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Sustainable Energy News Summaries – January 6, 2009
Below are summaries of sustainable energy news stories from the past week. The news stories address developments in renewable energy and energy efficiency particularly as they present solutions to climate change, rising energy costs, expanding energy imports, and nuclear power. You may find some of these stories of use to you in your own work. This compilation was prepared by the SUN DAY Campaign which publishes a longer, daily compilation of such stories.
1.) Win, Win, Win, Win, Win ...
New York Times, by Thomas L.
Friedman, December 27, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/opinion/28friedman.html?ref=opinion
For our long-term health, getting re-addicted to oil and gas guzzlers is one of the dumbest things we could do. That is why I believe the second biggest decision Barack Obama has to make — the first is deciding the size of the stimulus — is whether to increase the federal gasoline tax or impose an economy-wide carbon tax. Best I can tell, the Obama team has no intention of doing either at this time. This is Obama's best window of opportunity to impose a gas tax. And he could make it painless: offset the gas tax by lowering payroll taxes, or phase it in over two years at 10 cents a month. But if Obama, like Bush, wills the ends and not the means — wills a green economy without the price signals needed to change consumer behavior and drive innovation — he will fail.
====================================
2.) Will Energy Savings Jump-Start the Economy?
CNN.com, by Steve Hargreaves,
December 29, 2008
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/12/29/eco.economy/index.html
If a major conservation initiative is included in the stimulus package, it might look something like a
plan being pushed by the Alliance to Save Energy. Under such a plan,
the government would commit just over $30 billion towards making the
nation energy efficient. The money would be spent as follows:
-- $3 billion for home energy retrofits, which could include rebate checks for people who buy energy-efficient
appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators.
-- $3 billion for energy retrofits at public buildings, which may include hiring people to conduct energy
audits and install so-called "smart-meters" that more efficiently
allocate power.
-- $3 billion to promote energy efficiency in commercial buildings, largely in the form of tax breaks
for developers who build them.
-- $3 billion for efficiency projects at schools.
-- $3.5 billion to expand current state energy efficiency programs.
-- $5 billion more for states that pass stricter building efficiency standards and restructure their
utility conservation incentives.
-- $6 billion for local governments to make power plants and transportation networks more efficient.
-- $4 billion for things that include construction of a better electric grid, efficiency at military
institutions, workforce training, additional smart meters, and an expansion
of the weatherization program to better insulate homes.
The Alliance estimates its plan will directly create 190,000 jobs in short order. All told, the
program might drop the country's energy consumption by half a percent
each year for 20 years. While that doesn't sound like much, with the
U.S. spending over $1 trillion on energy each year, the savings could
top $5 billion a year, or over $100 billion.
====================================
3.) Milpitas Schools, Chevron & BOA Complete 3.4-MW Solar Project:
RenewableEnergyWorld.com, December
29, 2008
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=54393
Milpitas Unified School District, Chevron Energy Solutions and Bank of America announced the completion
of a 14-site, district-wide solar and energy efficiency project designed
to supply 75 percent of the district's total annual electricity needs
through solar energy. The 3.4-megawatt (MW) solar parking canopies and
shade structures supply 100 percent of the district's power during the
summer months when California's peak-demand electricity needs are greatest.
The program is designed to reduce the district's energy costs by more
than 22 percent and save the district's general fund US $12 million
over the life of the solar project, while providing budget predictability
through known energy costs.
====================================
4.) Hydro Power Shows Signs of Comeback:
Associated Press, December 27, 2008
http://wvgazette.com/News/200812270116?page=1&build=cache
Factors ranging from the difficulty
in obtaining permits for new coal-fired power plants to government renewable
energy mandates and tax credits have created a potential market for
new hydroelectric projects at government flood-control dams. Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission figures show permit applications from would-be
developers of conventional hydroelectric dams jumped to 177 last year,
up from 78 in 2006. Through late November, the commission had received
another 132 applications this year. A fair number of those permit applications
involve federal flood control dams. FERC records list about two dozen
permits for possible hydro projects on federal flood control dams across
the country. A review by federal agencies found about 64 of 871 federal
dams merited further study as potential hydro sites, according to a
2007 report. Combined, the agencies say they have the potential to generate
1,230 megawatts of electricity - enough for a month's worth of electricity
for more than 1.2 million homes. FERC records show dams under consideration
are scattered across the country: permits have been issued to investigate
sites in Kentucky, West Virginia, Oregon, Iowa, Texas and California.
