GOUVERNEUR GRÜN

August 2006 - GG signs his Million Solar Roofs Plan into law. Known as the California Solar Initiative, it will provide 3,000 MWs of additional clean energy and reduce the output of greenhouse gases by more than two million tons. The more than $GREEN$3,000,000 incentive plan for homeowners and building owners who install solar electric systems will lead to one million solar roofs in California by the year 2017.

September 2008 - GG signs two laws that begin a shift in California toward a strong focus on green chemistry. Assembly Bill 1879 will establish and define California's Environmental Protection Agency's and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control's oversight of hazardous chemicals and the everyday products in which they are contained. These bills begin building the nation's most comprehensive green chemistry program based on science.

October, 2008 - GG installs the last of 1,727 solar panels on the rooftop of the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. The 345 kilowatt photovoltaic solar system covers 24,196 square feet of the arena's rooftop and is the latest green action taken by the STAPLES management team. GG tours the Contessa Manufacturing Plant, the first frozen food facility in the world to be certified as a green building under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. The plant has waterless urinals that will save 200,000 gallons of water each year and solar panels the length of two football fields on its rooftop. GG has set a goal of increasing California's renewable energy sources to 20 percent by 2010, and he supports reaching 33 percent by 2020. Also, GG announces that California has partnered with SunEdison to provide a zero-emission 8 megawatt solar photovoltaic system to power 15 California State University campuses.

March 3, 2009 - GG is this year’s guest of honor at the CeBIT fair and kicks off the world's biggest high-tech fair Tuesday, telling executives to seize the economic crisis as a moment to shape up and go "green.” GG toured stands with Chancellor Angela Merkel and dropped by IBM's booth. GG said that as the information technology sector's carbon footprint grows larger by the year, now is the time to promote more energy efficiency to cut costs as well as reduce emissions. "The only way we can move forward is not just with the will but with the technology." GG came to the fair with fifty firms from California, most from the valetudinarian (had to do that) Silicon Valley.

GG and Mrs. GG at the 20th anniversary premiere of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, in Los Angeles.