Heritage Foundation: Slowing down innovation

Another entry by Emanuel F.

I enjoy reading articles that have a critical argument on environmental policies, and expose me to different ideas and points of view. Recently I read a Heritage Foundation study Impact of CO2 Restrictions on Employment and Income: Green Jobs or Gone Jobs? I couldn’t help wondering how Mr. Kreutzer, Senior Policy Analyst in Energy Economics and Climate Change at The Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis, thinks that “green jobs are phantom job creation.” His article failed to consider the importance of CO2 restrictions in the form of a “cap and trade” and ignored the definition of green jobs.

A green job is not a “phantom job.” A green job is (and I paraphrase a definition that I have heard many times) in essence a job that addresses the environmental challenges of our country; it is a job that does something for people, and is helpful to, or at least not damaging to, the environment.

A New Slogan for Coal

This is the weekly blog post from Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club's National Coal Campaign.

With dozens of new coal plants across the country now on hold because of last week's ruling requiring a second look at carbon emissions, the coal industry is stepping up its game. Already in Kansas they've sued the Sebelius administration in an attempt to prevent states from acting to fight global warming. 

We're stepping up our game in response and need your input. 

Already through our new website and online video at CoalIsNotTheAnswer.org, tens of thousands of people have learned the truth about coal - revealing the reality behind the coal industry’s slick $40 million advertising campaign that masks the harmful and polluting nature of coal-fired power plants.

Now it's time to take the truth about coal to the masses. As part of our campaign to rebut the coal industry's misleading claims, we need your help coming up with a new slogan for coal.

It's easy, just go to CoalIsNotTheAnswer.org and enter your submission. If we like your idea, we'll use it in an upcoming advertising campaign. In fact, we'll be using a lot of entries.

The best entries will be featured prominently on a mobile billboard sent around D.C. and straight to the coal industry's headquarters. (Don't worry we've made sure our campaign is carbon-neutral, which is more than we can say about the coal industry!)

Some of my favorites thus far are:

Coal: 19th Century Solutions for 21st Century problems
Coal: It's the Same Old Soot
Clean Coal Is Just Dirty Business
COAL: Contaminating Our Air & Lungs

Now it's your turn – Go check out the submissions and enter one of your own today.

11/18 Energy Blog Roundup and Open Thread

It's Nithin, back from my long slumber. This is a new weekly post I'll be doing that highlights the best on energy blogging through the netroots. Enjoy, and please add your favorite suggestions in the comments section.

Canada Opens Largest Wind Energy Farm - Ecogeek.org

Bad News for Big Oil - DeSmogBlog. Tar Sands, aka the extraction of oil from rock, currently giving liquid coal a run for its money as the dirtiest fuel in existence, does not have a terribly bright future, thankfully.

Did you see President Elect Obama's speech yet (see below). You can read Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope's take on it here.

This is officially an open thread - comment away!

Obama Speaks to Global Climate Summit

Did you see President-Elect Obama's speech to the Governors' Global Climate Summit in California today? Very enjoyable. Here's the video, or you can go read the transcript on this blog (scroll down). Details are also available on the Change.gov website.

News: Coal Plants Must Limit CO2

Major news came down late yesterday, as the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) ruled that EPA had no valid reason for refusing to limit from new coal-fired power plants the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming.  The decision means that all new and proposed coal plants nationwide must go back and address their carbon dioxide emissions.

This decision stemmed from the Sierra Club going before the Environmental Appeals Board in May of 2008 to request that the air permit for Deseret Power Electric Cooperative’s proposed waste coal-fired power plant in Utah be overturned because it failed to require any controls on carbon dioxide pollution. Deseret Power’s 110 MW Bonanza plant would have emitted 3.37 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Read more about the decision in this Associated Press article.

Coal Pollution Knows No Boundaries

This is the weekly blog post from Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club's National Coal Campaign.

With the weak enforcement of environmental and health regulations by the Bush administration - and the ever growing list of last minute rollbacks - it is no wonder that  many states continue to take action into their own hands. Related to new coal plants, the Attorneys General in both South Carolina and New Jersey have spoken out against new coal-fired power plants in their state.

