121 item(s) were returned.
Professor of Physics
City College of the City University of New York
Despite aggressive requests from the Obama Administration and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the House in the most recent appropriations debate made significant efforts to reduce funding for climate-related science. The Senate prevailed in the subsequent negotiations, and nearly all Office of Science programs received modest funding increases. Although it lost its appropriations battle, the House’s efforts to trim the Office of Science’s funding demonstrate its strong skepticism about climate science. Further reflecting its attitudes, the House defunded enforcement of standards for more efficient light bulbs, publicly challenged the validity of climate science, relentlessly pushed the Keystone XL … [more]
View InsightDirector, Stakeholder Relations/External Affairs
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Hydrofracking for natural gas in shale formations has generated a heated national debate, complicating and in some cases preventing efforts to extract the resource. Critics of hydrofracking cite the process’ uncertain environmental and geologic risks. Meanwhile, natural gas developers and policymakers have been working to identify and implement technical standards and best practices to overcome or reduce these risks to negligible levels. In my home state of New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo has said of hydrofracking: “Let’s get the facts. Let the science and the facts make the determination, not emotion and not politics.” I agree. State of the art… [more]
View InsightA federal judge has ruled to block California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, arguing that it “unconstitutionally discriminates against out-of-state producers and tries to regulate activities that take place entirely outside state boundaries.” The standard “impermissibly treads into the province and powers of our federal government, reaches beyond its boundaries to regulate activity wholly outside of its borders,” the judge said. [The New York Times] The standard would function by using life-cycle analysis to identify the CO2 intensity of fuels. Fuel-makers whose products have lower CO2 intensity would be rewarded with tradable credits. Those selling higher CO2 fuels would have to… [more]
View InsightBetween the Solyndra scandal, the disaster at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, the deliberation over the Keystone XL pipeline, President Obama’s aggressive new CAFE Standards, protests over lighting standards, EPA’s MACT rules, and more, 2011 proved to be a controversial year for energy and energy policy, even without major energy legislation.
View InsightThe UN climate change summit in Durban, South Africa, wrapped earlier this month with two notable accomplishments: a pledge to create a new international treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol in 2020, and the creation of a multi-billion dollar fund to help developing nations adapt to the effects of climate change. Some have expressed disappointment in Durban’s outcomes, and have pointed to the challenges inherent to the current UN negotiating framework. Among the challenges: asking national environmental ministers to hammer out an international framework that must go well beyond environmental concerns to be effective, and the tiered system of “developed”… [more]
View InsightEarlier this year, the Obama Administration announced that it would be delaying its decision on the Keystone XL pipeline until after the 2012 election, drawing criticism from some pipeline proponents. In negotiating the FY2012 spending bill, the House and Senate have included language that would require the Administration to decide on the pipeline within 60 days. Republican lawmakers have made the Keystone XL pipeline issue a centerpiece of the spending negotiations. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) described his party’s spending-debate concessions on this issue as “giving the sleeves off a vest” because the State Department has said that they will withhold… [more]
View InsightA Call to Action: Executive Summary by Herschel Specter President, RBR Consultants, Inc. mhspecter@verizon.net This report is a call to action, and it presents a multi-faceted national energy plan that would address the twin threats of petroleum usage and climate change that pose severe, imminent risk to the U.S. economy, environment and national security. It lays out specific goals and actionable approaches – both low-tech and high-tech – that would allow America to avert this looming crisis. By 2036, implementation of this plan should lead to over $11 trillion (2008) dollars in savings through reduced oil consumption and to the… [more]
View InsightNote: Synopsis from report‘s executive summary. Creating a Clean Energy Century: Recapturing the Lead in Clean Tech Innovation By Josh Freed, Sam Hodas, Sarah Collins, and Stephanie Praus While the energy market has always been driven by fossil fuels, it is moving slowly, but inevitably, toward clean energy as countries decide they can no longer tolerate the pollution costs and security risks of conventional energy or the threat of global warming. The great hurdle is making clean energy as cheap as fossil fuels. This will require major breakthroughs. Existing clean energy sources are too expensive and have technical limitations. The… [more]
View InsightNote: Synopsis from Senator Lugar’s office. June 9, 2010—U.S. Senator Dick Lugar’s Practical Energy and Climate Plan, S.3464, prioritizes targeted policies that can bring real money and energy savings while providing flexible frameworks that encourage investment in a more secure energy future. Title I. Reducing Foreign Oil Dependence Vehicle efficiency standards for passenger vehicles (Sec 101). Currently, fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars and trucks do not increase unless Congress or the Administration acts. This expectation will be reversed, providing long-term, predictable increases with annual 4% target CAFE improvements that are cost effective. Vehicle efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty… [more]
View Insight[Note: The statements below are intended solely to stimulate discussion among the Expert community, and do not represent the position of OurEnergyPolicy.org. Text in italics indicates clarification or expansion.] There is a question what carbon policy is most suited to the U.S. The question boils down to the best way to force GHG emitters to spend enough money on reduction of CO2 and other GHG. Several policies have been discussed or tried around the world: Cap and Trade Cap and trade is a popular yet problematic solution. Firstly, it hasn’t produced the expected significant change in places it has… [more]
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