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RESULTS		Results 26 – 50 of 797
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Laws and effect Bill Clinton says smart energy policy could have avoided the financial meltdown	David Roberts	24 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Henry Farrell has an interesting account of a discussion session Bill Clinton held with a group of bloggers. This jumped out: Clinton's basic argument was that the [financial] crisis was one of an overleveraged Wall Street system which emphasized the volume of transactions, and in which people were rewarded for chasing risky deals, and in which there were too few good investment opportunities. Money ended up being funneled into real estate that shouldn't have been. ...
Topics: energy, Wall Street, blogosphere, Bill Clinton, renewable energy (all these topics)

Credits where credits are due Senate passes renewable tax credits on the ninth attempt	Kate Sheppard	23 Sep 2008	Gristmill
The Senate today overwhelmingly approved a massive tax package that mashes together incentives for renewable energy with support for traditional energy sources less beloved by environmental groups. The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, sponsored by Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), would extend the investment tax credit for solar energy for eight years. It would extend the production tax credit (PTC) for wind for one year, and ...
Topics: tax incentives, politics, US Senate, renewable energy, Congress, Muckraker, news (all these topics)

Less red, more green Taking the red tape out of green power	Adam Browning	23 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Adam Stein predicts that the financial meltdown will cool the ardor for carbon legislation, and I agree. But that doesn't mean that policymakers will throw up their hands. Here are my predictions. One, the framing will shift from making fossil fuels more expensive (e.g. putting a price on carbon, a carbon tax, etc.) to making renewables cheaper (e.g. Google.org's motto: RE<C).Two, it's a great time to be in the efficiency business. And finally, policymakers, espec ...
Topics: regulation, renewable energy, energy, economy, Wall Street, tax incentives (all these topics)

GM might want to reconsider the launch of the Volt Credit crunch could take shine off efficiency improvements	Adam Stein	23 Sep 2008	Gristmill
I previously noted that the financial crisis is likely to be very bad news for renewable energy developers dependent upon access to credit for their cash-hungry projects. Geoffrey Styles points out that a credit crunch will also affect consumer-driven efficiency improvements:If consumers can't obtain attractive financing for more efficient appliances, heating systems, or rooftop solar power installations, the markets for those products will languish, and their aggregate i ...
Topics: renewable energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, energy, economy (all these topics)

Green jobs galore! How would a green recovery help your state?	Joseph Romm	23 Sep 2008	Gristmill
My post on the Bush bailout for the financial sector mentioned the 'Green Recovery' report recently released by the Center for American Progress and Dr. Robert Pollin from the University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute. Here's a little more detail: The report looks at how a $100 billion strategic investment can generate 2 million new, well-paying jobs (at least $16/hour) in the renewable and energy efficiency sectors and beyond. The chart below ...
Topics: renewable energy, economy, business, green jobs (all these topics)

Why we need a bailout The financial sector and the 'real economy' aren't that far removed	Adam Stein	23 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Sean has done an estimable job knocking down some of the more piqued reactions to the financial bailout in comments, but this really is a topic that deserves above-the-fold treatment. The crisis raises a host of big-picture questions about the proper role of oversight in the financial industry, but wherever the blame for the current mess eventually falls, the "let Wall St. burn" approach won't do anybody any good, least of all the environment.To be clear: I'm no ...
Topics: energy, business, investing, Wall Street, economy, renewable energy (all these topics)

Greenwashing socialism Bad policy ideas in Michigan	Sean Casten	22 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Environmental pressures and economic slowdowns are admittedly hard for state governors to tackle. Even still, Michigan's latest is a lousy idea. As noted here, the state legislature has just passed a bill which Gov. Granholm has promised to sign that would: Strengthen the utility monopolies, guaranteeing DTE and Consumer's Energy at least 90% of the electric market in the state. Reduce electric rates for businesses and raise them for consumers. Allow the utilit ...
Topics: Michigan, state politics, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

750 billion Ramblings on the financial crisis	David Roberts	22 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Based on my own extensive analysis of the ongoing financial crisis, I've come to the following conclusions: Nobody clearly understands how we got in this situation. Nobody clearly understands what situation we are in. Nobody clearly understands what's going to happen next. Despite all this, every single human being with access to a keyboard and a website is willing to make a mockery of the profession of journalism by making confident pronouncements. ...
Topics: energy, oil, Wall Street, business, economy, renewable energy (all these topics)

As dirty as Inhofe John McCain's environmental record is as bad as climate change denier James Inhofe	Joseph Romm	22 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is an avowed climate science believer who comes from a state with enough solar resource to power the entire nation. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is an avowed climate science denier who comes from a major oil patch state. So why has McCain voted with Inhofe and against clean energy and the environment a staggering 42 out of 44 times since the mid-1990s? And that doesn't even include eight straight votes on extending the renewable energy tax c ...
Topics: renewable energy, energy, politics, climate, John McCain, lying liars, James Inhofe (all these topics)

