Hovering in the background of several current energy and sustainability-related news stories is the question of tax breaks and subsidies for energy. In the wake of the BP oil spill disaster, the Senate Finance Committee will discuss a possible rollback of oil and gas tax incentives, partly to fund clean energy incentives and job creation. [...]
As a rule, US investors don’t pay much attention to European Union regulations but they probably should. The European Union countries have more people (497 million versus 300 million) and a larger GDP (18 trillion versus 14.5 trillion) than the US. With that large a market, it isn’t just large multinational manufacturers who are doing [...]
President Obama, John Kerry and other Senate leaders are planning a strong push to pass Comprehensive Energy and Climate legislation during the July work session of Congress. In early June, the President promised to “find the votes” for comprehensive climate change legislation. Senator Kerry’s American Power Act is working its way through his Foreign Relations [...]
The American Power Act, also known as the Kerry-Lieberman climate change bill, is being prepared for a push to bring it to consideration in the Senate work session starting after the July 4th holiday. Sources indicate that the Democratic Caucus held last Thursday, June 24th, demonstrated strong support for a comprehensive climate and energy bill [...]
President Obama said in Pittsburgh on Wednesday that he is committed to get a comprehensive energy and climate bill passed. We knew that – President Obama understands that passing comprehensive energy and climate change legislation is also a key to a more prosperous economy,. But every time it has seemed on the cusp of happening, [...]
In 2008, the US Congress asked the National Academies to study and “make recommendations regarding what steps must be taken and what strategies must be adopted in response to global climate change”. On May 19, 2010, the Academies released three reports responding to that request. The reports are unequivocal in their response, providing Congress a [...]
The Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 (HR 5019) passed the US House of Representatives by a vote of 246-161 on May 6th, 2010. By providing rebates to homeowners who invest in making their homes more energy efficiency, this legislation will reduce US energy usage, save homeowners money and create jobs. The bill’s sponsors [...]
Tom Friedman is the New York Times columnist most often associated with promoting the new green economy, but Sunday’s Times Magazine article is a reminder that Paul Krugman, who won a Nobel Prize in Economics in 2008 for his work on international trade, has something to say as well. And say it he does, in [...]
Legislation is moving through Congress to implement the “Cash For Caulkers” program President Obama called for in his State of the Union address. The House bill, introduced by Massachusetts’ Ed Markey, was sent forward from the Energy and Environment Subcommiittee to the full house Energy & Commerce Committee on March 24th, 2010. Improving the energy [...]
Building on the collaborative effort that led to a market-based system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric power generation, 10 Northeastern states are working to do the same for transportation fuels. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is an operational cap-and-trade system that will reduce GHG emissions by 10% between 2009 and 2018. The [...]
