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Reality leaving Waxman-Markey in the dust …

July 7th, 2009 · 1 Comment

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 […]

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Tags: cap and trade · climate change · climate legislation · coal · electricity · emissions · Energy · energy efficiency · energy information administration

Not even a rubber mallet? Do “Climate Change Leaders” know how to play hardball?

June 17th, 2009 · 4 Comments

When contemplating the path of climate legislation over the past several years, we must address a continual question and challenge for those (which should be all of us) concerned that our political system is proving unable to come up with a policy and regulatory framework that provides any real hope for putting us (the United […]

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Tags: Al Gore · analysis · climate change · climate delayers · climate legislation · Congress · democrats · environmental · Global Warming · government energy policy · politics

Why do so many in Congress hate American manufacturing?

June 15th, 2009 · Comments Off on Why do so many in Congress hate American manufacturing?

Truly, this is one of the questions that should be on the table when considering Congressional (in)action re climate change and clean energy options.  Over the past decade, as US jobs flew out to other countries, with workers all too often spending their last months/weeks/days on the job training foreigners how to use equipment and […]

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Tags: Congress · government energy policy · politics · renewable electricity standards · renewable energy

ACEEE analysis of ACES EE or Energy Efficiency Makes CENTS (LOTS OF CENTS!!!!)

June 9th, 2009 · 4 Comments

The energy efficiency sections of HR 2454, the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act, are, almost certainly, its strongest elements. The United States, for a wide-ranging set of reasons, has evolved into a far more energy inefficient society than sensible (rather than stove-piped and distorted) economics would suggest should be the case. The […]

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Tags: cap and trade · Energy · energy efficiency

Markey on racing for clean energy

June 6th, 2009 · Comments Off on Markey on racing for clean energy

Chairman Ed Markey’s OPED, The race for clean-energy innovation, earns both cheers of agreement and moans of discord. Absolutely spot on is the beginning, highlighting the truth that we are facing a race for trillions of dollars in clean-energy investments. As President Obama says, “the nation that leads in 21st-century clean energy is the nation […]

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Tags: ed markey · Energy · energy efficiency

Climate Legislation … What is the right approach?

May 28th, 2009 · 7 Comments

Al Gore says supports it. Paul Krugman says support it. Two Nobel Prize Winners. Who am I to question them? That is a question received, in more than one space, when it comes to the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act. Well, with all due respect to the infallibility of a Nobel Prize […]

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Tags: analysis · cap and trade · carbon offsets · carbon tax · catastrophic climate change

Coal-Industry Investors Bullish on Waxman-Markey?

May 26th, 2009 · Comments Off on Coal-Industry Investors Bullish on Waxman-Markey?

Let’s be clear: coal is a killer. Despite the fantasies that coal industry advocates and astroturf organizations like to sell about “clean coal“, coal is a killer in the near term (asthma, black lung, etc), mid-term (mercury), and long term (climate change). While coal has had a powerful role in powering the globe from poverty […]

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Tags: coal

Pulling out the Stubby Pencil … and an ACES provision: UPDATED

May 19th, 2009 · 3 Comments

A 932 page bill … with manager’s amendments on top of it … with active committee debate … any single individual with an ability to actually understand the intricacies of the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act has achieved near-super-human capacities. Reading through the bill, time after time, I pause to scratch my head, […]

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Tags: analysis

Time for the Bully Pupit

May 16th, 2009 · 1 Comment

Mr. President: The time has come. You have spoken, eloquently and frequently and powerfully, about clean energy, energy efficiency, about climate change. You have stated the necessity and opportunity before us, as individuals and nation and global community, with addressing Climate Change. In the House of Representatives, two Committee chairs, Representatives Henry Waxman and Ed […]

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Tags: Congress · Energy · Global Warming · government energy policy · politics · waxman-markey

Isolationist Republicans Don’t Believe in American Leadership

May 7th, 2009 · 1 Comment

The Minority Staff of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has distributed a “dear colleague” letter from anti-science syndrome suffering Joe Barton arguing, based on this MasterResource analysis, that the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act would only reduced Global Warming by .09 degree Fahrenheit by 2050. Let us assume, graciously, that […]

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Tags: analysis · climate change · republican party · truthiness