Fossil blindness Palin: 'renewables are not yet proven to be economic nor reliable'	David Roberts	22 Sep 2008	Gristmill
The week before she was chosen as John McCain's running mate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin was interviewed by CNBC's Maria Bartiromo about drilling for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve and elsewhere. In measured, lucid tones, Palin produced a veritable tsunami of non sequiturs, misleading claims, and outright falsehoods. One would need to go through second-by-second to fact check all the screamers -- there's the '20 percent of America's domestic energy' bi ...
Topics: renewable energy, energy, Arctic Refuge, politics, lying liars, Sarah Palin, video (all these topics)

I'll bite your legs off! 'Environmental purists' unhappy with House Dem energy bill	David Roberts	21 Sep 2008	Gristmill
This is mostly water under the bridge now, but look, Dems got outmaneuvered this summer, as Republicans managed to successfully reframe the energy debate around drilling. They drummed up lots of public support and put Dems on the defensive. This is the fault not only of Dem lawmakers but also of everyone on the progressive side of things -- there was simply no coordinated pushback. But it is what it is. Dems are where they are. So Pelosi tried to get through this sess ...
Topics: energy, legislation, tax incentives, oil and gas drilling, oil, Congress, environmental movement, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Dems blow it: McCain allies kill Gang of 20 Senate Dems falter on energy compromise bill	Joseph Romm	20 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Both The Hill and Politico have reported that the Gang of 20 will not introduce a bipartisan compromise energy bill before the election. This is a huge triumph for McCain and major political blunder by Congressional Democrats. As I wrote Monday, the original compromise bill by the Gang 'is the best chance -- indeed, the only chance -- the Dems will have to simultaneously give the lie to McCain's faux bipartisanship and to expose the Big Energy Lie, the absurd notion ...
Topics: oil and gas drilling, offshore drilling, politics, energy, legislation, US Senate, tax incentives, renewable energy (all these topics)

Santa Senate Senate settles on a grab bag of political favors in place of an energy policy	David Roberts	19 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Next week, the Senate plans to consider the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, a hodgepodge of subsidies and tax credits that reflects the vacuum of long-term strategic thinking in U.S. energy policy. The bill is a classic Senate Christmas Tree, bedecked with tax breaks and loopholes for just about every energy-related industry under the sun. Unbelievably, the renewable tax credits get another anemic extension -- one year for wind (and "refined coa ...
Topics: energy subsidies, coal, legislation, tax incentives, politics, US Senate, energy, renewable energy (all these topics)

What is this, a TE party? The one clean-tech breakthrough that could lead to a core climate solution: Thermoelectricity	Joseph Romm	19 Sep 2008	Gristmill
The buzzwords of the day: TE with high TZ. The world doesn't need a major technology breakthrough to cost-effectively cut carbon emissions in half by mid-century. Indeed, most such breakthroughs would be difficult to deploy fast enough and on a large enough scale to make a large difference in that time frame. Other key medium-term technologies, like low-cost solar photovoltaics, don't require breakthroughs so much as they need steady technological advances, econ ...
Topics: energy, renewable energy, scientific research, tech, climate science, climate (all these topics)

Maroon 5 has a message for you	Adam Browning	18 Sep 2008	Gristmill
It's been viewed over 15,000 times already. We'd have to commit acts illegal in most southern states to get that kind of viewership. On the subject of energy legislation, there's a ton of action on energy this week. Particularly promising is news of a Senate compromise on tax relief -- including a long-term extension of the critical solar investment tax credits. The Solar Energy Industries Association recently issued a report by Navigant Consulting making the ca ...
Topics: solar thermal power, solar voltaic power, Congress, politics, energy, renewable energy, tax incentives (all these topics)

Honey, We Pumped Up the Grid Google, GE team up to tout 'smart grid,' clean energy initiatives		18 Sep 2008	News
Posted at 9:52 AM on 18 Sep 2008 General Electric and Google announced on Wednesday they're teaming up to promote renewable energy, specifically geothermal energy and plug-in hybrids, and spur better investment and swifter government action to create "smart," more efficient electrical grids. In recent years, both enormous companies have announced big green investments: GE launched its Ecomag ...
Topics: business, energy, news, renewable energy (all these topics)

The (renewable) electron economy, part 15 Passing the buck or paying the piper	Michael Hoexter	18 Sep 2008	Gristmill
We have just gone through a period in the U.S. when very little new public infrastructure was built (with the exception of wired and wireless telecommunications infrastructure). Led by a generation and a half of politicians and economic theorists -- as well as our own inclinations -- Americans have become used to believing that a cheaper, more convenient option is always within reach through reliance on increasingly globalized markets. Our national speciali ...
Topics: economy, energy, energy subsidies, investing, renewable energy (all these topics)