Going from a permit to an actual hydroelectric dam, however, is a lengthy
process that can cost upward of $1 million.
===================================
5.) Report Forecasts Sea
Level Rise to Four feet by 2100:
SustainableBusiness.com, by
Gerard Reid, December 29, 2008
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/17384
and
U.S. Geological Survey, December
16, 2008
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2091&from=rss_home
According to a new report "Synthesis
and Assessment Product 3.4: Abrupt Climate Change" led by the U.S.
Geological Survey, in light of recent ice sheet melting, global sea
levels could rise as much as 4 feet by 2100. The report also found that
the drought which began in the North American Southwest about 6 years
ago could be the leading edge of a new climate regime for a wider region.
It is very likely that the northward flow of warm water in the upper
layers of the Atlantic Ocean will decrease by approximately 25-30 percent
but it is very unlikely that this circulation will collapse. There is
unlikely to be an abrupt release of methane to the atmosphere from deposits
in the earth but it is very likely that the pace of methane emissions
will increase.
===================================
6.) High Hurdles for Obama's
Green Stimulus - To Qualify in the Obama Administration's Stimulus Package,
Projects Must Be Green, Shovel-Ready, Short-Term, and Job-Producing:
Business Week, by John Carey,
December 29, 2008
The Obama Administration's
stimulus package, expected to range from $675 billion to $775 billion
in scale, has all manner of corporate interests scrambling to show they
can create jobs, especially green ones. However, projects meet strict
criteria and all claims must be backed up by hard data. First, the projects
must be "shovel-ready"—that is, ready to go immediately.
Obama's team is most interested in projects that will speed America
toward a greener, cleaner future, reducing both energy dependence and
the emissions that cause global warming. One proposal by Architecture
2030 predicts more than 7 million jobs from a $171 billion investment
to improve the energy efficiency of buildings and homes. Commercial
property owners would get short-term tax reductions, and homeowners
could lower mortgage payments if they boosted their energy efficiency
or amounts of renewable energy. Homeowners would get their interest
rates cut to, say, 3% if they paid for home energy audits and enough
insulation and other improvements to cut usage by 75%.
===================================
7.) Focus on Weatherization
Is Shift on Energy Costs:
New York Times, by Matthew
L. Wald, December 29, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/us/30weatherize.html
Although Congress added $250
million to the original $227 million budget for weatherization in the
current fiscal year, the number of people receiving weatherization aid
is dwarfed by those receiving assistance in paying their energy bills.
Six to eight million families a year are getting energy assistance.
About 140,000 houses will be weatherized with public help this year,
a total that President-elect Barack Obama has promised to raise to one
million, to reduce energy consumption and cut energy costs for households
and taxpayers. Weatherizing a million homes annually would also create
about 78,000 jobs for a year, according to the federal Energy Department’s
weatherization project director, Gil Sperling. The current 140,000 annual
total creates about 8,000 jobs. This would represent a historic shift
in emphasis for the federal and state governments, reducing poor people’s
energy bills instead of helping to pay them.
===================================
8.) Californians Shape Up
as Force on Environmental Policy:
Washington Post, by Lyndsey
Layton, December 29, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/28/AR2008122801704.html?hpid=topnews
California Democrats will assume
pivotal roles in the new Congress and White House, giving the state
an outsize influence over federal policy. In Congress, California Democrats
are in key positions to write laws to mitigate global warming, promote
"green" industries and alternative energy, and crack down
on toxic chemicals. Down Pennsylvania Avenue, Californians in the new
White House will shape environmental, energy and workplace safety policies.
