The Latest

GOP Lawmakers Slow Down Bills With Anti-Environmental Attacks

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Last night the House of Representatives passed a payroll tax bill, but at the same time they took Americans’ health and safety hostage. They used a bill Congress feels it must pass to jam through two riders that would weaken protections against polluters.

One rider would allow industrial facilities to release more mercury, lead, and other toxins into the air we breathe. The other would enable the Keystone XL pipeline to go through the American Heartland without the environmental and safety review the White House deemed necessary. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 19, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Lightbulb Rider In Omnibus Spending Bill Stirs Controversy

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Five years ago, Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act, which included a provision to phase out inefficient incandescent light bulbs requiring 25% greater efficiency beginning in 2012.

Now as the start date for the bill looms, Republicans have attached a rider to the omnibus spending bill that would take away the Department of Energy’s ability to enforce the law and establish civil penalties for violating it. State attorney generals would instead be in charge of reviewing complaints and enforcing the law. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 19, 2011 at 6:00 AM

European Downgrade Contagion: AOL Energy Comment

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From the perspective of the US energy business, the European debt crisis can feel very far away.

The impacts of ongoing sovereign debt debates are felt first in markets for government bonds and currencies; one can only guess what the extent will be of ramifications on government commitments to clean energy or business activity levels in developed and emerging economies. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 16, 2011 at 2:30 PM

Corn and soybeans are the major crops used to produce biofuels and are best grown in the corn belt, which is Midwest-based.

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Corn and soybeans are the major crops used to produce biofuels and are best grown in the corn belt, which is Midwest-based.
@ENERGY

 /  Published December 16, 2011 at 1:10 PM

EU 2050 Energy Roadmap Neutral On Nuclear Power

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Even as Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol this month–during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa–the European Union set an aggressive energy roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 80%-95% below 1990 levels by 2050.

The transformation will make Europe less dependent on external energy supplies. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 16, 2011 at 9:30 AM

Solar’s Unlikely Hero: Rush Limbaugh

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Will Rush Limbaugh save the solar industry?

Looks that way for Toni Lynch in Allentown, Pennsylvania. And Spiro Basho in Hicksville, New York. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 16, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Biogas Supported By DOE In Pilot-Scale Plant

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As the United States continues attempting to wean itself off of foreign oil, the Department of Energy has been increasingly supporting alternative technologies.

Among the efforts has been the DOE’s support of ClearFuels-Rentech’s pilot-scale biorefinery in Commerce City, Colorado. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 16, 2011 at 6:00 AM

ComEd Smart Grid Deal: Profits Tied To Performance

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The trend to set performance benchmarks for utilities got another boost with an announcement Thursday by ComEd. The Illinois utility laid out the steps it will take to meet the performance metrics built into the state’s recent smart grid bill. (Which was passed only by overriding the governor’s veto.)

The 10-year $2.6 billion modernization plan requires the state’s utilities to prove they are making progress toward 10-year goals that include improving outages by 20 percent and the duration of those outages by 15 percent. As part of its plan, ComEd will install 10 “smart” electric substations over the next five to 10 years to better predict, find and resolve power outages. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 16, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Sen Inhofe slams NRC spokesman Elliot Brenner for steering reporters to Markey report defending Chairman Jaczko, slamming commissioners.

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Sen Inhofe slams NRC spokesman Elliot Brenner for steering reporters to Markey report defending Chairman Jaczko, slamming commissioners.
@energyrider6

 /  Published December 15, 2011 at 12:15 PM

Duke-Progress Merger Stalled: ‘Harmful To Competition’

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Though Duke and Progress Energy have been pursuing a merger for nearly a year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stalled it significantly this Wednesday claiming it would not allow for fair competition in local electricity markets.

The decision, based on FERC’s 1996 Merger Policy Statement, comes at a time of increasing consolidation and specialization in the energy industry and will set a new standard for future merger proposals. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 15, 2011 at 11:15 AM
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