Energy
EPA report on US greenhouse gas emissions and sinks may not tell the whole story
Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), the international agreement that resulted in the Kyoto Protocol and that will convene a new round of talks in Copenhagen later this year, the U.S. is required to report comprehensively each year on U.S.-based emissions of greenhouse gases and on GHG sinks in the U.S. The U.S. EPA released …
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CONTINUE READINGCustomer Impacts From Waxman’s Cap & Trade? Let’s Not Exaggerate
In Wednesday’s New York Times, Felicia Barringer reports on pocketbook concerns related to the Waxman-Markey carbon cap and trade proposal as expressed by parishioners at St. Louis’ Greater Mount Carmel Baptist Church. The article contains the following statement, attributed to a representative from the local electric utility: “Jaime Haro, Ameren UE’s director of asset management …
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CONTINUE READINGFree Allowances! Get Your Free Allowances!
From WashPo, The Obama administration might agree to postpone auctioning off 100 percent of emissions allowances under a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas pollution, White House science adviser John P. Holdren said today, a move that would please electricity providers and manufacturers but could anger environmentalists. Why would this “anger environmentalists’? I certainly see …
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CONTINUE READINGGorbachev Goes Green
Matt Peterson’s blog reports: President Gorbachev, the founder of Green Cross International (Global Green USA is the American affiliate) . . . said, “It’s not just a matter of rescuing the world’s economy — there is more at stake. We must not expect the outcome of this crisis will be the replicating of the same …
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CONTINUE READINGWaxman bill on state cap-and-trade efforts
I’ve been reading the Waxman-Markey energy and climate discussion draft released earlier in the week (and blogged about by Rick here). One thing I’m puzzling over is the draft’s treatment of state cap and trade regulations. As many have noted, the question of which state climate efforts are saved and which are preempted is an …
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CONTINUE READINGSilos: Great for Fodder, Not So Hot for Energy Policy
The electricity grid is one big machine. Transmisssion must be centrally coordinated. Generating units must all be in sync. Voltage levels have to be maintained. There must constantly be an even match between demand and supply. But you would hardly know it from the way we look at energy policy at the states and on …
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CONTINUE READINGIn Mexico, Life Goes On
A sign protests the proposed La Parota Dam As President Obama announced plans to move National Guard troops to the Mexican border and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton traveled to Mexico City to discuss a new relationship between the two nations in light of accelerated drug wars, representatives from various nations were also in Mexico …
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CONTINUE READINGThe US Chamber of Commerce on Carbon Regulation: Sub-zero stupid
Holly referenced the Chamber of Commerce’s hysterical claim that regulating carbon dioxide would stop all the infrastructure projects in the stimulus. Not only is that not true, but it might in fact be exactly the opposite. The reason is pretty straightforward: to the extent that the government places caps on carbon dioxide, such a policy …
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CONTINUE READINGSun Down, Sun Up
There is bad news and there is good news about efforts to promote distributed solar energy development in the United States. On balance, the long-term perspective seems to be improving. Greenwire reports that the California Solar Initiative, the states ambitious program to encourage photovoltaic installations on homes and businesses, has lost some steam, lately. Builders …
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CONTINUE READINGSave Us From Ourselves
I often have conversations about climate change with those who believe that the crux of the problem lies with the individual. To put it somewhat differently, these individualists believe that we can’t solve the climate problem without individual change and that the possibilities for such change are all around us. People should use less electricity, take …
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