Yesterday’s Digest reported that Senator Bernie Sanders (I. - Vermont) had introduced legislation that would help create 10 million rooftop solar energy systems. Congressmen Steve Cohen (D. - Tennessee) and John Yarmuth (D. - Kentucky) introduced similar legislation in the House of Representatives.
The United States risks falling behind in the global race for clean energy jobs, warns a piece at the Huffington Post, but the well-funded Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) gives America an important scientific advantage - at least for the moment.
“The Science of Climate Change” - a 90-minute panel discussion featuring three leading climate scientists (including ClimateProgress‘ Joe Romm) - can be seen here.
Transportation for America’s jobs package proposal - a $34 billion plan to stimulate job growth through highway, public transit, and other transportation investments - could create nearly half a million jobs - largely benefiting those who have been hardest hit by the recession, according to a new E.P.I. analysis. Nearly 50,000 of those jobs would be in the manufacturing sector.
The Federal Trade Commission is taking aim at greenwashing, updating its environmental marketing guidelines and cracking down on companies that misrepresent products as green.
VoteVets‘ new ad campaign says the passage of the Clean Energy and American Power Act could help defund terrorism.
A project linking America’s three major power grids has many enthusiastic backers, including New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. But some large, established power suppliers see the project as a threat.
The Center For American Progress debunks two recent studies that claim energy reform measures could negatively affect the economy.
America’s “renewable energy revolution” depends on its adoption of the open, distributed network of electricity 2.0, says Michael Moynihan, director of the Green Project at NDN, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
The Sierra Club’s Carl Pope gets poetic about the state of clean energy in America.
A piece in The Nation makes the case for “gray power” - recycled waste heat that could be abundantly produced by the South and Midwest’s aging carbon-based industrial infrastructure.
Increasingly inexpensive, aerogels (used in space missions) are becoming more common as insulators down on Earth.
“Climate change and energy are two key issues that will play a significant role in shaping the future security environment,” according to the Pentagon’s newly released Quadrennial Defense Review.
The Obama administration closed a $1.4 billion loan deal with Nissan to help the company retool an auto factory in Tennessee. The loan is expected to help create 1,300 jobs.
American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard’s accusations that the Obama administration is slowing oil and gas development are inaccurate, according to the Interior Department. “Oil and gas production on federal lands and waters is up — not down — from 2008,” said Department spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff.
The new NRDC Action Fund PSA project, This Is Our Moment, features a handful of big Hollywood names calling for clean energy and climate legislation.
Apple’s new iPad comes with the same green credentials the company’s gadgets are known for, but ultimately adds to the “huge environmental impact” consumer electronics are responsible for, argues a piece in Grist.
Despite the Obama administration’s plan to slash discretionary spending, some observers say climate change and energy-related programs are unlikely to be cut.
Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., called on climate and clean energy legislation backers to become more aggressive in their efforts. ”If the Tea Party folks can go out there and get angry because they think their taxes are too high[...]a lot of citizens ought to get angry about the fact that they’re being killed and our planet is being injured by what’s happening[...]by the way we provide our power,” said Kerry.
More than 30 business, labor and environmental organizations sent Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., a letter urging the rejection of an “energy-only” approach to climate legislation.
Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke is confident that the relationship between job creation and clean energy legislation will have a “prominent place” in President Obama’s State of the Union address today. NRDC Action Fund Director Heather Taylor-Miesle suggests five climate and clean energy talking points for the president.
A peer-reviewed National Climate Data Center study refutes a 2009 report that questions the validity of U.S. surface temperature records, saying its conclusion “runs contrary to the actual data.”
Whirlpool has created an easy-to-use website to help consumers access the Department of Energy’s Cash for Appliances program, a Recovery Act-funded program created to encourage the use of energy efficient appliances.