The current speaker, Nancy Pelosi, is the most prominent member of the
California delegation. A California colleague, Rep. Henry A. Waxman,
pushed out Rep. John D. Dingell of Michigan to become chairman
of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Waxman's counterpart in
the Senate is Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who chairs the Environment and Public
Works Committee. Obama has chosen Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, to be energy secretary, and he tapped
Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley to run the White House's Council
on Environmental Quality. Obama also selected Rep. Hilda L. Solis, a
Democrat from Los Angeles, to become labor secretary.
===================================
9.) An Emissions Plan Conservatives
Could Warm To:
New York Times, by U.S. Rep.
Bob Inglis and Arthur B. Laffer, December 27, 2008
Conservatives don’t support
tax increases that are veiled as “cap and trade” schemes for pollution
permits. But offer us a tax swap, and we could become the new administration’s
best allies on climate change. A climate-change bill withered
in Congress this summer because families don’t need an enormous, and
hidden, tax increase. If the bill’s authors had instead proposed a
simple carbon tax coupled with an equal, offsetting reduction in income
taxes or payroll taxes, a dynamic new energy security policy could have
taken root. We need to impose a tax on the thing we want less of (carbon
dioxide) and reduce taxes on the things we want more of (income and
jobs). A carbon tax would attach the national security and environmental
costs to carbon-based fuels like oil, causing the market to recognize
the price of these negative externalities.
===================================
10.) Homeowners Tapping
into Massachusetts Solar Panel Fund:
Associated Press, by Steve
LeBlanc, December 26, 2008
Massachusetts homeowners and
businesses are tapping a state fund designed to encourage them to install
solar panels at a far quicker pace than officials first anticipated.
In less than a year, the Commonwealth Solar program granted nearly $15
million in rebates out of an initial $17 million block of funding that
was supposed to last until next April. A second $17 million block of
funding has already been approved. Initially the program offered a $2
per watt rebate. To help ensure more homeowners have access to the fund,
the state is lowering the rebate to $1 per watt. The lower rebates take
effect January 1. So far, about 325 Massachusetts homeowners have received
a rebate under the Commonwealth Solar program and others are still under
consideration. Of the nearly $15 million already disbursed, about $4.5
million went to homeowners, $3.3 million went to public buildings and
$6.7 million was spent on commercial properties. All told the program
has led to the production of 4.6 megawatts of renewable energy capacity
through rebates awarded to 421 homeowners, businesses and institutions
across Massachusetts.
======================================
11.) Phoenix Opens $1.4
billion Light-Rail System:
Reuters, David Schwartz, December
30, 2008
http://planetark.org/wen/51043
With a hearty "All Aboard,"
Phoenix launched a sleek new $1.4 billion 20-mile light-rail system
on Saturday amid uncertainty people will hop out of their cars and onto
the train. Planners project building 30 additional miles of light-rail
lines by 2025. Phoenix had been the largest U.S. city without a public
rail transit system. Other Western U.S. cities that built train systems
in the past two decades include Dallas, Denver, Houston and Salt Lake
City, Utah. Commuting by train is cheaper than car travel, reduces traffic
congestion and helps cut auto emissions, which are linked to global
warming.
=======================================
12.) Helena Sees Significant
Drop in Energy Usage, Emissions:
Helena Independent Record,
by Larry Line, December 30, 2008
http://missoulian.com/articles/2008/12/30/news/mtregional/znews09.txt
A report compiled by Helena
(MT) officials and the city's Climate Change Task Force shows that the
Capital City's government reduced its energy usage between 2001 and
2007 by 22.1 percent and its carbon dioxide emissions by 18.1 percent.
