11 item(s) were returned.
CEO and Founder
ALLY Energy
When leaders from across our industry gathered recently for the Energy Workforce of the Future Summit, we agreed on the biggest task facing us: building the workforce to power the energy transition. This isn’t just the most important challenge in our sector, it’s one of the most important challenges in the country and across much of the world. More than ever, society needs us to build a bridge to a new low-carbon era, filled with all forms of energy through top quality, rewarding, well-paying jobs. Now, those who have long been left out of the industry want to finally have… [more]
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Distinguished Associate
Energy Futures Initiative
On May 16th, The Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) released the 2018 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER). The USEER offers data on employment trends in four key energy sectors – Electric Power Generation and Fuels; Transmission, Distribution and Storage; Energy Efficiency and; Motor Vehicles. This is the third installment of the energy jobs survey established by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2016. Overall, firms covered by the survey anticipate roughly 6.2 percent employment growth for 2018. Energy Efficiency employers project the highest growth rate over 2018 (9 percent), followed by… [more]
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CTO
The Greenlink Group
On January 22nd, President Trump approved a recommendation made by the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to impose a tariff on imported solar cells and modules. The solar tariffs are set at 30% for the first year and will decline by 5% per year for three subsequent years. President Trump’s decision came four months after the U.S. ITC found that, according to a rarely used provision of the Trade Act of 1974, Section 201, the competitiveness of two U.S. domestic solar manufacturers – SolarWorld and Suniva – is negatively affected by low-price imported solar cells and panels. Three recommended… [more]
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Professor of Public Policy
Georgia Institute of Technology
Energy efficiency has been a lightning rod in the debate about the cost of addressing climate change, because it is generally seen as a least-cost approach to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. But the mere mention of possible “negative costs” associated with energy efficiency is enough to send shock waves across the profession of neoclassical economics. Experts continue to disagree about the magnitude, cost and possibility of managing demand. Some say that the future potential for energy efficiency is limited because markets have already exploited all cost-effective opportunities, and there are insurmountable obstacles to further expansion. Demand-side resources may have played… [more]
View InsightH.R. 2842, the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act of 2011, has been referred to the House of Representatives. The bill, introduced by Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO), would call on the Bureau of Reclamation to develop small conduit hydropower at Bureau facilities. The bill would require that power privilege leases be offered to local irrigation districts or water users associations. The bill would prohibit altering existing water management and altering existing small conduit projects or outlays. “At a time when our country needs to focus on domestic energy production and job creation, hydropower can play… [more]
View Insight“Jobs, the Energy Sector, and Government” February 16th, 2012 Capitol Hill, Washington, DC Opening Remarks: WILLIAM SQUADRON, President, OurEnergyPolicy.org Speakers: KENNETH P. GREEN, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute JIGAR SHAH, CEO, Carbon War Room ROBERT H. TOPEL, Professor, Urban and Labor Economics, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago YOSSIE HOLLANDER (moderator), Founder and Chairman, OurEnergyPolicy.org MR. SQUADRON: Thank you all for coming. There’s still a few people outside coming in, in a little bit of a line, but we should get started, because I know all of you have busy schedules, and we appreciate your taking the… [more]
View InsightThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved by a 4-to-1 vote Southern Company’s bid to build two nuclear reactors along the Georgia-South Carolina border. These are the first new reactors to be approved by the NRC in more than 30 years. The reactors will cost a Southern Co. led investment group around $14 billion, and will begin producing power as soon as 2016 or 2017. “Today’s licensing action sounds a clarion call to the world that the United States recognizes the importance of expanding nuclear energy as a key component of a low-carbon energy future that is central to job creation,… [more]
View InsightAlpha Natural Resources, the nation’s third-largest coal producer, has announced that it will “close four mines in Kentucky and West Virginia and idle two more over the next 12 months.” [E&E ClimateWire (sub. req.)] 152 Alpha employees will lose their jobs, while another 182 will be offered reassignment. The coal industry has been challenged recently by low natural gas prices and new federal clean air regulations. These factors have compelled some electric utilities to close their coal-fired power plants, or to switch them to natural gas or other, cleaner coal sources. Utilities such as FirstEnergy, Duke Energy, and American Electric… [more]
View InsightProfessor of Public Policy
Georgia Institute of Technology
In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama proposed a Clean Energy Standard (CES) requiring that 80 percent of the nation’s electricity come from clean energy resources by 2035. Over the past decade, Congress has debated renewable electricity standards, typically allowing energy efficiency to meet a portion of the target. For example, in 2009, an RES was included in the American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009, requiring 15% renewables by 2021, and 27% of this target could be met by energy efficiency. What happened to energy efficiency in the President’s proposal? A well-designed CES policy would enable… [more]
View InsightYesterday House Speaker John Boehner announced that H.R. 7, The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act, will be put to a vote in “the coming weeks and months”. H.R. 7 would use revenue from expanded domestic oil drilling to fund infrastructure projects. According to the Speaker the bill “will link expanded American energy production to high-priority infrastructure projects like roads and bridges in order to create more jobs.” According to a summary of H.R. 7 on the Speaker’s website, the bill would: “Fund High-Priority Projects. The bill would remove federal requirements that currently force states to spend highway money on… [more]
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