Planetsave

Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It could be many things: God, love, E.T., or even Michael Jackson. But today, right now, it is wind. Wind has always been around. I think that few would argue with that. But wind power, on the other hand, has been hidden from mankind’s view for centuries. But now wind power is on the rise, especially in America. And a new report shows that wind power is more popular than the Beatles…or not.

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a report today, which came on the same day that Secretary Chu announced the selection of 28 new wind energy projects for up to $13.8 million in funding – $12.8 million of which will be Recovery Act funds.

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According to Missouri Senator Kit Bond (R) the cap and trade Waxman-Markey Bill “is really a pig in a poke.” That’s what he told the committee on Tuesday, anyway. Given the opportunity to speak in front of a committee on the financial impacts that the climate bill would have on farmers, Senator Bond wasted no time calling the bill a hoax.

Senator Bond told committee members on Tuesday that the proposed bill would end up costing farmers up to $30,000 per year with the increase in energy costs. These costs work into every detail of a farmers life, from diesel fuel to power their tractors and combines to natural gas in order to make fertilizer. Farm equipment uses energy for irrigation pumps and drying grain before storage.

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In an effort to feed two children with the same bottle, the Obama administration has created a rebate program that has potential to affect the average Joe and Jane. The nation has stumbled forward, carrying the weight of the struggling economy on one leg and the weight of energy concerns on the other; but the current administration hopes to change that.

It is hope of recovery, of success, of change that prompted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And it is that same hope that has created a sub-program within the Recovery Act; a program that will encourage energy efficiency while putting money back into the hands of the people.

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With the historic passage of climate legislation through the House of Representatives, many concerns have trickled forth. Does the climate legislation do enough? Will it even work? Does it have the right aim? With the issuance of similar concerns have come proposed solutions and substitutions. The republicans have proposed that 100 nuclear power plants be built by 2030 in place of the proposed cap-and-trade climate bill. I’ve recently written two articles on the Republican “solution” to both the climate and economic crises. And today I’m writing more.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced his own personal blueprint for the nation’s recovery. He began by re-stating the Senate Republicans’ plan that would replace the cap-and-trade legislation passed by the House, which includes building 100 nuclear power plants within 20 years, the encouragement of electric cars for conservation, offshore exploration for natural gas and oil and doubling energy research and development to make renewable energy cost-competitive.

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With overwhelming support from the general American people and a President who says that we really need to do something about climate change, the House of Representatives passed a landmark bill on climate change on June 20th. A victory! Or maybe not. The bill is a major step forward in gesture in many ways.

However, the House dropped or changed many instrumental parts of what is needed to reduce or limit global warming. Read the rest of this entry »

More money was distributed today by the Department of Energy. 141 million dollars to be more precise. This time Hawaii, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, the Northern Mariana Islands and Texas will play beneficiaries of the Recovery Act.

As a part of the Department’s State Energy Program, which has been apportioned $3.1 billion, states and territories propose plans to prioritize energy savings, create or retain jobs, increase the use of renewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And that’s where this $141 million will be going. Each state receives funding according to its needs (population based), with Texas receiving more than half of the allotted $141 million dollars. They will receive $87.5 million.

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I can see clearly now, the smoke is gone. Or prevented. Thanks to the Sierra Club, who celebrated a landmark in the fight against coal today. Thanks to advocacy in favor of ending coal, Intermountain Power decided to pull the plug on a coal plant in Delta, Utah, making the 100th plant to be either abandoned or prevented since the beginning of the 2001 coal rush.

The Delta plant “would have burdened Utah with more coal-burning pollution,” said Wayne Hoskinson, chairman of the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club. “This opens the door for additional renewable projects, like the Milford wind development, allowing the state to still be an exporter of energy without the cost of worsened air quality and more mercury pollution.” It is exactly this shift from coal to renewables that the Sierra Club has been advocating since it began its Beyond Coal Campaign.

The abandonment of the Delta plant comes in the wake of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s announcement last week that Los Angeles would be coal free by 2020 and is reason to celebrate. “Stopping one hundred coal plants is a huge milestone in our fight to end global warming,” said Bruce Nilles, Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.

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The recent passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA) through the House of Representatives has sparked a number of debates. Opponents and proponents of the Waxman-Markley Bill have thrown words around, trying to gain support for their side.

House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio stated that, “By imposing a tax on every American who drives a car or flips on a light switch, this plan will drive up the prices for food, gasoline and electricity.” Meanwhile President Obama urged the passage of the bill in the Senate, saying that we can’t “believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth.”

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Oil and gas leases have been a hot topic for a long time, especially since the controversial disruption of a BLM land sale by student activist Tim DeChristopher in Salt Lake City this past December. The sale which, according to some, was a midnight move by the Bush administration found itself floundering when an unknown bidder (DeChristopher) won parcel after parcel of land. Since December the leased parcels have been pulled back and forth between the BLM and the Interior, between developers and nature-lovers.

This story goes back before DeChristopher, back before the rushed lease sale. Yet it shows that the tug-o-war has been going on for years; and it hasn’t stopped. When the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) recently told the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that it cannot move forward with 11 oil and gas leases without following federal cultural preservation law and consulting with concerned Native American tribes, a sigh was heard coming from Nine Mile Canyon in southern Utah.

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In order to cut harmful emissions from maritime vessels, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the next steps of its coordinated effort on Wednesday. The steps include creating a rule under the Clean Air Act that would establish tough engine and fuel standards for U.S. flagged ships. The proposed rule would harmonize with international standards and lead to improved air quality throughout the country.

The new proposal follows a proposal made between the United States and Canada in March that would set aside thousands of miles of coast between the two countries as an Emission Control Area (ECA). The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency, will begin review of the ECA plan this month. The passage of the ECA plan would result in the enforcement of stringent standards placed on large ships that operate within 200 nautical miles of U.S. or Canadian coasts.

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