Obama green jobs program faces further investigation.
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Other NewsSolar panels subsidy was 'one of the most ridiculous schemes ever dreamed up', Lord Marland says.The Telegraph 31 Jan EditorialsCan Californians afford cleaner cars?California's history-bending rules will do what they are designed to do - reduce pollution and cut greenhouse gases - only if the public buys the clean cars in the volumes predicted. That's the big uncertainty. Modesto Bee 03 Feb Buyers will be key to state goal of cleaner cars.The California Air Resources Board has pushed the envelope yet again. But the history-bending rules will do what they are designed to do – reduce pollution and cut greenhouse gases – only if the public buys the new clean cars in the volumes predicted. That's the big uncertainty. Sacramento Bee 01 Feb Bullet train becoming 'Moonbeam Express.'In a brazen denial of the obvious, Gov. Jerry Brown now insists the proposed California high-speed rail can be built for much less than its own business plan stipulates, and wants to use anti-global-warming carbon taxes to underwrite the proposal, whose price tag has nearly tripled in the three years since voters approved it. Orange County Register 01 Feb Germany's solar crack-up.Germany enjoys, if that's the right word, a thriving solar-energy industry. But the cost of this success, to taxpayers and electricity users alike, has risen to astronomical levels. Wall Street Journal 26 Jan No reason to rush decision on pipeline.It will take far more than the short 60-day limit Congress irresponsibly imposed for deciding whether some version of the project can be done without inflicting unacceptable and irreversible damage to the environmnent. Philadelphia Inquirer 20 Jan A good call on the pipeline.President Obama has properly rejected, at least for now, the Keystone XL oil pipeline that would run from Canada to the Gulf Coast. He rebuffed the demand of House Republicans that the controversial project be decided in haste under an election-year deadline. New York Times 19 Jan Obama's Keystone rejection is hard to accept.There are far fairer, far more rational ways to discourage oil use in America, the first of which is establishing higher gasoline taxes. Environmentalists should fight for policies that might actually do substantial good instead of tilting against Keystone XL, and President Obama should have the courage to say so. Washington Post 19 Jan Obama's pipeline decision delays energy security.The administration made itself vulnerable to being hogtied on this issue. What's really going on here, of course, is the most craven sort of election-year politics. Environmental groups made the pipeline a key test of their support for the president. Republicans hoped to embarrass Obama, and they succeeded. USA Today 19 Jan OpinionCut emissions, boost health.Reducing greenhouse gases would save billions in health care costs. Policy makers should take note. European Voice 02 Feb In climate fight, tracking the line between diagnosis and treatment.The last few days have seen frenzied volleys in the fight over climate science and policy. Most of the authors in both camps are scientists. It will be economic pressures, not scientific findings, that largely determine what the world’s nations do, or don’t do, to limit the flow of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from fuel burning. New York Times 02 Feb Fight against climate change is uphill ride.To combat combat change requires people, business, government and international bodies to work together to make changes that will safeguard our planet's resources and enable our economies to produce sustainable growth and new green jobs. Jewish Chronicle 02 Feb Clean-energy hostages."Let the fossil fuels go, or the wind industry gets it in the wallet." That’s the threat congressional Republicans need to convey to their colleagues across the aisle to stop the Obama war against fossil fuels. Washington Times 01 Feb Are natural gas vehicles a good idea?On Thursday, President Obama traveled to Las Vegas to pitch a few new energy policies — including tax breaks for firms that buy natural gas-powered trucks. T. Boone Pickens, for one, has argued that fueling vehicles with natural gas is the best way to curtail oil use. Is it? Washington Post 27 Jan Climate change topics recede in a more conservative political climate.Obama's reluctance to use words like "climate change" and "carbon emissions" in his state of the union speech reflects a weakened position in Congress and a resurgence of conservative voters. Reuters 26 Jan Pipeline itself not the only problem we should worry about.If you love this planet and your children, and are humble and objective in considering the findings of science, you have no choice but to battle hard to stop Gateway and other tarsands pipelines. Vancouver Sun 26 Jan Oil's tipping point has passed.Continuing debates about the quality of climate-change science and doubts about the scale of negative environmental impacts have held back political action against rising greenhouse-gas emissions. But there is a potentially more persuasive argument for lowering global emissions: the impact of dwindling oil supplies on the economy. Nature 26 Jan |
