Though England did solar wrong just a month ago, the country has made up for it with a thrilling swath of renewable incentives that show the UK's commitment to working to meet its green house gas reduction goals. Among other things, the UK’s new greenhouse gas blueprint boasts:

- money for businesses that invest in green energy

- longer-term tax incentives

- a higher price for energy sold back to the grid

- removing red tape that stifles projects

- an increase in waste diversion to biomass generators

- incentives and plans for grid expansion and interconnects

- plan to quicken the pace of grid infrastructure development

Some worry that the plan is little more than that -- a plan that is likely to lead to little or no action.  Others are concerned that it is an effort to circumvent EU standards. Personally, I think that it's good, no matter what.

The news of the UK plan came on the same day that the California Air Resource Board released a draft scoping plan for California’s climate change implementation plan of AB 32. In the end, we are talking about important but moderate percentages -- between 15 and 30% reductions over 12 years -- but the pace and the urgency of institutional change is promising. I recall hearing peak oil extremists talking about how all was lost unless a huge numbers of things happened immediately.  The great thing is, a huge number of things ARE happening immediately.