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

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Democratic leaders in Congress are calling off efforts to pass a clean energy and climate bill in the near term. Reid acknowledged his party was unable to secure enough votes to pass substantial legislation, but said the focus would be shifted to legislation addressing the BP oil spill.

Senators Barbara Boxer (D. - California), Jeff Merkley (D. - Oregon), and Kristen Gillibrand (D. - New York) introduced legislation yesterday that would put property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing back in action. PACE home financing programs across the country have come to a halt due to opposition from federal mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

A bill sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders (I. - Vermont) that would provide federal funds for state solar energy programs moved a step closer to becoming law this week.

A proposed $7 billion pipeline that would transport Canadian tar sands oil to the United States hit a setback this week when the E.P.A. criticized the scope of a recent State Department environmental impact report.

The United Nations is looking to revamp the way international climate change agreements are made.

Chinese companies’ ability to bring down the cost of solar energy is quickly pushing the industry to grid parity, reports Bloomberg, but also allowing China to capture a huge portion of the global market.

Global spending on clean energy research, development, and demonstration (pdf) peaked at around $23 billion in 2009, in large part due to various countries’ economic stimulus packages. But the International Energy Agency reports that this amount needs to become the annual RD&D floor rather than a temporary peak.

The size of newly constructed American homes dropped in 2009 for the first time in three decades, reports the National Association of Homebuilders.

Local Green: Utah’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Corroon outlined an energy plan that focuses on increasing efficiency and enacting policies that will help the state generate 25 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2025.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy Kate B Dixon

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says the Senate will begin debating clean energy and climate legislation next month. A revamped bill, created in response to the BP oil spill, could include tougher fossil fuel industry regulations.

The new White House panel charged with investigating the origins of the BP oil spill so far includes several experts with particular interest in climate change issues.

Pacific Northwest-based businesses including Nike and Weyerhaeuser joined Climate Solutions in a teleconference yesterday, urging Senators to pass clean energy and climate legislation.

We must revive the “great American tradition of innovation” while building the green economy, writes AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, in order to preserve security and create jobs.

Local Green: Next week, California voter’s will decide the fate of Proposition 16, a ballot measure that, if passed, would prevent local entities from entering the retail power business without support from two-thirds of the locality’s electorate. Despite recent favorable clean energy press, Northern California utility PG&E spent $46 million supporting the measure, which would likely hamper new investments in renewables. The president of the California Public Utilities Commission called the proposition an “outrageous bid for monopoly power.”

Seaside Florida businesses are bracing for the worst, as oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill is expected to hit the state’s tourist beaches in the near future.

Utah Clean Energy is working with banks and local officials to develop a home energy retrofit program for the Beehive State’s largest county.

More than 100 clergy from Virginia are urging the state’s senators to support clean energy and climate legislation.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of Center For American Progress Action Fund

A $1.4 billion federal loan guarantee - the largest ever for a renewable energy project - will help BrightSource Energy build three solar thermal energy plants that could generate electricity for 140,000 California homes.

A new National Renewable Energy Laboratory analysis finds that U.S. wind energy capacity may be three times higher than previously believed.

The federal government and 11 Atlantic Coast states are planning a consortium to help speed the planning and permitting of offshore wind projects in the region.

NRDC Action Fund’s Heather Taylor explains “Why Climate Change Deniers Should Still Support Green Energy.”

Over the past decade, clean energy job growth has been twice as strong as overall job growth, says former Apollo Alliance President Jerome Ringo, and comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation will unleash “a torrent of economic innovation.”

Carbon capture and storage projects are gaining support in the United States. But will they be affordable and safe? A piece at Yale360 explores the issue.

Local Green: The “Cleveland Model” of worker-owned cooperatives springing up in the shrinking rustbelt city is creating good, green jobs in a region of the country devastated by the transnational, corporate economic model that has dominated the global economy for the past 30 years, reports the Nation (via Grist).

A new study predicts clean energy and energy efficiency investments will bring 7,000 long-term jobs to Utah.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s freezing of more than $150 million of the state’s clean energy fund could stunt one of the state’s economic bright spots.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of Jeremy Levine Design / CC BY 2.0

President Obama’s proposed 2011 budget would redirect Fish and Wildlife Service activities toward climate change issues, like preparing for shifts in animal populations resulting from global warming.

