News, Trends & Analysis
Archive for March 11, 2010
T. Boone Pickens, John Kerry Team on Energy Bill
Mar 11th
The Odd Couple
John Kerry and T. Boone Pickens, once fierce foes, have found a way to work together on energy legislation.
By Daniel Stone | Newsweek Web Exclusive Mar 9, 2010
The phrase “strange bedfellows” doesn’t even begin to describe the relationship between Sen. John Kerry and T. Boone Pickens. The former is an avowed environmentalist and a Massachusetts Democrat who campaigned for president in 2004. The other is a Texas conservative whose ventures in oil have yielded him billions—a chunk of which he used to underwrite the infamous “Swift Boat” ads that fatally wounded that very same campaign.
Letting bygones be bygones may also be an More >
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Loading ...#Microsoft wants to help #Utilities w #SmartGrid w “Smart Energy”
Mar 11th
Let’s Call the Smart Grid What it Is: Disruptive!
In conjunction with CERA Week in Houston, we today released findings from a Microsoft survey of worldwide utility executives about the implementation and effects of the smart grid. The results? Disruptive!
There’s been a lot written about disruptive technologies in the past, but our survey results indicate that the implementation of the smart grid and all its components throws a wrench in the process of everyday life at utilities. And that’s not a bad thing, of course. Utilities are responding to limitations of an expensive grid infrastructure in the face of growing demand for More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...AARP prefers Cantwell-Collins #Climate Bill (S. 2887, #CLEAR Act, #CapAndDividend)
Mar 11th
- 03/10/10 11:23 AM ET
The AARP, the powerful senior’s lobby, likes the Cantwell-Collins approach to climate change.
(Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal “CLEAR” Act)
The group sent a letter to Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Tuesday calling their so-called cap-and-dividend approach to climate legislation a “thoughtful, bipartisan approach” that reduces carbon dioxide emissions but also protects consumers.AARP had expressed concern that House-passed climate legislation, which uses an economy-wide cap-and-trade system to cut emissions, didn’t provide enough protections to consumers. Ben wrote a piece explaining the Cantwell-Collins approach.
AARP prefers Cantwell-Collins climate bill – The Hill’s E2-Wire.
More > (No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Should the U.S. subsidize green investments that create jobs overseas?
Mar 11th
6:00 AM Thu, Mar 11, 2010
Dave Michaels/Reporter
The “Chinese” West Texas wind farm kicked off the debate about whether the stimulus is subsidizing green jobs overseas. At least initially, the project’s Dallas- and Austin-based developers and investors said the wind turbines would come from China , while Chinese banks would finance the project. The project’s owners would receive about $450 million if they pursue a stimulus grant available to them.
Now, two advocacy groups have issued a report (pdf) that says theTreasury Department has rewarded other companies that appear to make most of their clean-energy goods overseas. Treasury awarded tax credits to 17 foreign-based companies “with operations in low-wage More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...San Antonio’s #solar #PACE Program “on the rocks” (#Texas #cleantech #finance)
Mar 11th
San Antonio’s woulda-been-groundbreaking solar PACE program on the rocks
Greg Harman gharman@sacurrent.com
Thirty-nine percent of San Antonians are ready to install solar panels and solar hot-water heaters on their rooftops, according to a survey performed last year for the non-profit clean-energy-advocating Solar San Antonio. That is, they’re ready to go solar — if they could afford it.
Even with the on-and-off-again solar rebates offered through City-owned CPS Energy (now on again), solar remains a game largely reserved for wealthier greens. Homeowners must shell out thousands of dollars for even the smallest rooftop arrays, a daunting challenge in very un-affluent San Antonio. However, a More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...#Texas #PACE Program: A Game Changer for the #Green Economy (#cleantech #finance)
Mar 11th
A game-changer for a green economy is closer than you think Posted Tuesday, Mar. 09, 2010
Berkeley, Calif., and Boulder, Colo., may seem like unlikely role models for just about anyplace in Texas. Unless the subject is the green economy.
Those bastions of liberalism are among a handful of cities and counties that have embraced a new financing scheme that may be coming soon to a local government near you. It establishes a special taxing district that raises money, usually through bonds, and lends it to residents to buy solar panels, replace old windows and make other improvements in energy efficiency.
The More >
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