It’s a fair bet that few people would include “US Congress” in the same sentence as “accomplishment” and “good news” these days. Adding the word “sustainability” would probably cause even Google to come up empty. So it’s worth noting last week’s reauthorization of the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program. In fiscal 2010, this program [...]
The SEC’s Guidelines on Climate Change disclosure that took effect in February, 2010 were an important first step in prompting public companies to assess the potential impacts – positive as well as negative – of climate change on their business and future prospects. Transparency and honest disclosure of material information to investors are, after all, [...]
On October 24th, Needham residents and town community gathered at Olin College for a community conversation on energy and the environment. Anthony Brooks, veteran NPR reporter and co-host of WBUR’s Radio Boston, opened the session by leading a discussion with Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Mark Sylvia and Green Needham Chair Michael Greis on [...]
This past Thursday, October 20th, Anthony Brooks and Meghna Chakrabarti talked with Green Needham Chair Michael Greis and Massachusetts Energy Undersecretary Barbara Kates-Garnick about the green economy, the 2020 clean energy plan, energy efficiency & “green living” at the local level and the upcoming Needham Summit on Energy and the Environment. With the backdrop of [...]
Last week’s announcement of the Early Release version of the US Energy Information’s Annual Energy Outlook for 2011 prompted a number of reactions along the lines of the NY Times’s Green Blog posting “The energy future ain’t what it used to be“. Driving that reaction is the opening bullet of the Executive Summary, which highlights [...]
What’s next in the fight for a comprehensive federal policy on energy and climate change? After the US Senate’s abject failure to even take up, let alone pass, a version of legislation for which the House had already done the heavy lifting, some are tempted to give up, to assume that nothing can happen for [...]
Massachusetts and New England are positioned to play a pivotal role in the future of comprehensive energy and climate legislation. The New England representatives that are leaders in the Congress for this legislation have made clear that it is a compelling national interest to address this challenge, but they also clearly recognize the importance of [...]
While constituents meeting Senators and their staffs was the priority and primary motivation behind last week’s Clean Energy Works fly-in, the presence of almost 200 people from around the country was also an opportunity to publicize the wide support for comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation to a bigger audience. The Town Hall Meeting was [...]
“Sixty is the new fifty” may have first been said about aging baby boomers, but it’s also the new reality of getting anything done in the US Senate. Although the Senate’s rules have long been structured to allow careful deliberation or endless delay, depending on your view of a particular situation, their use has been [...]
Last week, I participated in the Clean Energy Network fly-in to Washington in support of comprehensive energy and climate change legislation.