Cheap natural gas jumbles energy markets, stirs fears it could inhibit renewables.For the past three years, promoters of shale gas and environmentalists opposed to coal-fired power plants have hailed the sudden abundance of U.S. natural gas as a bridge to a renewable-energy future. Washington Post 03 Feb How the stimulus revived the electric car.One success the Obama administration can duly claim is the rebirth of the electric-car industry in the United States. The question is: Will it last? ProPublica 03 Feb How the Sierra Club took millions from the natural gas industry — and why it stopped.Mainstream environmental groups have struggled to balance local concerns about traditional pollution with planet-sized worries over climate change, and how to work with corporate America without being seen as selling out. Time Magazine 03 Feb India's panel price crash could spark solar revolution.In India, electricity from solar is now cheaper than that from diesel generators. The news - which will boost India's "Solar Mission" to install 20,000 megawatts of solar power by 2022 - could have implications for other developing nations too. New Scientist 03 Feb Town turns off wind, opts for solar energy.At a time of accelerating production of both wind and solar energy, Duxbury officials have decided to buy solar energy produced elsewhere and take their own wind project off the table. Boston Globe 03 Feb Oil industry sees no threat from electric car.The biggest oil companies in the world have calculated that few, if any, of today's drivers will see electric cars outnumber gasoline and diesel models in their lifetimes. Reuters 03 Feb Republicans urge feds to scrap climate rule for new power plants.House Republicans yesterday asked the Obama administration to withdraw a pending rule that would implement the first-ever standards on greenhouse-gas emissions from new power plants, saying it would “impose additional energy costs on a struggling American economy.” Houston Chronicle 03 Feb Clean-tech industry facing lean times after Solyndra.After the bankruptcy of the solar energy company Solyndra, the clean-tech industry is facing leaner times, in part because of cheaper natural gas prices, the effects of the financial crisis and China's growing solar industry. Fresh Air 03 Feb As EU ramps up biofuels, climate debate intensifies.Finland's Neste Oil has just finished converting a plot of land reclaimed from the sea into the biggest biodiesel refinery in Europe. But as the EU reconsiders whether biofuels are better for the environment, a potential shift in EU policy could undermine the refinery's profitability. Wall Street Journal 03 Feb Could cheap gas slow growth of renewable energy?The boom in cheap natural gas in this country is good news for the environment, because relatively clean gas is replacing dirty coal-fired power plants. All Things Considered 03 Feb New York’s solar balance sheet.Despite uncertainties in the solar energy market, New York officials should support the “steady and measured growth” of solar power in the state as part of a balanced renewable energy strategy, a new report recommends. New York Times 03 Feb Sierra Club took $26M from natural gas.The Sierra Club took $26 million from one of the nation's largest natural gas companies for three years while at the same time hawking natural gas as a clean, green energy source, the group admitted Thursday. Politico 03 Feb Three states to require insurers to disclose climate-change response plans.Insurance commissioners in California, New York and Washington State will require that companies disclose how they intend to respond to the risks their businesses and customers face from increasingly severe storms and wildfires, rising sea levels and other consequences of climate change, California’s commissioner said Wednesday. New York Times 02 Feb The coming U.S.-China solar war.If you're buying solar panels or running a business installing them, life is good, but if you own a company that actually makes solar equipment in the U.S., you're looking at a lot of red ink. That's because solar power is getting much cheaper. Time Magazine 02 Feb Seattle energy conservation program falters.Nearly two years after Seattle announced an ambitious, $20 million weatherization program to create 2,000 jobs, officials said Wednesday that reaching that goal was unlikely. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 02 Feb Greening of building sector on track to deliver trillions in savings by 2030.Architecture 2030, a building sector research and advocacy group, issued a report last week asserting that the greening of the U.S. building sector is on track to deliver far more energy savings than government officials predicted only a handful of years ago, with important implications for the country's energy and climate picture. Inside Climate News 02 Feb Fears over money to maintain flood defences.A report by Public Accounts Committee said the costs of flood damage currently stand at around £1.1 billion a year, and are likely to rise with climate change. Press Association 02 Feb Fears for jobs as ethanol producer stops work on plant.The NSW ethanol mandate will be "appropriately enforced," the Premier has assured Australia's biggest ethanol producer, Manildra, after the company reacted to his decision to dump a ban on regular unleaded fuel by suspending the expansion of its Nowra plant. Sydney Morning Herald 02 Feb Local biz invests $3 million in solar array.Spiral Binding Inc., a maker of presentation and proposal products, with its headquarters in the borough, unveiled a $3 million solar array with about 3,500 solar panels, one of the largest in North Jersey. Bergen County Record 02 Feb Germany, China take lead in environmental policies.Strong economic ties drive the Sino-German bilateral partnership. Energy, environment and climate change issues remain at the heart of economic relations. China Daily 02 Feb |
