The following post was written by Allison Bailes on his excellent blog Energy Vanguard and can be seen here. It...
Energy Panel Archive: April 2011
posted April 29, 2011
If the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. Armed Forces tells you to worry about global warming would you? I would sure pay attention. So when Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently spoke on why the military is troubled by global warming we should listen. In his recent speech at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies he stressed the two main reasons the military is concerned about global warming: (1) the true costs of securing oil; and (2) the instability that will from global warming.
Watch...
posted April 29, 2011
ThinkProgress filed this report from Wisconsin.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) agreed to end subsidies to oil companies during a town hall in Waterford, Wisconsin, this morning, eliciting great applause from an overflow crowd in a very conservative section of his district. “We also want to get rid of corporate welfare,” Ryan insisted. “So we propose to repeal all that”:
Q: The subsidy for the oil companies that the federal government gives....
posted April 29, 2011
TVA COO: Wednesday’s series of storms caused major damage to the TVA power system. We have never experienced such a major weather event in our history…. Hundreds of thousands of consumers are without power because of damage to power lines and other equipment…. The three units at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in northern Alabama automatically shutdown [safely] as a result of transmission line damage from the storm.
...
posted April 28, 2011
Richard W. Caperton continues his series on U.S. energy markets.
For decades, the mantra of the American utility industry has...
posted April 28, 2011
According to news reports, yesterday at a conference in Washington, D.C., Gene Sperling, Director of the White House National Economic Council, called for "common-sense regulation that builds the public trust that fracking does not put at risk clean or safe drinking water....." NRDC thinks common sense regulations are federal regulations that provide national standards for protecting drinking water wherever hydraulic fracturing takes place, with...
posted April 28, 2011
American Enterprise Institute blogger Steven Hayward is at it again.
Last week I called him out for saluting the success of the Clean Air Act’s acid rain program without mentioning that such a program existed.
Call it the “immaculate conception” theory of pollution control. It just happens by itself....
posted April 27, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 26, 2011
...
posted April 27, 2011
The following piece was written for Mapawatt by David Spader of SavingsAccount.Org. I’ve put Mapawatt...
posted April 27, 2011
Nobody likes to witness a family argument—much less get pulled into it. But the schism between auto industry lobbyists and auto company executives is hard to ignore, and the consequences are too important. The disagreement is about the need and wisdom of producing more fuel-efficient cars. And with this week’s national average price for a gallon of gasoline at $3.88...
posted April 27, 2011
While the prospects for transportation policy reform appear stagnated at the federal level, more and more state and local governments across the country are adopting strong...
posted April 27, 2011
A new study released by GLOBE international – a coalition of legislators from around the world – found that: “climate change is featuring prominently on the legislative agenda across the 16 major economies.“ The study, conducted by the Grantham Institute for...
posted April 26, 2011
Friends,
Here's hoping that Passover and Easter were great for everyone. One thing that was special last week was the traffic (or lack there of) in DC. If only it could stay that way all the time.
...
posted April 26, 2011
by Zachary Shahan on April 25, 2011
The Energy Technologies Institute has completed its third offshore wind energy project, has found that offshore wind energy costs could be cut 30% or more, and intends to build an innovative offshore wind demonstrator project this year.
The...
posted April 26, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 25, 2011
...
posted April 26, 2011
Richard W. Caperton, Kate Gordon , Bracken Hendricks, and Daniel J. Weiss in a CAP repost.
SOURCE: AP/Susan Montoya Bryan
Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, right, tours a new 2-megawatt photovoltaic solar array unveiled by...
posted April 26, 2011
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just released its "Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2009." One of the categories reviewed is "Natural Gas Systems," which includes hundreds of thousands of wells, hundreds of processing facilities, and over a million miles of transmission and distribution...
posted April 26, 2011
Capital Bikeshare, Washington’s wildly popular bikesharing program, now claims to have nearly 11,000 members and 1100 bikes in circulation from “over 110” self-service stations placed strategically around the city and Arlington, Virginia. (There’s a...
posted April 26, 2011
In yesterday's post on how we need a climate bill not just individual action on Earth Day, I wanted to include a...
posted April 26, 2011
The WashPost’s Ezra Klein has a terrific column that places the failed climate bill into the political context that has been missing from so much of the recent debate:
If you put aside the emergency measures required by the financial crisis, three major policy ideas have dominated American politics in recent years: a plan that uses an individual mandate and tax subsidies to achieve near-universal health care; a cap-and-trade plan...
