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Professor 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]
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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 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]
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 InsightSenator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has released the 2011 Wastebook, his annual “guide to some of the most wasteful and low priority government spending”. Among the report’s targets is DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), a program that improves the energy efficiency of low-income family homes. Among the criticisms of the program highlighted by Senator Coburn: The DOE Inspector General found in a 2010 survey that the program suffered from poor workmanship, inflated contractor and material costs, and substandard home inspections to a level that “put the entire program at risk.” WAP-funded job training programs are sometimes unable to place trainees in… [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 InsightProgram Manager
CLASP
The high-profile and controversial collapse of Solyndra and Beacon Power has led critics to question the integrity and merit of DOE’s loan guarantee program. Energy Secretary Steven Chu was asked to respond to these criticisms before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on 11/17/11. Rep. Stearns (R-FL), chairman of the subcommittee, said “it is readily apparent that senior officials in the administration put politics before the stewardship of taxpayer dollars” [NYT]. Dr. Chu denied this, arguing that a tough global market was to blame, that struggling loan recipients “got caught in a very, very bad tsunami.” He defended the value… [more]
View InsightTranscript: “Economics of America’s Oil Dependence” Opening Remarks: WILLIAM SQUADRON, President, OurEnergyPolicy.org REPRESENTATIVE PETER WELCH (D VT), Co Chair, Congressional Peak Oil Caucus REPRESENTATIVE ROSCOE BARTLETT (R MD), Co Chair Congressional Peak Oil Caucus Panel Speakers: THE HONORABLE J. BENNETT JOHNSTON, Retired U.S. Senator from Louisiana; Chairman, Johnston & Associates ROGER BEZDEK, President, Management Information Services, Inc.; Co Author, The Impending World Energy Mess EYAL ARONOFF, Co Founder, Quest Software; Member, Set America Free Coalition Moderator: YOSSIE HOLLANDER, Founder and Chairman, OurEnergyPolicy.org
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Transcript: “Energy Innovation and American Competitiveness” Sponsored by OurEnergyPolicy.org and the Congressional Research & Development Caucus 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3, 2011 B340 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. Opening Remarks: WILLIAM SQUADRON, President, Our Energy Policy Foundation Panel Speakers: NATHAN S. LEWIS, Director, U.S. DOE Innovation Hub; Professor of Chemistry, CalTech MARK MURO, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution DAVID KREUTZER, Research Fellow in Energy Economics and Climate Change, The Heritage Foundation Moderator: YOSSIE HOLLANDER, Founder and Chairman, Our Energy Policy Foundation
View InsightNote: Synopsis based on review of draft legislation as well as Congressional committee and media summaries. Synopsis intended solely for purposes of generating discussion. Key Provisions of H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 (as of March 10, 2011) Would amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating or taking action on greenhouse gas emissions over concerns about climate change “Greenhouse gas” is defined as: water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulpher hexaflouride, hydroflurocarbons, perflurocarbons, and any other substance subject to, or proposed to be subject to, regulation, action or consideration under… [more]
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