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Senate Dems under pressure to lift ban on offshore drilling

Democrats in Congress are under increasing pressure to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling, The Wall Street Journal reported this week ($ub. req’d). Last week, some Democrats signaled that they would be willing to endorse offshore drilling. And on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he might allow voting on offshore drilling. […]

Al Gore details plan for exclusively carbon-free electricity in U.S. by 2018

In a speech in Washington, D.C., today, climate activist Al Gore called for the United States to move toward using electricity that comes exclusively from carbon-free sources within 10 years in order to stave off catastrophic climate change. “I ask you to join with me to call on every candidate, at every level, to accept […]

USDA scientist: Some crop residues may be too valuable for biofuels

Converting crop residues into cellulosic ethanol sounds to many people like a good idea -- certainly better than using food crops themselves. Yet according to respected USDA soil scientist Ann Kennedy, the stems and leaves left over after crops are harvested may have more value if they are left on the ground, especially in areas receiving less than 25 inches of precipitation annually.

That includes most of the United States (click on link to see map) west of the 100th meridian, which runs roughly from Bismark, S.D. through Laredo, Texas.

2.6 million acres opened to drilling in Alaska, Dems introduce Drill Act to spur production

The U.S. Interior Department announced it’s opening up some 2.6 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) to exploratory drilling. A decision on drilling in the sensitive Teshekpuk Lake area of the reserve has been deferred for 10 years, delighting many environmentalists who have advocated for its permanent protection. Bidding on leases […]

A brief primer on variable vs. fixed costs

For those of us in the power industry, media discussions of the economics of power generation reveal an almost complete misunderstanding of how power is priced. Depending on our vested interests, we may find this either frustrating or beneficial -- but in all cases, it's false.

Herewith I attempt to explain from whence the confusion arises -- and why it is so critical for the clean energy community to understand this math and its consequences ... and to more accurately articulate the economics of those options we prefer.

Report from EPA and U.S. Climate Change Science Program highlights risks of warming world

Scientists from the U.S. EPA and U.S. Climate Change Science Program issued a new report today documenting the effects of global climate change on human health and human systems. It follows close on the heels of another report released earlier this week by EPA scientists on global warming and human health. “Climate change will affect […]

In eastern North Carolina, citizens and students rise up for environmental justice

Few places in the world have been pooped on more than Eastern North Carolina in the past 20 years. As jobs in textiles and tobacco moved out over the past few decades, the hog industry moved in, bringing with it the source of the poop: 10 million hogs on 2,300 farms, producing about 19 million tons of waste per year. This waste is stored in huge, open pits called lagoons and then sprayed on surrounding fields, which causes the stench to waft for miles around.

Minnesota utility plans wind farm over coal reserves

Story at Wind Watch:

A Minnesota utility said it's planning its own mega wind farm in Oliver County, meaning Oliver and Morton counties could some day be home to as many as 1,000 new wind turbines across the hilltops.

At the same time the turbines are capturing mile after mile of wind, they could cover up substantial coal reserves along that southern stretch of Coal Country ...

Can the West match the Northeast?

Next week, the Western Climate Initiative will release a proposal outlining the program's cap-and-trade design.* In the proposal, we should expect to learn what share of carbon permits will be auctioned (and will therefore generate public revenue) and what share will be given away for free to emitters.

Auctioning is important -- extremely important -- because, among other virtues, it is the best way to promote fairness for people with moderate incomes. We've had lots to say about auctioning in the past, and we'll have lots to say about it in the future. In the meantime, for comparison purposes, I thought it might be helpful to share the auctioning percentages [PDF] from the cap-and-trade program in the Northeast, called RGGI:

• Connecticut.................91 percent
• Maine........................100 percent
• Maryland.....................90 percent
• Massachusetts.............99 percent
• New Hampshire.........100 percent**
• New Jersey................100 percent**
• New York..................100 percent
• Rhode Island..............100 percent
• Vermont.....................100 percent

RGGI sets a good standard, one that WCI should strive hard to match or exceed.

Nashville mayor stumps for public transit

Here’s Mayor Karl Dean of Nashville, Tenn., on MayorTV talking in almost jarringly common sense terms about the challenges facing cities and the solutions — public transit, diversity, economic development — that can overcome them: Good stuff.