U.S. CO2 emissions are expected to rise 3.4 percent in 2010, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Green home improvement companies say the freeze on property assessed clean energy (PACE) funding has put thousands of jobs in limbo. PACE funding has been halted due to opposition from federal mortgage outfits Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Greentechmedia reports that the Tres Amigas energy transmission project is on schedule to begin operations in 2014. The project will connect three major American power grids from across the country for the first time.

A piece at SolveClimate argues that moderate Republican Senators could be the key to passing climate legislation, especially if November’s elections go poorly for Democrats.

A piece at Grist finds early signs of an anti-high speed rail strain in Republican campaigning.

Local Green: Massachusetts is putting money collected through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to work for clean energy, helping one of the state’s largest apple orchards install over 1000 solar panels. Ten northeastern states participate in RGGI, America’s first CO2 cap-and-trade system.

America’s first community-owned solar project in El Jebel, Colorado began sending power to the grid this week.

Next month’s California Climate Ride will take more than 100 cyclists on a 320-mile trek across the Golden State to raise money for and awareness about “the climate crisis and clean energy.”

A proposed 24-acre solar project for Quinton, New Jersey received approval from the town’s planning board. The project could supply energy for about 750 homes in the community of under 3,000 people.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of GuenterHH

The seven U.S. states and three Canadian provinces that make up the Western Climate Initiative hope their cap-and-trade system (which, if approved, would take effect in January 2012) will serve as a carbon pricing model for the rest of America. The program would be the first economy-wide cap-and-trade system in the U.S.

The future of clean energy and climate legislation may be uncertain due to political inertia, but an optimistic group of recently elected Senators wants to inject enough energy and passion into the issue to get it moving forward again.

Despite the drastically scaled-back form of the Senate’s new oil spill bill, some Republican Senators are complaining that its provisions are unacceptable.  Broader clean energy and climate legislation was removed from the Congressional docket largely because it lacked substantive Republican support.

The Department of Defense and the Department of Energy signed an official agreement to share information about clean energy in order to bolster national security and build the economy.

A piece in the New York Times explores why the electric vehicles industry has focused on direct industry incentives rather than collectively pushing for clean energy and climate legislation.

Local Green: A cracked pipeline dumped over 800,000 gallons of oil into a Michigan creek. The spill contaminated 20 miles of the Kalamazoo River.

A new report named Utah and six other western states as particularly well-positioned states to transition to clean energy over the coming decades.

Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed a package of bills into law that, among other things, boosts the state’s renewable energy portfolio and updates the Green Energy Fund.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., emphasized the importance of strengthening the energy efficiency of New York City’s large commercial buildings in a Huffington Post op-ed.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of brewbooks

A piece at Treehugger takes apart the GOP’s inaccurate characterization of cap-and-trade as an energy “tax.”

A new $2 million television ad campaign by environmental, labor and progressive groups criticizes the senators who supported the failed resolution to block E.P.A. regulation of CO2. Watch it here.

The National Conference of Black Mayors, Congressional Black Caucus, and Hip Hop Caucus gathered in Washington this week to push for federal action on clean energy and climate legislation.

Despite a down housing market, sales of small-scale wind turbines increased by 10,000 units last year.

Luxury electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors‘ stock shot up over 40 percent on its first day of trading, even as the overall Dow Jones slump of nearly 270 points.

Local Green: Some believe Maine’s two Republican senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, could become the crossover votes that Democrats need to pass clean energy and climate legislation.

Maine received $20 million from the Department of Energy to further develop deepwater offshore wind technology.

Boulder, Colorado canceled the latest round of funding for its ClimateSmart Loan Program - a PACE project - under pressure from federal mortgage groups Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

A piece in the Chicago Tribune sees signs that Illinois’ solar industry may soon take off.

The Drive Clean Across Texas campaign is educating drivers about lowering energy consumption and holding a Ford Fusion hybrid sweepstakes.

–Christopher Greenspan

President Obama reiterated his commitment to find the votes necessary to “move comprehensive energy and climate legislation forward.”