City officials knew the energy-saving changes they'd made in those years
- everything from using more efficient light bulbs to installing smarter
temperature controls - would make a dent in Helena's energy usage, but
they were surprised to learn they'd outpaced the Kyoto Protocol's 20-year
goals in less than a third of the time. The drops in energy usage have
translated into taxpayer dollars over the years. Using 2007 dollars,
the city has saved more than $640,000 in energy bills throughout the
six-year period.
=====================================
13.) Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission Report Marks Significant Progress in Demand Response, Advanced
Metering:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
December 29, 2008
http://www.ferc.gov/news/news-releases/2008/2008-4/12-29-08.asp
Demand response and advanced
metering programs have made significant progress in serving more consumers
across the country, says a new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
report, "2008 Assessment of Demand Response and Advanced Metering."
The ratio of advanced meters to all installed meters has reached 4.7
percent for the United States, a significant jump from the less than
1 percent in 2006, with the largest increasing coming in peninsular
Florida. On the demand response side, 8 percent of energy consumers
in the United States are in some kind of demand response program and
the potential demand response resource contribution from all such U.S.
programs is close to 41,000 megawatts, or 5.8 percent, of U.S. peak
demand. This represents an increase of about 3,400 MW from the 2006
estimate. The largest demand response resource contributions are from
the Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern and Southeastern regions of the U.S.
====================================
14.) ENERGY STAR Residential
Water Heaters to Save Americans Up to $823 Million in the Next Five
Years:
U.S. Department of Energy,
December 31, 2008
http://www.energy.gov/news/6820.htm
The U.S. Department of Energy
today announced the availability of ENERGY STAR residential water heaters.
With today’s announcement, the ENERGY STAR program now addresses every
major residential appliance found in most American homes. Introduction
of this product provides significant potential savings to consumers.
Water heating represents up to 15.5 percent of national residential
energy consumption, the second largest end use of energy in homes, following
heating and cooling. Using one of five specified water heating technologies,
ENERGY STAR qualified water heaters can reduce water heating bills from
7.5 percent to as much as 55 percent.
====================================
15.) Wind Power Trends to
Watch for in 2009:
American Wind Energy Association,
December 29, 2008
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/American-Wind-Energy-bw-13926067.html
Measured by market share, wind
provided 35% of all new generation added in the U.S. in 2007. And with
7,500 MW of new capacity expected when 2008 figures are released, wind
is likely to contribute at least 35% of new capacity added this year.
At least one new project may soon surpass FPL Energy’s 736-megawatt
(MW) Horse Hollow wind farm, the world’s largest - a project under
expansion, by E.ON Climate & Renewables North America, and currently
scheduled to go online in mid-2009, would have a total capacity of 781.5
MW. Expect one or more states to implement (Indiana) or strengthen (Wisconsin
and New York) their Renewable Electricity Standards (RES), bringing
the number of states with an RES from 28 to perhaps 30. AWEA business
membership increased from 200 in 2000, to more than 600 in 2005, and
has soared over the 1,800 mark in 2008. If the trend continues, the
roll of AWEA member companies could pass 2,000 by mid-2009.
====================================
16.) Unlikely Groups Combine
to Push More Ethanol Testing:
Des Moines Register, by Dan
Piller, December 28, 2008
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081228/BUSINESS/812280317/-1/NEWS04
The National Petrochemical
and Refiners Association, which represents the oil-based plastics and
gasoline refineries, and the Sierra Club were among 14 organizations
that asked the Environmental Protection Agency to do more testing and
study before approving ethanol blends of higher than 10 percent in unleaded
gasoline. Other groups in the effort to slow ethanol's drive for higher
blend concentrations included the Natural Resources Defense Council,
American Lung Association, Engine Manufacturers Association and Motorcycle
Industry Council. The bikers, along with boaters, have become vocal
in recent months about their fears that ethanol blends might damage
motorcycle engines. The group, calling itself an informal coalition,
expressed concern about air quality, engine compatibility and safety.
