Construction of the $2 billion 120 megawatt Longleaf power plant was blocked yesterday by Fulton County Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore, overturning a ruling that would have allowed the first coal plant to be built in Georgia in 20 years.

Environmentalists cite Moore’s ruling as the first time a judge has applied the April 2007 ruling from the Supreme Court stating the greenhouse gas emissions are a pollutant and must be regulated.

I just posted more on the ruling, reactions from both the plants developers and environmentalists, as well as what this could mean for future coal-fired plants in the planning stages – for the full story go to my post at TriplePundit.com.

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Last Friday, with only 15 minutes to spare before the House Oversight Committee was scheduled to vote on holding EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and White House official Susan Dudley in contempt of Congress, the Bush administration invoked executive privilege – thus expressing its own contempt for that pesky concept known as “congressional oversight”.

The impending vote from the committee chaired by Henry Waxman was in response to Johnson and Dudley, the administrator of regulatory affairs in the White House Office of Management and Budget, refusing to hand over subpoenaed documents relating to the EPA’s denial of a waiver allowing California to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from tailpipes (along with about a dozen-and-a-half other states with similar laws on their books), and possible interference from the White House influencing the decision.

As has been widely reported, documents and testimony from EPA officials strongly suggest that Johnson was initially in support of at least a partial waiver, in accordance with the unanimous recommendation from his own staff, only to make an about-face and deny the waiver after contact with the White House.  

Waxman’s committee has had access to thousands of documents and sworn testimony from EPA officials, but Johnson and the White House have consistently refused to abide the subpoena for specific documents relating specifically to phone calls or meetings between at least one high-ranking EPA official and an assistant to the the president.

The stonewalling from the EPA and White House begin immediately after Johnson announced his decision and continues with Bush’s claim of executive privilege.

Representative Waxman cancelled the contempt of congress vote Friday upon receiving the letter from the White House invoking executive privilege in order to determine Attorney General Michael Mukasy’s rationale for the claim.

Waxman made clear his doubts as to the motives of the White House and the veracity of its assertion of privilege.

I have a clear sense that their assertion of this privilege is self-serving and not based on the appropriate law and rules,” Waxman said from the dais of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing room.

I don’t think we’ve had a situation like this since Richard Nixon was president when the president of the United States may have been involved in acting contrary to law, and the evidence that would determine that question for Congress in exercising our oversight is being blocked by an assertion of executive privilege.

The battle rages on.

 

 

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In a rare showing of bipartisan support, The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 (H.R. 6049) overwhelmingly passed the House on May 21^st with a vote of 263–160.

As we reported on May 19^th, the bill would have extended tax credits for wind, solar, and other renewable and alternative energy development projects.

All that was needed to help insure a path for commercial scale renewable energy development was that same spirit of bipartisanship from the Senate acting in the interest of the people.

A Republican filibuster and failed cloture vote today to stop it made sure that didn’t happen.

Renewable energy development stands poised to help move the country move toward a sustainable energy future. Wind energy grew 45% last year. The Department of Energy reported last month that wind could provide up to 20% of the nation’s energy needs by 2030. But with a start-stop strategy of lukewarm support (at best) from government, renewable energy development finds it difficult to find an economic footing in the face of well established subsidies for fossil fuel.

And that wasn’t enough for one day. Republicans also blocked debate on the Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008 (S.3044) with another rejected cloture motion that would have ended a filibuster.

The Consumer-First Energy Act is aimed at curbing price gouging, would deny large oil companies (those that produce at least 500,000 barrels of oil per day) the manufacturing tax deduction, impose a windfall profits tax, and collect new tax revenues for an energy independence and security trust fund. The bill would also limit commodities speculation by effectively raising margins for futures contracts.

That’s two filibusters this week and one last week.

The Senate is 0 for 3.

Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club said in a statement, in part, that 

The Senate Republican Leadership has now proved it has no interest whatsoever in even discussing the solutions to our mounting energy and economic crises”.

By blocking debate on these two critical issues, the Senate has once again failed to show the vision and leadership required of it as we move into a changing energy future.

We can embrace that change, or find it as a very rude awakening, kicking and screaming the whole way. It appears that the Senate has been kicking and screaming a lot lately, with little to show for it.

