Last week, Creighton University economist Ernie Goss was quoted on NPR saying the country is preparing itself for another wave of lay offs. It will start at the coasts and move its way to the Midwest. Not good news for the millions of people who are currently unemployed. Unfortunately, a good number of people have become unemployed in the alternative …
First U.S. Wave-Energy Project Moves Forward
Ocean Power Technologies (OPT), a New Jersey-based company focusing on harnessing energy from oceans, announced a major step towards the approval of a license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build the first commercial wave park on the West Coast. OTC has signed a Settlement Agreement (SA) with 11 federal and state agencies along with three non-governmental …
DOE’s Loan Guarantee Program to Receive Cuts
At a time when the alternative energy industry is calling for the Department of Energy (DOE) to follow through on loan guarantees, the U.S. House of Representatives is attempting to pass a Senate bill that would cut the program’s budget by $1.5 billion. According the the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), this move is part of a $26.1 billion package …
Controversial Clean Energy Killer Added to Cali Ballot
There is a highly controversial provision being added to California’s ballots this November called Prop 23. The proposition, which is backed by several oil companies, is asking for the state to suspend California’s 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act that calls for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) to 1990 levels by 2020. Supporters of Prop 23 want the suspension …
New Renewable Energy Power Set to Surpass Fossil Fuels
This month several reports have been released on the global growth of renewable energy. According to two new reports released by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), for two consecutive years, the United States and Europe added more power from renewable sources such as wind and solar than from conventional …
Renewable Energy Progress
Earlier this month, the 25x’25 Alliance released a progress report on where the nation is in terms of the goal of meeting 25 percent of our energy needs with renewable resources by 2025, and they held a press conference with representatives of all the major renewable energy sectors to talk about the report and what still needs to be done. …
More Transparency Needed Among Environmental Groups
I’m calling the environmental movement out for supporting nothing and opposing everything. Not too long ago, I was proud to call myself an environmentalist. Today, I’m bordering on embarrassed to admit that I support sustainability programs. The cause of my distress is what is happening under the carpet among environmental groups. On the surface, they look squeaky clean, but when …
Senator Reid Introduces Limited Energy Bill
With the climate bill in flux in the Senate, there are new concerns surfacing that climate legislation is dead in the water, stalling political efforts to revive the economy though the development of clean tech jobs. In response, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) responded last week by proposing a new piece of limited energy legislation that would limit offshore …
Ethanol in Senate Ag Hearing Spotlight
Ethanol took the spotlight in a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing Wednesday on the Farm Bill’s energy and rural development programs. Testimony at the hearing came from USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager, Growth Energy Co-chairman General Wesley Clark, National Alliance of Forest Owners president Dave Tenny, and New York dairy producer Eric Zuber. The discussion ranged from increasing the …
25x’25 Shows Progress Toward Renewable Energy Goal
The nation is moving slowly but surely toward greater energy independence, according to a new progress report from 25x’25. Renewable energy produced in the United States between 2004 and 2009 grew by about 23 percent, according to the report, Meeting the 25x’25 Goal: A Progress Report. The 32-page analysis details advances made by the renewable energy sector since the Alliance …