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  March 12, 2010, 5:34 pm

Chu: Schumer effort to alter stimulus energy grants would kill jobs

By Ben Geman

Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Friday warned against a Senate effort to impose “buy American” requirements on certain renewable power projects funded with grants authorized in the 2009 stimulus law.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and several other Democrats are upset that federal money for new projects is flowing to overseas manufacturing of wind turbines.

They want the Treasury Department to ensure the grant-funded wind farms and other clean power projects use domestically-made parts, or halt the grant program until their legislation to achieve the same thing passes.

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  March 12, 2010, 4:29 pm

San Jose mayor seeks DoE aid for hometown industry

By Ben Geman

Over at our technology blog, my colleague Kim Hart has posted an interesting interview with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. He’s using a visit to Washington, D.C.  to make the case for San Jose clean energy companies that are seeking Energy Department loan guarantees.

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  March 12, 2010, 3:10 pm

Natural gas lobby to Senate: Add us to ‘clean’ energy standard

By Ben Geman

Several natural gas industry trade groups are urging Senate lawmakers to ensure that gas is counted under any nationwide “clean energy” mandate that Congress develops.

The Energy and Natural Resources Committee last June approved a so-called renewable electricity standard that requires utilities to supply escalating percentages of electricity from sources like wind and solar energy.

But some lawmakers – including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) – have instead called for a broader “clean energy standard” that utilities could meet with new nuclear plants and low-emissions coal projects in addition to renewables.

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  March 12, 2010, 2:16 pm

Chu: Blogs distort climate debate

By Ben Geman

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Friday that evidence of human-induced climate change is overwhelming – and suggested the blogosphere hasn’t done wonders for public understanding of the issue.

“Despite what you may hear in the blogs and things, the overwhelming evidence of climate change is growing stronger day by day, year by year,” he said in a speech at the annual conference of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

The question, he added, is not whether the Earth will warm up, but by how much.

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  March 12, 2010, 7:07 am

E2 Round-up: An efficient day in Houston, Summers touts natural gas, and world oil demand rises on China surge

By Ben Geman

Let’s start with a bit more from the big annual Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference in Houston. 

The consulting firm unveiled a study reinforcing a view that advocates of energy-savings technologies have long touted.

“The study . . . says that of all the options available, efficiency is the best way to improve the supply-demand balance quickly while keeping costs low and greenhouse gas emissions in check,” notes this Houston Chronicle piece.

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  March 11, 2010, 6:00 pm

Gibbs predicts ‘clamoring’ for energy bill as gas prices rise

By Ben Geman

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Thursday predicted that there will be “clamoring” for energy legislation when the typical summer rise in gasoline prices gets underway.

But Gibbs also signaled that energy legislation is not a top priority for the White House this year even though President Obama remains supportive of action.

Gibbs said the biggest priorities after the health care debate wraps up are financial regulatory reform and addressing a recent Supreme Court ruling that knocked down restrictions on corporate political spending. He also noted tax credits for small business hiring and other jobs measures.

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  March 11, 2010, 4:41 pm

Interior’s ‘State of the Birds’ report highlights climate threats

By Ben Geman

Dana Milbank used a recent Washington Post column to suggest that climate change activists looking to make headway should "put away the slides of polar bears and pine beetles" and "keep the focus on national security and jobs."

But what about color photos of threatened birds?

The Interior Department, in concert with several conservation groups, on Thursday released "The State of the Birds: 2010 Report on Climate Change," a study that surveys the effects of global warming on various bird species.

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  March 11, 2010, 2:50 pm

Senate approves Palin critic to head Alaska gas pipeline office

By Ben Geman

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Larry Persily to head a federal office tasked with pushing forward a long-delayed pipeline project.


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  March 11, 2010, 1:58 pm

The battle over coal

By Ben Geman

Over on our opinion page, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship and environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slug it out over the future of coal. Worth a read.

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  March 11, 2010, 12:45 pm

Barton questions ‘propriety’ of GM, Chrysler climate lobbying

By Ben Geman

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) is attacking General Motors and Chrysler for participating in a coalition lobbying for climate legislation in light of the automakers' receipt of billions of dollars in taxpayer assistance.

Barton, the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote letters to the two companies’ CEOs Thursday about the automakers’ role in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a group formed in 2007 that unites large companies and environmental groups in favor of cap-and-trade legislation.

“I write to ask whether it is in the interest of the American public and U.S. taxpayers for GM to continue to support lobbying by the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) after the taxpayers rescued GM, and whether financial support for this organization could be put to better use in the interest of taxpayers and your company,” Barton wrote to GM. A nearly identical letter went to Chrysler.

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