“Tell Republicans: Stop apologizing to big oil,” urges a new television ad from the Democratic National Committee. Watch it here.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) suggests six energy efficiency measures that, if added to the Senate’s current clean energy legislation, could more than double the number of jobs created.

Days before a meeting of the G20 nations in Toronto, the Pew Charitable Trusts and Bloomberg New Energy Finance remind us why “Americans have good reason to be concerned about our competitive position.”

Researchers at M.I.T. say they’ve developed nanotube electrodes for lithium-ion batteries that deliver 10 times as much power as conventional batteries.

Local Green: Now that Californians have defeated utility PG&E’s bid to restrict who can enter the regional clean energy market, community microgrids may offer local alternatives to larger clean energy projects that grapple with the problem of transporting electricity over large distances.

The Natural Resources Defense Council sets the record straight on the New York Solar Industry Development and Jobs Act - a bill that could create 22,000 new jobs and boost the economy by $20 billion.

Minnesota Gubernatorial candidate Matt Entenza released a new television ad promoting a clean energy plan for the state.

A new study recommends that Broward County, Fla. enact a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program in order to stimulate green jobs growth. Florida recently passed legislation allowing communities to establish PACE programs modeled after a similar funding mechanism in Sonoma County, Calif.

–Christopher Greenspan

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change finds that a carbon cap program would have only a modest impact on the competitiveness of U.S. industries that are energy-intensive and energy dependent industries would not be sent overseas.

Many Republicans seem to believe that climate change is a problem, but “their increasingly loopy base” will not allow them to propose solutions. Democrats need to push harder on this contradiction.

President Obama released his proposed 2010 budget today; gone are billions in tax breaks for oil and gas; solar and cellulosic ethanol get boosts.

The President of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement commends the Obama administration’s commitment to funding new science research, but argues that the way that money is invested is as important as the cash itself.

Despite generally gloomy predictions, some investors say clean energy companies may provide “substantial returns” in 2009.

So-called e-waste will continue to grow annually until 2015, when recycling programs will begin to catch up with the obsolescing of electronic gadgets, says a new study.

Draft legislation proposed by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D. - N.M.) would make the Interior Department the lead agency in charge of permitting new electric grid transmission lines on federal land.

The Clean Energy Deployment Administration - a federal bank in charge of clean energy loans - came one step closer to creation yesterday.

Local Green: The first solar, LEED certified platinum affordable housing complex has been completed in San Diego.

The New York City Police Department introduced 40 hybrid squad cars to its fleet.

–Christopher Greenspan

Both the House and Senate passed President Obama’s $3.5 trillion budget yesterday. “This budget resolution embraces our most fundamental priorities: an energy plan that will end our dependence on foreign oil and spur a new clean energy economy,” said the President.

The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming took on four widely circulated (and false) claims Congressional Republicans have made about climate and energy legislation, including the distortion of figures released by an M.I.T. researcher (reported in yesterday’s Digest).

A piece at The Huffington Post hones in on key details of the American Clean Energy and Security Act proposed by Representatives Edward Markey (D. - Massachusetts) and Henry Waxman (D. - California).

European leaders are encouraged by recent U.S. efforts to address climate issues and believe they have the momentum to pass a global climate deal later this year.

At the local level the assumption that Republicans universally oppose clean energy initiatives while Democrats can be counted on to support them falls apart.

Though the E.P.A.’s potential authority to regulate CO2 is growing rapidly, from the White House on down through Congress, it is hoped that emissions will ultimately be dealt with through the House and Senate.

The clean energy industry waits for stimulus money to kick in - its first quarter investment fell 53% from first quarter last year.

The House climate and energy bill was a hot topic at this week’s Wall Street Green Trading Summit.

According to one pundit, a clean energy economy is the “antidote to casino capitalism.”

Co-founder of the U.S. Green Building Council, David Gottfried, interviewed former Apollo Alliance board member Van Jones about the depth of the clean energy economy.

–Christopher Greenspan