Get Energy Smart! NOW!

When seeking paths for creating an environment for a prosperous America in the reality of a carbon-constrained future, many see the most business friendly general approach as “Cap & Trade”. Society (politicians) determine a “cap”, a top level, of total emissions and then people (businesses) can buy and trade emissions totaling to that cap. [...]

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Yesterday, a lone Republican, Representative Ahn Cao, voted for the (very weak) House health care reform bill.
I read the versions of the House [health reform] bill. I listened to the countless stories of Orleans and Jefferson Parish citizens whose health care costs are exploding – if they are able to obtain health care at [...]

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There are many things being lost in the discussion of the cost-benefit equation when it comes to mitigating global warming.
When doing cost-benefit analyses, organizations like the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are constrained to consider just one quadrant of what could be considered (in simplified form) the four-quadrant cost-benefit analysis structure:

Cost [...]

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Earlier this afternoon, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) held a press call to discuss climate legislation.  There were those who were holding their breath, seeing Alexander as moving toward supporting the legislation if it met his desires when it came to nuclear power development.  Based on this press event, it seems that they might be holding [...]

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This is a guest post from NB41, who is top-notch in the wind energy world and on how to integrate renewable power into the energy system.
Senator Kerry and Boxer introduced, yesterday, the Clean Energy, Jobs, and American Power Act. This bill is an alternative to/similar to the so-called ACES bill (Waxman-Markey Bill) which recently [...]

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Well designed, a cap with a collar can be a truly gorgeous thing.
To spark movement away from our carbon addiction, for business (financial) planning, and to gain enough support to pass climate legislation, any “Cap and Trade” structure almost certainly will have to have a “collar” to go with its “cap” on carbon emissions.
To be [...]

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As discussed yesterday, the pro-coal astroturf American Coalition for Clean-Coal Electricity (ACCCE) stated that it was “outraged” that its contractor, Donner & Associates had forged (oops, that an intern or temp or contract employee, no longer with the group had forged) letters from two minority organizations to Representative Tom Perriello trying to create a (false) [...]

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For far too long and far too extensively, various industries have used astroturfing methods to distort public debate. They create false groups. They fund “institutions” with impressive sounding names to spout deceptive propaganda.  All of this is fraud, outright fraud on the very concept of intelligent discourse in a civil society.  Now, this “fraud” typical [...]

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The Waxman-Markety American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) targets for renewable energy and climate emissions reductions are, to put it simply, far from what they should be. And, let’s put aside “should be”, they are far weaker than they could be.
Let’s stick with 2020 targets for a moment. The bill, as passed by the House, [...]

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Friday, Sam Stein and Ryan Grim wrote on Huffington Post about the politics of the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act. They quoted Sierra Club head Carl Pope stating that progressives had helped drive the bill to the right by forcing more compromises with members like likely Global Warming-denier Collin Peterson.
“If Waxman-Markey [...]

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