 

Sources and Further Reading
Oil & Gas Journal
SolveClimate.com

 

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High fuel prices are filtering down and sparking civil protests across Europe’s southern tier.  Spain’s fishing industry – the largest in the EU - closed down today as an estimated 7,000-10,0000 members of Spain’s fishermen’s union (La Confederacion Espanola de Pesca, or Cepesca) representing some 1,400 businesses took their concerns to the streets of Madrid.

Fishermen from across Spain have descended on the capital, gathering this morning and distributing some 20 tons of fresh fish for free on the streets of Madrid in front of the nation’s environment ministry in an effort to publicize their plight and demand relief from the government.  ‘The price of gasoline has tripled in the past four years while the price of fish in Spain has barely moved in 20,’ according to Javier Gravat, the union’s secretary general. 

‘This is the worst crisis the sector has undergone for 100 years.  We are demanding a viable plan for the short-, medium- and long-term,’ Garat stated as he led union members in their demand for the government to open up negotiations with them.

The union has called for a general and indefinite strike beginning today.  Spain’s entire fishing industry has for all practical purposes been shut down, according to Jose Antionio Caparros, spokesperson for Barcelona’s fishing confederation. 

Fishermen in Portugal and Italy also came out in protest today as fishermen in France blocked the port of Le Havre, the country’s second-largest, the latest in a series of protests over more than 15 days.  ‘No ships have left port, and until something happens there will be no fresh fish,’ Antonio Maceda, director of Portugal’s national fishermen’s union told reporters.

An estimated 11,000-12,000 Italian fishermen went on strike and protested today, according to a spokesperson for Federcoopesca, the country’s main fishermen’s union.

Spain, Italy and France, which assumes the EU presidency in July, urged EU lawmakers in Brussels to authorize aid and direct support for European fishermen this week.

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Last Thursday, the House Ways and Means Committee voted 25–12  to approve the Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008 (HR6049) worth $54 billion in tax breaks including the expansion of the refundable child tax credit and breaks for education and small business expenses. The bill also includes an extension of the Production Tax Credit for wind energy and other other tax breaks for research and development in solar and other alternative energy technologies. A breakdown of the energy-related tax breaks in the bill include:

• A six-year extension in the investment tax credit for solar energy
• A three-year extension of the production tax credit for biomass, geothermal, hydro-power, landfill gas, and solid waste
• A one-year production tax credit extension for wind energy
• Incentives for non-corn based (cellulosic) ethanol and biodiesel
• Incentives for companies that produce energy efficient products like plug-in hybrids
• Incentives for energy conservation in both commercial and residential buildings
• Tax credit bonds to help state and local governments make energy conservation investments in public infrastructure and invest in research

Late last year congress extended renewable energy tax credits one year, then set to expire on December 31^st 2007.

With the realities of oil now trading at over $127 a barrel as of this writing, renewable energy sources show increasing economic viability, without even considering any long term sustainability and climate issues inherent with continued and increasing dependence on diminishing sources of oil.

As seen in the recent study from the Department of Energy that we wrote about last Friday, wind and other renewable energy sources stand poised to help transition the nation into a new energy economy, providing new and sustainable sources of energy, industrial growth, and hundreds of thousands of jobs.

One stumbling block to this is the halting nature of the renewable energy tax credit. The U.S. government directly subsidizes (pdf) the oil industry (by some estimates to the tune of $61 billion). The cost of gas and oil, while rising substantially, has never reflected its true cost by externalizing the cost of dependence, environmental degradation, source depletion, and climate impact (how does $480 a barrel sound?).

In the meantime, renewable energy has been hampered by inconsistent and half-hearted support from the federal government. Last year represented only the second time the production tax credit was extended before allowing it to expire. Between 1999 and 2004, the PTC was left to expire, promoting an on-again off-again atmosphere, dampening progress in renewable energy development – particularly wind.

Alternative energy projects take years to develop, plan, permit, and build. Investment in these projects depend on the 1.9 cent per kilowatt/hour tax incentive to help bring the potential of wind and other renewable to fruition. When that tax incentives disappear, so do billions of dollars in investment and ten of thousands of jobs. Poof!

Tuesday May 20th is a “National Day of Action” for renewable energy, calling on clean energy advocacy groups, environmental organization, and companies with a stake and interest in developing clean energy to call their representative in Washington in support of the Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008.

