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, [...]
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.
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. [...]
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 [...]
