Solar Future Bright In California

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 20, 2009 at 11:44 AM PST

The future looks bright for solar power in the nation and San Diego County under an Obama Administration. An energy official expects California will be one of the state's gaining from the federal sti

The future looks bright for solar power in the nation and San Diego County under an Obama Administration. An energy official expects California will be one of the state's gaining from the federal stimulus plan. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce explains.

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The incoming administration wants to spur the development of renewable energy - to reduce the country's dependence on imported oil and to create jobs.

In his inauguration speech, President Barack Obama says he wants to harness the sun's energy.

Andrew McAllister of the California Center For Sustainable Energy says it's likely the federal stimulus package will provide financial incentives for businesses and homeowners converting to solar energy systems.

McAllister: There's a lot of energy efficiency that's planned for that, there's sort of linking to job creation, weatherization; stimulating local economies to provide the kinds of services that are going to pay clean energy dividends down the road is a really excellent thing to be investing in.

McAllister says federal incentives will reduce costs even more in California.

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That's because a new state law allows homeowners and businesses to get low-interest financing to install solar energy systems.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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