Climate 411

New EPA Guidance Will Help Companies, States Find Cost Savings under Greenhouse Gas Permits

Yesterday E.P.A. issued guidance documents for the greenhouse gas permitting which will begin for the largest new or modified emissions sources in January. The feedback so far from the environmental community has been overwhelmingly positive.

On the New York Times Green blog, there is a great article about the guidance and initial reactions from state and local governments, environmental and industry groups. Mark MacLeod, director of special projects at Environmental Defense Fund, had this to say about the EPA guidance documents:

“Energy efficiency is one of the best ways to reduce pollution and save money, particularly in the manufacturing sector…Today’s guidance will prepare companies for the permitting process and help them find ways to cut pollution while saving money for themselves and their customers.”

Coming next on Climate411…what the guidance means for bioenergy.

Posted in Climate Change Legislation, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Policy / Comments are closed

New Poll Shows Americans are More Likely to Vote for Candidates Who Support Clean Energy Legislation

Yesterday NRDC Action Fund released a new poll showing, once again, that Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of clean energy legislation. The NRDC Action Fund polled voters in 23 close Congressional races and found they were far more likely to vote for candidates who support clean energy legislation.

Heather Taylor-Miesle of NRDC explains:

“In fact, a majority of voters (almost 53% on average) in tight races around the country said they are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports a climate bill.”

For a compelling and detailed analysis of the polling data, please read Heather’s blog.

Posted in Climate Change Legislation, News / Read 1 Response

From the blogosphere: the latest on the climate bill

Not surprisingly, a number of blogs today talked about Senator Reid’s (D–Nev.) statement that he’ll move forward with a somewhat scaled-back energy bill. The legislation is slated to include a response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and energy efficiency incentives, but omit a carbon cap or many of the broader climate change measures that were part of the House version of the bill. For the state of play, CleanTechies includes a helpful bulleted list of “highlights of legislation introduced in the Senate that may contribute language to the final package.”

The Vine questions the political strategy of splitting a response to the oil spill from a broader energy and climate bill while acknowledging that an oil spill response is far more likely to receive the bipartisan support necessary for passage. Post Partisan regrets that the Senate is passing on what it calls “the most efficient policy available – placing a price on carbon.” On Firedoglake, David Dayen says the oil spill response must move, irrespective of the fate of the larger climate and energy bill.

Posted in Climate Change Legislation, News / Comments are closed

From the blogosphere: DOE does cool, Google goes with wind

CleanTechies joined several of their online colleagues in enthusiastically reporting on cool roofs, which “could help reduce global temperatures and offset the heat from as much as two years of global greenhouse gas emissions,” according to a new report from the Berkeley Lab. The report found that “increasing the reflectivity of roofs and pavement in cities with populations greater than 1 million would have a one-time cooling effect equivalent to reducing global CO2 emissions by 57 billion metric tons.” And more good news: “As part of an initiative to promote a transition to cooler surfaces, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu directed all department offices to install cool roofs on any new buildings or when replacing old ones.”

Another widely-discussed piece today was about internet giant Google. As reported in Huffington Post, “Hot on the heels of its $38.8 billion investment in two wind farms in North Dakota, Google has just signed a 20-year contract with an Iowa wind farm that enables the search giant to purchase wind power at a set rate over the next two decades.” Treehugger goes on to praise the contract for not only taking a step toward the company’s stated goal of becoming carbon neutral, but also for providing critical funding for clean energy projects.

Posted in Energy, News / Comments are closed

July 20th, 2010 – The voices of a new clean energy future

In its editorial, “Energy savings and the climate and energy bill,” The Keene Sentinel starts with discussion of local efforts to cut energy use in government buildings but stresses that these alone aren’t enough, pivoting onto a discussion of the climate bill. The piece is particularly interesting in that in targets Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), whose support could be vital to the bill’s success:

[Gregg is] done with campaigning now — this is his last summer in the Senate — and he should feel comfortable in his coloration, and join the majority in support of the bill. In recent years, advances have been made in the energy and climate arenas; he can help assure more such advances by backing the bill.

The Voices of a New Clean Energy Future is a series from individuals who understand the importance of passing comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation – business leaders, politicians, policy experts, and concerned citizens like you. EDF is proud to highlight their voices and contributions to the climate and energy debate.

Posted in Climate Change Legislation / Comments are closed

From the blogosphere: new green jobs, a proposal on low carbon fuel standards, and VoteVets supports clean energy legislation

Treehugger and CleanTechnica both wrote on the new Council on Economic Advisors report finding that nearly 1 million new jobs were created by the stimulus bill, and “one of the areas where Recovery Act funds are stimulating the most private investment is the clean energy sector.”

In response to reports that senators are considering adding a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) into the pending climate and energy bill, Michael Levi blogged about what impact this might have on the legislation, potential obstacles and opportunities. While he lauds the goal of reducing emissions, he recommends adding a price ceiling on the tradable permits refiners, blenders, and importers would be required to hold.

Grist posted the new ad from VoteVets, in which Brigadier Gen. Steven Anderson, “who served under Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq, calls clean energy legislation not only a military priority, but an American mission.”

Posted in Cars and Pollution, Climate Change Legislation, Economics, News, Policy / Comments are closed