Blogs from our Contributing Partners

The world’s biggest green energy projects; Cleantech is Silicon Valley’s next great wave of innovation

newsalerts@ethanolplg.com — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:07:00 GMT

(Originally published by Climate Progress, A Project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund)

The U.S. government, desperate to add jobs to a feeble economy, is looking skyward for help: to the wind and the sun.

“We should put more Americans to work building clean energy facilities,” Obama said to applause during his State of the Union address Wednesday. Solar and wind power projects tend to appeal to politicians on both sides of the aisle. They are clean and domestic sources of power, and thanks to this government largesse, they are growing fast.

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Palin urges America to stay addicted to oil - Even Bush wanted to "move beyond a petroleum-based economy," but not Sarah 'Four Pinocchios' Palin

newsalerts@ethanolplug.com — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:33:00 GMT

(Originally published by Climate Progress, A Project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund)

In 2006, President Bush famously said in his State of the Union:

Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. And here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology….

By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past.

On the solution side, Bush was mainly following the advice of GOP spinmeister Frank Luntz on how to pretend you are interested in solving our energy problems without actually doing anything (see Bush follows Luntz playbook: “Technology, technology, blah, blah, blah”).

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NASA makes it official: 2000s were the hottest decade on record, 2009 tied for second warmest year - "In total, average global temperatures have increased by about 0.8°C (1.5°F) since 1880."

newsalerts@ethanolplug.com — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:19:00 GMT

(Originally published by Climate Progress, A Project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund)

“There’s a contradiction between the results shown here and popular perceptions about climate trends,” [NASA's James] Hansen said. “In the last decade, global warming has not stopped.” NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) released its final report on 2009 surface temperatures Thursday, concluding:

2009 was tied for the second warmest year in the modern record, a new NASA analysis of global surface temperature shows. The analysis, conducted by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, also shows that in the Southern Hemisphere, 2009 was the warmest year since ......

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Behind the scenes with the anti-science crowd

newsalerts@ethanolplug.com — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:18:00 GMT

(Originally published by Climate Progress, A Project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund)

This is a guest post by Dr. Benjamin Hale. I’m filing this under humor because I don’t have a category for unintentional humor and/or intentional tragedy.

Explosive, Breaking News!

One of the stranger features about this Copenhagen conference is that so many people involved in the climate debate, from many sides, are all in the same town, all at the same time. Among the people inside and outside of the COP, the skeptic community has come to town.

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The end of deforestation in the Brazilian rainforest — for only $7 to $18 Billion?

newsalerts@ethanolplg.com — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:34:00 GMT

(Originally published by Climate Progress, A Project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund)

In October, Brazil’s President announced, “I foresee that by 2020 we will be able to reduce deforestation by 80 percent; in other words, we will emit some 4.8 billion fewer tons of carbon dioxide gas.”

Now, a new article in the December 4 issue of Science, “The End of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon,” (subs. req’d, abstract below), explains just how modest is the funding needed to beat that goal — “$7 to $18 billion beyond Brazil’s current budget outlays.” And that could mean “the end of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, which could result in a 2 to 5% reduction in global carbon emissions.”

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Obama to meet with Gore today

newsalerts@ethanolplug.com — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:29:00 GMT

(Originally published by Climate Progress, A Project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund)

The AP and Politico are reporting “President Obama will meet with former Vice President Al Gore in the Oval Office late this afternoon, the White House announced.” Perhaps they’ll talk about the former VP’s must-read solutions book — “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis” by Al Gore.

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Chu says U.S. falling behind in clean-energy race; Europeans could save planet for $3 a day

newsalerts@ethanolplug.com — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:46:00 GMT

(Originally published by Climate Progress, A Project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund)

Senator Lindsey Graham, (R) South Carolina: “We believe the Savannah River Site, Georgia, South Carolina can lead the country in this effort to become energy independent.“

… The U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu was on hand to break down the specifics on one of the largest biomass plants in the nation….

Sen. Graham: “I want it to be said about SC when it comes to energy independence in the green economy that we led the nation. That the innovation was better because it existed in South Carolina.“

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India aims for 20 gigawatts solar by 2022 — but is it set to announce emissions targets?

newsalerts@ethanolplug.com — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:56:00 GMT

(Originally published by Climate Progress, A Project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund)

We’ve seen that the “New U.S.-India Green Partnership improves prospects for global climate deal.” But Treehugger has more on the world’s most populous democracy (and the photo is B Balaji via flickr). First,”It’s Finally Official – India’s National Solar Mission Aims for 20 Gigawatts Solar Power by 2022“:

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A Bipartisan Call for Climate Action

newsalerts@ethanolplug.com — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:18:00 GMT

(Originally published by Climate Progress, A Project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund)

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Satellite data stunner: “Our data suggest that EAST Antarctica is losing mass…. Antarctica may soon be contributing significantly more to global sea-level rise.”

newsalerts@ethanolplug.com — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:49:00 GMT

(Originally published by Climate Progress, A Project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund)

The East Antarctic ice sheet has been losing mass for the last three years, according to an analysis of data from a gravity-measuring satellite mission.

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