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Texas has become a leader in wind energy with Houston adding itself to the list.
The heart of the U.S. oil patch on Tuesday began using wind-powered electricity for about a fourth of its municipal power needs at a lower price than it is paying for power produced from coal and natural gas, city officials said. The move shows how renewable energy's prospects are improving at a time of soaring fossil-fuel prices. Long derided as an expensive niche, wind power now is moving closer to the mainstream. Houston's push also underscores how far renewable energy has to go. Wind power has taken hold more in Texas than in many other states, both because the western part of the state is breezy and because Texas has enacted a mandate designed to boost wind-power generation. The federal government has rejected calls to implement that kind of mandate nationally.
The Wall Street Journal; July 2, 2008
Submitted by J. Andrews
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120994726465866383.html
In the recent wake of EPA's denial to let California regulate automobile emissions with a law that is far stricter than Federal regulations, automakers are taking the fight to states that have adopted or pledged to adopt policies similar to California.
Big money is at stake. A law adopted by California in 2002 would effectively require the auto industry to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 30%, equivalent to an average fuel economy level of roughly 35 miles per gallon by 2016, four years earlier than a recently passed federal energy law.
The Bush Administration has blocked California from enforcing its proposed CO2 standards for cars, but recent decisions in federal courts pose a risk that eventually California and other states could be freed to push ahead. More than a dozen states are challenging the administration's decision in federal court, and the three remaining major-party presidential candidates have expressed support for California's efforts to regulate emissions.
The Bush Administration's logic to deny California a waiver to regulate cars' greenhouse gas emissions is that the 2007 energy bill required an increase in CAFE standards that shouldn't be pre-empted by state initiatives. The automakers are rallying around this point, bolstering it with claims of how these state regulations will hurt their sales.
Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2008
Submitted by B. Shapiro
http://www.projo.com/news/content/coastalhazards_03-25-08_QH9G8PE_v11.380972e.html
Coastlines endangered by rising sea levels are subject to new building codes, and the state of Rhode Island is leading the way in changing requirements for both public infrastructure and private developments. Regulations for bridges, roads, sewers, pipelines and residences are being modified to offset problems associated with climate change.
The coastal management team is recommending:
•Adopting an increase in the required first-floor elevation for new and improved structures in high hazard areas along the coast.
•Creating a standard method for determining whether improvements to buildings damaged by storms amount to more than 50 percent of the size or the value of the building — a determination that would force the owner to comply with more stringent, and expensive, building standards.
•Establishing a plan to remove debris that a storm would bring up the Bay and dump on the shores of East Providence and Providence.
•Tightening standards for structures built in so-called A-zones, where only minor wave damage would be expected.
Now the question is, will insurers adopt provisions to recognize these new standards to fight climate change and lower premiums?
Providence Journal; March 25, 2008
Submitted by B. Shapiro
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/23/business/23wind.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
What do we call the newest energy find in Texas? That's right, Texas has now surpassed California in wind energy.
After breakneck growth the last three years, Texas has reached the point that more than 3 percent of its electricity, enough to supply power to one million homes, comes from wind turbines. Texans are even turning tapped-out oil fields into wind farms.
This is great news for alternative energy proponents - you know they do everything bigger down in Texas.
The New York Times, February 23, 2008
Submitted by M. Brooks
http://www.digtriad.com/includes/tools/print.aspx?storyid=97942
Duke Energy says it won't build coal-fired plants unless the carbon sequestration is facilitated.
Carbon-sequestration is a developing technology that Rogers said could be implemented at coal gasification power plants in the next 15 years but won't work with North Carolina's underground rock formations. He said Duke may seek coal-fired plants in the region if scientists someday develop unforeseen technologies to deal with carbon emissions here.
Rogers said the company considered piping carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired plants in North Carolina and South Carolina to places like Tennessee and Kentucky, where it could be more easily sequestered underground.
Digtriad.com; February 13, 2008
Submitted by R. Campbell
http://www.redorbit.com/news/display/?id=1250321
World-renowned columnist explains that utilities need a carbon tax to be pushed towards green energy development.
Without pain or a "price signal," being green will always be just fashion, he said. A so-called "green revolution" underway is really just a "green party," he said.
"Have you ever been to a revolution where no one got hurt," he told the crowd of about 1,000 today at the Emerging Issues Forum at N.C. State University. "If there's one thing we could use, it's a little, change or die."
Red Orbit; February 11, 2008
Submitted by R. Campbell
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/technology/01solar.html?scp=2&sq=%22climate+change%22&st=nyt
With more and more interest in clean energy sources, related investment and jobs continue to grow.
"In recent months, the industry has added several thousand jobs in the production of solar energy cells and installation of solar panels on roofs. A spate of investment has also aimed at making solar power more efficient and less costly than natural gas and coal."
California continues to lead the nation in the exploration and commitment to green alternatives, and other states are taking notice. When pundits are speculating about ecomonic downturns, it's noteworthy that green industries are growing so rapidly.
The New York Times, February 1, 2008.
Submitted by M. Brooks
Generators of greenhouse gases would now have to report emissions.
Big companies and government agencies in Washington would have to measure their contributions to the world's growing greenhouse gases — and share that information with the public — under a proposal announced this morning by Gov. Christine Gregoire.
The Seattle Time, January 14, 2008.
Sumbitted by J. Dilley
http://www.startribune.com/local/13756591.html
The Group has backed away from a number of big ticket items, potentially compromising Minnesota's role in the fight against climate change.
Three weeks before its deadline for submitting pollution-fighting measures to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group has acknowledged that it's deadlocked on vehicle efficiency standards and probably won't propose a statewide carbon emissions reduction strategy.
Star Tribune, January 13, 2008.
Submitted by J. Dilley
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0111climate-emissions0111.html
Arizona moves forward with emissions plan regardless of the federal government's actions.
"Arizona proposed new state-level auto-emission standards Thursday aimed at curbing greenhouse-gas pollution, defying a federal edict that only Washington can impose such rules."
The Arizona Republic, January 11, 2008.
Submitted by J. Dilley
