13 March '10
7:41 PM EST
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This Week in Green Energy: “America’s Economy Is at Stake!”

Energy Secretary Steven Chu, often described at the “smartest man in the room” in the Obama administration, urged Congress to pass a comprehensive climate and energy bill. Speaking this week at a conference at Stanford University, Chu warned that failure to seriously tackle climate change could limit the nation’s ability to be a leader in the green-energy technologies of tomorrow.

He warned:

The future prosperity of the United States is at risk. I think we will lose (and) end up purchasing equipment from abroad.

Along with an overhaul of the country’s healthcare system, the Obama administration has made clean energy-  and specifically, ensuring that it beats China as the world’s leading green power – one of its top priorities. The country that wins the clean energy race will lead the 21st century, President  Obama often repeats.

But much like the healthcare debate (at least until recently), on the Senate side, the energy and climate change discussion has been paralyzed by ongoing debates about the validity of carbon pricing and yes, (hard to believe) whether human-made climate change is real. The House overcame those divisions this summer, approving its energy and climate change bill in a largely partisan vote. Read More »

11 March '10
7:45 AM EST
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  Policy

Reblog: How Green Is China’s Stimulus Package? [VIDEO]

There is obviously a lot of interest in China’s growing renewable energy industry. Over the past year, China’s $586 billion green stimulus has emerged as a serious contender to win the global clean energy race at the expense of the U.S.  In a recent post for the Green Leap Forward,  Chief Editor Julian Wong dissects the Chinese stimulus and asks how green it really is. Wong is also a senior policy analyst at the Center for American Progress.

By Julian Wong

I had the opportunity to answer this question as a member of a panel discussion at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a Washington DC foreign policy think tank, two weeks ago.   The event was held on February 17 to mark the one year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and sought to explore the effectiveness economic stimulus packages in the US and globally in catalyzing green investments (Wong’s remarks start at about 24′21).

My simple answer?  There is no simple answer.  The lack of transparency of what exactly is being allocated, how those allocations are being spent, and how the uncertainty around the lesser known story of bank lending (or monetary policy), that is separate from the fiscal stimulus figures into clean energy investments makes it nearly impossible to know just how much money is hitting the clean energy road in China. Read More »

10 March '10
3:58 PM EST
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Full Push For A Senate Climate Change Bill

Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are pushing ahead to get their bi-partisan climate change and energy bill on the Senate floor for a full vote. Read More »

9 March '10
2:34 PM EST
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Reblog: The US Is In Danger Of Losing The Clean Tech Race, Says Energy Secretary Chu

– By Mark Boslet, co-editor, TechPulse360

American prosperity is at stake, said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

The United States risks losing the race to a clean-tech economy if it fails to get serious about global warming, Energy Department Secretary Steven Chu said Monday.

Taking five years or longer to pass energy legislation will limit the nation’s ability to be a leader in the green-energy technologies of tomorrow, Chu said during an address at Stanford University.

American prosperity is at stake, said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

“I think we will lose (and) end up purchasing equipment from abroad,” he said. “The future prosperity of the United States is at risk.” Read More »

8 March '10
8:21 AM EST
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Schumer at Odds With Obama Administration Policy on Shenyang Power Texas Project

Last week Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — and three other Senator — urged the Obama administration to cut stimulus funding for renewable energy projects that offshore their manufacturing. Read More »

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