Opinion Editorial by Stephen Smith
Originally published March 19, 2009 in the Orlando Sentinel
Aaron Deslatte’s column, “Legislature 2010: Can Lawmakers Create Jobs?” on OrlandoSentinel.com recently, provided a good overview of the efforts that the state Legislature is considering to lower Florida’s high unemployment rate.
In Deslatte’s column, House Speaker Larry Cretul says, “We’ve all heard ‘government doesn’t [...]
Policies that will Help Grow the Industry
The past 12 months have been a rough time for the biodiesel industry and some believe much of the biodiesel industry’s problems are self-induced. The industry has been betting that two federal policies, a tax credit (blenders credit) and production requirement (called the Renewable Fuel Standard), would help turn [...]
Last week, Friends of the Earth launched two television ads challenging $54.5 billion in loan guarantees the Obama Administration proposed to hand out for the construction of the first new nuclear reactors in the U.S. in 30 years. The 30-second television ads, “Family” and “Risk,” will run in both South Carolina and Georgia. In South [...]
I was on CNN yesterday responding to the nuclear loan guarantee announcement by President Obama. We are seriously disappointed in this action and SACE released a statement warning against the risk loan guarantees will put on taxpayers.
As outlined in a blog entry from last week, we feel the administration is making a serious mistake by [...]
When the 111th Congress reconvened last month, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced a “disapproval resolution” (S.J. Res 26) which many in the environmental community are calling the “Dirty Air Act.” What may seem like a simple statement of disapproval is actually a back-door attempt to use Senate procedures to cripple an essential environmental law.
Sen. Murkowski, [...]
Update: as of Monday, February 1, 57 nations (including the 27-member European Union) are likely to or have associated with the Copenhagen Accord, representing 73.3% of global emissions.
January 31, 2010 is the deadline for nations supporting the Copenhagen Accord to submit their greenhouse gas emissions reduction plans. Today, just days before the deadline, the United [...]
In tonight’s State of the Union speech, President Obama highlighted myriad issues confronting Americans today from an economic crisis to high unemployment to ongoing military conflicts in the Middle East. What these varied issues have in common is that meaningful clean energy policies could provide workable solutions.
Update on January 20, 200: Washington Post editorial on Murkowski’s intentions with EPA and the Clean Air Act.
If you are too young to remember polluted waterways that caught on fire or cities as ‘dark as night by 11am‘ due to poor air quality, then you came of age as our water and air were protected [...]
This post was co-authored by Stephen Smith and Jennifer Rennicks
Well, it depends on who you ask? While the United Nations climate talks are officially over, the world does not have the fair, ambitious, and binding treaty that science demands of us to protect all global citizens, rich and poor, from the perils of accelerating climate change. This is [...]
It was with great disappointment that I watched the congresswoman’s republican response to the President’s weekly radio address last Saturday. She is now in Copenhagen as part of the U.S. Congressional Delegation. Her grandstanding appears to be more aimed at her growing Sara Palin wannabe ambition and appealing to the hard right teabag wing of the [...]
