Exxon Mobil: Still as Dirty as They Come

There's been a lot of talk both online and offline about Exxon Mobil's recent, so-called turnaround on Global Warming. Color me skeptical when I hear anything about an oil company being green, especially when that company is Exxon Mobil, the king of big oil. Remembered these TV ads, from just two years ago?

The Competitive Enterprise Institute, which put out that ad, receives a significant portion of it's budget from Exxon-Mobil and other big oil companies.

As it turns out, Exxon-Mobil's newfound "public stance" hasn't stopped it from continuing to fund numerous groups that are trying their best to confuse and trick people into ignoring our Global Warming crisis. It'll take a lot more than a single press release to change my opinion of the world largest corporation and its $40 billion + profits. You got a long ways to go if you really want to be Green, Exxon.

Innovation

Hey, I just wanted to let you know that in case you've got any extra industrial heat sitting around going to waste - you could be putting it to use.

From the CNet article:

ElectraTherm on Thursday said that it has installed a 50-kilowatt machine that uses industrial waste heat as its "fuel." The company says that the ElectraTherm Green Machine, installed at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, will recoup its purchase cost in three to four years with electricity costing three or four cents per kilowatt-hour during that time.

I like to share tips when I get them. So, put that wasted industrial heat to use!

Wind powers Missouri town

Happy Wednesday, folks. How about a nice story to brighten the day? ABC News recently had a great segment about a small town in Missouri that's powered entirely by wind.

Clean Cars Update

Once again, Caroline Keicher from our Clean Cars Campaign is here to give you all an update on the issue. Here's what she wrote:

For those of you following the developments surrounding California's vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards, aka the Pavley rollercoaster, there are a few updates to be had. 

On Wednesday of this week, California Senator Barbara Boxer successfully passed her bill (S.2555) out of the Environment and Public Works Committee which would grant that pesky but necessary waiver that California and the other states need to implement the Pavley standards.  Just one more step on the ladder of inevitability for the eventual overturning of the EPA's erroneous and politically weasel-ish decision to deny California its waiver.  Naysayers will have to pick their poison one way or the other – whether through legislation, litigation (eighteen states are now suing EPA over the waiver denial!), or an executive order from a new president, we won't be thwarted much longer.

Coal is the Cleanest Thing Ever!

At least, in this fantasy world concocted by animator Mark Fiore. Courtesy DeSmogBlog.

Drill drill drill

The Bush Administration continues to drumbeat its only solution to our country's energy problems: drill, drill, and drill some more for oil.

Yesterday the Bureau of Land Management released a statement saying "most of the oil and more than 40 percent of the natural gas beneath public lands in the United States are off limits to drilling."

They seem to think drilling in these protected areas would lower gas prices. Here's the response from Carl Pope:

"Drilling in federally protected areas is not the answer to our energy problems and will do nothing to ease pain at the pump. It is telling that the Bush administration focuses on the percentage of oil and gas that is not currently available for drilling, rather than the oil and gas that is currently available. Opening protected areas will only offer “relief” to the oil industry which is already raking in billions of dollars in profit records.

"The Bush administration’s 'drill everything' policy does nothing to help American consumers. It only helps Big Oil. More drilling increases our dependence on fossil fuels, destroys natural treasures, and contributes to global warming. Drilling is a short-term fix for an addiction we need to end.

"The honest answer to our oil problem is to use less of it, and that means better fuel efficiency, more transportation choices and more renewable energy. Instead of the failed policies of the past, we need to shift our priorities—and our policies—toward creating a clean energy economy."

Learn more here.

National Day of Action to Support Clean Energy Incentives

Today over 100 organizations and companies are asking their members and employees to contact their members of Congress and ask them to support extending critical clean energy tax incentives. These incentives help businesses and consumers afford to build more efficient buildings, install renewable energy technologies like solar panels, and buy better appliances like high efficiency washing machines.

For years these incentives have helped grow the clean energy economy, but unfortunately they are set to expire at the end of this year. Congress has been trying for months to pass legislation to extend these incentives beyond the end of the year and time is running out. The House of Representatives will vote tomorrow on a new bill that includes the clean energy incentives that need to be extended. That is why today renewable energy companies, manufacturers that make energy efficient products, environmental groups, builders and more are coming together for a Day of Action to urge Congress to act immediately to send these tax incentives to the President's desk.

