Energy Efficiency

More than just a bright idea

New Agreement on Standards for Outdoor Lights Announced 0
Posted 3 days, 22 hours ago
How to Actually Solve Climate Change, Part Whatever

Energy Trust and the Big Hope 13
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago One glimmer of hope in the campaign against climate change is called Energy Trust, an organization in Oregon that, if widely copied, would move us well on the way to solving the problem.
Green Jobs Now

Weatherizing Portland 0
Posted 1 week, 2 days ago Clean Energy Works Portland is a groundbreaking new program that enables Portland residents to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and pay for the improvements over time through their utility bills.
How bright is Energy Star?

New reports show successes and failures of Energy Star 0
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago The media has been taking the Department of Energy to task over a recently released audit by the Inspector General which highlighted some well known shortcomings in the Energy Star program. The new DOE has vowed to take care of these problems and they are addressing the major issues and are moving forward.
Kerry smacks down Inhofe’s lies about the cost of climate policy 1
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago At today's hearing on the Kerry-Boxer bill, Sen. Inhofe (R-Okla.) was spouting the usual lies about the high cost of the policy. Kerry responded:
Listen to the coal guy!

Why it’s better to invest in efficiency than to hold electricity rates down 9
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago A utility representative, of all people, recognizes the important truth that it is better to give consumers efficiency than to give them cheaper electricity.
One step forward, several back

The Kerry-Boxer bill is not “more ambitious” than Waxman-Markey 2
Posted 1 week, 5 days ago I'm sure Steve Mufson and Juliet Eilperin didn't choose the headline, but whoever did, I think it's a real mistake to refer to the Kerry-Boxer bill as "a bit more ambitious" than its Waxman-Markey counterpart in the House. This became conventional wisdom almost immediately, but it seems to me both wrong and pernicious -- the more Kerry-Boxer is seen as a leftward move from the House bill, the more senators who want to be seen as moderate will want to be seen hacking it down.
Interns saving the world

Climate Corps interns save Fortune 500 firms $54 million 4
Posted 2 weeks, 3 days ago MBA students from the Environmental Defense Fund's Climate Corps identified energy efficiency measures that will save an estimated $54 million at Dell, eBay and 20 other Fortune 500 companies.
Yeah, we said billion

A $4 billion push to make affordable housing green 0
Posted 2 weeks, 3 days ago Today brings news of a major investment in making affordable housing greener, and an ambitious call for an even bigger national conversion. Find out who's behind it.
Stripping for a cause

Weatherization will save us all 6
Posted 2 weeks, 5 days ago Despite its terrible name, Joe Biden's Middle Class Task Force has some solid ideas on saving energy and money. Find out what innovations are coming to your neighborhood.
DOE and EPA Agree to Make a Brighter Energy Star 0
Posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago
Who's my CBO? Who's my little CBO schnookums?!

How CBO budget scoring devalues efficiency ... WITH PUPPIES! 9
Posted 3 weeks, 2 days ago The CBO is in the news again, with the usual suspects hyping its (in reality quite optimistic) economic analysis. In the spirit of actually learning something from this episode, here's a look at a serious issue: how the CBO's budget scoring undercounts the potential for efficiency, systematically distorting energy policy in ways that favor delay, compromise, and defensiveness. The good news is that properly accounting for efficiency opens the door to clean energy policy that's fiscally responsible and environmentally accountable.
New air conditioning and furnace standards mean big savings 0
Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago The National Resources Defense Council and other efficiency groups released a negotiated agreement with manufacturers of residential air conditioners and furnaces.
Nuclear nonsense

Stewart Brand’s nuclear enthusiasm falls short on facts and logic 159
Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago Stewart Brand has a new book coming out, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto. Brand argues, among other things, that environmentalists should reconsider nuclear power. Amory Lovins responds with a thanks, but no thanks.
Making lemonade

What to do with the utility handouts in the climate bill? 1
Posted 1 month ago One compromise more than any other enabled the Waxman-Markey bill to navigate the sticky regional politics of the Energy & Commerce Committee, and then the House floor. That same compromise built a bridge between coal-state Dems and industry, utilities and environmentalists. Dave Roberts handicaps the LDC option.
Get It Together

Obama Tells Agencies to Shape Up on Sustainability 0
Posted 1 month ago
Tank and File

Ask Umbra on replacing hot-water heaters 21
Posted 1 month ago When the parents of three little boys wonder which hot-water heater makes the most sense for them, Umbra sheds light on the issue.
Let's Make a Seal

Ask Umbra on drafty houses 3
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago When you tighten up a house to save energy, do you lose the benefits of fresh air exchange? A perplexed couple wants to know, and Umbra breezes in with an answer.
Rooting for the underdog

For Khosla, clean tech is all about scale 0
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla believes "clean tech" is all about greening "old tech."
Still fallacious

The perfect market fallacy 9
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago A "market" is nothing more than a description of our collective allocation of resources. Economists refer to markets as being efficient only when they meet a specific set of conditions, at which point the benefits that accrue from Adam Smith's invisible hand are realized through the independent actions of profit-seeking actors. But most markets are inefficient--often woefully so.