Posts

Flashback: Obama Interior Nominee Sally Jewell Interview On ‘Green Business’

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo Credit: APRecreational Equipment Inc., the outdoor retailer and the country’s largest consumer cooperative, plans to open its first distribution center on the East Coast–in Bedford, Pa.–at the end of November. REI President and Chief Executive Sally Jewell recently spoke with Forbes.com about the company’s environmental policy, her early career working for Big Oil and why environmentally friendly REI is staying out of the debate in Congress over climate change. (In 2005, Forbes profiled Jewell–see “Uphill Battle.” )

Forbes.com: REI has a multi-pronged environmental strategy–you buy clean power, build green buildings and use green packaging, just to name a few examples. Environmentally speaking, what is the company most focused on right now?

Sally Jewell: We like to say that the best electron is the one you don’t use. One of the key things that we are working on very extensively is reducing energy consumption. We have in our plans, our 2008 budget, to convert between 15 and 20 stores to solar. That won’t take 100% of the energy needs of those stores, but it will be 15% to 30% depending on the market.

Many businesses are investing in carbon-offset projects in developing countries, but REI buys renewable energy credits, sometimes called “green tags,” to promote the use of clean energy here in the U.S. Why?

We consider the use of carbon offsets, or green tags, to be kind of the last resort, where we don’t have an opportunity to directly influence the emissions of carbon. [ The company’s adventure-travel division, REI Adventures, uses green tags to offset carbon emissions.] We offset about 30% of our greenhouse gas footprint by actually buying [renewable] power. That’s better and more direct than buying green tags.

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska Brewery Plans To Use Beer As A Source Of Green Energy

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: Associated PressJUNEAU, Alaska – The Alaskan Brewing Co. is going green, but instead of looking to solar and wind energy, it has turned to a very familiar source: beer.

The Juneau-based beer maker has installed a unique boiler system in order to cut its fuel costs. It purchased a $1.8 million furnace that burns the company’s spent grain — the waste accumulated from the brewing process — into steam which powers the majority of the brewery’s operations. Company officials now joke they are now serving “beer-powered beer.”

What to do with spent grain was seemingly solved decades ago by breweries operating in the Lower 48. Most send the used grain, a good source of protein, to nearby farms and ranches to be used as animal feed.

But there are only 37 farms in southeast Alaska and 680 in the entire state as of 2011, and the problem of what to do with the excess spent grain — made up of the residual malt and barley — became more problematic after the brewery expanded in 1995

The Alaskan Brewing Co. had to resort to shipping its spent grain to buyers in the Lower 48. Shipping costs for Juneau businesses are especially high because there are no roads leading in or out of the city; everything has to be flown or shipped in. However, the grain is a relatively wet byproduct of the brewing process, so it needs to be dried before it is shipped — another heat intensive and expensive process.

Read more from this story HERE.

Senior State Dept. Climate Official Heads to Department Of Energy

/1 Comment/in , /by

photo credit: kevin m. gill

A State Department official who helped lead international climate talks is moving to the Energy Department (DOE) to head that agency’s climate operations.

Jonathan Pershing will begin his new role as DOE deputy assistant secretary for climate change policy and technology on Tuesday, David Sandalow, DOE secretary for policy and international affairs, said in a Friday email to staff.

Pershing will oversee domestic climate and clean-energy initiatives for that office, Sandalow noted. He replaces Rick Duke, who left the agency in September.

At State Department, Pershing served as deputy special envoy for climate change under special envoy Todd Stern. He helped lead the U.S. envoy in United Nations global warming talks for the past four years.

Pershing defended U.S. and Obama administration efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions during a U.N. climate conference in November.

Read more from this story HERE.

Report: Wind Generation Costs Twice As Much As Government Estimates

/1 Comment/in , /by

As lawmakers rush to hash out a deal to extend tax credits for wind energy generation, a new report shows that, once hidden costs are accounted for, the true cost of wind power generation is twice that of what previous government estimates have shown.

“Once these hidden costs are included and subsidies are excluded, wind generation is not close to being competitive with conventional generation sources such as natural gas, coal or nuclear,” said George Taylor, lead author of the report and senior fellow in energy policy at American Tradition Institute, in a statement.The Energy Information Administration reported in its most recent “levelized cost of electricity” that wind generation costs eight cents per kilowatt hour. However, this understates the true cost of wind generation because it leaves out indirect and infrastructure costs which are hard to measure and raise the true cost of generating wind power.

For example, wind generation costs three times as much as natural gas-fired electricity and up to 50 percent more than government estimates for new nuclear and coal power generation.

