There will be enough workers to “keep the lights on” at key agencies if the shutdown persists. At 12:03 a.m. this morning, after lawmakers in Congress failed to reach agreement on funding the government, thousands of federal employees lumbered out into the streets of Washington, D.C. looking for taxpayer money to spend. They knocked over… Keep reading →
Supporters of coal have called the planned new rules from the EPA on CO2 emissions from coal-fired power generation a war on coal and have pledged to fight the rule-making process. It is true that there will almost certainly not be a new coal-fired electric generating station built in the U.S. for at least the… Keep reading →
The ongoing controversy over the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline linking Alberta’s oil sands to US markets covers a vast amount of factual territory, from refinery configuration to logistics to international crude oil trading to carbon dioxide emissions. But at times, all of these issues take a back seat to the emotional, or symbolic, component of… Keep reading →
The Obama Administration issued a statement yesterday in support of Senate Bill 1392, the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2013. The Washington Post described the bill as “timid” and “politically palatable”. That’s a good thing. The goal of the legislation is to codify and beef up existing federal government programs that seek to reduce energy… Keep reading →
Efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants outlined in President Obama’s Climate Action Plan have been widely denounced by opponents as tantamount to a War on Coal. Curbing power plant emissions will have an outsized impact on coal-fired plants for the simple reason that coal emits more carbon dioxide when burned than other… Keep reading →
Carbon dioxide emissions costs have been possibly the great ‘unpriced externality’ for the energy business for more than a decade. Companies have resisted complex and cumbersome government plans only to end up with regional patchworks and failed private pricing mechanisms for the greenhouse gas that scientists have held most directly responsible for the lion’s share of human-contributed… Keep reading →
Last week we published a piece on what are likely to be Congress’ top 6 energy policy priorities after the August recess, according to Frank Maisano, Senior Principal at law firm Bracewell Giuliani. Elias Hinckley, also a Washington, DC-based attorney specializing in energy, has offered a slightly different take on what we might see in energy policy… Keep reading →
The EPA released its finalized 2013 Renewable Fuel Standard yesterday, which laid out modified volumetric requirements for renewable fuels blended into the fuel supply, as well as more flexibility in meeting the standard. This year’s volumetric requirement is unchanged from a previous proposal, at 16.55 billion gallons this year. Of that volume, 1.28 billion gallons must be… Keep reading →
Add Spain to the list of countries that have offshore wind power before the United States. And on this one the U.S. really missed an opportunity. (That’s right, cool though it is, I have decided not to count that scaled-down 20-kilowatt floating turbine demo off Maine as establishment of U.S. offshore wind power.) This is the real thing… Keep reading →
Even the Tea Party is pushing back on the conservative political group’s claims. A curious thing happened in Georgia this month. As the state’s public service commission was considering a proposal for 525 megawatts of solar PV — a program fiercely opposed by Georgia Power — an unlikely alliance formed to support more solar. The… Keep reading →