The Sierra Club is also running an ad today in The Hill newspaper for all of Congress to see. More than 100 organizations, companies, and electrical utilities signed on to the ad. Click on the image at the right to see it larger.

These critical extensions are long overdue.  Each day that passes without an extension places more green jobs at risk; every day the delay slows down our transition to a clean energy economy. Do your part by contacting your Representatives and Senators here.

Giving up the car for a bike

Last week was "Bike to Work" week, and here's a story about a Wisconsin man deciding to not use any gas for 31 days.

From the story:

"I think just with the gas prices being so high, everybody complains about it but no one ever really does anything about it," LaFave said. "People continue to drive nonstop and not think about it, but I just wanted to take a stand and say, `I'm not gonna pay this much money for gas.'"

I read a few comments about this story from folks who've also changed their commute habits to biking, and many are saying once Day 31 hits, they bet Mr. LaFave won't want to switch back because he'll have discovered how great biking is for his wallet and his waistline!

Vetoed again in Kansas

Kansas is still at it in this fight over the proposed Sunflower coal-fired power plants. On Friday, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius stood strong once again and vetoed (third time!) yet another attempt to get the plants through. There is now one remaining opportunity on May 29th for the legislature to try and override this third veto.  May 29th is the last day of the legislature, and it is typically a ceremonial event no one attend - but that doesn't mean the pro-coal legislators won't try it again.

For a good wrap-up on this latest veto in the continuing battle over coal in Kansas, check out the Climate and Energy Project blog.

Kentucky taxpayer dollars used to promote coal

The Lexington Herald Leader has a story posted today about the amount of tax money the coal industry gets in Kentucky each year to promote itself: $400,000.

The shocking quote from the story:

"The environmentalists throw out a lot of negative stuff, like kids who are suffering from asthma because they breathe particulate matter from living near a coal-fired power plant, or deaths caused on the roads by big coal trucks," (Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Caylor) said. "We're trying to counteract that."

Wow, Mr. Caylor....Wow.

The story goes on to say that some of the $400,000 is used for a website that helps promote mountaintop removal coal mining - one of the most destructive mining practices out there. From the story:

Mountaintop removal is actually good for the environment and does very little damage, according to the site. "Only the topmost portion of the mountain is mined and generally leveled for the maximum recovery of coal," according to the site, which claims a daily average of 2,775 page views. "What's left is flatter, more useful land on the top of the mountain."

A more useful mountain, that's nice. Let's ignore the devastating impacts on the environment and the nearby communities from this type of mining. Watch how useful mountaintop removal coal mining is in this YouTube video from I Love Mountains and Appalachian Voices.

A backhanded listing from the U.S. Department of the Interior

At first, on the surface, today's announcement from the U.S Department of the Interior that the polar bear would be listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was great! And then we read the fine print in the DOI's release (emphasis mine):

Next Steps
To make sure the ESA is not misused to regulate global climate change, Kempthorne promised the following actions:

• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing a 4(d) rule that states that if an activity is permissible under the stricter standards of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, it is also permissible under the ESA with respect to the polar bear.  This rule, effective immediately, will ensure the protection of the bear while allowing us to continue to develop our natural resources in the arctic region in an environmentally sound way.
• Director Hall will issue guidance to staff that the best scientific data available today cannot make a causal connection between harm to listed species or their habitats and greenhouse gas emissions from a specific facility, or resource development project or government action.
• The Department will issue a Solicitor’s Opinion further clarifying these points.
• The Department will propose common sense modifications to the existing ESA regulatory language to prevent abuse of this listing to erect a back-door climate policy outside our normal system of political accountability.

Oh yes, we knew it was too good to be true.

Report: Wind can provide 20% of U.S. electricity by 2030

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and our own U.S. Department of Energy released a report yesterday stating that wind power can provide 20% of U.S. electricity needs by 2030. That's right, our own U.S. Dept. of Energy was in on that. Really!

The report found that a 20% wind contribution to U.S.  electricity supply would

         

• Reduce  carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation by 25% 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.

Now that's some great news! Read more about the report from the San Fran Chronicle and the Associated Press. And you can read the full report at 20percentwind.org.

