While we continue to work through technical difficulties at the event site (technology is great but sometimes can be a headache) we are still listening intently to the presentations and discussions taking place at the Cleantech Forum in Washington DC.  They’re focused on the future of the environment and new technologies that are instrumental to the rather large effort to reduce humanity’s carbon footprint.   There was a mention of the disadvantage people in rural areas have because of their inability to get to their job without driving. Telecommuting over broadband networks can allow people to perform their job at the same level without ever leaving their home, even in rural areas. Increased access to broadband for these rural areas would allow more people the flexibility in their work that people in urban settings experience. This would make staying near home or in the area of their choice more of a possibility.  Access to robust, high-speed Internet networks over broadband is the starting point of making that concept a reality.  More to come …

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NextGenWeb was in Denver today checking out the Green Frontier Fest.  We saw tons of new technologies and services that are helping people limit their carbon foot print. Energy is sure to be a major talking point at this years DNC.

Ok…so people seem to be on one side or the other in the energy debate… those who want to drill our way out of the crisis and those who want to drill oil speculators. 

Staying out of this debate… but, we think there is another way of looking at our energy consumption issue.  And, tapping this resource will not only help relieve high gasoline prices, but also help preserve the environment.

The solution is simple: We need to use our growing broadband networks to replace more of the physical world with the virtual world. 

Telecommuting is probably the most thought of “broadband substitution.”  Everyone working from home two days a week equals 1.35 billion (yes billion) gallons of fuel a year.  That means reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 1 billion tons over 10 years. And that equals 10% of all the oil we import each year. 

And, there’s teleconferencing. That reduces another 200 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions over 10 years.  Buying things online.. 36 percent less air pollution, 23 percent less hazardous waste, and nearly 10 percent less greenhouse gases than traditional shopping.  View and pay your bills online… sit on the couch… and save 16 million trees a year.

There is no debate that we need more good ideas and approaches.  We have all finally come to accept that the virtual world works conveniently and efficiently.  We use email (saving 4 million trees). We read news online (there goes 60 million tons of CO2 emissions). 

But, utilizing broadband more means we need more infrastructure.  We can debate where we stand… but the bottom line is… we need more infrastructure.   That costs money.  The government doesn’t have $60 billion a year to put into it.  Yep, that is what all those companies you love to hate (and not just the big guys by the way) spent just this year in building this stuff out.  That is twice as much that U.S. taxpayers spent on the entire interstate highway system and NASA’s man-on-the-moon program combined.  And, the amount is expected to hold steady through at least 2011.

Yep, we need more broadband… to help our environment… address our other challenges. It’s a good time to think about it.  And, make the debate real.

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If you’d prefer not to sit in traffic for hours on end each day (and pay over $4 per gallon to fill up your tank) then read this blog!  As the Washington Post pointed out on Sunday, people more and more are starting to take advantage of telecommuting options.  Over broadband connections to the Internet, workers can log-on from telework centers closer to where they live and spend more time at home with their families while still staying on top of their work responsibilities.   Quick recap … significant cost-savings at the gas pump, more time with my kids, while maintaining productivity at work.  Where do I sign!

Sunday’s Post article points to some great aspects of telecommuting and reasons why more and more Americans are ditching their cars in favor of working from home.  An important caveat however is missing from the article – and that is without BROADBAND telecommuting would not exist.  High-speed, high-capacity connections to the Internet allow 21st century workers to stay productive at home, at a local telework center or at any connected coffee or sandwich shop down the street. 

Thanks to $60 billion in communications infrastructure investments last year and another round of $60 billion this year by nearly 1,400 ISPs currently operating in the United States,  people are now able to save money, increase their productivity, and lessen their carbon footprint, all simultaneously. 

Now, with a promise of increased cost savings and productivity, many employers are embracing the benefits of telecommuting. Some have taken a huge step in the right direction, such as the federal government’s General Services Administration, which recently announced a plan “to have 50 percent of its eligible employees telecommuting from home or at a center at least one day a week by the end of 2010.”

Want to learn more about the benefits of telecommuting and the pro-investment policies making them possible?  Look no further than NextGenWeb for all the information you need on how telecommuting can improve our lives, ease our pain at the pump and enhance our environment—all in a day’s work.

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With U.S. gas prices rising on average 17 cents in the last two weeks, and crude oil expected to hit $200 per barrel, the case for telework and telecommuting is more compelling than ever.  A recent study projects that an estimated 1.35 billion gallons of gasoline could be conserved annually if U.S. workers telecommuted an average of just 1.6 days per week.

The Telework Coalition,  TelCoa, has long been leading the movement to reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, promote a cleaner environment, and improve economic efficiency and quality of life through telecommuting.  The Telework Coalition works to enable virtual and mobile work through research, education, technology and legislation by focusing the efforts of companies, governments at all levels, nonprofits and individuals around this common interest.

Our landmark benchmarking study gathered important data from 13 organizations that collectively have more than 77,000 teleworkers and nearly 60,000 additional mobile workers.  We examined telework programs that have been in place for an average of 10 years.  Our study found that many of these programs are growing as the always-on, mobile workforce is increasingly enabled with broadband Internet access and mobile devices.

To read more click here

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