An oil spill but no energy bill: where do we go from here?

To many people, it seemed inevitable that 2010 would be The Year we passed The Climate & Energy Bill to overhaul the way we make and consume energy in this country.  The stage was set in 2008 when Democrats gained control of both the Congress and the White House and pledged to reduce carbon pollution.  [...]

Too little, too late? Congress may fail to move from oil spill to a robust energy bill

After decades of scientific data gathering, years of growing public and business support and more than three months of an unmitigated environmental catastrophe, it is reasonable to expect that citizens and leaders would all support a paradigm shift in U.S. energy policy.
In fact, even before BP’s Gulf oil disaster began, President Obama and Congress promised [...]

Dams in the desert, windmills in the doldrums, biopower in the Berkshires

From SACE’s perspective, the Manomet study of biomass and carbon offers an important new way to describe and think-through the possible impacts on the climate from biomass energy. Although the study’s findings are limited in geographic scope, the methodology can be applied elsewhere to great benefit.

The Southeast Has A Ten Billion Coal Dollar Habit

In 2008, Southeastern utilities spent six times more on coal from Colombia (yes, the country in South America) than they did helping their customers cut energy waste at home.
In fact, the Southeast spent over $10 billion in 2008 to import coal from other states and countries to fuel power plants, according to a [...]

Florida Mayor Calls for State to Foster Renewable Energy Jobs

Renewable energy expansion can drive Florida jobs growth–we just need to post our “Open for Business” sign.  Orange County, Florida (home of Orlando), is inviting cleantech investments, in engineering, manufacturing and development of innovators by entrepreneurs and at our centers of higher education.  This is the Sunshine State: Power generation from local biomass, collection of sun energy [...]

No Solution, Just More Pollution

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, [...]

It Is About the Jobs

These are permanent jobs, tied to the local base of renewable biomass resources; they can’t be outsourced or off-shored.

Will a wind project impact the value of my home?

The answer is quite simply, no.  According to a three-year study released by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that analyzed data from thousands of homes located near wind farms in the U.S., wind energy projects have no impact on home values after wind project construction.
This may come as no shock.  Many folks do not believe that wind [...]

Major Step for Wind Power in the Southeast

This post was co-authored by Dr. Stephen Smith and Toni Reale, SACE’s coastal program coordinator.

On Monday, November 23rd the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $45 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to a consortium led by Clemson University’s Restoration Institute to build the World’s first large offshore wind turbine drive-train testing facility.
This $98 [...]

Shhh! The climate bill will reduce electricity bills. (They won’t believe it.)

While utility executives are trying to scare people with claims that “climate and energy policy is a conspiracy of the Northeast and the West Coast to drive the cost of electric power up in the South to slow southern economic development,” NRDC has just released a report that shows the average electric bill will go [...]