====================================
17.) Colorado Utility's
Plan Big on Energy Efficiency:
Associated Press, December
30, 2008
http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=106814
Xcel Energy's plan for providing
energy through 2015, approved this month by Colorado regulators, includes
an aggressive energy efficiency program. It calls for Xcel Energy to
spend $63 million next year and $80 million in 2010 on demand-side management
- programs aimed at cutting demand by households and businesses. The
plan projects saving 694 megawatts of electricity - that would nearly
be the equivalent of a new coal-fired plant. Increasing energy efficiency
could generate $450 million in economic benefits for customers.
====================================
18.) Oregon Governor Seeks
Tax on Auto Mileage - GPS-Based System Would Replace Fuel Tax:
Associated Press, December
30, 2008
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20081230/NEWS/812300316/1001
Gov. Ted Kulongoski says he
will ask the Legislature to begin "a path to transition away from
the gas tax as the central funding source for transportation" and
to replace it with a mileage tax boosted by satellite technology. A
year ago, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced it had demonstrated
that a mileage tax could work. The proposal is part of a transportation
bill the governor has filed for the upcoming session.
======================================
19.) 2009 To Be One of Warmest
Years on Record:
Reuters, by Christina Fincher,
December 30, 2008
Next year is set to be one
of the top-five warmest on record, British climate scientists at the
Met Office. The average global temperature for 2009 is expected to be
more than 0.4 degrees Celsius above the long-term average, despite the
continued cooling of huge areas of the Pacific Ocean, a phenomenon known
as La Nina. That would make it the warmest year since 2005. There is
also a growing probability of record temperatures after next year. Currently
the warmest year on record is 1998, which saw average temperatures of
14.52 degrees Celsius - well above the 1961-1990 long-term average of
14 degrees Celsius.
========================================
20.) Bush May Be Giving
Obama Breathing Room to Fight Global Warming:
Los Angles Times, by Jim Tankersley,
January 1, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-na-co2-1-2009jan01,0,823260.story
President Bush could be forcing
President-elect Barack Obama to act almost immediately to curb global
warming, after years of the Bush administration fighting attempts to
crack down on greenhouse gas emissions. Or, depending on which interpretation
prevails, Bush could be giving his successor much-needed breathing room
on a volatile issue. In its final weeks, his administration has moved
to close what it calls "back doors" to regulating carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse gases. It barred the Environmental Protection Agency
from considering the effects of global warming on protected species.
And, more broadly, it excluded carbon dioxide from a list of pollutants
that the EPA regulates under the Clean Air Act. Energy lobbyists say
the Bush administration's actions give Obama time and political cover
to take a more deliberative approach to emissions regulation and avoid
overly broad, overly swift rules that could slow construction projects
for schools and businesses, not just power plants.
===================================
21.) Climate Change Policies
Failing, NASA Scientist Warns Obama:
The Guardian, January 1, 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/01/scentist-letter-hansen-barack-obama
In a personal New Year appeal
to Barack Obama, Prof James Hansen, head of NASA's Goddard Institute
for Space Studies, said current approaches to deal with climate change
are ineffectual. Hansen advocates a three-pronged attack on the climate
problem. First, he wants a moratorium and phase-out of coal-fired power
stations – which he calls "factories of death" – that
do not incorporate carbon capture and storage. Second, he proposes a
"carbon tax and 100% dividend": a mechanism for putting a
price on carbon without raising money for government coffers. The idea
is to tax carbon at source, then redistribute the revenue equally among
taxpayers, so high carbon users are penalised while low carbon users
are rewarded. Finally, Hansen wants a renewed research effort into so-called
fourth generation nuclear plants, which can use nuclear waste as fuel.
=================================
22.) Ethanol Questions Fuel
a Pushback Over Regulation Changes:
U.S. News & World Report,
by Kent Garber, December 26, 2008
A controversial energy matter
is continuing to stoke debate, largely behind closed doors, among lobbyists,
lawmakers, and federal officials: whether to allow motor vehicles to
use gasoline containing higher blends of ethanol. At the moment, federal
law allows gasoline used in regular cars to contain no more than 10
percent ethanol. The ethanol industry says the proportion could go higher—to
15 percent or even 20 percent—without significantly affecting how
cars drive or hold up or how their emissions control systems perform.