posted April 25, 2011
by Allison Leahy, April 22, 2011
It seems just about every company is making environmental claims about their products these days. "Going green" offers an increasingly powerful advertising angle and a million ways to capitalize (and make a positive difference). But with...
posted April 25, 2011
posted April 25, 2011
I wrote about how Ford planned on letting drivers communicate with their electric cars with our post...
posted April 22, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 21, 2011
...
posted April 22, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 21, 2011
...
posted April 22, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 21, 2011
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posted April 22, 2011
Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to close gaping loopholes for the oil and gas industry in two of our bedrock environmental laws.
First, the FRAC Act (its formal name is the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act) would ensure federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The FRAC Act, in other words, would close the...
posted April 22, 2011
Tuesday the Supreme Court heard oral argument in American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut. In the case, six states and several other plaintiffs claimed that the nation’s five largest greenhouse gas polluters were contributing to a nuisance and that the court should order them to reduce the emissions.
Judging from yesterday’s...
posted April 22, 2011
By Bill Becker, March 29, 2011
Our guest blogger is Bill Becker
Several times recently, we’ve heard this argument:...
posted April 22, 2011
By Bill Becker, April 22, 2011
Part two in our series from guest blogger Bill Becker, Executive Director, the...
posted April 22, 2011
In 2008, I wrote a piece for Salon about renaming ‘Earth’ Day. It was supposed to be mostly humorous. Or mostly serious. Anyway, the subject of renaming Earth Day seems more relevant than ever in light of our inaction on climate change, the over-running of Congress by...
posted April 21, 2011
posted April 21, 2011
posted April 21, 2011
A blog reader recently informed me...
posted April 21, 2011
Environmental regulators and local officials in the Marcellus Shale hotbed of Bradford County, PA are saying “thousands and thousands of gallons of frack fluid [spilled] over containment walls, through fields, personal property and farms, even where cattle continue to graze” after Chesapeake Energy “lost control” over a gas well that in the process of being hydraulically fractured (or “fracked”) late last...
posted April 21, 2011
In a setback for environmentalists, the Supreme Court signaled Tuesday that it would throw out a huge global warming lawsuit brought by California and five other states that seeks limits on carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants in the South and Midwest.
Sad. Doubly sad that he Obama administration...
posted April 21, 2011
UPDATE: 11am EST: As part of a nationwide day of direct action, six local activists with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Rising Tide North America, Rainforest Action Network and the Backbone Campaign unfurled a banner -- "Close Chicago's Toxic Coal Plants" -- at the Crawford coal plant this morning....
posted April 20, 2011
Coal combustion isn’t healthy (see Accounting for total harm from coal would add “close to 17.8¢/kWh of electricity generated”). Rep. Barton (R-TX) is not a “medical doctor,” but he plays one in Congress, deciding his own “hypothesis” about the health effects of mercury, soot, and smog is...
posted April 20, 2011
By Joesph Baker, April 19, 2011
...
posted April 20, 2011
Daniel J. Weiss and Valeri Vasquez provide more data on why we need to move to safer energy sources in this CAP repost.
On the one-year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and the Massey coal mine explosion in West Virginia, we are reminded how...
posted April 20, 2011
Frances Beinecke, President of NRDC, New York City
I am marking the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon blowout by spending the week in Louisiana. Together with several other members of the National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, I am here to help remind the nation that the consequences of the BP oil disaster persist to this day.
Yet even as Gulf communities struggle to rebuild, Congress has failed to pass a single law to...
posted April 20, 2011
Michael Conathan in a CAP repost.
One year ago today the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon erupted in a torrent of oil, gas, drilling mud, and flames, claiming the lives of 11 men and setting off an 87-day environmental nightmare. The explosion also...
posted April 19, 2011
By Lakshmi Nidamarth, April 19, 2011
It can be difficult to wade through all the competing claims and find some hard data on the larger environmental movement in the...
posted April 19, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 18, 2011
...
posted April 19, 2011
This post co-authored with Matt Pawa. He and I represent the land conservation trusts in American Electric Power v. Connecticut.
