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 …
Book Review – No Impact Man
So you’re a bit frustrated with the state of the climate and pretty concerned with our fossil fuel use. So what do you do? You become the No Impact Man. Colin Beavan, a writer from New York who was struggling with how to deal with climate change, decided that he, along with his wife, two year old daughter and dog, …
Pickens Encourages Investment in American Energy
“When do we stop investing in OPEC and start investing in America?” That’s the question that oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens asked at a House Ways and Means committee hearing Wednesday on “Energy Tax Incentives Driving the Green Job Economy.” Pickens told the panel that he’s for “anything that’s American” when it comes to energy -including wind, coal, solar, hydro, …
Opposition Mounts Against Cape Wind Project
Less than two weeks ago, Iowa Governor Chet Culver and Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri released the “Great Expectations” wind energy report as commissioned by the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition. The two governors met with Obama to share their findings, one of which is strong support for coastal, deep water and offshore wind energy technology, research and investment. The …