Transition to Green

Cleaner ways to produce and use energy will lead to a stronger economy, leaders of environmental groups said Tuesday.

The recommendations from 29 of the nation's most prominent environmental and conservation groups emphasized a clean-energy approach to economic revitalization.

Leaders of the groups rejected the idea that fighting global warming and protecting the environment would be too expensive in an economic downturn.

Our economy is suffering and so is our environment. The solutions to both go hand in hand.

The report said the stimulus plan was an opportunity to invest in things such as mass transit, renewable energy and weatherization — all of them sources of new jobs.

One of the biggest sources of jobs would be weatherizing homes and buildings to save energy. Studies show that about 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are from wasted energy in buildings.

There also would be jobs in building a new grid to move electricity from solar and wind installations to cities. We have the last century's patchwork of antiquated technology that wastes about a quarter of the energy from coal-fired power plants along the electricity transmission lines.

The full report, "Transition to Green," is available on a joint Web site of the 29 groups.