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Expert Insight

A Standard That Makes Sense for Natural Gas Vehicle Customers

Author(s): Kathryn Clay
Vice President for Policy Strategy
American Gas Association
Date: July 7, 2014 at 4:50 PM

There is currently no national standard for dispensing liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a motor fuel. In July, the National Conference of Weights and Measures (NCWM) will consider requiring retail natural gas dispensers to use kilograms as the primary unit of sale for liquefied natural gas (LNG). The same regulators and officials advocating for that approach are encouraging that CNG no longer be sold in gasoline gallon equivalents as well. This would be a drastic departure from the current practice of using diesel gallon equivalents (DGE) for the sale of LNG, since it primarily competes with diesel fuel for trucking.… [more]

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How Should We Be Moving Oil?

Author(s): OurEnergyPolicy.org

Date: June 30, 2014 at 5:37 PM

As the oil boom outgrows the US pipeline network, the oil industry is increasingly using alternatives such as rail to transport crude oil across the country. Between 2008 and 2013, annual crude oil transported by rail in the U.S. grew from 9,500 to 407,761 carloads (about 275 million barrels), according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). During the same period, a debate about the safety of oil-by-rail has arisen in response to a few high profile accidents and spills, including the Lac-Mégantic derailment in Quebec on July 6th, 2013 that killed 47 people and destroyed half the town. At… [more]

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APCO Worldwide

Author(s): Michael Spiak
Program Manager
OurEnergyPolicy.org
Date: at 11:32 AM

APCO Worldwide is an independent, global communication, stakeholder engagement and business strategy firm. We challenge conventional thinking and inspire movements to help our clients succeed in an ever-changing world. Stakeholders are at the core of all we do. We turn the insights that come from our deep stakeholder relationships into forward-looking, creative solutions that always push the boundaries. Through our global Energy & Clean Tech practice, APCO engages with companies, trade associations, NGOs and others to create strategic communications that clearly define the values and benefits they bring to the marketplace. We work with clients along the entire value chain–… [more]

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Nuclear Power’s Role in Responding to Climate Change

Author(s): Dr. Andrew C. Kadak
President
Kadak Associates, Inc.
Date: June 19, 2014 at 12:10 PM

Without significant gains in storage technology, electric generation from solar and wind will not meet the world’s energy needs. Nuclear power, however, can deliver electric power in a sufficiently safe, economical and secure manner to supplement supply from other carbon-free sources. Despite this, there remain major objections to the safety, cost, waste management and proliferation risk of nuclear power, which I’ll seek to address here. Safety There have been three serious accidents that challenged the safety record of nuclear power: the Three Mile Island (TMI), Chernobyl, and the tsunami-induced Fukushima accident. In all these accidents there were no immediate public… [more]

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Transforming the Electric Utility Industry and Corporate Culture

Author(s): Karl Rabago
Executive Director
Pace Energy and Climate Center
Date: June 11, 2014 at 12:20 PM

This discussion is presented in conjunction with the closing keynote at the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences 2014 Conference. Cost-effective and profitable energy efficiency technologies and services, and renewable energy generation alternatives are available today to end GHG emissions from the electric utility sector entirely. Traditional cost-of-service regulation rewards capital investments more than the provision of value, punishes innovation and efficiency, and treats customers as “ratepayers” with few choices and little clout. Today’s electric utilities are not well prepared to make the business model changes required to become truly sustainable. Three key strategies map a path forward. First, cost-of-service… [more]

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Expert Insight

Obama’s EPA to Cost Americans Billions of Dollars and Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs

Author(s): Former Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-KY)
Member
U.S. House of Representatives
Date: June 2, 2014 at 7:00 AM

As Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, I’m continuing the fight against President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) overregulation of our nation’s power plants without any regard to the consequences for our economy and consumers. This week, the EPA is expected to release its proposed rule regulating carbon dioxide emissions from existing and modified electricity power plants. This effort is certain to result in a de facto cap and trade program, which Congress most recently rejected in 2009.  This regulation follows the proposed rule on new power plants, which essentially makes it illegal to build a power… [more]

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Clean Energy Poised for Market Domination or More Innovation Needed?

Author(s): Matthew Stepp
Senior Policy Analyst
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Date: May 30, 2014 at 11:15 AM

Whether or not the world has all of the clean energy technologies it needs to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions is an important ongoing debate among the climate policy community. Buoyed by steep cost reductions for wind and solar power technologies during the past decade, proponents argue political will is the major factor holding clean energy back from dominating the global energy market. Critics counter that even with recent cost reductions clean energy still isn’t realistically competitive with fossil fuels everywhere without the help of unsustainable subsidies and contentious government mandates. The debate over whether clean energy is ready for… [more]

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Let Freedom Ring: Oil Companies, Capitalism and Fuel Choice

Author(s): Marshall Kaplan
Advisor
Fuel Freedom Foundation
Date: May 22, 2014 at 5:21 AM

Americans have many choices that are denied to citizens of other less-fortunate nations. But we forget how many decisions are made for us, sometimes out of necessity, such as paying taxes; sometimes out of greed, such as the monopolistic actions of oil companies in denying many Americans the ability to purchase alcohol-based fuels at their corner gas station. Through various rules imposed on gas stations, oil companies limit many of us from using existing, safe, alternative fuels, like E85, and make available only more expensive, environmentally harmful gasoline. For example, gas stations owned or franchised by an oil company have… [more]

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Can Shale Gas Limit Air Pollution?

Author(s): Richard Muller
Professor of Physics
University of Califoria at Berkeley
Date: May 15, 2014 at 7:15 AM

Some oppose shale gas because it is a fossil fuel, a source of carbon dioxide. Some are concerned by accounts of the fresh water it needs, by flaming faucets, by leaked “fugitive methane”, by pollution of the ground with fracking fluid and by damaging earthquakes. Although I believe that global warming is real, caused by humans, and a threat to our future, these concerns about shale gas are either largely false or can be addressed by appropriate regulation such as the controversial but ultimately positive developments in Illinois. Shale gas can not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also reduce a deadly pollution known… [more]

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American Perspectives on Energy Efficiency

Author(s): OurEnergyPolicy.org

Date: May 9, 2014 at 1:38 PM

On April 30th, OurEnergyPolicy.org and The University of Texas at Austin co-hosted “American Perspectives on Energy Efficiency,” a panel discussion about energy efficiency at The National Press Club. The panel of thought-leaders provided insight into energy efficiency policy issues and explored the results of two recent sister surveys that reveal Americans’ and energy professionals’ perspectives on energy efficiency. Please see below for an abridged version of the transcript and a full video recording of the event. You can view or download the full transcript here. Opening remarks: Bill Squadron, President, OurEnergyPolicy.org Presentation of survey results: Sheril Kirshenbaum, Director of The… [more]

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