"Our generation's Sputnik moment": President Obama calls for 80% "clean" electricity by 2035
In his State of the Union address, President Obama challenged Congress to pass legislation establishing a clean energy standard (CES) that would require that 80 percent of America’s electricity come from “clean” sources by 2035. President Obama signaled that a standard would recognize electricity derived from not only renewables but also nuclear, clean coal and natural gas. Calling the clean energy push “our generation’s Sputnik moment,” the President’s speech framed a CES in the larger context of improving U.S.’s competitiveness in the changing global economy. The focus on clean energy and not GHG emissions also reflects a dramatically altered political landscape than what President Obama faced over his first two years in office. With cap-and-trade legislation off the table, President Obama is reaching out to Republicans by expressing his support for clean coal and nuclear in any energy legislation.
Continue Reading...Update on Comer
On Monday, January 10, 2011, the Supreme Court announced that it denied the plaintiffs’ petition for writ of mandamus in In re Comer, No. 10-294. This means that the Supreme Court will not review the procedural issue of whether the Fifth Circuit had a sufficient quorum to dismiss the appeal, and thus that the decision of the U.S. District for the Southern District of Mississippi to dismiss Comer on political question and standing grounds will stand.
Continue Reading...Decision Expected in Comer
The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider whether to grant a petition for writ of mandamus in one of the first major climate change-related tort cases, In re Comer, No. 10-294, in conference on January 7, 2010. The Court likely will announce a decision by the morning of January 10 unless it decides to hold over the case.
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