President's Council on Jobs & Competitiveness: Green Recommendations Ahead?
Last week President Obama’s Council on Jobs & Competitiveness began in earnest with a meeting of its members at the White House. According to the President, the Council was created to “provide non-partisan advice to the President on continuing to strengthen the Nation's economy and ensure the competitiveness of the United States and on ways to create jobs, opportunity, and prosperity for the American people.” Based on the first meeting, it is clear that clean energy and energy efficiency will be part of the ultimate recommendations from the Council. As this process moves forward it will be interesting to see what specific recommendations on a clean energy economy are made by business interests at the table.
Continue Reading...Going it Alone?: 3 EU Member States Seek National Auction Platforms for Greenhouse Gas Emission Rights
As the European Union moves towards the third phase of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) starting in 2013, some countries are rethinking the common European platform for auctioning emission allowances. As at least 50 percent of carbon allowances allocated to regulated industrial sectors are to be auctioned (up from a mere 4 percent auctioned and the rest given away freely in the previous phase), the financial and regulatory stakes are high for the future integrity of emissions trading in Europe.
Continue Reading...EPA, Clean Air Act & Climate Change: Consider the Facts
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken a lot of hits from those opposed to greenhouse gas regulations in the past week. In the House of Representatives, tough hearings led by U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, (R-KY), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy, were held with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. Jackson’s testimony followed that of lead witness Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) who promoted his upcoming book, “The Hoax,” which takes aim at the science of climate change. The House subsequently passed an amendment to the proposed Continuing Resolution that would strip EPA of its authority to regulate GHG emissions and significantly decrease funding for environmental and clean energy programs. Meanwhile, outside of Washington, D.C., the first two permits considered by EPA suggest cleaner facilities and job creation can be compatible with new regulations as opposed to some of the concerns expressed in the hearings and continuing resolution.
Continue Reading...Clean Energy Standard Update
Since President Obama’s State of the Union address announcing the Administration goal of setting a Clean Energy Standard (CES) deliberations have shifted to Congress. The President has called for utilities to meet a target of 80 percent of their electricity from sources such as solar, wind, natural gas, nuclear and so-called clean coal by 2035 but the real work now begins in moving this through the legislative process. Bipartisan congressional leadership is where this will have to begin and end if the President’s goal is to become a reality.
Continue Reading...Can Congress get behind a "Clean Energy Bank?"
With Washington focused on a clean energy standard and legislative efforts to block EPA’s greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations, proposals to establish a “clean energy bank” are quietly gaining significant support. Last Congress, both the Waxman-Markey and Senate Energy Committee bills included provisions that would have established a clean energy deployment administration (i.e. a clean energy bank). These bills differed slightly on how to establish and structure CEDA, but generally the agency would operate as either an independent or quasi-independent agency to provide loan guarantees and other financing to support clean energy. CEDA addresses a critical problem many renewable projects face – gaining access to capital to move beyond the R&D phase to deployment.
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