554 item(s) were returned.
Clean Transportation and Communications
South Carolina Energy Office
For many years, South Carolina has actively promoted clean transportation and alternative fuels throughout the state. One leader in this effort is the Office of Regulatory Staff – Energy Office (Energy Office) and its Palmetto Clean Fuels (PCF) initiative, part of the U.S. Department of Energy Clean Cities program. PCF helps lower fuel costs, improve air quality, diversify fuel resources by reducing vehicle miles traveled, promote idle reduction and fuel economy measures, and encourage bicycle and pedestrian efforts. PCF also works to increase adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) among state agency fleets, promote EV education, and act as an EV… [more]
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President
Business Council for Sustainable Energy
From coast to coast, America’s economy kicked into high gear in 2018—and the clean energy sector had a record year, too. The Business Council for Sustainable Energy’s recently released 2019 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook documents strong trends in clean energy and a need for continued federal policy support that leverages private sector investment to accelerate emissions reductions. For years, the rapid growth we have seen in energy efficiency, natural gas, and renewable energy drove down U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (now 10% below 2005 levels) while the economy grew. That’s why it was frustrating to see energy productivity (the ratio… [more]
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Chief Operating Officer
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
We read in the news weekly, sometimes daily, about advanced, persistent cybersecurity threats from nation-states, and we are constantly evolving our thinking to innovate against these threats. Cybersecurity is a critical component for the secure and reliable operation of electric power systems and an important priority for Congress. The Senate held a hearing two weeks ago on the status and outlook for cybersecurity efforts in the energy industry. One of the issues most critical to the cybersecurity challenges we face in the energy industry today is the act of balancing regulation and innovation in addressing cybersecurity threats. There are clear and… [more]
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Center for Strategic and International Studies
Senior Vice President; Director and Senior Fellow, Energy and National Security Program
The Green New Deal resolution was released in the House of Representatives by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on February 7, 2019, with a companion measure introduced in the Senate by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA). The Green New Deal (GND) is a powerful idea that is reshaping the conversation in Washington about how to tackle the issue of climate change. How is it doing this? By tying it to a set of concepts and policies that are about alleviating economic insecurity, the most potent political force of our time. By likening itself to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal that came… [more]
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Cofounder
Spark Library
In January, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), California’s largest utility, declared and subsequently filed for bankruptcy as a result of incurring as much as $30 billion in potential liabilities from transmission-caused wildfires in 2017 and 2018. The utility faces over 1,000 lawsuits and may be unable to completely handle its liabilities, possibly requiring significant state intervention. This raises critical questions about utility operations and business, and what policies are necessary to assess liability in an era of growing climate risks. Liability for each fire is determined by California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention on a case-by-case basis. Under California’s… [more]
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Director of Strategy and External Relations
NuScale Power
The threat of climate change has given the United States an opportunity to be a technological leader and set a global example of how to transition towards a clean energy economy. As U.S. policymakers begin to consider policies like the Green New Deal, we encourage them not to overlook a key tool for reaching climate goals: nuclear energy. Today, fossil fuels fulfill roughly two-thirds of our country’s energy needs, emitting carbon and harmful air pollutants. Although renewable energy is growing and new technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration are being tested, these trends alone won’t be enough to decarbonize… [more]
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Communications Director
ClearPath
To tackle a topic as monumental and divisive as climate change, it will take a politically realistic and technologically inclusive agenda built on advancing clean power around the world. Last Congress, we saw bipartisan support on issues such as a key tax incentive for carbon capture, and a similar fix for advanced nuclear. Legislators found common ground as they focused on both climate benefits and economics. The reality is that any impractical and hasty move toward an all-renewable power strategy in the U.S. will not only be too partisan, but it will also fail to affect the global emissions… [more]
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Director Of Electricity Policy
Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology, LLC
U.S. offshore wind project costs have fallen 75% since 2014, across contracts for 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of projects that will be built over the next five years. The 9 GW capacity target recently announced by Governor Cuomo in New York pushed U.S. targets to a combined 18 GW of offshore wind capacity in six Atlantic states. With all this momentum, did we vastly underestimate the potential contribution of offshore wind to our clean energy future? Offshore wind power is following a similar, but faster learning curve to onshore wind and solar over the past decade. Since 2010, onshore wind’s levelized… [more]
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Senior Scientist
UFA Ventures, Inc.
In the United States, public debates surrounding energy policy focus on generation, carbon emissions, and cost. But all is for naught if the energy infrastructure that carries power isn’t appropriate for the changing energy mix or can’t keep up because it’s crumbling. With new technologies rising faster than sea level on a hot planet, the United States is in the midst of the biggest energy boom in 60 years. We have more natural gas, coal, and uranium than we need for several hundred years; new and better solar cells; new biofuel technologies to replace ethanol; and even more oil than… [more]
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Administrator
OurEnergyPolicy.org
From attempts to bail out coal and nuclear to a Green New Deal, 2018 was an interesting year for energy policy. With a newly divided Congress taking office in January, it seems likely that disagreements regarding the future of the energy industry will continue in 2019, though there may be areas with potential for bipartisanship. Outside of the federal government, it can be expected that 2019 will continue the trend of many state and local governments, as well as private organizations, being active in shaping the direction of our energy sector. A major trend of 2018, which will continue into… [more]
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