The Energy Information Administration reported in its most recent “levelized cost of electricity” that wind generation costs eight cents per kilowatt hour. However, this understates the true cost of wind generation because it leaves out indirect and infrastructure costs which are hard to measure and raise the true cost of generating wind power.

Most electricity cost estimates fail to take into account, the cost of keeping fossil fuel power plants online to balance out the variations in wind power generation, and the increased fuel consumption — per unit of output — which wind requires of power plants. Estimates also typically don’t include the additional long-distance transmission costs required by wind, as well as the electricity losses associated with it.

Read more from this story HERE.

Report: Solar Firms Under Investigation for Stimulus Swindle

/3 Comments/in , , /by

photo credit: mountain/ash

The nation’s three most productive solar installation firms are under investigation for allegedly exaggerating business costs to get larger cash payments through a federal stimulus program.

The Treasury Department’s inspector general is asking SolarCity, SunRun and Sungevity to justify the more than $500 million in federal grants and tax credits they got for their work, according to The Washington Post.

The companies in question received payments through Treasury’s 1603 program, which was designed to increase renewable energy use.

The cash grant program pays installers up to 30 percent of the project cost. So by inflating business expenses, the firms would be eligible for a larger payout.

The firms might have to repay the government if found to have abused the program and could face other penalties.

Read more from this story HERE.

Emails Leaked Yesterday Directly Contradict Obama’s Repeated Claim that Solar Funding Had “Nothing To Do With Politics”

/4 Comments/in , , /by

Yesterday, Restoring Liberty posted an interview between Obama and reporter Kyle Clark, where the President was asked a series of challenging questions — something he’s unaccustomed to from the press.

One of Mr. Clark’s questions involved the controversy over the multiple failed loans to “green” energy industries, such as solar. In response, Obama stated, “And these are decisions, by the way, that are made by the Department of Energy, they have nothing to do with politics.” This statement was consistent with what he and his administration have said before on the subject, that all green funding was based on merits, not political cronyism.

In a series of emails leaked to CompleteColorado.com yesterday, Obama’s claim that politics had “nothing to do” with green energy loans was directly contradicted:

In addition to the foregoing email showing that the White House was pushing to move Abound Solar forward – by applying pressure directly on the Department of Energy – an earlier email, also leaked to CompleteColorado.com, confirmed that the Department of Energy was operating under significant pressure to get the Abound Solar deal done:

Americans should be outraged over this latest White House deception. But, as much as the administration has been lying recently, who knows whether anyone will really even notice.

Obama’s Cruel War on Energy and the Poor, Will be Exposed in a Public Debate on Election Eve

/0 Comments/in , /by

Beneath the campaign rhetoric emanating from the Obama White house is a stark policy reality that is harming America.

When President Obama began his term as President, the average price for a gallon of gasoline was about $1.80, today it is $4.20. Many folks don’t remember this and the Obama administration wants you to forget it.

Caged in a government report that said consumer spending was up, administration officials would want you to think it is a sign of an improving economy. But the details reveal the real reason: People are spending more on expensive gasoline.

President Obama’s energy Secretary, Steven Chu, has been quoted, he wants to see US gasoline prices equal to European levels….Interesting coming from a man who does not own a car.

In spite of the administrations crowing about oil production being up, it really is in spite of his policies. Oil companies are exploiting resources found on private and state land. While massive amounts of federal land, loaded with energy resources, are blocked from exploration by the Obama administration.

This administration has blocked efforts to bring oil in from Canada through the Keystone pipeline. As a result China is buying the oil meant to come to our country.

The coal industry, Americas main source of electrical generation, is reeling from attack after attack by this administrations “legislation through regulation.” Due to the EPA, coal operations are laying off workers and declaring bankruptcy, in a time when every domestic job is precious.

President Obama previously vowed he would bankrupt any coal fired power plant that attempted to be built in our country. He also said this would necessarily make our utility rates skyrocket. Yes he said that.

Folks with a lot of money can afford to pay more to fuel up their cars with expensive gas, or pay hundreds of dollars a month to pay their utility bills to heat and light up their homes. But the poor and middle class are already on the edge and every penny increase in the cost of energy to them, might mean a decision as to whether to put food on their table or put gas in their car.

The suffering caused to Americans is barely getting any attention in the main stream media as we approach the November elections. Higher energy costs affect everything we rely on to live: Food, shelter and clothing.

The driving force behind the Obama administrations war on fossil energy, is that the use of it is causing “climate change,” and poisoning the earth….it must be stopped. The environmental industry, which puts mankind’s needs very low on the totem pole of priorities, has the Presidents ear and donates millions of dollars to his re-election effort. So no one expects any changes in the Whitehouse policy if he gets a 2nd term.

