We must accelerate the economic transformation that has already begun and move forcefully into a completely new clean energy economic era defined by stronger industries, better infrastructure, and a steadily growing middle class. In this paper we propose how to do just that. We identify clean energy and climate solutions that are effective, strategic, and…
Category: Energy
We Need to Transition Our Energy Infrastructure
Last year threw into stark relief America’s interlinked economic, energy security, and climate crises. On the economic front Americans called out those lawmakers who work relentlessly to build an economy that works for the wealthy few rather than for all of us, but faced determined resistance from conservatives bent on preserving the status quo. At…
A New Energy Third World in North America?
The “curse” of oil wealth is a well-known phenomenon in Third World petro-states where millions of lives are wasted in poverty and the environment is ravaged, while tiny elites rake in the energy dollars and corruption rules the land. Recently, North America has been repeatedly hailed as the planet’s twenty-first-century “new Saudi Arabia” for “tough energy” — deep-sea oil, Canadian tar…
Senate Republicans vote down measure to end ‘big oil’ tax breaks – CNN.com
Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic measure championed by President Barack Obama to end tax breaks for the major oil companies. The procedural vote of 51-47, which failed to reach the needed threshold of 60 in favor, killed the measure, which was given little chance of eventually winning approval in the Republican-controlled House. Four…
Presidential Memorandum — Expediting Review of Pipeline Projects
Because of rising oil production, more efficient cars and trucks, and a world-class refining sector that last year was a net exporter of petroleum products for the first time in 60 years, we have cut net imports by a million barrels a day in the last year alone. By reducing our dependence on foreign oil,…
Investors Are Making Big Money On Renewable Energy
Although Congress recently dealt a blow to the wind energy industry by failing to extend the production tax credit that helped incentivize wind power investment and production, and make it price-competitive with carbon energy sources, Immelt remains bullish on renewables and with good reason. Clean energy investments in the U.S. will continue to be driven…
Counting the cost: the hidden price of coal power
Each year, the US sets off the equivalent of 20-30 atomic bombs worth of explosives, effectively obliterating entire features of its own landscape. Why? To get at the coal that’s inconveniently located beneath the mountains of Appalachia. That jaw-dropping figure came towards the end of a session at last month’s meeting of the American Association…
Coal Is Expensive And Not Getting Any Cheaper
The study found that coal is the most expensive energy when “externalized costs” are factored in. These are the costs of coal use paid for by society, rather than by ratepayers. This includes the impact on public health and property from increased air pollution. Our reliance on coal has cost the economy between $345 and…
Clean energy economy is alive and well on the West Coast
With a regional GDP contribution of $47 billion and over half a million jobs created in 2010, the clean energy economy is alive and well on the West Coast. And the potential for continued growth in jobs and investment is enormous with more regional collaboration, according to a report released last week by members of…
Brazil bars Chevron executives from leaving over spill
A federal court in Brazil has issued an order barring 17 executives from U.S. oil giant Chevron and Transocean Ltd. from leaving the country while it mulls criminal charges against them for an oil spill last year. Among the 17 who were ordered Saturday by a federal judge in Rio de Janeiro to give up…
U.S. Production of Oil Rising Under Obama
Check out this informative graphic from whitehouse.gov. Some takeaways: Production of oil is increasing Dependence on foreign oil declining More oil rigs in operation Total oil and gas production is up http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/gasprices
The Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future: One-Year Progress Report | The White House
From Heather Zichal, the Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change: One year ago, the President put forward a comprehensive plan in the Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future that outlined the Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to American energy – a strategy aimed at reducing our reliance on foreign oil, saving families and businesses…
Infographic: The Solyndra Witch-Hunt One Year Later
Marking the one-year anniversary of the Solyndra investigation, the Republican National Committee released an infographic on President Obama’s supposed “insider deals.” But after 187,000 documents, 10 hearings, and multiple independent media investigations concluding there was no evidence of political “pressure” to approve the loan guarantee, Republicans show no signs of ending the political games around…
Senators Take Emergency Oil Reserve Hostage to Force Keystone Approval
The Senate is trying to force a pipeline route through Nebraska that is not yet identified, let alone evaluated to determine whether its impact on air and water quality. Because much of the tar sands oil refined in the U.S. would go overseas, Americans would bear the environmental risks while other nations get the oil….
California’s Green Economy Doubled Performance of Total Economy
A new report from the non-partisan environmental think tank Next 10 shows that between 2009 and 2010, the “core green economy” in California — comprised of companies that provide products or services to cut natural resource use, re-purpose waste, and reduce global warming pollution — experienced half the number of job losses seen in the…
BP Made $3 Million An Hour In 2011, While Spill Victims Continued To Suffer
BP’s 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill is still a recent memory for many Americans, particularly the tens of thousands that have not settled lawsuits with the company. Yet the company has bounced back from the billions it lost in the wake of the spill. BP announced today that its 2011 profit totaled $26 billion, a…
Keystone XL Jobs Claims Draw Complaint To SEC
ThinkProgress Green has learned that TransCanada, the foreign tar sands company behind the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, is facing a potential inquiry into whether it deliberately deceived investors by inflating the job-creation potential of the project. Greenpeace has filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC over TransCanada’s “false or misleading statements about…
GOP played Keystone card, lost
If you missed the press conference after the State Department announcement that the Keystone XL pipeline had been canceled, you missed a heck of a show. House Speaker John Boehner was mad. And the Republican lawmakers behind him were furious. Over and over, Boehner and the gang asked angrily “What happened?” knowing full well that…
Oil and Gas Jobs Increase by 75,000 Under Obama — 69,000 More Than Would Be Created By Keystone XL
Approximately 75,000 jobs were created in the oil and gas sector under the Obama Administration between 2009 to 2011, according to analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s roughly 69,000 more jobs than would be created by construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The figures, reviewed by the Center for…
CBS Runs Error-Ridden Report On “New Solyndras”
In a misleading segment painting a skewed picture of the Department of Energy’s clean tech investments, CBS News’ new morning show purported to reveal 11 “New Solyndras” — companies CBS said “are having trouble” or “have filed for bankruptcy” after receiving federal assistance. But CBS only identified 7 companies and included some that did not…