The bill also provides tax breaks for coal gasification projects and other “clean coal” technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi hopes to bring the legislation to a full vote before the House for the Memorial Day recess.   

 

Sources and Further Reading
Union of Concerned Scientists
EndOilAid.org
Renewable Energy World
Grist
Solar Nation

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A press release this week from the American Wind Energy Association announced a recent study from the Department of Energy concluding that, for an investment of about $43 billion, wind energy could provide 20% of America’s electrical energy needs by 2030.

The 248 page analysis (pdf) from the DOE says that even though such a feat will require massive industry growth (16,000 megawatts per year by 2018, sustained from then through 2030) the technical hurdles can all be overcome.

For the alarmists that claim rising to the challenge of climate change with an aggressive approach toward renewable energy would devastate the economy, consider what happens with “massive industrial growth” – jobs. Lot’s of ‘em. Up to half a million according to the report.

That $43 billion investment would be spread out over many years. $12 billion dollars is spent on the war in Iraq every month. For an investment costing less than four months in Iraq wind energy could:

• Reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation by 25 percent in 2030.
• Reduce natural gas use by 11%
• Reduce water consumption associated with electricity generation by 4 trillion gallons by 2030
• Increase annual revenues to local communities to more than $1.5 billion by 2030; and
• Support roughly 500,000 jobs in the U.S., with an average of more than 150,000 workers directly employed by the wind industry

I wonder which investment – the war in Iraq or development of wind and other alternative sources of energy – will make America safer, provide more jobs, create sustainable economic growth,  reduce our dependence on energy sources in unstable regions of the world, and lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

I wonder.

It’s a matter of priorities I guess.

Something to think about.

Sources and Further Reading
SolveClimate.com
Huffington Post

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If We’ve Told You Once We’ve Told You a Thousand Times: NO!

Just a couple weeks ago president Bush chided congress for not opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to “environmentally sensitive” oil exploration, asserting that was a big reason why gas prices are currently so high. It’s the same old song and dance.

Heading their master’s call,  Senators Mitch McConnel of Kentucky and Pete Domenici of New Mexico attempted to tack on their Domestic Energy Production Act to a flood relief bill. The move was rejected yesterday by a vote of 42 to 56 (60 votes are needed for approval).

In a vote of 97–1 the senate agreed to halt any further additions to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the time being. (An interesting analysis of the move and how the Reserve works is offered today in Salon.)

The measure proposed by McConnel and Domenici would open up oil exploration in ANWR and coastal waters off western states, as well as promote the use of expensive, dirty, and dangerous “unconventional” fuels produced from liquid coal and oil shale. 

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid introduced the Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008 last week as an alternative measure to the Republican Domestic Energy Production Act.

Sierra Club president Carl Pope applauded the vote in the senate saying in a press release:

The answer to our oil addiction is not to search for a bigger fix. Drilling our coasts and national treasures like the Arctic Refuge and spending billions on dirty and expensive boondoggles like liquid coal and oil shale won’t help hardworking Americans cope with gas prices. It will only add to the tens of billions of dollars the oil industry is already making.

Even at peak production, which could take twenty years, the Arctic Refuge would provide roughly a year’s worth of oil and would reduce gas prices at most by one or two cents a gallon.

Under the leadership of President Bush and his allies in Congress, gas prices have more than doubled, Big Oil has made more than half a trillion dollars in profits over the past five years, and the United States has become even more dangerously addicted to fossil fuels.

Hardworking Americans need real relief instead of the recycled rhetoric and disastrous energy policies that the president and his allies in Congress have pushed for the past seven years. Thankfully the leadership in the Senate has put forward a plan that will actually protect consumers, put America on the path toward a clean energy future, and finally put the brakes on the taxpayer-funded giveaways that have been helping fuel Big Oil’s record profits.

Instead of searching for more ways to pad Big Oil’s bottom line, the Consumer-First Energy Act offers Senators a chance to stop writing a blank check to Big Oil and instead protect consumers and invest in clean energy.

These are the kind of answers we need—solutions that will bring energy costs under control, combat global warming, and leave America’s last wild places intact.”

 

Sources and Further Reading
Energy Outlook
Sierra Club

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