Obama's jolt to the economy: 'Tripling' your electric bill ...

Energy and global warming news for January 10, 2011: GOP plans to kill EPA carbon regs with Congressional Review Act may not fly
Congressional Review Act might not be an option to fight EPA regs (subs. req’d) Asked last weekend in a televised interview how he planned to stop U.S. EPA regulation of carbon — rules he says have the potential to inflict serious harm on the economy — House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton mentioned only one specific strategy: using the Congressional Review Act. What the Michigan Republican did not mention is that the core EPA findings and rules related to carbon miti...

New Mexico's New Governor
It may be unclear whether she plans to do it with a pistol or legal sleight of hand, or both, but she has clearly decided to Purge New Mexico of as many environmental regulations as possible & to eliminate the Richardson administration's efforts to promote Renewable Energy companies in New Mexico. She has picked paleoconservative, virulent Climate Change denier, Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, aged 75, to be one of her main kickers. In 2011, based on his "vast" experience exploring The Moon in 19...

Poland gets two new wind farms
WARSAW, Poland, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- With the commissioning of two new Wind Farms in Poland, the country is situated to become a regional leader in Renewable Energy, a German company said. RWE's renewable energy division RWE Innogy announced it commissioned two new Wind Farms in what it described as one of the more attractive wind regimes in Europe. The company, through its Polish subsidiary RWE Polska, commissioned two Wind Farms with a total of 31 turbines that collectively meet the demands of mor...

R.I. regulators look into agreement for energy generated by Portsmouth turbine
Standing 336 feet tall the Wind Turbine at Portsmouth High School, installed in 2009, is the largest of four in Rhode Island. The Wind Turbine installed last year by the Town of Portsmouth has been held up as a model for the state, heralded not only as a generator of clean, Renewable Energy but also as a dependable source of income for a municipality feeling the squeeze in tough economic times. But now state Regulators are investigating the arrangement under which the town sells power from the 1...

Oil spill panel calls for drilling reform
A Bipartisan commission appointed by President Obama to investigate last year’s Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill is set to recommend a higher liability level for companies involved in a spill, more time for federal Regulators to review drilling permits and a host of other ways to update federal and industry safety and Oversight. The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling is keeping details of the roughly 300-page, 10-chapter report close to the vest ahead...

Wayne Law conference to examine U.S.-China economic relationship
Wayne State University Law School hosts a U.S.-China Economic Law Conference from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 at the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium. The one-day academic conference, convened by the University of Michigan Law School, Wayne State University Law School and the U-M Center for Chinese Studies, focuses on the economic relationship between the countries as it works through the World Trade Organization mechanism, with debate and discussion of current trade-related ca...

Cuomo faulted over ag post
CAPE VINCENT — Some opponents of commercial Wind Farms believe Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo spurned his ethical-government campaign promises in appointing Darrel J. Aubertine to the state's top agriculture post. Mr. Aubertine's nomination as commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Markets was announced Thursday. Then-Assemblyman Aubertine raised a stir among wind-power opponents in June 2006, when he wrote to the Cape Vincent Town Council urging Council Members who had agreemen...

Democrat Ward Armstrong leads way towards two energy proposals for 2011
On Friday, House Democratic Leader in the General Assembly, Ward Armstrong, announced that the Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Work Group has finished two proposals on changing how electric utilities are used across Virginia for the 2011 General Assembly session. The first of the two proposals is said to take the state back to the deregulatory environment of electric utilities before 1999 with some additional updates. The fallback proposal if the first does not succeed would make changes to...

Politics: Gabrielle Giffords Is a Green Patriot
But Giffords also took some heat from right-wing opponents over her support of carbon cap-and-trade Legislation, which passed the House in June 2009 before dying in the Senate, although Climate Change legislation has never quite reached the partisan pitch that the battle over Health Care did—in part because energy and Climate Change isn't a high priority on most voters' minds. Those issues did matter to Giffords, however, who not only voted in favor of cap-and-trade—not a popular pos...

Henry Henderson: Down on Upton: Michigan Energy News Undercuts Rep's Rap
I have been struck by the flap over Rep. Fred Upton’s seemingly new take on utilities and Climate Change. Congressman Upton, a Michigan Republican who is taking over the House energy and commerce committee, is an important figure in the ongoing fight to address climate, so his shift away from Clean Energy commitments, and apparent embrace of climate change denial, is notable. It is also kind of odd, when you look at what is going on in Michigan. In a recent Wall Street Journal Op Ed, Upt...

EU trumpets energy efficiency
BRUSSELS, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- It is critically important for the European community to have a unified energy strategy with efficiency at the top of the agenda, an official said. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told lawmakers that the EC had done a lot already in energy matters but more work was needed, specifically in terms of Energy Efficiency. "In fact, energy efficiency is the best source of energy we have. The European Union can and must do better," he said in a statement. "I ...

Hawaii expands push to fuel hydrogen cars
Hawaii may be the First State in the nation to successfully build a fueling infrastructure that will support thousands of hydrogen fuel cell cars. In December, the Detroit auto manufacturer General Motors, in partnership with the Honolulu-based utility the Gas Co., announced they are partnering with 10 additional companies, government agencies and universities to help implement a plan that would tap into Oahu's 1,000-mile utility Pipeline and supply hydrogen to the many fuel-cell vehicles expect...

