Several companies and hospitals, with Isaac Brown of 38 North Solutions at the helm, have formed a new alliance, Healthy Energy in Healthcare Coalition, that was mentioned in Politico Influence, original story here. The coalition will be connecting the policy dots between clean energy and more cost-effective healthcare. NEW COALITION: Philips Lighting and Shift Energy started […]
Blog: Utility of the Future or What to Think When Everyone Says Your World is Turning Upside Down
Article originally published in Energy Biz. As the red-eye jet made its way toward the airport with dawn breaking, street lights still on and house lights coming on, I watched first the farms with long roads, then the small clusters of towns, then the vast suburban outreach of Washington, DC. I had been thinking a […]
Our Take: Clean Energy and EPA 111(d) Rule on Existing Power Plants
Background and Process This week EPA proposed a rule to regulate greenhouse gases from existing coal power plants under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. EPA estimates the regulation will reduce national carbon dioxide emission levels by up to 30% by 2030. With the proposal’s release, the public now has 120 days to file comments, before […]
Climate Action Plan: President Using Authority to Make Good on Promises
Last week President Obama announced several initiatives to continue implementation of the Climate Action Plan announced last summer. The Administration announced that the DOE Better Buildings Challenge will expand its program to multi-family housing and has started three Better Buildings accelerators focused on energy data, performance contracting, and industrial performance. In addition, the White House issued a Presidential Memorandum that builds on Executive […]
Veterans Day: We Salute Champions of Change Taking on Climate Change
As we honor all of our veterans past and present today, we are proud that so many folks coming back from the field have been inspired to become clean tech entrepreneurs. The White House honored these “Champions of Change” at a ceremony last week where a dozen vets talked about their reasons for becoming innovators […]
Keeping Light Shining on Renewables
As an energy efficiency bill teeters on the verge of passage or collapse in the Senate, this past week not one but two renewable energy standard bills were introduced in that chamber. The Udall cousins, Mark (D-CO) and Tom (D-NM), joined forces with Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to introduce for the third […]
Congress and Clean Energy: Waiting for Godot?
September marks the end of the fiscal year and the government will shut down on the 30th unless Congress can pass a Continuing Resolution to keep it open for another few months. We are about to hit the nation’s debt ceiling. And another round of across the board sequestration cuts are about to take effect. […]
President’s Energy Blueprint: Doing More With Less
The President released his blueprint today with language that has noticeably evolved to reflect the sequester mindset now in Congress—the need to lower government costs. Phrases like “double…energy productivity”, “cut energy waste”, “safe and responsible…clean and secure energy future” follow the theme of doing more with less. His current proposals are modest, building on current […]
State of the Union 2013: Prognosis for Clean Energy Policy
Following up on the President’s largely unexpected statements on climate policy in his inaugural speech, the 2013 State of the Union highlighted accomplishments to date on clean energy deployment and GHG reductions, and outlined five focus areas for his second term climate and clean energy agenda. We have included our prognosis for each of these areas. 1) […]
