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Politics & Legislation

Public Opinion, the Media and Climate Change

February 6, 2012 by Joseph Romm
with 129 views
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A must-read study published Monday in the journal Climatic Change debunks some pervasive myths about public opinion and climate change. The lead author, Dr. Robert J. Brulle of Drexel University, gave me an exclusive interview. [read more]

Decarbonizing California requires relying more on electricity, once it's low carbon

February 4, 2012 by Karen Street
with 103 views
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A 2006 California law, Assembly Bill 32, obligates the state to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 (30% below business as usual), and to 80% below that level by 2050 (90% below business as usual). How is it to done? A team from UC, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, and elsewhere examines this... [read more]

Science, risk management or just politics?

February 3, 2012 by David Hone
with 342 views
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An opinion piece that appeared in the Wall Street Journal (Europe) on Tuesday (a few days earlier in the USA) presented the views of sixteen scientists on the issue of climate change under the heading “No Need to Panic About Global Warming“. Unfortunately there isn’t much in the way of science discussed and the reality of the policy world is very different from the story they have written. [read more]

Worst. Transportation Bill. Ever.

January 31, 2012 by Deron Lovaas
with 519 views
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Deron Lovaas breaks down why exactly the House Transportation Bill is bad for our environment, our transportation future and our pocketbooks. [read more]

Siemens Employee Highlighted During “State of the Union” Address

January 31, 2012 by Sheila Oliva
with 267 views
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During his State of the Union Address to Congress on January 24, 2012, President Barack Obama recognized Siemens Energy as an example of how investing in manufacturing and innovative technologies can create jobs and build a strong America.An example of such job creation was highlighted via our own Jackie Bray, who was seated in a place... [read more]

Huhne Keeps Solar Industry in Limbo

January 30, 2012 by Vicky Portwain
with 337 views
2

Chris Huhne, energy secretary, has taken another step to undermine the solar industry in seeking to appeal to the Supreme Court to defend his feed in tariff cuts. The saga of the cuts started back in October when Chris Huhne first proposed that the rate that home-owners received for their excess energy should be halved. Although the... [read more]

Neglecting Heat Efficiency

January 30, 2012 by Benjamin Lack
with 331 views
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With all the talk about energy efficiency lately, where does heat efficiency comes into the equation? Do we need to move away from thinking just about electricity in terms of efficiency? [read more]

Solar is Ready for Prime Time in New York

January 26, 2012 by nrdc switchboard
with 149 views
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What's the wait?  New York needs to take the next step to invest in solar. Policies such as the New York State renewable portfolio standard (RPS) have done a lot to bring new renewables like wind and biomass into the state's clean energy economy, but they have fallen short in valuing localized economic, jobs and air quality... [read more]

ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit Preview

January 26, 2012 by Nino Marchetti
with 150 views
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In about a month, D.C.’s Gaylord National Conference Center will be teeming with energy researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, corporate executives, and a couple of wild Bills.The third annual ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit promises to bring together the type of leaders that can develop energy solutions for the future, and boy did they... [read more]

Should we lift the moratorium on offshore wind in the Great Lakes?

January 26, 2012 by Tyler Hamilton
with 411 views
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For a year now there has been a moratorium on the development of offshore wind projects in the Great Lakes. The Ontario government issued the ban because it said more study was needed to make sure the projects can be developed safety and responsibly, even though such studies were supposedly already done when the previous moratorium was... [read more]

How to manage the nations nuclear waste

January 26, 2012 by Dan Yurman
with 185 views
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It calls for leadership by Congress and the White House to resolve the current impasse Spent fuel in wet storageThe Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future released its final report on Jan 26 to the U.S. Energy Secretary, detailing comprehensive recommendations for creating a safe, long- term solution for managing and... [read more]

U.S. Government Downgrades Projections for Coal. Again.

January 26, 2012 by Joseph Romm
with 322 views
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Current proposed and forecasted coal-fired capacity in the U.S., as projected by the Energy Information Administration’s scenario in 2011. In 2010, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected that coal would drop to 44% of America’s electrical generation by 2035. Actual generation dropped to that level in 2011. This week, the... [read more]

NRC’s Waste Confidence Update

January 25, 2012 by Dan Yurman
with 353 views
2

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced in early January it is starting work on an update to the Waste Confidence decision. With the Obama administration’s successful bid to terminate the Yucca Mountain repository project, one of the agency’s key assumptions for the update is that interim storage of spent fuel will be the norm... [read more]

Why Natural Gas is a Bridge to Nowhere

January 24, 2012 by Joseph Romm
with 390 views
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President of American Gas Association, 1981:  “In fact, gas energy — currently America’s largest domestically produced fuel — could prove to be the keystone to solving the nation’s energy crisis by serving as the ‘bridge fuel’ to the next century’s renewable energy technologies.” VP of AGA, 1988, “refers to natural gas as a bridge... [read more]

NY, Cuomo Pushing Hard for New Solar Incentives

January 23, 2012 by Chip Gaul
with 176 views
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 The Empire State continues to step up as an emerging national leader in supporting residential solar, as Governor Cuomo's recent budget plan includes new provisions that will open more opportunities for homeowners to install panels on their roof. The provisions are just the latest proposed measure to expand access to PV... [read more]