MN/SD coal plant sees a setback

Clean energy advocates got some good news on May 9, when two administrative judges in Minnesota recommended against the transmission lines needed for the proposed Big Stone II coal-fired power plant on the grounds  that “the five regional power companies in a partnership to build the coal-fired plant had not proved the transmission lines were needed and had failed to show that less expensive conservation measures and renewable energy such as wind could not meet any demand for additional electricity.”

Big Stone II is a proposed 600-megawatt expansion of a 450-megawatt plant already in existence in Milbank, S.D., just miles from the border with Minnesota.

 

I Never Said That!

Imagine that one day, you get an email from a blogger asking why you don't believe in climate change.

What? Who said that? What do you think I am, an idiot?

Now imagine that you are a prominent scientist who works on Climate Change -- an expert in your field, but some pro-industry, anti-environmental group thought that you wouldn't mind having your name down on a list as believing the exact opposite of what you've been fighting for in your professional life.

But that's exactly what happened when the Heartland Institute, a prominent think-tank known for stretching the truth (though this was in a whole other league), released a list of 500 scientists who they claimed don't believe in global warming. The problem -- they never asked the scientists...anything.

Kevin Grandia at DeSmogBlog thought he would do the ethical thing.

Kevin Grandia emailed 122 of the scientists yesterday afternoon, calling their attention to the list. So far - in less than 24 hours - three dozen of those scientists had responded in outrage, denying that their research supports [the heartland institutes's] conclusions and demanding that their names be removed.

This is a brief taste of some of the responses that have been copied to the DeSmogBlog so   

I am horrified to find my name on such a list. I have spent the last 20 years arguing the opposite."

Dr. David Sugden. Professor of Geography, University of Edinburgh

I have NO doubts ..the recent changes in global climate ARE man-induced. I insist that you immediately remove my name from this list since I did not give you permission to put it there."

Dr. Gregory Cutter, Professor, Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University

I don't believe any of my work can be used to support any of the statements listed in the article.

Dr. Robert Whittaker, Professor of Biogeography, University of Oxford

Thanks to DeSmogBlog and EcoGeek for the story.

Schwarzenegger fends off the auto industry

Perhaps it's overdone and stereotypical to say this now, but I still think that it cannot be easy to enter a room knowing you have to negotiate with Arnold Schwarzenegger - Governor of California or not. But the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers' Board of Directors met with the Governor Thursday to try to get him to dump his state's stronger-than-federal car emissions standards. No dice, auto industry.

From Schwarzenegger's press release about the meeting:

"Today, I made it clear to the automakers that California will not back down in the fight to protect our own environment by regulating pollution that causes global warming. We will continue to press the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grant our request for a waiver, and we will use legal remedies if they fail to do so.

"Hiding behind the federal government's proposed (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards won't work, and it won't effectively reduce the pollution that causes global warming. In fact, I believe the federal government should adopt California's model; with 13 other states on board, we are heading in the right direction."

And just to back up the Governor's statement about the strength of his state's standards, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released this nugget of truth (emphasis mine):

The California Air Resources Board today issued a technical study that conclusively demonstrates that California's clean cars law (the Pavley regulations) achieves 41% greater total reductions of greenhouse gases nationwide compared to the recently proposed federal fuel economy standards by 2020. In 2020, California's clean car law will result in the equivalent of removing an additional 14 million cars compared to the federal standards.

There's more in the linked release from CARB, details such as how many millions of metric tons of CO2 the state's regulations will keep out of the atmosphere - and much more.

Way to protect the environment, Gov. Schwarzenegger!

Hawaii Gets Even Better With Solar

Just in case you needed one more reason to want to live in the island paradise, yesterday Hawaii became the first state in the U.S. to require that solar water heaters be installed in all new homes starting in 2010.

Solar water heaters quite simply absorb the heat of sun and transfer it to water that circulates through a collector and can be stored in tanks. One great use of solar water heaters is to heat swimming pools. The heaters cost more upfront to install, but can pay for themselves through lower energy bills in just three to four years. One estimate for a family of four on Kauai (lucky) put the savings at $150 per month.

Hawaii isn't alone in making the move to solar hot water. Last year, California passed a law to provide financial incentives to purchase solar water heaters with a goal of installing 200,000 systems statewide.