Some industry representatives are asking the Environmental Protection
Agency, which has final say in these matters, to quickly approve 12
or 13 percent blends. However, representatives of several public health,
environmental, and manufacturing groups met last week with the Bush
administration's Office of Management and Budget and asked that more
testing be done on car engines before federal ethanol limits are changed,
warning that the impact of such an action upon consumers and the environment
is not yet fully known.
=======================================
23.) Michigan Governor Signs
Renewable Fuels Legislation:
Saginaw News, December 30,
2008
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2008/12/gov_granholm_signs_renewable_f.html
Eleven bills pushed by local
lawmakers and aimed at expanding the production and use of renewable
fuels in Michigan has been signed by the Governor Granholm. The legislation
includes five additional renewable energy renaissance zones, creation
of a Renewable Fuels Fund to promote the production and use of alternative
fuels, and new tax incentives for equipment capable of harvesting biomass
and the conversion of existing gasoline pumps to pumps capable of delivering
ethanol, biodiesel and other forms of renewable fuels.
===================================
24.) Indiana Fund to Fuel
Ethanol Use Out of Gas - Tapped-Out Incentive, Plunge in Oil Prices
Take Bloom Off E85:
Indianapolis Business Journal,
by Chris O’Malley, December 27 - 2008
http://www.ibj.com/html/detail_page.asp?content=27784
A state fund supporting an
18-cent-a-gallon tax credit for gas stations selling E85 ethanol was
exhausted in the first three months of the state’s new fiscal year.
The tax credit enacted in 2007 helped spur a dramatic increase in the
number of stations selling E85. It’s offered at 121 stations across
the state, up from just one in Terre Haute in 2005. Up to 25 percent
of that is used for a retail tax credit and to promote the availability
of E85, a blend of 85 percent alcohol/15 percent gasoline. Gasoline
prices have plummeted to around $1.50 a gallon from $4-plus this summer,
making E85 and its inherently lower fuel economy less attractive to
retailers and motorists. Even though many stations in the metro area
this month sold E85 at a nickel a gallon cheaper than gasoline, E85’s
lower fuel economy meant the actual cost to the motorist could be 50
or 60 cents more per gallon than gas.
=================================
25.) Mandatory Energy Audits?
Green Building Elements, by
Dawn Killough, December 22, 2008
http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/12/22/mandatory-energy-audits
Governor Ted Kulongoski of
Oregon is proposing a program that would require all buildings sold
in the state to be tested and rated for energy efficiency. The plan
would take effect in 2011 for houses and 2012 for commercial buildings.
Older homes and buildings would be rated lower than buildings built
with new technologies and materials. However, many of these homes and
buildings could be updated with windows and additional insulation, and
would have greatly improved efficiency numbers. One problem with the
plan is that there is no designated measurement tool to determine the
efficiency of buildings. Several programs are available, including the
national Energy Star tool, and a local program called Earth Advantage.
Both programs require buildings to be at least 15% more efficient than
code.
=======================================
26.) In Obama’s Team,
Two Camps on Climate:
New York Times, by John M.
Broder, January 2, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/washington/03enviro.html
As Mr. Obama seeks to find
the right balance between his environmental goals and his plans to revive
the economy, he may have to resolve conflicting views among some of
his top advisers. Carol M. Browner, incoming White House coordinator
of energy and climate policy, has been a forceful advocate for strict
carbon limits for years and has said that a comprehensive cap-and-trade
system is the best way to achieve swift and certain reductions in emissions.