But most of the high profile environmentalists and the politicians they support, don’t mind having one way conversations regarding their views and promoting their science in their quest to destroy our fossil fuel industries. But most shy away from a real debate…Have you ever heard Al Gore actually debate a knowledgeable expert and have to defend his “earth has a fever”views? I haven’t. I also haven’t heard any of the other high profile environmentalists defend their positions in a public debate setting, where they actually have to answer tough questions….But that is about to change

In late July, environmentalist icon Bill McKibben–a man who has been instrumental in crippling the coal industry and stopping the Keystone XL pipeline–announced his intention to create a movement to demonize and dismantle the fossil fuel industry. The industry, he declared, is “Public Enemy Number One.”

But Alex Epstein, the founder of Center for Industrial Progress and pioneer of the powerful environmental case for fossil fuels, challenged McKibben to a public debate: “Are fossil fuels a risk to the planet or do fossil fuels improve the planet?”

This debate will be held November 5 at Duke University. It is in a public setting and will have major attention from all corners of the world. A showdown between the environmental industry and the very energy industry it has been trying to destroy. There will be no place to run and no place to hide.

Here is the website that will give you the details and an accompanying video: Debate McKibben vs. Epstein.

___________________________________________________________

Ed Farnan’s articles are also carried in:

Irish Central
Energy independence-Politics & More
Carrollstandard.com
Tea Party Cheer
Tea Party Patriots
AMAC

Even Al Gore Now Abandoning Loser Green Energy Investments

/1 Comment/in , /by

If you are thinking about green energy for your portfolio, Al Gore has a few words of advice: “Don’t do it.”

“Of course he does not say that in public,” says Bill Gunderson, president of Gunderson Capital Management. “Gore’s company still talks about how alternative energy is a good investment. How companies are adopting it, governments are subsidizing it and people are using it.”

But SEC filings from Gore’s company, Generation Investment, tell a different story, says Gunderson, who hosts a nationally syndicated financial talk radio program and writes for MarketWatch and TheStreet.com.

“Generation Investment says it is all about climate change, but it is just a typical investment fund with typical stocks,” Gunderson said.

“It has Amazon, Colgate Palmolive, eBay, Nielsen, Qualcomm, Strayer University and a smattering of stocks from biotech and health care. Not one company that makes solar panels, or windmills or biogas or electric cars. Catheters and commercial real estate, yes. Solar panels, no.”

Read more from this story HERE.

GOP to Pass ‘No More Solyndras Act’ when Congress returns

/2 Comments/in , , /by

House Republicans will pass a bill next week that suspends new loans for clean-energy companies under the Department of Energy program that loaned nearly $530 million Solyndra, the failed solar panel producer that Republicans have targeted as an example of government waste.

Under the “No More Solyndras Act,” H.R. 6213, any similar applications for government loans made in 2012 could not be accepted, and any applications submitted before 2012 could only be approved after a Treasury Department review of the proposed financial terms of the loan.

In addition, any loans approved would have to be reported in full detail within 60 days. Any violation of the bill would subject related officials to penalties, including a fine of at least $10,000 and up to $50,000.

The bill finds that the Obama administration pursued a “green jobs” agenda with the use of $90 billion in program funding in the 2009 stimulus bill, in addition to $47 billion in loan guarantees from various appropriations bills that can be used under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The stimulus bill also created a new loan program for commercial technology, and Solyndra was one of several companies that benefited from this new program. Solyndra and two other recipients of the same program have since declared bankruptcy.

Read more from this story HERE.

Busted! Leaked emails snag NASA’s global warming alarmists

/6 Comments/in , /by

Photo credit: Rob Shenk

While NASA climate alarmist James Hansen insists record summer heat and drought are caused by man-made global warming, leaked internal emails from just three summers ago reveal that he and his colleagues expressed alarm that the planet was inexplicably … cooling.

Hansen, often called the “godfather of global warming,” announced earlier this month that blistering heat across the United States is so rare that it can’t be anything but the man-made global warming he has been warning about for decades.

“This is not some scientific theory,” he told the Associated Press. “We are now experiencing scientific fact.”

But in 2009, as the thermometer hit record lows in America, he and other climate scientists panicked in a flurry of emails: “Skeptics will be all over us – the world is really cooling, the models are no good.”

They lamented that Mother Nature was not cooperating with their predictions that global temperatures would smash heat records last decade. They blamed their miscalculation on sulfate emission trajectories and revised their forecast to show a cooling trend lasting until 2020.