Ten Mid-Atlantic states who have been leaders in greenhouse gas emissions will take another step toward further reductions by developing a low carbon fuel standard.

The 111th Congress was sworn in today minus a Senator from Illinois and Minnesota.  Certified Minnesota winner and green-collar jobs advocate Al Franken decided not to go to Washington until legal challenges to his seat are over.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says that she has the votes for a cap and trade law, but probably won’t do anything in 2009 because the legislation needs to be carefully crafted.

Climate Central is a new effort by journalists and scientists to tell the story of climate change accurately.

Expect the price of gas to continue on its roller coaster ride.  Last summer gas cost over $4 a gallon with oil well over the feared $100 a barrel price.  Oil prices dropped to a low of $33 a barrel last month but are up 40 percent.  An op-ed argues that we should ride the coaster with care.

The New Yorker profiles Van Jones, an Apollo board member.

John Nichols of The Nation recognized the Ohio Apollo Alliance as the Most Valuable State or Regional Group of 2008.

It’s January, which means prediction time for 2009 and the clean-tech community is no exception.

Local Green:  California’s solar power capacity almost doubled in 2008 despite the economic slowdown.

– Heidi Pickman

President-elect Barack Obama announced on Saturday that he wants to double renewable energy production as part of his stimulus package to create three million new jobs.

Some argue that any green economic stimulus package should consider jobs for women and youth.

The same old division between the economy and climate change may rear its head when President-elect Barack Obama takes the helm with Lawrence Summers as head of the economic team and Carol Browner as head of energy and environmental policy.

An op-ed in The Washington Post argues that a wise, “fix-it-first” approach to our existing water infrastructure is essential.

In many states green-collar jobs hope to be the answer to economic woes.

Tight credit and a volatile market hurt the alternative energy sector in 2008.  Investing in green technology in 2009 might require a bit more due diligence.

The E.P.A. is offering $7 million in grants for methane to energy projects.

Toyota is developing a solar powered car.

Local Green: Massachusetts will use the majority of the $15 million from the second auction of pollution emissions permits for energy efficiency projects.

In Dubuque, Iowa businesses are making profits from sustainability.

Solar panels are the new diamonds for thieves.  One recent heist was foiled in Napa Valley.

–Heidi Pickman

CNN details President-elect Barack Obama’s household energy efficiency plan -  it may weatherize a million homes.  Some say this is a “historic shift” for government in that the plan focuses on “reducing poor people’s energy bills instead of helping to pay them.”

A Technology Review piece makes the case that an expanded, smarter power grid is the “lifeline for renewable power” and essential to widespread adoption of clean energy.

A piece at Grist questions the “disproportionate attention” paid to the idea of a gas tax, arguing that while it is not a bad idea, its effects will be minimal and politically difficult to enact.

Earlier this year computer manufacturer Dell claimed carbon neutrality, but what this claim means and how it is determined remain ambiguous.

Argonne National Laboratory’s new Blue Gene/P runs on about a third of the energy needed to operate a standard supercomputer.

Climate Progress reviews and summarizes the McKinsey Global Institute’s most important climate and energy research of the past year.

Local Green: New Yorkers pay pennies a year on their electric bills into a fund that pays for energy efficient projects.

Colorado awarded $620,000 to agricultural projects that emphasized clean energy development.

Three bills regulating carbon emissions head to the Wyoming state legislature.

A San Francisco congestion pricing plan stirs local controversy and prompts the Wall Street Journal’s Keith Johnson to wonder if “environmental initiatives [are] too important to be left to voters.”

–Christopher Greenspan

Greentech Media reviews “the year in solar.”

Earth2Tech ranks the year’s biggest clean tech victories, and CNET News reflects on the year’s “green tech growing pains.”

A new Environmental Working Group report finds that the longevity and toxicity of compact fluorescent light bulbs varies widely and recommends regulators let the public know.

Weatherization creates immediate demand for workers, is more efficient, and lowers emissions and energy bills.

A New York Times editorial asserts that the Employee Free Choice Act “is vital legislation and should not be postponed.”

The recession hit luxury hybrid automaker Tesla Motors, but the company says it “is now in good shape to reach profitability.”

ExxonMobil will invest $170 million in carbon capture projects.

Massachusetts Congressman John F. Tierney and soon-to-be Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis are forming a congressional green jobs caucus.

Californians are set to shape federal energy and environmental policy in the state’s progressive image.

Local Green: As California’s coast may soon be opened up to oil drilling, the San Francisco Chronicle looks at the last 40 years of anti-drilling activism in the state.

The Elbow Creek Wind Farm in Texas is ready to produce 122 megawatts of energy.

Hoku Solar Inc. will install seven photovoltaic energy systems at Hawaiian airports.

–Christopher Greenspan

A new study finds that an investment of 2 percent of global G.D.P. could seriously mitigate global climate change.

Thomas Friedman argues that “without a higher gas tax or carbon tax, Obama will lack the leverage to drive critical pieces of his foreign and domestic agendas.”

A green New Deal could be paid for with green paper gold.

Architecture 2030’s Challenge Stimulus Plan calls for investment and job creation focused around energy efficiency buildings.

Large-scale solar energy projects can impact wildlife and the environment, but solutions exist.

Treehugger breaks down “Big Food’s War On Biofuels.”

Minnesota Public Radio covered the state of cellulosic ethanol production.

Local Green: Iowa energy Czar Paul Kjellander wants to add cow manure to the state’s renewable energy portfolio.

The Texas legislature may be prioritizing energy efficiency and incentives for renewables.

