Tracks the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's progress
http://www.recovery.gov/
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Who Are the Players? The White House Team and Climate Change/Energy
www.WhiteHouse.Gov
- Carol Browner – Leader, Energy and Environment Team
- Former head of Clinton's EPA
- Steven Chu – Director, Department of Energy
- Nobel prize-winning physicist, green energy researcher
- Lisa Jackson – Administrator of EPA
- Tom Vilsack – Secretary, Department of Agriculture
- Nancy Sutley – Member, Council on Environmental Quality
- Karen Mills – Administrator, Small Business Association
- John Holdren – Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy
A Summary: The New Energy for America Plan
http://my.barackobama.com/
"The Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:
- Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
- Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
- Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars -- cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon -- on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
- Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
- Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050."
- Obama's approach addresses the problem cited by skeptics that pro-environment decisions can cost jobs.
- Obama's campaign made environmental and economic promises to create domestic green collar jobs, with federal private and local money to:
- Promote renewable energy sources, R + D and location-specific construction (wind in Wisconsin, solar in Nevada, geothermal, biofuels, nuclear, clean coal)
- Build hybrid cars, re-tool auto factories so they can build small cars
- Reduce electricity use, like California, and promote efficient use of the energy we do use, in old and new plants, appliances, and buildings
http://www.businessgreen.com/
"Environment America, a federation of state-based, environmental advocacy organizations, analyzed the final bill and said there were $32.80bn in funding for clean energy projects, $26.86bn for energy efficiency initiatives and $18.95bn for green transportation, giving a total of $78.61bn directly earmarked for green projects."
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Energy News: Federal Solar Tax Credits Extended for 8 Years, US Poised to Become Largest Solar Market in the World
Thanks to Manhattan and Staten Island Energy $mart Communities Newsletter for the information below
When Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, designed to address the U.S. financial crisis, it also enacted the most significant federal policy ever for the solar industry. "This long-term extension of the solar tax credits will create a domestic solar industry with hundreds of thousands of jobs while providing clean, affordable, carbon-free energy to millions of American families, businesses, and communities," said Solar Energy Industries Association president Rhone Resch. "By 2016, we expect solar energy to be the least expensive source of electricity for consumers."
The solar investment tax credit (ITC) provisions will:
· Extend for 8 years the 30-percent tax credit for both residential and commercial solar installations;
· Eliminate the $2,000 monetary cap for residential solar electric installations, creating a true 30-percent tax credit (effective for property placed in service after December 31, 2008);
· Eliminate the prohibition on utilities from benefiting from the credit;
· Allow Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) filers, both businesses and individuals, to take the credit;
· Authorize $800 million for clean energy bonds for renewable energy generating facilities, including solar.
Send suggestions to the Obama transition team at change.gov
Thanks to Gail Karlsson at Citizens Network for Sustainable Development (CitNet) for the policy updates belowOn October 3, the US House of Representatives finally passed the extension of federal renewable energy tax credits, tucked into the authorization for the $700 billion financial industry bailout package. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/
Thanks to Gail Karlsson at Citizens Network for Sustainable Development (CitNet) for the policy updates below
The Environmental Protection Agency released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) regarding potential regulations of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, which calls for several months of public comment and consideration before any further action is taken, essentially delaying action until after the Bush administration leaves office. The administrator of the White House Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs wrote that: "the Clean Air Act is a deeply flawed and unsuitable vehicle for reducing greenhouse gas emissions." http://www.truthout.org:80/article/white-house-disavows-epa-plan-emissions The ANPR was released in belated response to the April 2007 Supreme Court ruling stating that the EPA must consider carbon dioxide a pollutant under the Clean Air Act if human health and welfare are being harmed by greenhouse gas pollution.
The EPA also released its report detailing climate change impacts on health, including increased disease-carrying insect populations, more pollen contributing to worsened allergies, and increases in smog-related respiratory illness and lung disease. Technical Support Document for Endangerment Analysis for Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the Clean Air Act, June 21, 2008, http://www.edf.org/documents/8084_EPA-HQ-OAR_080622.pdf
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