She has said that the plan could include flexibility for carbon-emitting
businesses by allowing them to bank and borrow permits, but she has
not supported setting a maximum price or “safety valve” cost in
case permits become prohibitively expensive. Lawrence H. Summers,
who leads the economic team of the incoming administration, believes
a cap-and-trade program can be a workable solution, provided it includes
some sort of escape clause if prices rise too quickly. Further, he is
wary of moving very quickly on a carbon cap, because doing so could
raise energy costs, kill jobs and deepen the current recession. He foresees
a phase-in of several years for any carbon restraint regime, particularly
if the economy continues to be sluggish, a slower timetable than many
lawmakers and environmentalists are pressing.
====================================
27.) Why Obama's Green Jobs
Plan Might Work:
Los Angeles Times, by Marla
Dickerson, January 4, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-greenjobs4-2009jan04,0,330188.story
The push is on to retool America
with so-called green-collar industries. No one knows precisely how many
green jobs exist in the U.S. economy. Estimates range from less than
1 million workers to nearly four times that. President-elect Barack
Obama wants to spend $150 billion over the next decade to promote energy
from the sun, wind and other renewable sources as well as energy conservation.
Plans include raising vehicle fuel-economy standards and subsidizing
consumer purchases of plug-in hybrids. Obama wants to weatherize 1 million
homes annually and upgrade the nation's creaky electrical grid. His
team has talked of providing tax credits and loan guarantees to clean-energy
companies. His goals: create 5 million new jobs repowering America over
10 years; assert U.S. leadership on global climate change; and wean
the U.S. from its dependence on imported petroleum.
====================================
28.) Alternative Energy
Companies Stung by Tight Credit:
Associated Press, December
31, 2008
http://www.cnbc.com/id/28448072
Alternative energy stocks were
battered on Wall Street in 2008 as volatile commodity prices, a continuing
global recession and tightening credit markets drove one ethanol company
into bankruptcy protection and sent shares of others down more than
90 percent. Wind and solar companies fared slightly better, but the
worldwide economic downturn overshadowed $17 billion in new federal
tax incentives that had those industries poised to take off. Companies
embarking on large solar and wind projects need large sums of capital
to build, and such ventures are often put on hold if firms can't access
cash. One of the hardest hit alternative energy segments was biofuels,
as tightening credit markets erased the sector's lifeline to weather
volatile corn and fuel price swings.
====================================
29.) Oregon Exceptionally
Generous with Green-Energy Subsidies:
Oregonian, by Harry Esteve,
January 2, 2009
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/oregon_is_exceptionally_genero.html
Oregon taxpayers are shelling
out tens of millions of dollars to subsidize green energy projects,
making the state a magnet for solar and wind companies. But an investigation
by "The Oregonian" shows that the money also is going to risky
ventures with questionable environmental benefits and to prosperous
companies that need no incentives but are cashing in anyway. Records
show that the state also has given away millions to keep long-haul truckers
comfortable in their cabs overnight without running their diesel engines,
to timber companies for wood-burning steam boilers, to buy bus passes
for well-paid employees at Nike and the city of Portland, to build a
state-of-the-art bicycle garage for a Hillsboro sportswear company and
to help a car rental company add hybrids to its Portland fleet. Rapid
growth in the amount and size of the tax credits has alarmed some lawmakers
and advocacy groups that see the state reducing services to the poor
while handing out huge sums to often wealthy businesses.
====================================
30.) Green Projects Hit
Snags in Idaho Amid Concerns About Wildlife Habitat, Aesthetics and
Competing Interests:
Idaho Statesman, by Rocky Barker,
January 2, 2009
http://www.idahostatesman.com/102/story/620216.html
Alternative energy developers
are finding that they face many of the same conflicts as traditional
generation plants. A geothermal plant near Weiser shares land eyed by
those who propose a reservoir for flood control and irrigation storage.
Wind farms south of Twin Falls conflict with sage grouse habitat, raising
endangered species protection questions. And wind farms in eastern Idaho
have drawn the ire of powerful human neighbors. Alternative energy developers
say companies can avoid many of these disputes by making wise siting
decisions, using science to avoid wildlife habitat and making sure that
opponents don't have grounds to stop construction.
