States that have been leaders when it comes to embracing state cap-and-trade green house gas emissions programs, are now facing a variety of hurdles due to state and federal politics, economics, and lawsuits. Read More »
Cleantech
Today marks the first day of a 45-day period for the public to comment on a program to force polluters to cap their carbon emissions starting in 2012, and the proposed rules will give away lots of free permits rather than auctioning them. Read More »
Two weeks from now, voters will decide which federal and state politicians to keep and which to send packing. Here is a list of hot issues and challenges facing cleantech advocates as they lobby for their favorite causes in the coming year. Read More »
The latest twist in the road to comprehensive climate and energy legislation arrived on Wednesday, in the form of Sen. Dick Lugar’s (R-Ind.) proposal for what he calls the “Practical Energy and Climate Plan.” Read More »
Just don’t call it a cap and trade program. That’s what three Senators — John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman — are trying to avoid when they introduce a paired down Senate energy bill, reportedly as soon as Monday. Read More »
California will have a new governor come November, and while the race is still open, it’s looking like it’ll be a contest between Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman. How important will a green platform be to securing the gubernatorial race? Read More »
A national cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gasses might be in limbo, but that hasn’t stopped President Obama from announcing on Friday an emissions reduction target for federal operations. The president, fulfilling an executive order signed in October, said the federal government will reduce … Read More »
Mark Shapiro, of Berkeley, Calif.’s Center for Investigative Reporting, has written a scathing report on the carbon offset industry in the February edition of Harper’s. Policymakers crafting U.S. climate legislation, which might include provisions for offset projects, should heed the warning, but the criticism shouldn’t … Read More »
Obama Heading to Copenhagen: The White House announced today that President Obama will attend the UN climate talks next month in Copenhagen “and commit the U.S. to a short-term emission reduction target ‘in the range of 17 percent’ below 2005 levels, providing new momentum for negotiations … Read More »
Welcome to the Technosphere: “Having mastered indoor ski slopes and mass desalination, Dubai just unveiled its massive Technosphere, a biological bubble oddly similar to Disney’s Epcot Center (or the Death Star), meant to simulate future climates and test sustainable technology.” — VentureBeat Winners and Losers of … Read More »
Cap and Trade’s Biggest Losers: A new report by energy consultants Wood Mackenzie finds “cap-and-trade legislation will cost U.S. refiners about $100 billion a year by 2015 and put them at a competitive disadvantage to refiners in Europe.” — WSJ’s Environemental Capital Bright Automotive Bags $1.4M … Read More »
The world’s governments will meet in Copenhagen in December to hammer out a new global climate deal. But Al Gore, speaking on Wednesday at the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting in New York, said success hinges on the U.S. Senate’s progress on legislation that would … Read More »
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