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Frances Beinecke, President of NRDC, New York CityI coauthored this post with Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. 2012 was a historic year for climate disasters. Between a devastating drought, raging wildfires and the superstorm Hurricane Sandy, millions of Americans saw the very real toll that climate disruption is having...[read more]

There is a deal to be cut here. It is time to put substance into the Framework for Ten Year Cooperation on Energy and Environment signed by President Obama and President Hu in November 2009. The government of China should contract with the U.S. power industry, coordinated through the U.S. Department of Energy, to build a complete smart grid in China. This would be no less than a Marshall Plan to build a 21st Century smart power grid in China.[read more]

On 16 August President Obama announced that the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Energy and Navy will invest up to $510 million by 2014 in partnership with the private sector to produce advanced “drop-in” aviation and maritime biofuels for military and commercial use. This builds on a directive Obama issued five months ago as part of his...[read more]

Stepping up to the microphone yesterday, President Obama said exactly what each of his predecessors since Richard Nixon has stated before him -- it is time for the United States to achieve energy independence. Therefore, the President and his Administration have developed a comprehensive energy plan, Blueprint for a Secure Energy...[read more]

For all their criticism of environmentalists for confusing science with religion, the The Wall Street Journal and its fellow travelers are guilty of the same offense. The hazards of government investment are real and obvious. Politics does play a role in investment decisions and funding priorities are too often based on sound bites and electoral calculus rather than efficacy. But at the same time the free market is far from being an infallible invisible hand. There is no doubt that government does certain kinds of investing far better than the private sector. Had John F. Kennedy said in 1960 that we would be landing a man on the moon by the end of that decade and that we were going to rely on the free market to do it, we would all still be staring at the moon today wondering whether it was made of Swiss cheese.[read more]

While the two heads of state focus on resolving what pries them apart, both nations share a dangerous confrontation within their borders over energy demand and water supply—offering a matchless opportunity for new kinds of cooperation on policy, technology, business, and trade.[read more]

First off, as I’m sure most of you are aware, Congress approved a one-year extension of 1603, the Treasury Grant Program, which pays cash grants for 30 percent of solar energy (and other renewable energy) installations in lieu of a tax credit, for companies that have not acquired a “tax appetite”; that is, enough of a tax burden....[read more]

Energy Independence Day, July 3, 2010 With the economy and job-growth stagnant, oil still spewing from the BP well-head into the Gulf of Mexico as a toxic reminder of our addiction to fossil fuels, President Obama couldn’t have picked a better time to announce a major solar power initiative than today, July 3rd — only hours away from...[read more]

Now that Obama has officially opened the door to alternatives to the conventional cap and trade framework, Congressional Democrats are finally willing to admit the policy is dead and focus on finding an economically and politically viable Plan B. According to E&E (subs. req'd), efforts to formulate that Plan B have just begun and...[read more]

While President Obama’s rhetoric on energy and climate is still short on specifics, the message above is at least an improvement on his Oval Office Address last week. Agree? Disagree? Comment below. The Phoenix Sun | Solar Power & Environmental News from the American SouthwestLink to original post[read more]

In calling for a new "national mission" to achieve energy independence during his Oval Office address earlier this week, President Obama was clearly seeking inspiration from his predecessors, a number of whom actually achieved the big technological goals they'd pursued. At various inflection points in the nation's history, presidents...[read more]

Cap and trade didn't make the cut in President Obama's address to the nation earlier this week regarding the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon offshore oil spill. As Breakthrough Senior Advisor Teryn Norris noted: Instead of using last night's prime-time opportunity to push cap and trade in the form of the Kerry-Lieberman American Power...[read more]

Amid the other news this week, including the President's address to the nation on the Gulf Coast oil disaster and his meeting with BP officials yesterday, the announcement on Monday of the five remaining members of the Presidential Commission to assess the "environmental and safety precautions...to ensure an accident like this never...[read more]

Day 59. The morning after President Barack Obama called for a "national mission" in pursuit of a clean energy economy the BP blowout gushes oil into the Gulf at the new estimated rate of 60,000 barrels a day. And though the president said "we can't afford not to change how we produce and use energy -– because the long-term costs to our...[read more]

By Teryn Norris Cross-posted from Americans for Energy Leadership The biggest news from President Obama's Oval Office address is that cap and trade legislation is probably dead for the foreseeable future, and the administration is seeking new ideas. Instead of using last night's prime-time opportunity to push cap and trade in the form...[read more]