Romney Resurrects Solyndra, Claims Obama Blew it on Clean Energy
Yes, the GOP is already trying to make Solyndra a campaign issue.
Yes, the GOP is already trying to make Solyndra a campaign issue.
Romney Resurrects Solyndra, Claims Obama Blew it on Clean Energy
Yes, the GOP is already trying to make Solyndra a campaign issue.
Toyota Prius Sales Up Over 100% Year-on-Year in April
While March 2012 was the best month ever for sales of the Toyota Prius hybrid brand, last month came close with 25,168 units sold. That's an increase of 126.9% one a year-on-year basis, and the best month of April yet for the Prius.
Shale Energy Boom Puts America In The Top Ten Gas Flaring Countries, Boosting Global Warming Pollution
The dramatic boom in shale gas and shale oil production is increasing flaring of waste gas at drilling operations, a practice that emits large amounts of carbon dioxide pollution. According to a World Bank official, gas flaring bumped up by 4.1% in 2011 — roughly totaling the gas demand from Denmark.
The increase in carbon-intensive flaring comes after a period of decline globally since 2006. The World Bank estimates that world-wide flaring spews yearly emissions equal to the carbon output of France. Reuters broke the news about the upward trend:
The increase is mostly due to the rise in shale oil exploration in North Dakota, propelling the United States into the top 10 gas flaring countries along with Russia, Nigeria and Iraq.
The preliminary data – which will be released in detail later in May – shows that global gas flaring crept up to around 140 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2011, up from 134 bcm the previous year.
If this waste were to take place within the European Union’s carbon emissions trading scheme, the flaring would cost some 2.5 billion euros ($3.30 billion) at current market value of 7 euros per metric ton of CO2.
And, of course, the actual damage to health and well-being from CO2 is well over 10 times that. The only reason CO2 prices are so low are that Europe is in recession and there is a global deal to reduce emissions to levels that would not destroy the wood will climate.
The amount of gas being flared in North Dakota alone is stunning. According to a recent New York Times piece, shale oil producers in the state burn 100 million cubic feet of natural gas daily — “enough energy to heat half a million homes for a day.”
This is adding to an already significant problem. According to estimates from GE, gas flaring makes up about 2% of total global carbon emissions.
Last spring, GE issued a report saying that halting gas flaring “has the potential to be one of the great energy and environmental success stories, and it has the potential to be achieved within the next five years.” The company recommends better financial incentives and global agreements to give oil companies a reason to capture the gas and it more efficiently.
In early April, a group of investors worth $500 billion in assets sent a letter to the largest shale oil producers, saying they “are concerned that excessive flaring, because of its impact on air quality and climate change, poses significant risks for the companies involved, and for the industry at large, ultimately threatening the industry’s license to operate.”
Send Your Questions to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood via Twitter or Facebook
There's no doubt that improving transportation is a priority for the environmental movement. Moving goods and people around requires a lot of energy, and sadly, most of that energy still comes from fossil fuels that pollute our air.
This Dog’s Best Friend? A Bike
Here's a video from China that shows that while a man's best friend might be a dog, this dog's best friend seems to be a bicycle.
Ignoring The 64,000 Green Jobs In His State, Romney’s Campaign Claims Clean Energy Isn’t Creating Jobs
Who would have thought that clean energy would become the source of such scorn for Mitt Romney, a candidate who called transitioning away from fossil fuels “a must” in 2007?
The Romney campaign released a new campaign ad this morning attacking clean energy jobs. Just like every other ad on the issue this election cycle, this one cherry-picks a few stories and claims that efforts to create jobs in this sector have failed.
As numerous reports have shown, the claims in this ad are completely absurd: The Brookings Institution found that the stimulus helped the clean energy sector grow 8.3 percent during the height of the recession; a report from the Department of Energy showed that the 1603 Treasury Grant Program supported 75,000 jobs and $25 billion gross economic activity; and a recent analysis from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the clean economy now employs 3.1 million people — with growth in the last few years happening in every geographic region of the U.S.
And in a masterful piece of spin, the campaign ad actually insinuates that Obama is responsible for 10,000 job losses in the wind industry. Ask anyone in the wind industry and they’ll tell you those jobs have been shed because of Congress’ inability to pass the production tax credit and give businesses in the sector certainty — threatening an additional 37,000 jobs today. In fact, it was the stimulus package that helped the wind industry maintain 85,000 jobs during the height of the recession in 2009.
But here’s the real kicker: There are actually 64,000 renewable energy and energy efficiency jobs currently in Romney’s home state of Massachusetts. Because of strong state and federal policies (which Romney once supported), employment in Massachusetts’ clean energy sector grew 6.7 percent between 2010 and 2011 — crushing the 1% growth rate in the rest of the economy.
Check out the documentary film below to see what’s happening today in Romney’s home state. In just one short election cycle, the candidate has Etch-a-Sketched himself squarely against clean energy — even as the industry gains traction.
A Big Audacious Goal: Turning on the Lights for 1.4 Billion People
At the recent Fortune Brainstorm Green conference which I attended in Laguna Niguel, California, there was a host of U.S.-focused presentations and conversations. The ongoing themes and dialogue provided significant insights into the current state of affairs in the U.S. clean-tech market, including:
Fracking Chemicals Could Hit Drinking Water More Quickly Than Thought – As Interior Mulls Letting Companies Disclose Them After the Fact
Computer modeling of the Marcellus Shale shows that chemicals could reach the surface in as little as "a few years."
Criticism Rains Down Over Cloud Data Centers
Knowledge has always been power, but how that information is stored has emerged as one of the most challenging issues facing the evolution of technology.
How Solar is Giving African Kids Super Powers
Cheap LED lanterns are transforming lives in Africa, allowing communities to leapfrog 20th Century technology and enter the solar age.
