13 March '10
7:41 PM EST
No Comments
  Cleantech
  Funding
  Policy
  Solar
  Wind

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 »

1 March '10
8:50 AM EST
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  Biofuel
  Funding
  Policy

What To Expect This Week: BP, The Kerry Climate Bill

Tomorrow British oil and gas company BP is releasing its 2010 capital expenditure program. Expect company Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward to reaffirm his company’s focus on its oil and gas business.

Last quarter BP posted a fourth-quarter profit of $4.3 billion after losing $3.34 billion in the prior-year period. For the year, BP earned $16.58 billion. Most of that revenue was generated by the company’s upstream and downstream oil and gas business. Read More »

23 February '10
4:25 PM EST
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  Policy

John Kerry: Tri-partisan Climate Bill Close…

Fresh from receiving 100 percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is making noises about introducing a new tripartisan climate bill soon. Kerry told a climate policy forum today that he is working with White House officials and other lawmakers on getting a bill, Reuters reports.

Any bets on when this new bill is coming out? And will he get support from Massachusetts’ new junior senator, Republican Scott Brown?

Read More »

22 February '10
10:47 AM EST
2 Comments
  Funding
  Policy

Warren Buffett’s BNSF Buy Looking Smarter as Coal Surges

Buffett: a clever bet on coal

O, Oracle of Omaha, how could we ever have doubted that your bet on coal was a wise choice?

Now, as coal prices have surged more than 40 percent from last year’s lows, we see three reasons why Warren Buffett’s purchase of the Burlington Northern Sanata Fe railroad – which hauls 1/5 of the nation’s coal – was smart. Read More »

20 January '10
5:53 PM EST
No Comments
  Policy

Scott Brown Election Dims Prospect for Climate Change Legislation

Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Mass.)

Is climate change legislation dead? Not quite, but it does face a new and unexpected hurdle called Senator-elect Scott Brown (R- Mass.).

Staffers on Capitol Hill suggested to GER that last night’s stunning reversal is a game changer. Read More »

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