A piece at Grist explains why a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill would reduce the federal deficit while an “energy-only” bill would likely increase it by $13 billion annually.

Friends of the Earth and CREDO Action want people to vote on the content of an ad firing back at attempts by Senators Lisa Murkowsi (R-Alaska) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) to block the E.P.A.’s ability to regulate large-scale CO2 emissions.

Local Green: State and local level efforts to cut energy waste continue to grow, despite the glacial pace of federal CO2 reduction efforts, reports the New York Times.

New York’s Great Appliance Swap Out will offer $17 million in rebates to consumers who trade in old appliances for new Energy Star products.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is considering a plan that would turn California’s Lake Owens into one of the world’s largest solar farms.

Nevada utility NV Energy signed a 20-year agreement to purchase 32 megawatts of geothermal energy from the yet-to-be built Clayton Valley Geothermal Project.

A Salt Lake Tribune editorial says Utah’s regional energy-training academies will create good-paying green jobs while boosting the state’s economy.

Environmental groups say New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s plan to close a budget deficit guts the state’s Clean Energy Fund.

–Christopher Greenspan Duke Energy/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Venture capitalist Jonathan Silver is the Obama administration’s new clean energy loan chief.

In honor of Veteran’s Day, a piece at the Huffington Post looked at Operation Free - a group of traveling Vets spreading the message of clean energy and national security from city to city.

A new Apollo Alliance feature story profiles veterans who are using the skills they developed in the military to reduce America’s energy usage and combat climate change.

The clean energy debate occurring in the Senate and across America marks “a pivotal moment in our nation’s history,” argues Robert Redford, in his plea to all of us to “raise our voices loudly and fully” so that Washington is prompted to take action.

A new report finds that the market share of thin-film solar cells will double by 2013.

The E.P.A. announced that America has produced its millionth Energy Star home.

Local Green: Clean energy supporters celebrated the completion of phase one of Utah’s Milford Wind Corridor project - the state’s largest wind farm, which will generate power for Southern California.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) - the nation’s largest public utility - is looking into geothermal energy sources as part of its effort to generate 40 percent of its electricity through renewables by 2020.

New Jersey utility PSE&G is increasing its solar loan program by $143 million.

Local opposition to Nantucket Sound’s Cape Wind Project - what could be America’s first offshore wind farm - is one high profile example of growing green NIMBYism, reports CNET.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of TaberAndrew / CC BY-NC 2.0

Vice President Joe Biden and the Middle Class Task Force Council On Environmental Quality released a report that lays a blueprint for removing barriers to home energy retrofits.

The White House is encouraging federal employees to bring their clean energy ideas forward to help develop a sustainability plan.

Former Apollo Alliance executive director Bracken Hendricks testified in Congress that a clean energy economy will create 1.7 million jobs.

Two reports find evidence that investing in the clean energy economy will spur significant job growth, lower the unemployment rate, and expand economic opportunities for low-income Americans.

Meetings between the largest greenhouse gas emitting nations ended on a positive note,  with some attendees saying they felt more optimistic about December’s climate change negotiations in Copenhagen.

Local clean energy development may be a more popular and practical alternative to long distance energy transmission.

Apollo Alliance President Jerome Ringo spoke at this year’s Bioneers Conference in San Francisco.

Local Green: Summit County, Utah could raise money for schools, create jobs, and cut its CO2 emissions by developing its wind energy potential.

A new wind turbine design is being tested near Boulder, Colorado.

–Christopher Greenspan

Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The International Energy Agency says the money made available for greenhouse gas emissions reduction projects through various economic stimulus plans around the world fall “far short” of necessary funding.

Delegates convened in Germany this week to work on the text of an international climate treaty.

The International Organization for Migration warns that climate change could create 200 million refugees by 2050.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee plans to work out details of a renewable energy standard and building efficiency codes this week.

Anticipating renewable energy standards, American Electric Power Company issued a proposal for the long term purchase of up to 1,100 megawatts of clean energy.

