Energy
Not Enough “Green” to be Green?
The Washington Post has details about the budget proposal. Here’s the information on EPA: President Obama’s proposed budget provides $9 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, noting that that amount represents a $1.3 billion decrease from the previous budget year. But that’s unlikely to satisfy Republicans in the House who are sharpening their knives to …
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CONTINUE READINGThe World in 2050: Economics and Resources
This is a second post on Laurence Smith’s new book, The World in 2050. I posted previously about demographic projections, but the economic and resource projections are also notable. Here are some important ones: Conventional oil is at or near its peak. Remaining oil will be increasingly expensive to obtain. Even with improved efficiency, India …
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CONTINUE READINGObama’s 80% “Clean” Energy Goal: Ambitious or Inevitable?
In a recent post on Grist, Keith Schneider found President Obama’s 80% “clean” energy goal rather incredible: Arguably the central provision of President Obama’s State of the Union address last night was the proposal to generate 80 percent of the nation’s electricity from clean energy sources by 2035 — including nuclear energy and “carbon capture and …
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CONTINUE READINGGood for Consumers, Good for the Planet?
California Governor Jerry Brown’s appointment of Mike Florio, a well-known, life-long consumer advocate, to a seat on the California Public Utilities Commission raises an interesting question for those who view the world primarily through green-colored glasses. What does a consumer advocate have to offer toward the advancement of an environmental agenda – at least in …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Environmental Blueprint: Environmental monitoring & modeling
This post is the second in our ongoing series on our Environmental Blueprint for California. In our Blueprint, we recommended that Governor Brown establish an independent, statewide agency or council devoted to compilation, modeling, prediction and presentation of environmental quality data. I want to elaborate on what this agency might look like and why we believe …
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CONTINUE READINGThe State of the Union Address: Good on Energy, MIA on Climate
President Obama’s State of the Union address had good news for research universities and for renewable energy: We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology – an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people. Already, we are seeing the promise of …
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CONTINUE READINGNice Start on That Renewable Power, LADWP — Now Get to Work!
In a blog entry on January 14th, Ann Carlson offered strokes to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for announcing success in reaching its goal of 20% renewable power. Ann appropriately pointed out that much work lies ahead for LADWP, since most of the new renewable power came in the form of short …
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CONTINUE READINGFunding dam removal
Many of you have probably heard of the settlement agreements in Klamath River Basin. For those who have not, the short version is that most participants signed two agreements: the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement. The Hydroelectric Settlement lays out a process that could culminate in the removal of four …
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CONTINUE READINGA Roadmap for Sustainable Consumption
Individual consumption – including household heating and cooling as well as non-business transportation – creates roughly one-third of U.S. energy use and carbon emissions. It would feasible to reduce these emissions by twenty percent in a decade: there is a lot of low-hanging fruit yet to be picked. A range of individual actions, while seemingly …
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CONTINUE READINGLos Angeles and Renewable Energy
Much to the surprise of many observers, including me, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (the country’s largest municipally-owned utility) has met its 2010 goal of providing 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. I’ve written previously about the implementation problems LADWP and other utilities are likely to face in cutting greenhouse …
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