objective for “Green Leaders Week” is to effectively exhibit the most accomplished and influential “Green Leaders” throughout the Southern California region. Sponsorship opportunities are available, including affordable options for small companies. Companies interested in participating in Green leader’s Week should email Yeves Perez for more information: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it A schedule of events will be continuously updated on the Club’s homepage, www.ecoinvestmentclub.com, beginning on Wednesday July 9, 2008.

By Jan Schalkwijk, Guest Writer

JPS Global Investments

May 9th, 2008
Opportunities to invest in the water sector exist in three general areas: water as a source of power, the treatment of water for irrigation or human consumption purposes, and the efficient use & conservation of available fresh water sources. As sea levels rise and droughts in certain areas of the world increase, water scarcity is becoming an ever more urgent issue. Considering that the world’s bodies of water cover over 70% of the planet’s surface, one has to ask the question how we can use these large bodies of water; both for power generation and human consumption.

To-date technology has struggled with converting salt water to fresh water through the process of desalination. Desal plants have long faced opposition due to concerns over environmental impact and the significant expenses incurred to separate out the salt, to arrive at drinkable water. Only a small number of desal plants have been built to date, and most of them in the Middle East, where energy and money flow freely. Yet, it is undeniable that the oceans harbor an enormous potential to address the issue of water scarcity.

In the western Australian city of Perth, a desalination plant opened in 2006, is challenging the old barriers to a sustainable solution. The plant, which cost $360 million to construct, takes in 50,000 gallon a minute, to produce 25,000 gallons of drinkable water. This accounts for 20% of the city’s demand. The beauty lies in the fact that the plant is powered primarily by a wind farm. It is also able to run more cheaply than traditional plants, due to new technologies that separate the salt more efficiently. A second plant is under construction.

Meanwhile, back in San Diego, a similar project is in the works.

By Josh Gelfand

March 30th, 2008

To paraphrase Gordon Gekko, the hyper-aggressive investor antagonist played by Michael Douglas in the 1987 film Wall Street, “Green, for lack of a better word, is good.” Sure, he had a different letter on the end of the first word, but, in the context of what I’m writing about, I’d rather go with green than greed. Besides, those of us in the eco-conscious business sector believe we can meet our financial desires while balancing the effects of our decisions on the environment and the community at large. To make a city green, you need drive and you need determination, but unlike Mr. Gekko, you need cooperation and integration as well. We are trying to make San Diego as green a city as we can, so we need to ask ourselves, are we on the right path? Are we really working together, as a community, to lay the foundations for a truly sustainable future in “America’s Finest City?” Can we become “America’s Greenest City?”

First we have to look at what makes a city “green.” The concept is up to interpretation, especially considering how new a concept it is, and the definition is constantly evolving. But for the sake of this discussion, let’s use the parameters used by Popular Science magazine in their February, 2008 article entitled, “America’s 50 Greenest Cities.”

By Jan Schalkwijk, Guest Writer

JPS Global Investments

On December 19^th, the Energy Bill was signed into law in Washington, D.C. Around the same time, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali came to a close, with the United States signing on to a post-Kyoto agreement to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On the surface, these were two positive developments. However, critics lament that the changes are not drastic enough to meaningfully address the issue of climate change.

U.S. Congress takes a small "green" step

Republicans stall environment-friendly energy bill in Senate
Sunday December 16th, 2007 (this YouTube video came out days before the Energy Bill was passed)

Note: Brendan Bell is the Washington lobbyist for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The Bali agreement lacked specificity, but the Energy Bill contains some concrete directives. Most notably, fuel economy standards will increase to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 and the incandescent light bulb will be phased out. These achievements came at great cost: there are no further specific mandates requiring utilities to increase their renewable energy mix and oil companies get to keep their lofty subsidies. Let’s examine the fuel economy standards. In my view, 35 miles per gallon does not equate to setting the bar very high. Currently, Europe and Japan are over 40 mpg already and are requiring efficiency levels in the high 40s by 2012 and 2015 respectively. China is looking for 35 mpg in 2009. Our promise of 35 mpg by 2020 is akin to a kindergartener promising to learn his ABCs by the time he enters 6th grade. It’s a start, but we need to be more ambitious.