Legislation that auctions off, rather than gives away CO2 allowances may be the most politically feasible way to introduce a cap-and-trade system in America’s increasingly populist atmosphere, argues a piece at Grist.

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.

ExxonMobil has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past several years to think tanks that regularly host seminars stacked heavily with climate change deniers.

Meteorologists Dr. Jeff Masters explains how record snowfalls in the Northeast are consistent with global warming theories that predict moisture-driven extreme weather (via ClimatePorgress).

French energy giant Avera purchased U.S. solar start up company Ausra.

Local Green: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that will allow home and business owners to finance clean energy and energy efficiency projects through the city’s Property Assessed Clean Energy program.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of takomabibelot / CC BY 2.0

Operation Free’s National Veterans Tour for Clean Energy and Security is a two-month, 16-state campaign highlighting the connections between clean energy development and national security.

America’s clean energy competitiveness was a hot topic of discussion at the 2010 Renewable Energy Technology Conference and Exhibition.

Strong government investment is creating renewed banking interest in financing for new solar and wind energy projects.

“The Science of Climate Change” - a 90-minute panel discussion featuring three leading climate scientists (including ClimateProgress‘ Joe Romm) - can be seen here.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar paid a visit to Nantucket Sound to reach out to opponents and backers of Cape Wind - a 130-turbine project that could become the nation’s first offshore wind farm.

Ode Magazine looks at how a federal renewable energy mandate could create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

A piece at the Huffington Post says a federal jobs bill should include provisions for retraining coal workers for employment in green industries.

Local Green: Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle signed a bill that could help create thousands of clean energy jobs by giving cities access to federal stimulus funds.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of kahunapulej / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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.

“Poor people and people of color are feeling the adverse impacts of climate change first and worst,” write Revs. Jesse Jackson and Lennox Yearwood, so it is imperative that those hardest hit have a voice in shaping the clean energy economy.

President Obama’s new biofuels strategy has received mixed reviews. A piece at the Energy Collective (blog) looks at the specifics of the plan.

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.

Local Green: A proposed California ballot initiative would suspend the state’s mandate to cut greenhouse gases below 1990 levels by 2020 until the unemployment rate has dropped to 5.5 percent for a year.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of thinkpanama / CC BY-NC 2.0

Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., continued his aggressive support for comprehensive climate legislation, calling the “energy-only” option a “half-assed” energy bill.

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.

Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood and head E.P.A. administrator Lisa Jackson explain how the Partnership for Sustainable Communities is helping to create American jobs through smart growth.

Local Green: In “car crazy” Los Angeles, a new car-sharing program is finding surprising popularity.

GOOD rated the nation’s largest public transit systems in terms of rider services.

New Hampshire’s Green Launching Pad program puts stimulus funding to work, connecting researchers and entrepreneurs working to turn new clean energy ideas into realities.

An Alliance Federated Energy trash-to-electricity project planned for Milwaukee would create about 300 jobs.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of swanksalot / CC BY-SA 2.0

During his first year in office, President Obama showed America he could “play the Washington game,” says Presidential Climate Action Project Executive Director Bill Becker. “Obama 2.0 must prove he can change the game, as he promised in the campaign.”

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.

Local Green: A major Chicago taxicab company is building two compressed natural gas fueling stations in the Windy City.

California is poised to introduce a statewide greenhouse gas emissions monitoring network.

The Marin Clean Energy Initiative got a boost this week when Marin County (California) supervisors agreed to become co-signers on a loan guarantee to help the start-up round up capital.

Recurrent Energy will supply SoCal Edison with 50 MegaWatts of small-scale distributed solar energy.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of Roberto / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

“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 Chinese government’s smart grid investments will surpass U.S. government investments in 2010, according to market research firm Zpryme.

A new University of Wisconsin study finds each ton of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere costs us roughly $40.

A new survey finds 56 percent of large firms might drop clients that fail to manage their carbon emissions.

A piece at Grist reviews some of the Sundance Film Festival’s environmental documentaries.

Local Green: Repower America launched an ad campaign urging newly elected Senator Scott Brown, R-Mass., to support clean energy legislation.

An Energy Department-sponsored grid storage project aims to reduce energy use over a 150 square mile region of Ohio.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of Steve Wampler/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

The federal government will cut its greenhouse gas emissions 28 percent by 2020, the White House announced on Friday.

Point Carbon predicts the global carbon market will grow 33 percent this year.

Every day America goes without a price on carbon emissions is a day China pulls ahead in the race to dominate the green economy, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told an audience at the World Economic Forum.

The New York Times reported on China’s rapid rise to global clean energy stardom.

Senator Edward Markey, D-Mass., says he believes Congress will pass a comprehensive climate bill by year’s end.

Suniva and GS battery are working together to develop a solar energy storage system.

Local Green: California’s Silicon Valley is repositioning itself as a clean energy leader by investing heavily in solar energy and smart grid technology, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

The California Public Utilities Commission indicated it may not regulate companies that provide electric vehicle charging facilities.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used the U.S. Conference of Mayors to highlight the benefits of vertical farming to urban agriculture.

The Texas Green Jobs Guidebook is a comprehensive guide to training and placement programs for more than 200 types of clean energy jobs.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of billjacobus1 / CC BY 2.0

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced $5 million in tax credits for manufacturers producing energy efficient products.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R. - South Carolina) reiterated his support for a cap-and-trade bill yesterday, making the connection between putting a price on carbon and energy independence.

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.

New start up Energy Climate Solutions helps colleges and universities develop clean energy and energy efficiency strategies.

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.

Local Green: Hawaii officials say the state is on track to achieve its ambitious goal of generating 40 percent of its energy through renewables by 2030.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of Reinvented / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

President Obama plans to announce $8 billion in stimulus funding for a high-speed rail project that will develop 13 corridors across the country.

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.

A piece in the Wall Street Journal reports that more and more Americans are discovering the financial benefits of using solar energy to heat home water supplies.

Local Green: Governors from both parties across the country have used recent state of the state addresses to highlight “the value of clean energy and energy efficiency in the race to create stronger economies and jobs,” says SolveClimate.

New York Governor David Paterson wants the state to add 100 megawatts of solar energy over the next four years.

Environmental groups are calling on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to expand the state’s use of renewable energy.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of JMT Images / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The State of the Union address “is an opportunity for this president to pick up the baton the last one had no intention of carrying, and elevate clean energy solutions and energy independence to the top of his domestic agenda,” argues Its Getting Hot In Here.

A piece in the Denver Post recapped Ken Salazar’s first year as Secretary of the Interior.

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.”

The American Wind Energy Association said wind energy capacity grew by 39 percent last year.

Can the “Made In America” label once again come to represent quality manufacturing?  ”The answer is yes,” argues a piece at Grist, “if we focus on products for the growing low-carbon economy.”

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.

Local Green: General Motors’ plan to produce electric motors at a Baltimore transmission plant could lead to the creation of 1,700 jobs.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle used his State of the State address to make the case for clean energy technology and manufacturing as job-generating forces.

New Mexico’s largest utility submitted a renewable energy proposal that includes the creation of up to 80 megawatts of new solar energy.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of Caveman_92223 / CC BY-ND 2.0