Today the Supreme Court hears oral argument in American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut – a case in which six States and other plaintiffs are trying to put emissions limits on America’s five largest greenhouse gas polluters. The States are invoking their right, recognized...
posted April 19, 2011
The long drama of whether or not the US Congress would invest in international efforts to curb global warming pollution or gut these investments is finally over – at least for the rest of this fiscal year. Last week President Obama signed into law a budget for the rest of this fiscal year (fiscal year 2011). Investments in international climate activities fared alright. The final bill would fund core international climate...
posted April 19, 2011
...
posted April 18, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 15, 2011
...
posted April 18, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 15, 2011
...
posted April 18, 2011
When it comes to saving energy, most people don’t want to spend a lot of time or money on the subject. Everyone wants an easy way out these days…well…lucky for you I’m giving it to you. The number 1 cheap, free (if you have one already),...
posted April 18, 2011
Image credit linh.m.do via Flickr
This weekend more than 10,000 young people will converge on Washington to stand up for a clean energy future. They are gathering for the Power Shift 2011 conference, part of a national...
posted April 18, 2011
I wrote last year about how, by helping kill clean energy & climate legislation, politicians claiming to be on coal's side were actually helping accelerate coal's inevitable decline. Without a Congressional...
posted April 15, 2011
Washington, DC — The 
posted April 15, 2011
By ...
posted April 15, 2011
posted April 14, 2011
Daniel J. Weiss and Valeri Vasquez in a CAP repost. View clean energy investments in the continuing resolution and the House, Senate, and Obama budgets for FY 2011 and FY 2012 (see also figure below).
SOURCE: AP/Alex Brandon...
posted April 14, 2011
posted April 14, 2011
Frances Beinecke, President of NRDC, New York City
This Congress has not passed a single piece of legislation to make offshore drilling safer in the wake of the BP oil disaster. Instead, nearly one year after the Deepwater Horizon blowout, the House Natural Resources Committee pushed forward three bills to expand offshore drilling and reduce...
posted April 14, 2011
by...
posted April 14, 2011
by Zachary Shahan, April 13, 2011
The 2011 budget cuts and the environment. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
News is coming out all over the place about what the 2011 budget deal means for different topics. Even within the environmental realm, different organizations, journalists, and bloggers with different agendas are focusing on different issues. I'm a big picture kind of guy and, as a blogger, I'm a big...
posted April 13, 2011
By Joel Makower, April 11, 2011
For roughly three decades, L. Hunter Lovins has been a clear and provocative voice on business and sustainability...
posted April 13, 2011
By...
posted April 13, 2011
by Zachary Shahan, April 12, 2011
Google and GE, both of which certainly didn't start out in the solar arena, have made a number of big solar energy announcements in the last week.
...
posted April 13, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 12, 2011
...
posted April 13, 2011
I recently had a reader complain about the performance he was seeing out of his PMA (Permanent Magnet Alternator) wind turbines he...
posted April 12, 2011
When I first saw...
posted April 12, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 11, 2011
...
posted April 12, 2011
By Tilde Herrera, April 8, 2011
...
posted April 11, 2011
Friends,
Masters, Frozen Four and Hockey Playoffs. Can't get much better than that – and no worries about a shut down -- only Rory's meltdown. The Masters ended in disappointment for 21-year old Rory McIroy, but in a flurry of birdies from others including Tiger made for a...
posted April 11, 2011
What is hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking?” What are the environmental concerns about it? How can we address these concerns?
posted April 11, 2011
By Timothy Hurst on April 8, 2011
Well at least it was fun while it lasted. The tax-free joyride electric and hybrid-electric vehicle owners have been enjoying while cruising the highways and byways of America may soon be a thing of the past. A handful of states and the U.S. Government are looking at "vehicle miles traveled" (VMT) standards and other fees for plug-in vehicles to make up for the tax revenue not collected via gasoline taxes...
posted April 11, 2011
By ...
posted April 11, 2011
By...
posted April 8, 2011
By Timothy Hurst, April 7, 2011
Citing open source software as its inspiration, Facebook today launched the Open Compute Project, an initiative to share the technology in its new data center, in Prineville, Oregon, a data center that Facebook says uses 38 percent less energy...
posted April 8, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 8, 2011
...
posted April 7, 2011
As I discussed yesterday, following from Cancun both developed and developing countries reaffirmed their commitments to reduce emissions as noted in the recent United Nations documents. Developed countries presented details on their commitments, so yesterday it was the turn of developing countries....
posted April 7, 2011
Was in Harris Teeter last night looking for sugar & noticed Domino has gone carbon-neutral with CarbonFund.org:
posted April 7, 2011
Science is the foundation of progress.