A new report considers how New Jersey might cut CO2 emissions to 20 percent of 2006 levels by 2050.

–Christopher Greenspan

A debate is growing around what types of infrastructure projects should be funded by President-elect Obama’s economic stimulus plan.

A piece in The Nation (co-authored by Apollo board member Bob Borosage) argues for a new New Deal because “‘the era of big government is over’ is over.”

The New York Times interviewed the new chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Representative Henry Waxman (D.- California).

Coverage of global climate change decreased in 2008 compared to the previous year.

A new study finds that L.E.D. lighting could save $1.8 trillion and a billion barrels of oil over the next ten years.

A new LCD panel can use sunlight to illuminate laptops.

The first hydrokinetic turbine in America is harnessing power from the Mississippi River.

As the price of corn-based ethanol continues to fall, three major producers face bankruptcy.

Local Green: Iowa’s Office of Energy Independence released its annual energy plan, which calls for investment in renewables and job creation.

–Christopher Greenspan

Vice President-elect Joe Biden will head the newly created White House Task Force on Working Families, which aims to improve the standard of living for middle and working class families.

The Department of Energy announced it would award up to $200 million in grants to new biofuel pilot refineries.

The Washington, D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals struck down a 15 year-old E.P.A. exemption that has allowed refineries, chemical plants, and other industrial polluters to exceed federal emissions limits during certain periods.

New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff calls for the enlistment of top architects in infrastructural and community rebuilding plans.  Architecture For Humanity responds that “thousands of building professionals[...]are already hard at work transforming the fabric of our communities[...]greening roofs, [and] building with reclaimed materials.”

The Institute For Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project argues that the greening of America’s energy supply is an opportunity to “decentralize and democratize our energy system.”

60 Minutes interviewed California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger about the economy, clean energy, and green technology.

Local Green: California utility Pacific Gas & Electric will receive solar generated electricity from the newly completed thin-film, 10 megawatt plant developed by Sempra and First Solar.

An act of civil disobedience postponed Bureau of Land Management plans to lease 149,000 acres of southern Utah to oil and gas drilling interests.

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski is proposing bills for next year’s legislative session that address clean energy, green jobs, energy efficiency, and the state’s standing in the Western Climate Initiative.

–Christopher Greenspan

The E.P.A. ruled last week that new power plants would not be required to install CO2 reduction technology.

President-elect Barack Obama selected conservationist and advocate of climate change action Jane Lubchenco to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Despite some production setbacks, G.M. asserts that its Chevy Volt program is “one of the highest, if not the highest, priority” of the company.

President-elect Obama will face challenges when he addresses the auto industry’s fuel efficiency and clean energy development during an economic downturn.

A Businessweek op-ed argues that Obama’s stimulus plan must focus on small businesses and green start-ups.

Utility decoupling could help boost the economy, promote clean energy, and produce green-collar jobs.

A joint venture between CH2M Hill and the Department of Energy seeks to map the solar energy potential of individual neighborhoods in American cities.

Local Green: Connecticut is looking for a way to fund its solar energy rebate program that is more popular than anticipated.

–Christopher Greenspan

President-elect Obama picked strongly pro-union Rep. Hilda Solis (D. - Caifornia) to head his administration’s Labor Department. Solis introduced the Green Jobs Act of 2007 to the California legislature.

It seems likely that President-elect Obama will appoint physicist John Holdren as his science advisor.

Bush throws a $17 billion lifeline to the auto industry.

G.M. is suspending construction of a Chevy Volt factory in Flint, Michigan as the cash strapped auto maker struggles to cut costs and avoid bankruptcy.

The Mercedes Concept BlueZERO series will introduce three green autos that are each powered differently.

The Department of Energy may award $80 billion in contracts to companies that can help the federal government achieve higher energy efficiency.

Yale Environment 360 asked scientists and environmentalists about how President-elect Obama should address energy and environmental issues during his first 100 days in office.

A 40 percent drop in the price of crude oil from July lead OPEC to announce major cuts in production. The price of oil now hovers around $40 dollars per barrel.

Local Green: The California Public Utilities Commission approved Sempra Energy’s controversial 123 mile, 1,000 megawatt energy transmission project.

A new preliminary study finds that California’s power grid may be able to handle far more solar and wind energy than previously believed.

Revenue generated by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative carbon auctions will fund a $2.7 million energy efficiency grant fund in Massachusetts.

–Christopher Greenspan

The Energy Information Administration forecasts U.S. carbon emissions will be over 9 percent lower by 2030 than previously estimated.

GM and Chrysler will close 59 factories while the White House decides on the scope of an auto industry bailout.

Fourteen companies are seeking $1 billion in federal aid for a joint venture to develop next generation electric car batteries.

New calculations suggest that the world’s coal reserves may be much smaller than previously believed.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to introduce economic stimulus legislation that would give clean energy developers eight years worth of tax credits in one year.

Dow Corning and Hemlock Semiconductor’s $2 billion dollar expansion in solar technology is being viewed as evidence that legislative mandates requiring utilities to purchase clean energy will help keep renewables afloat during the recession.

Local Green: The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative - a collaborative effort between 10 northeastern states - held its second carbon auction on Wednesday.

California’s green chemistry initiative aims to inform consumers about the ecological footprint of the products they purchase.

Global Wind Systems Inc. is opening a wind turbine parts plant in Michigan with the help of a $7 million state tax incentive.

Detroit Mayor Kenneth Cockrel announced a series of green initiatives that he said “can enhance economic development in the city of Detroit while generating new jobs.”

– Christopher Greenspan

Photo credit:  Andy Davis