Tax team Bipartisan deal in Senate would extend renewable tax credits	Kate Sheppard	17 Sep 2008	Gristmill
The Senate appears to have reached a deal on a major tax package that includes the extension of tax credits for renewable energy that are set to expire at the end of this year. Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chair and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, announced on Tuesday that they have come to agreement on a tax package that would provide $17 billion in renewable energy tax breaks. The bill would also adjust the alternat ...
Topics: news, politics, US Senate, renewable energy, tax incentives, Muckraker (all these topics)

The sea-ice melt is to the Arctic as the Wall Street melt is to ... The financial meltdown and other considerations for clean energy development	Adam Stein	17 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Tom asked earlier what the "anarchic" disintegration of Lehman Brother's carbon trading desk -- taking place within the broader disintegration of the entire company -- means in the bigger picture. And the answer, most likely, is pretty much nothing. This is true for a variety of reasons, not least among them that Lehman Brothers was a small player in the carbon markets. The center of gravity in the carbon-trading world is in Europe. Beyond that, the carbon mar ...
Topics: carbon trading, economy, gas prices, investing, renewable energy, Wall Street (all these topics)

Immelt: yay RPS!	David Roberts	17 Sep 2008	Gristmill
I'm on a conference call, listening to Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, chat with Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, about energy. I don't have a recording, but I tell you, Immelt sounds more and more like a standard greenie -- he's stumping for a national RPS, 10-year extension of renewable tax credits, and a price on carbon. And he keeps insisting that it's not particularly political. 'Energy is easy,' he says. Then again, Al Gore (who apparently is also in the room) asked hi ...
Topics: business, energy, renewable energy, energy efficiency, politics (all these topics)

A national grid will make renewable electricity work A purely local approach would double or triple costs	Gar Lipow	17 Sep 2008	Gristmill
This is one more attempt to kill a zombie myth: the notion that local generation of renewable electricity can substitute for long-distance transmission. I can see where this comes from -- the sun shines almost everywhere, and the wind blows strong within a few hundred miles of most places where it doesn't, right? If we are going to use renewable electricity at all, it's hard to understand why we wouldn't get it from rooftops, parking lots, or at worst surrounding rural are ...
Topics: electricity, electricity grid, energy, renewable energy, solar thermal power, wind power (all these topics)

The (renewable) electron economy, part 14 Renewable energy promotion policies: transparent	Michael Hoexter	17 Sep 2008	Gristmill
The previously discussed finance mechanisms tend to hide the costs of building renewable generators by concealing the actual cost per unit of electricity and costs for the ratepayers or taxpayers as a whole. In an era when so much is hanging on energy policy, it makes more sense to consider policies that do not pull punches when it comes to costs and benefits. Renewable Energy Payments A more transparent approach to spurring the market for renewable ...
Topics: electricity grid, energy, energy subsidies, renewable energy (all these topics)

Where there's a drill, there's a way House passes an energy bill that combines increased drilling with expansion of renewables	Kate Sheppard	16 Sep 2008	Gristmill
After a day-long debate over energy legislation, the House passed the Democrats' 'Comprehensive American Energy Security & Consumer Protection Act,' a bill that both opens up new areas of the country to oil extraction and increases support for renewables. 'The energy bill puts us onto that path of independence by having a comprehensive legislation which is the result of a bipartisan compromise in favor of sweeping innovation solutions for America's energy future ...
Topics: offshore drilling, oil and gas drilling, news, renewable energy, Muckraker, politics, energy, legislation, US House of Representatives (all these topics)

'Innovate, baby, innovate!' Markey on House Dems' energy bill	Kate Sheppard	16 Sep 2008	Gristmill
The House just passed the Comprehensive American Energy Security & Consumer Protection Act [PDF] (more on that in a moment). In the meantime, here's video of Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming Chair Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on the floor earlier with one of the more passionate speeches of the day:
Topics: Congress, Ed Markey, energy, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, renewable energy, video (all these topics)

The (renewable) electron economy, part 13 Renewable energy promotion policies: non-transparent or hidden	Michael Hoexter	16 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Tax credit policies One of the ways the gap between market price and feasible price of renewable energy plants has been bridged is through tax benefits to investors. Just as the oil and gas industries have enjoyed various tax benefits to encourage investment in drilling, exploration, and production facilities, in the last couple decades investors in renewable generators have enjoyed either production or investment tax credits that contribute about 3 cents ...
Topics: electricity, energy, energy subsidies, renewable energy, tax incentives (all these topics)

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