The potential to abuse public lands and funds in the name of clean energy is pushing the Interior Department to keep a closer watch over emerging projects.

Local Green: Vermont became the first state to adopt a broad feed-in tariff system.

A variety of clean energy and energy efficiency projects are on Hawaii’s horizon, as it works to generate 70 percent of its energy through renewables by 2030.

Utah’s senators say funding requests for clean energy projects have more than doubled recently.

Some worry that Texas’ reluctance to embrace clean energy will tarnish the state’s reputation as a leading energy producer.

Texas A&M University researchers expect climate change to increase hurricane-related damage along the Texas coast in coming years.

Philadelphia is weatherizing thousands of aging row houses and training a green-collar workforce to get the job done.

–Christopher Greenspan

Workers are being trained for good jobs in the clean energy economy with money raised through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-invest agreement between 10 Northeastern states.

President Obama signed the Inslee-Sarbanes Clean Energy Service Corps into law. The Corps is designed to train disadvantaged youth in green-collar skills while improving the energy efficiency of low-income housing.

Apollo’s new television ad that calls for the clean energy revolution to be made in America is being aired nationally by a coalition led by MoveOn.org.

The federal government finalized regulations for harnessing wind power on the outer continental shelf. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says to expect energy from offshore sources in two or three years.

A National Park Service official warns that the 63 large-scale solar energy projects planned in and around the Mojave Desert could have a major impact on the region’s water supply.

America’s energy future is the topic of National Geographic’s special March issue.

Jerome Ringo, the president of Apollo, is among a handful of experts that weigh in on the question: “Will efforts to jumpstart the economy — even ostensibly green ones — collide with efforts to save the planet?”

A piece in The New Republic analyzes the Obama administration’s mix of faith in the free market and government incentives to reduce economic inequality.

Local Green: Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed a bill into law that allows homeowners and small businesses to take out loans for solar and energy efficiency projects. Ritter said, “The New Energy Economy is leading Colorado forward by developing sustainable energy industries that provide clean power and good jobs.”

Starting January 1, 2010, all transportation fuel producers will have to cut 10 percent of the carbon emissions of fuels sold in California - even gasoline.

Massachusetts’ Green Communities Program (signed into law last summer) will put federal stimulus dollars to work by bringing technical assistance to cities and towns attempting to bring clean energy online.

Utah Governor Jon Huntsman signed two energy related bills this week - one gives financial support to electricity grid upgrades while the other is a tax incentive for renewable energy products.

The New York Power Authority is researching the possibility of offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes.

Solar energy has the potential to power the whole state of Texas.

–Christopher Greenspan

President Obama continues his week long campaign to promote his budget proposal with a discussion of its clean energy provisions. “We can remain the world’s leader of exporting foreign oil or become the leading exporter of renewable energy… we have known the right choice for a generation,” Obama told clean energy entrepreneurs gathered at the White House yesterday.

The E.P.A. proposes to regulate CO2 as a public health hazard - a move widely viewed as “a key precursor to regulating greenhouse gas emissions as pollutants.”

City life generates far lower levels of per capita CO2 than suburban and rural living.

As mentioned yesterday, the Department of Energy issued its first guaranteed clean energy loan in four years ($500+ in support of solar panel maker Solyndra Inc.), but the next round of loans may not reach the bulk of the battered clean tech industry until 2010.

The recession may be pounding the clean energy industry, but tough times have spiked interest in energy efficiency.

An Atlanta Journal Constitution editorial argues that America’s current wave of populist outrage should be directed at correcting the nation’s growing economic inequality.

Local Green: Oregon State University says a student approved renewable energy fee has helped the institution cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent.

Though no one was seriously discussing renewable energy in Utah four years ago, they are now a “centerpiece in our economic development efforts,” said Governor Jon Huntsman.

Texas plans to use $180 million in federal stimulus money to construct a four-lane toll road that will cut across a prairie 30 miles east of Houston. Intended to boost the economy and create jobs, critics claim the highway will exacerbate suburban sprawl and long commutes.  Visit our website for Apollo’s recommendations for smart use of stimulus funds.

–Christopher Greenspan