The Mayflower, AR, oil spill did not involve tar sands oil, but was regular heavy crude from Canada. ExxonMobil is setting the record straight, and so are we. Still, it looks like a gooey mess out there in Arkansas.
Tags: · Arkansas, BarbaraKesslerBlog, crude oil, diluted bitumen, Exxon, Green Energy, Mayflower, oil sands, oil spill, tar sands
When President Obama nominated MIT’s Ernest Moniz to be energy secretary earlier this month, he hailed the nuclear physicist as a “brilliant scientist.” But beyond his job in academia, Moniz has also spent the last decade serving on a range of boards and advisory councils for energy industry heavyweights like BP and an uranium enrichment company.
Tags: · domestic energy, energy agenda, Energy Secretary, EPA, Ernest Moniz, Fossil Fuels, Green Energy, industry ties, MIT, nuclear industry, oil industry
The Texas electric grid, known a ERCOT, set a new record for wind energy use in the state at 10:21 a.m. on Nov. 10, when wind power output provided nearly 26 percent of the “system load” at the the time.
Tags: · ERCOT, Green Energy, Texas, Wind Power
To get back to some non-election topics…A couple weeks ago, New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote an op-ed entitled “A Sad Green Story” about the (supposed) travails of the green movement over the last 10 years. The idea that the clean technology sector is failing, or that it’s a bad investment, is common enough in the business world and pundit class. But it’s patently false. So what is Brooks talking about and what’s really true here?
Tags: · Andrew Winston, clean energy incentives, clean tech, Fossil Fuels, Green Energy, Jigar Shah, natural gas, OtherVoicesBlog, Solar Power
A survey of likely 2012 American voters has found that they overwhelmingly support solar power, with nine out of 10 saying the U.S. should develop more solar power.
The survey, conducted by Hart Research in early September, also found that 85 percent of voters view solar power “favorably” or “very favorably;” and 78 percent said that the government should support the growth of solar power with incentives.
Tags: · clean energy, Green Energy, Rhone Resch, SEIA, Solar Energy Industry Association, Solar Power, solar power poll
Clean energy advocates in Michigan today won the right to put a more ambitious renewable energy standard before the voters in November, a plan they hope will bring jobs as well as green energy to the state.
The proposal by Michigan Energy, Michigan Jobs would increase the state’s standard to 25 percent by 2025. If enacted, the new standard or RES, would require power providers to obtain 25 percent of their energy from renewable sources like wind, solar and geothermal power.
Tags: · ballot initiatives, Green Energy, Michigan, renewables, RES
Wind energy will grow fastest in Asia and other parts of the developing world over the next few years, but appears headed for a drop in activity in North America starting in 2013, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
The council released a five-year outlook report this week that predicts it is too late for the US to avoid a decline in wind energy production caused by Congress’ reluctance to renew the production tax credit that has fueled growth in the sector in recent years.
Tags: · Global Wind Energy Council, Green Energy, Wind energy, wind energy growth, wind energy stagnation
The wind is whipping down the plains, challenging the view that renewable energy can play only a small role on the electricity grid, according to figures released today by the American Wind Energy Association.
AWEA’s annual report shows that five states received more than 10 percent of their electricity from wind in 2011:
Tags: · 2012 prospects, annual report for 2011, AWEA, Green Energy, production tax credit, Renewable Energy, Wind energy
In Washington, the loudest voices have the biggest pocketbooks. And they’re taking the US on a death march with fossil fuels.
Unlike most advanced nations, where green energy has taken firm root, the US tarries, only half-committed to new energy while guzzling more oil per capita than any other nation. We know this habit is unsustainable. It continues because oil is profitable. And Big Oil peels off some of its largesse to buy acquiescence from Washington.
That’s a crude, but accurate assessment. No pun intended.
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, clean energy, Fossil Fuels, green economy, Green Energy, Keystone pipeline decision, Obama Administration, Renewable Energy, tar sands
From Green Right Now Reports
Many reports are taking Gov. Rick Perry’s energy plan to task for focusing on dirty fossil fuels and promoting jobs numbers for oil and gas development that crumble upon examination.
The New York Times says Perry’s plan to extend drilling on public lands, in the arctic and the Gulf of Mexico resembles “a wish list for the oil and gas industry” and appears to have been drawn from a study by Wood Mackenzie consultants paid for by the American Petroleum Institute.
The Atlantic reports that Perry is far off the mark when he claims that expanding oil and gas drilling and rolling back EPA regulations would create 1.2 million jobs.
Tags: · EPA, fossil fuel energy, Gov. Rick Perry, Green Energy, greenrightnow.com, natural gas drilling, oil drilling, presidential race, regulation, Renewable Energy, Texas
The US Chamber of Commerce has released a six-point plan to get America working again.
This should be good news for green energy — because wind, solar and geothermal projects all create jobs in America that cannot be outsourced, in addition to reducing pollution and developing leading technology that can make the US competitive around the world.
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, Fossil Fuels, Green Energy, greenrightnow.com, US Chamber of Commerce jobs plan
Are we hot enough yet?
As Texas boils over into another month that’s likely to break more heat records, I’m thinking about how much we need green power in this state and country. Not only would it bring jobs, it would bring stability, especially if we relied on a diverse menu of renewable power — solar, wind, hydro, off-shore wind and perhaps even wave power.
Tags: · Austin energy rebate on solar panels, BarbaraKesslerBlog, Climate Change, ERCOT, Green Energy, greenrightnow.com, heat wave, renewable power, rolling black outs possible, Texas
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