Rejecting science means in essence rejecting hope for Americans and indeed for all humankind: We live in complex times fraught with dangers, many of which are human-made and can be solved only by the application of science backed by resources that, sometimes, only government can mobilize. That is certainly the case with human-caused climate change.
Sadly, tragically...
posted April 7, 2011
By...
posted April 6, 2011
If I had to choose my favorite fossil fuel, it would be natural gas because of its...
posted April 6, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 5, 2011
...
posted April 6, 2011
There’s lots going on in the center ring of the Congressional Carbon Circus today. Both the House and Senate are expected to vote this afternoon on bills to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from doing its job under the Clean Air Act to safeguard Americans from the dangerous carbon pollution that drives global warming. And Republicans keep trying to force EPA-blocking “riders” onto funding legislation that...
posted April 6, 2011
A new study by the Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies finds communities that accept new coal-fired power plants are getting burned on promises of jobs:
“I think the overarching issue here is that for a lot of the communities that are being asked to host these plants, there...
posted April 6, 2011
Perhaps the most sobering outcome of a non-OPEC plateau might be reminding everyone that even planet-scale resources have their limits. And that when you are consuming them at close to 1000 gallons a second, the limits can catch you unaware. The next 5 years, assuming oil prices remain on the high side, should show who the realists...
posted April 5, 2011
By Timothy Hurst, ...
posted April 5, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 5, 2011
...
posted April 5, 2011
By Joseph Baker, April 4, 2011
...
posted April 5, 2011
Friends,
Today's update starts with the Sports Report because, really, that is all we are thinking about. Baseball is under way and it looks like the Orioles are going 162-0. Butler advanced to the NCAA Basketball finals for the second straight year making a "Hoosiers 2: This Time They Win"...
posted April 4, 2011
10-year window to save reef: expert
The Great Barrier Reef will be lost unless there is dramatic action to cut greenhouse gasses over the next 10 years, a climate change scientist warns.
Professor Ove Hoegh Guldberg issued the warning ahead of an address to a major climate change conference starting in Cairns today.
The director of the Global Change Institute at...
posted April 4, 2011
I’m a fan of CFLs, but I can understand how the small amount of mercury in them can worry...
What's New
106 U.S. Coal Plant Retirements Since 2010
Last Wednesday was a big milestone for people who care about public health and a livable climate. Two utilities announced the planned closure of nine coal plants.
Read more ...
World’s Oldest Nuclear Power Plant Shuts Down Today
Today, in the UK, the world's oldest nuclear power plant shut down.
Read more ...
Shocker! California Tops US Renewables List
The U.S. led the world in clean energy investment in 2011, but China retained the top spot in the latest Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index from Ernst & Young.
Read more ...
Morning News Roundup – February 29, 2012
Today's morning news roundup - all the energy and climate coverage you need to read.
Read more ...- Climate Progress
- GreenBiz
- Dot Earth
- NY Times Green Blog
- NRDC Action Fund- The Mark Up
- Grist- David Roberts
- The Energy Collective
- MAPAWATT
- Ecopolitology
- Earth & Industry
- Green Tech- Martin LaMonica
- Mother Jones- Kate Sheppard
- The Daily Climate
- EnergyBoom
- NRDC- Switchboard
- Miles Grant
- Treehugger
- Climate Compass
- The Oil Drum
- Greenbang
- Compete Coalition
- Climate 411
- EPA- Greenversations
- Taking the Initiative
- The Energy Fix
- The Heartland Institute
- The Energy Tribune
- Van Jones
- Aimee Christensen
- Amanda Little
- Mother Nature Network
- Energy Literacy
- The Heritage Foundation- Energy & Envrionment
- Green Chip Stocks
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
- Resources for the Future
- Josh Tickell
- Dan Weiss
- United Nations Foundation
- Global Green USA
- The Earth Institute
- The Rocky Mountain Institute Blog
- American Solutions- Energy
- Bipartisan Beat
- Green Business
- Growth Energy
- Earth Policy Institute
- EcoGeek
- Energy Strategist
- Coal Tattoo