Get Energy Smart! NOW!

Yet another guest post from the thoughtful BruceMcF. We can tell that an energy policy is not aimed at ending our nation’s oil addiction in time when the speech presenting it follows up: The United States of America cannot afford to bet our long-term prosperity, our long-term security on a resource that will eventually run […]

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As rumored prior to the release of President Obama’s proposed 2012 budget, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) program will take a serious hit, roughly a 50 percent cut. As David Dayen put it prior to the budget’s release, The Administration says this lowers LIHEAP assistance to where it was in 2008. But […]

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Construction and use of buildings account for a major share of global warming emissions. Depending on how one calculates, allocating roughly 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to this built infrastructure is roughly correct.  Heating … cooling … lighting … building materials … etc, it all adds up (and up … and up). […]

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First Lady Michelle Obama had an interesting mix of Americans in her box for the State of the Union speech. Among them was an Oregon businessman: Jim Houser, Portland, OR Jim Houser and his wife have owned an auto repair shop in Portland, Oregon for over 25 years, and they don’t want to lose valuable […]

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In the State of the Union address, President Obama referred back to President Kennedy’s call for America to go to the moon. Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik¸ we had no idea how we’d beat them to the moon. The science wasn’t […]

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Since before the 2008 election, the core challenge for the incoming President was clear: JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! Yes, we were amid a collapse of the economic system, it required stabilization. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! Yes, our energy situation was (is) a mess and the climate is boiling. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! Yes, our political system is broken. […]

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Yesterday, President Barack Obama announced a $50 billion investment in the nation’s transportation infrastructure with an infrastructure investment bank to come to support future investments. There is much of value to this program, from the very simple reality that there is a huge back-log of investment requirements to repair the nation’s infrastructure (let alone bring […]

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When it comes to the necessity of facing down pollution in the nation’s electricity system and other major polluting industries, it is hard to read recent Obama Administration action as anything other than a strong statement to leading environmental organizations: Stay out of our way, we don’t need your help … we don’t need it. […]

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Secretary of Energy Steven Chu took on conservative economists in comments this evening, where he spoke with strong praise for regulation and standards for driving energy efficiency in appliances and other energy-related systems. Chu explained that writing regulation and setting standards are — without exception — the lowest cost move with the highest payoff to […]

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Since before the 2008 election, the core challenge for the incoming President was clear: JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! Yes, we were amid a collapse of the economic system, it required stabilization. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! Yes, our energy situation was (is) a mess and the climate is boiling. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! Yes, our political system is broken. […]

[Read more →]