22 item(s) were returned.
The Clean Power Plan (CPP), the signature piece of environmental regulation from the Obama Administration, is now facing an uncertain future. Following President Trump’s request for a review of the rule and the June 1st announcement that the U.S. will be leaving the Paris agreement, the President is widely expected to eliminate or significantly change the CPP. Review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) typically takes about 60 days, meaning that the review period may be drawing to a close. The CPP has faced criticism from both sides of the aisle, as well as from industry and environmental… [more]
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Professor of Physics
City College of the City University of New York
Encouraging energy R&D, substituting solar, wind, and safe nuclear energy for fossil fuels is a big plus for safeguarding the global environment. But it is also a vital step in fighting terrorism. For many decades, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC as the international cartel is commonly known, successfully regulated world oil supplies and thereby the price of a barrel of oil on the international market. By doing so it filled the national treasuries of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela and nine her nations across the globe, giving them an outsized role on the stage of world affairs,… [more]
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On Tuesday, January 20th 2015, President Obama will deliver the State of the Union address (SOTU), and energy and climate will likely play a prominent role. In last years’ SOTU, President Obama outlined an all of the above strategy: increasing domestic oil and gas production, cutting red tape, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and addressing climate change. However, a lot has changed in the last year. Republicans now control both chambers of Congress, oil prices are at their lowest point since 2009 and the Clean Power Plan has impacted the policy landscape both domestically and abroad. The administration just announced… [more]
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President
Micro-Utilities, Inc.
The President was on target during his speech on climate change at Georgetown University when he announced new initiatives to curb the release of greenhouse gases and thereby slow down the effects of climate change. However, a key aspect to meeting this huge challenge is to set national goals based on specific timetables. Without President Kennedy setting a goal to land an American on the moon by a specific date, it is doubtful that we would have ever achieved this. President Obama’s goal-setting in his recent speech was incomplete and rather imbalanced. There was a goal to double renewable energy… [more]
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President Obama’s fiscal year 2014 budget, released April 10th, contains many of the energy initiatives previously outlined in his Energy Blueprint. Programs such as the Race to the Top energy efficiency challenge and the Energy Security Trust are included, along with slight adjustments to the enacted budgets of the primary agencies that shape energy policy – the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Specifically, the DOE budget would see total funding growth of 8%, with funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy increasing 40%. The DOI budget would increase 4%, and include an… [more]
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According to The President’s energy blueprint, the Obama Administration is calling on Congress to establish a $2 billion Energy Security Trust to invest in breakthrough research into technologies, such as advanced electric vehicles, homegrown biofuels, fuel cells, and domestically produced natural gas. The funds would come from oil and gas royalty revenues generated from development in Federal waters off the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Other highlights of the blueprint include: Making the renewable energy Production Tax Credit permanent and refundable; A new $25 million prize for the first, natural gas combined cycle power plant to integrate carbon capture and storage;… [more]
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The election is over. What comes next for energy policy? Some environmentalists have already answered that question by planning a demonstration outside the White House to press President Obama to prevent the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. They’re also likely to push the President on continuing support for renewables and taking concrete action on climate policy. Meanwhile, Jack Gerard, President and CEO of API, offered this take : “Right off the bat, the president can approve the Keystone Pipeline and put thousands of Americans to work immediately. He can acknowledge the effective role states are already playing in regulating… [more]
View InsightA House vote on H.R. 4480, the Strategic Energy Production Act of 2012, also being cited as the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act, has brought a veto threat from the White House and the introduction of 27 amendments from Representatives. The Congressional Research Service reports that the bill would direct the Secretary of Energy to develop a plan to increase the percentage of federal lands leased for oil and gas exploration, development, and production, and would require that additional federal land be put under production if the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is tapped. The bill also calls for a streamlining of the drill permitting… [more]
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Massachusetts-based solar panel developer Konarka Technologies Inc. has filed for bankruptcy. The company received $1.5 million in grants from the state while Mitt Romney was governor. President Obama’s reelection campaign is casting this development as “Romney’s Solyndra,” even as Romney’s campaign continues to attack the president for his role in the Solyndra scandal. Konarka and Solyndra are two high profile U.S. solar firms that have filed for bankruptcy or otherwise collapsed since 2011, but there are a number of others: Evergreen, SpectraWatt, Energy Conversion Devices Inc. Meanwhile, other firms, such as First Solar, have forecast weak market demand for 2012, as European nations reduce solar incentives and… [more]
View InsightAccording to a Japanese news service, The Obama Administration will call for a release of strategic oil reserves (SPR) at the upcoming G8 summit. The expected request comes in advance of Europe’s July embargo on Iranian oil. Oil prices have declined in recent weeks, and the U.S. has seen increasing crude inventories. The Administration may be eager to assure minimal price disruptions as a result of the embargo, although the White House has downplayed reports of its support for a strategic oil release. The International Energy Agency will decide if oil reserves should be tapped, and as recently as two… [more]
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