The Obama Administration released its revised environmental assessment of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline on Friday, portraying the project as a relatively safe way to transport oil from fields in Canada and North Dakota to the US heartland and ports at Houston. The review has riled environmentalists and pleased oil interests.
Tags: · Climate Change, energy efficiency, environment, Fossil Fuels, Keystone pipeline, Obama Administration, pipeline review, tar sands extraction
New gasoline standards for cars and light trucks set by the US Department of Transportation and the US EPA won final approval on Tuesday after several months of public review and hearings.
The new mileage standards will require that American cars get an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The EPA touted the change as a near doubling of fuel efficiency for cars, and predicted the effect on consumers would be like lowering the price of gasoline by $1 a gallon. Overall, the measure will save consumers more than $1.7 trillion at the gas pump and reduce U.S. oil consumption by 12 billion barrels, according to the EPA.
Tags: · 54.5 miles per gallon, Cars, Climate Change, DOT, EPA, green transportation, new mileage standards, Obama Administration, oil dependence, Trucks
The Obama Administration’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline today earned the president a fierce tongue-lashing from Republican foes in the House of Representatives.
The president, faced with a 60-day deadline imposed by Republicans in the House and passed as a poison pill with the payroll tax cut, gave the pipeline thumbs down. But he left the door open for a reapplication by pipeline owner TransCanada.
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, diluent, Keystone jobs, Keystone XL pipeline, Obama Administration, Ogallala Aquifer, protest over Keystone, tar sands oil, TransCanada
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
Has Obama thrown over the health of the American people to win a little love from pro-business forces by nixing tighter smog standards?
That seems to be the question of the week, following the Administration’s surprise announcement last Friday that stronger smog controls being readied by the EPA would have to wait until 2013.
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, environmentalists angry about Obama decision on smog standard, greenrightnow.com, Obama Administration, outdated smog standard, smog, smog standards
You may or may not agree with T.Boone Pickens’ theory that natural gas is the best bridge fuel to the future. Some people, especially those living atop “fracked” and soon-to-be fracked gas shale formations, worry that drilling can contaminate water supplies and emit harmful air pollution. For them, the fact that natural gas burns much cleaner than gasoline does not adequately compensate for these environmental threats. Still, there’s no arguing that the celebrated Texas oilman makes a strong point about America’s costly oil dependence.
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, Climate Change, cost of natural gas, greenrightnow.com, natural gas, Obama Administration, oil dependence, oil independence, Pickens Plan, T. Boone Pickens, tailpipe emissions
From Green Right Now Reports
A U.S. Department of Energy report says President Obama’s goal of putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015, while ambitious, is also achievable based on steps already taken as part of the Recovery Act and additional policy initiatives that have been proposed. The report says positive factors include [...]
Tags: · EV infrastructure, greenrightnow.com, Obama Administration, Recovery Act
The first family’s residence will soon be partially powered by the sun, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today.
The rooftop solar installation will heat hot water for the first family’s residence and supplement power for America’s most famous house. It is expected to be up and operating by the spring of 2011, showing that “American solar technologies are available, reliable and ready for installation in homes throughout the country,’’ according to the administration.
Tags: · Obama Administration, Put Solar On It, Solar Energy, solar hot water, Solar Power, White House
Coal is deeply woven into every aspect of West Virgina and its people. The fossil fuel is found in 53 of the state’s 55 counties and underground mines produced 97 million tons of coal in 2008. West Virginia’s coal industry provides about 30,000 jobs, including miners, mine contractors, coal preparation plant employees and mine supply companies, according to the state’s Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training. But amid coal mining accidents and concerns about coal-related pollution, a more vigilant Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama Administration is beginning to put the brakes on the state’s history of widespread mining by slowing the permitting process.
Tags: · American Clean Energy and Security Act, Clean Water Act Section 404, coal, Energy and Security, Environment Defense Fund, FACES of Coal, Federation for American Coal, Obama Administration, Pew Charitable Trusts, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, West Virgina
Ninety of America’s leading scientists have urged Congressional leaders to be certain that any climate/energy bill or regulation accurately accounts for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from bioenergy sources, including biofuels such as ethanol.
In a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Majority Leader Harry Reid, and key Obama Administration officials, the group says that ignoring the carbon impact of bioenergy can actually lead to increases in greenhouse gas emissions because not all forms of bioenergy produce less carbon dioxide pollution than fossil fuels.
Tags: · bioenergy, Biofuels, carbon dioxide emissions, climate bill, climate regulation, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Obama Administration
By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now
When President Barack Obama was sworn into office just one year ago, he promised hope to a country in the midst of economic, environmental, and political turmoil. Environmentally, however, the Obama administration that promised “change” has fallen a few cents short, according to one key environmental group, The Center for Biological Diversity.
The administration’s actions (and inaction) are speaking louder than its words, in the view of the center’s Obama Administration First-Year Report Card. Obama’s overall grade: a “C” in protecting (and failing to protect) the environment.
Tags: · biodiversity, Center for Biodiversity, Copenhagen, environmental programs, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Obama Administration, Obama First Year Report Card on environment, Offshore Drilling, roadless law, species protection
Barbara Kessler
Andrew Winston
Danielle Nierenberg
Anthony Swift