Jeff Merkley
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Coalition of 22 Democratic senators urges floor vote on climate bill this year
Now that health care reform is out of the way (praise f’ing Zeus!), what’s next for the Senate? Several issues are jockeying for attention: jobs, financial reform, immigration, and others. More than one senator has said that there’s just no time to get to climate and energy this year, especially after the protracted and divisive […]
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A chat with Sen. Bernie Sanders on his new 10 million solar roofs bill
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)On On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a bill aimed at getting 10 million new solar rooftop systems and 200,000 new solar hot water heating systems installed in the U.S. in the next 10 years. Cleverly titled the “10 Million Solar Roofs & 10 Million Gallons of Solar Hot Water Act” […]
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Merkley counsels Obama on how to make ‘cash for caulkers’ work
In his much-anticipated jobs speech last week, Obama introduced a program meant to encourage energy efficiency retrofits for residential housing; it has since become known as “cash for caulkers.” On Tuesday, Obama will host a discussion at a Washington-area Home Depot focusing on the economic benefits of retrofits and soliciting ideas for how such a […]
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Making buildings more efficient: looking beyond price
Photo courtesy kimberlyfaye via Flickr Using energy more efficiently in buildings may be the fastest, cheapest way to substantially reduce carbon emissions in the short-term. How can we make it happen? Last week, New York Times‘ David Leonhardt wrote a great column about a new proposal bouncing around the White House: “cash for caulkers,” a […]
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Merkley wants Senate jobs bill to help finance building efficiency retrofits
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met with the chairs of six committees that might have some hand in developing the clean energy bill. The question at issue was whether the bill should be pushed back in favor of a short-term focus on finance reform, jobs, and the deficit. Though John Kerry argued vigorously […]
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The big stories out of Tuesday’s Senate hearing on Kerry-Boxer
Today’s hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee — the first of three days of hearings on the Kerry-Boxer clean energy bill — didn’t contain any big surprises. As Keith Johnson notes, Senators generally played their appointed roles. There are four stories out of today that seem notable. 1. Republicans are completely out […]
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Sen. Jeff Merkley answers Grist’s questions on Senate climate bill
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) won his 2008 race against 40-year Republican incumbent Gordon Smith in a squeaker, with a margin of just 3%. Despite the narrow win, Merkley has come out swinging on climate and energy issues, securing an appointment to the Environment & Public Works Committee, sponsoring or co-sponsoring a series of clean energy […]
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Sanders & Merkley introduce bill to fund waste heat capture [with video of cats flushing toilets!]
Sens. Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (Vt.) have introduced a fantastic bill that deserves to be part of the climate/energy package the Senate votes on later this year. The Thermal Energy Efficiency Act (S.1621) “would dedicate 2% of revenues from climate change legislation to fund combined heat and power, waste energy recovery, and district […]