The full global warming solution: How the world can stabilize at 350 to 450 ppm
In this post I will lay out ‘the solution’ to Global Warming. This post is an update of a 2008 analysis I revised in 2009.  A report by the International Energy Agency came to almost exactly the same conclusion as I did, and has relatively similar wedges , so I view that as a vindication of this overall analysis. Stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of Carbon Dioxide at 450 ppm or lower is not politically possible today — not even close — but is certainly achievable...

Mary Ellen Harte and John Harte: Addressing Climate Change: Push the Big Push!
What if there was an affordable plan to improve America's health, wealth, and National Security? Not only America's, but the world's. A dream, you say? You bet -- an attainable one. The United Nations Division of Sustainable Development developed one in 2009, nicknamed the Big Push. It's a global and American Dream worth fighting for, not just despite but because of the increasing numbers of new Republicans in Congress determined to do little about Energy Independence or Climate Change, beyond...

National Security Threatened By Global Warming Diseases
Less than a year after a U.S. government report claimed Global Warming causes Mental Illness and Cancer, intelligence and health officials assert that it will also create a National Security threat by spreading disease among people and animals. This extremely “worrisome” consequence of Climate Change has been ignored for more than a decade by governments worldwide, which means there are “significant gaps”...

Key House Republican objects to findings of oil spill commission
A key House Republican is objecting to the findings of the Obama Administration’s Oil Spill commission, arguing that the panel's report should not lead to further delays in Offshore Drilling. The commission this week blamed “systemic” problems within the Oil Industry for last year’s massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The full version of the report will be released Jan. 11, but it is already gaining significant attention among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. But Rep. Joe Barto

Illinois conservative groups united in opposition to lame duck tax increases
While Democrats in Springfield continue to hammer out the details of a proposed income Tax Increase behind closed doors in the Lame Duck legislative session, conservative groups across the state are presenting a united front in their opposition. Joe Calomino, State Director of Americans for Prosperity - Illinois, recently sent a message to the over 50,000 members of his group headlined, “ACTION Alert! Say NO to Income Tax increase.”  The emailed message provided a link for...

Obama's war on fossil fuels--gasoline 55 percent higher since he took office
No electricity? No problem! The Obama Administration is at war with Fossil Fuels. Unless you live in a cabin without electricity, grow your own food, and walk everywhere you go, you are a Victim. Fortunately, House Republicans are fighting back, as the Wall Street Journal tells us. Republican lawmakers and Oil Industry Lobbyists say the administration's moves are contributing to higher Oil and Gas Prices. "The American people will look to Congress and the administration to foster more American ...

Deal: Let us be frugal and wise
Rebuking a growth in government, Gov. Nathan Deal in his inaugural address called on Georgians to assume personal responsibility, saying he will continue to fight Washington over the Healthcare Reform Congress passed last year. “The evolution of society has infringed on much of the elbow room our ancestors enjoyed and government has been asked to regulate our actions as we bump into each other in our frantic search for success,” the Governor said. Deal, who defeated former Gov. Roy B...

APNewsBreak: Spill commission calls for reform (AP)
WASHINGTON – Despite reforms put in place since the massive BP Oil Spill, a presidential investigating panel has concluded that the government and the Oil Industry still haven't done enough to avert another catastrophic accident offshore. The blowout and Rig Explosion last April that killed 11 workers and released more than 200 million gallons of Oil from the damaged well have prompted changes in the Oil Industry and at the agency in charge of Offshore Drilling. But the national Oil spil...

AP NewsBreak: Spill commission calls for reform (AP)
WASHINGTON – Despite reforms put in place since the massive BP Oil Spill, a presidential investigating panel has concluded that the government and the Oil Industry still haven't done enough to avert another catastrophic accident offshore. The blowout and Rig Explosion last April that killed 11 workers and released more than 200 million gallons of Oil from the damaged well have prompted changes in the Oil Industry and at the agency in charge of Offshore Drilling. But the national Oil spil...

BP Spill Commission Recommends Reform
Despite improvements put in place since the massive BP Oil Spill, a presidential investigating panel has concluded that the government and the Oil Industry still have not done enough to avert another catastrophic accident offshore. The blowout and Rig Explosion last April, which killed 11 workers and released more than 200 million gallons of Oil from the damaged well have prompted changes in the Oil Industry and at the agency in charge of Offshore Drilling. The national Oil spill commission will...

Michigan Fiscal Policy a Two-Sided Coin
Michigan is faced with a Financial Crisis due to a projected Budget overspending crisis approaching $2 billion for this Fiscal Year. It is understandable that a newly elected Governor and Legislature are preoccupied with stopping the fiscal bleeding. Republican leaders are arguing that the state Budget can be balanced with Spending Cuts. Democratic leaders are arguing that spending cuts alone are too drastic and will result in an unacceptable reduction in state services and that cuts must be ac...

Solis Attributes Decline in Unemployment to Government Investment
In a statement released last Friday, U.S. Department of Labor secretary Hilda Solis attributed the decline in Unemployment to investments made by the Obama Administration. “The policies and programs of this administration have pulled this economy from collapse,” Ms. Solis said.  She also emphasized that there was more work to be done and that job growth would have to accelerate in order to put individuals who lost jobs back to work in 2011. The overall Unemployment Rate was 9.4%...

OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Selling, spinning the oil spill report
STATE OF PLAY: Political messaging duels greet spill report Environmental and Oil Industry trade groups are preparing to spin the findings of Tuesday’s long-awaited report from the presidential commission probing the BP Oil Spill. Look for greens to cast the report - to be issued by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling - as proof that the Oil Industry remains unsafe. That’s especially true after the commission released partial findi