Arizona goes for clean cars

Yesterday Arizona became the 14th state to adopt California's clean car emission standards despite fierce opposition from the auto industry (which fights just about everything that helps make cars cleaner and more fuel efficient).

Our Arizona chapter and the Center For Biological Diversity released a statement on the success. From that statement:

At least 13 other states have adopted Clean Car Standards, including Arizona’s neighbors, California and New Mexico. Under the Clean Car Rule, each automobile manufacturer is required to demonstrate that its fleet of passenger cars and light-duty trucks delivered for sale in Arizona on or after January 1, 2011, meets an average emissions standard for greenhouse gases. It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by about 32 million metric tons from 2012 to 2020 and will also reduce pollutants that contribute to ground-level ozone formation, a major issue in Arizona. Implementation of the rule is expected to reduce 5,505 tons of carbon monoxide, 892 tons of hydrocarbons, and 1,436 tons of oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) in 2018.

Interested in learning more about California's stronger-than-federal car emission standards? The ones that were denied by the EPA in December? You can learn all you ever wanted to know about it on our Clean Car Campaign site.

This is our Future: Clean Energy

Imagine the world 25 years from now. What do you see?

Efficiency taken to a new level. I don't see a future with dirty, gas guzzling cars, but with efficient high speed trains, public transportation, and beautiful, sparkling buildings covered in the latest in solar-panel fashion. And I think if you ask the majority of humanity, they see the same thing -a future based on efficiency, where technology comes together to help us not only maximize our energy use, but maximize how we operate as a society.

Does anyone honestly see gasoline, cars, and clogged landfills as marks of this clean energy future?

But this technology, fantastic as it may seem, already exists today. Don't believe me? Check out the geeky but incredibly cool technologies highlighted at ecogeek.org. Here are a few examples.

• Blimp wind turbines that can power the most remote locales, even ones with little wind

• A solar powered plane that flies for Five years straight.

• and the High Schoolers who built a car that gets, 2,500 MPG. Umm, where can I get that?

Liquid coal: A bad idea

I saw this Take Action come through my email inbox today and wanted to share it:

Take Action: No Dirty Fuels in the Defense Authorization Bill

Not satisfied with resounding losses last year, coal-to-liquids proponents are now trying to tack incentives for their dirty fuels onto the Defense Authorization bill. Coal-to-liquids, or liquid coal, would cause double the global warming pollution as conventional transportation fuels and would dramatically increase destructive coal mining in our nation.

These proponents are also taking aim at "Section 526," a provision in the recently passed energy bill that prohibits federal agencies from spending taxpayer dollars on purchasing contracts for dirty fuels that would increase global warming pollution.

Tell Congress to reject incentives for liquid coal and to preserve section 526!

Energy round-up

Here I was looking for a good energy article or three to share, and the LA Times environmental news page has it all. You can read the bad news about the huge increase in uranium mining claims all around the Grand Canyon - because people still think nuclear power is the solution to global warming. Sigh.

Or you can read a hopeful story about the anniversary of the deadly tornado that hit Greensburg, Kan., last May - and how the town has decided to rebuild itself green.

Next up, read about the California utility program helping small businesses become more energy efficient. I like reading stories about solutions, and this pilot program seems like it's making a difference. Heck, we talk all the time about how much energy efficiency can do to save money and fight global warming, as well as helping us avoid having to build new power plants.

Happy reading!

More battling in Kansas

The situation apparently changes almost every moment in the debate over the Kansas coal bill. After an override was avoided in the Kansas State House last night, there's word they'll try it again today. Never-ending! If you want to read the news as someone live-blogs the situation, check out the Climate and Energy Project blog. Our own Greg Haegele will have a post up about this Kansas coal battle over on the Treehugger blog later today as well.

Stay strong in the fight against coal, Kansas!

Kansas coal battle update

Yesterday was a busy day for the Kansas legislature. While the state senate did override Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' veto of the two proposed coal-fired power plants, the state house vote has not yet happened. The discussion now is about a trailer bill that is a slight compromise - but really it's about as good as the first compromise (which Gov. Sebelius rejected Wednesday).

In some good news, the "Pack the Capitol" event planned by many pro-clean energy groups Wednesday had more than 200 people show up, according to our own Stephanie Cole!

We'll continue to update you as we get the news ourselves.