==================================
31.) Solar-Power Industry
Remains Hot in California:
Mercury News, by Matt Nauman,
January 2, 2008
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11358068?nclick_check=1
The amount of electricity generated
in California by solar energy soared in 2008, and applications for rebates
under the state's Million Solar Roofs program reached record levels
in the last five months of the year. In the 24-month history of the
California Solar Initiative, the busiest five months for applications
were August through December of 2008. More than 1,000 applications were
received in August, the largest monthly number to that point in the
program's history, and the number reached a record 1,316 in December.
Perhaps 150 megawatts or more of new solar panels were installed in
California in 2008, up from 81 megawatts in 2007. California has more
than half of the solar capacity in the United States, and the state
ranks as the world's No. 4 solar entity after Germany, Spain and Japan.
==================================
32.) Duke Energy's Solar
Panel Plan Approved - $50 Million Project Will Meet the Utility's Renewable
Energy Requirement:
Charlotte Observer, by Bruce
Henderson, January 1, 2009
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/business/story/172348.html
The North Carolina Utilities
Commission has approved Duke Energy's plan to place solar panels on
hundreds of rooftops. Duke expects to generate eight megawatts of electricity
from panels at up to 425 sites, enough to power 1,300 homes, within
two years. Duke has estimated average residential power bills will go
up about 8 cents a month under the plan.
===================================
33.) Two New Wind Farms
Up and Running in Texas:
Monitor, by Melissa McEver,
January 3, 2009
http://www.themonitor.com/articles/harlingen_21671___article.html/_.html
Two large-scale wind farms
in South Texas are now operational despite the protests of environmental
advocates who spent months trying to halt the projects. A group of environmental
organizations, including Lower Laguna Madre Foundation, King Ranch and
others, has opposed the projects from the start. The group, known as
the Coastal Habitat Alliance, says the wind farms are on a major migratory
pathway for birds, and that tall, rapidly spinning turbines on that
pathway could lead to bird kills. Many of the approximately 250 wind
turbines that were expected to dot about 20,000 acres of Kenedy Ranch
north of Raymondville are up and spinning, and together ultimately will
generate almost 500 megawatts. Once both farms are completely online,
they could generate enough electricity for more than 100,000 homes.
===================================
34.) Electricity Study Embraces
Energy Efficiency for Texas:
Houston Chronicle, by Tom Fowler,
December 31, 2008
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/6189695.html
Texas could reduce its peak
electric usage by 23.3 percent, or by more than 15,000 megawatts, during
the times of peak usage during the hottest summer afternoons, in the
next seven years if utilities would invest more in efficiency programs,
according to a study released recently by the Public Utility Commission.
The efficiency efforts, which would funnel through existing programs
administered by the electric transmission companies in the parts of
Texas open to competition, would save consumers as much as $2 for every
$1 invested, according to the study.
===================================
35.) Flat-Screen TVs to
Face Energy-Efficiency Rules in California:
Los Angeles Times, by Marc
Lifsher, January 3, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tv3-2009jan03,0,2869589.story
California regulators are getting
ready to curb the growing power gluttony of TV sets by drafting the
nation's first rules requiring retailers to sell only the most energy-efficient
models, starting in 2011. The regulations would be phased in over two
years, with a first tier taking effect on Jan. 1, 2011, and a more stringent,
second tier on Jan. 1, 2013. Purchasers of Tier 1-compliant TVs would
shave an average of $18.48 off their residential electric bill in the
first year of ownership, the Energy Commission estimates. Tier 2 sets
would save an additional $11.76 a year. The consumer electronics industry
opposes the regulations, expected to pass in mid-2009, and claims that
they could remove some TVs from store shelves and slightly boost sticker
prices. However, California Energy Commission officials say the standards,
once fully in place, would reduce the state's annual energy needs by
an amount equivalent to the power consumed by 86,400 homes.
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