But more recently - a consortium of Northeastern states have found an interesting way to make the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforce Clean Air Act rules in other states: use the Clean Water Act to go after mercury emissions.

Great Energy News of the Week

We have two great energy stories to report from this week, one from Ohio and one from Wisconsin.

First up - A settlement was reached in Ohio with Duke Energy, one that will benefit both consumers and the company.

The settlement, which has not yet been approved by the state Public Utilities Commission but is expected to be soon, gives Duke a financial incentive to achieve greater efficiency than is required by the state. According to Nachy Kanfer of the Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club, this settlement also gives Duke a substantial financial disincentive for not meeting those requirements.

Energy News From the Week

Here is the energy news that caught my eye this week.

If you read yesterday's post from Bruce and Mary Anne, then check out this good article from Grist about how the environmental groups are viewing the new administration. (Our own Greg Haegele will have a post up soon on Treehugger.com about our "what's next" post-election plans, too) And one more thing - clean energy was on Americans' minds as they voted this week - check out our polling info.

Looks like more Utah wilderness may be opened up to oil drilling - see this NY Times editorial on the issue.

CNN Money talked about why clean energy is still a good bet. Quotes of note:

"The world is industrializing, and with that comes a great demand for all natural resources - clean water, energy and materials," (Alan Salzman of Vantage Point Venture Partners) says. "A billion and a half people have no electricity. Do we really think that's going to continue?"

As for the shortage of capital that threatens some startups,  Salzman says: "Any addition to energy capacity takes capital. If you're going to put an offshore drilling rig on the continental shelf, that's expensive. If you are building a nuclear plant, your costs are in the billions. It's really a question of the choices that we as a society make."

And then finally - good and bad news on the coal front. First up, a coal-fired power plant in Iowa says its investing $30 million in emissions reductions. Unfortunately, though, we still have other coal-fired power plants moving through the approval process, which will negate emissions reductions - like this plant in Arkansas.

Voters Not Conned By Coal

This is the weekly post from Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club National Coal Campaign. This week's post was co-written by Mary Anne Hitt, the new deputy director of the National Coal Campaign.

Wow - what an amazing and transformational time to be an American. Whether you have been voting for decades or you have just voted for the first time, the election of Barack Obama marks an incredible new chapter in the history of our nation, our planet, and our energy future.

In the midst of this renewed spirit of possibility and hope, it is worth noting that in the 11th hour of the Presidential election, as John McCain and Sarah Palin were making their last-ditch attempt to win swing states in America's heartland, they picked one final issue that they hoped would turn those states red. Of all the issues facing the nation - the economy, health care, the war in Iraq - which issue did the McCain campaign choose as its Hail Mary, its last hope to win the election?

Coal.

Did you notice something else?

It didn't work.

The Financial Crisis...or Global Warming?

Now that the election is over, the tasks for the new administration are numerous. News articles as of late are discussing whether concerns about the global economic crisis are trumping those wanting to end global warming.

Some in Congress have said the green bubble has burst. Time magazine also recently ran an article saying that the public also really has no idea the battle ahead of them when it comes to solving global warming.

What are your thoughts? Do you think we still have not only the time, but also the “know-how” to tackle global warming?

Noted climate expert Nicholas Stern weighed in last month with his thoughts:

"The risk consequences of ignoring climate change will be very much bigger than the consequences of ignoring risks in the financial system," said Stern, a former British Treasury economist, who released a seminal report in 2006 that said inaction on emissions blamed for global warming could cause economic pain equal to the Great Depression.

Stern went on to echo the goals of noted environmentalist Van Jones, saying that investing in clean energy can create jobs:

"The lesson that we can draw out from this recession, is that you can boost demand in the best way possible by focusing on low carbon growth in future," Stern said, including greater public spending on mass public transport, energy and green technologies.

So what do you think? How can we blend the solutions to the financial crisis with those related to global warming?

(And just to clarify, the Sierra Club believes in the AND here. There's no need to choose between solving the economic problems and global warming, the solutions are intertwined. Investing in clean energy fights global warming AND creates jobs. See here for more info. We just want to know what your solution ideas are!)