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Down to the wire for Senate package
Senators from both parties are scrambling to save the bipartisan energy package from collapsing under the political weight of the Flint, Mich., drinking water crisis. With the Senate scheduled to move on to other business tomorrow morning, key senators huddled on the floor last night to talk strategy for providing federal assistance for Flint — a key demand of Democrats, who filibustered a pair of procedural motions for the underlying energy bill (S. 2012) last week to maintain leverage on the issue. [ read more … ]
White House details massive clean-tech spending plan
The White House outlined a sweeping plan this weekend to double clean energy research spending over five years as part of a global effort to fight climate change. The massive proposal — which involves 12 federal agencies and envisions a 20 percent increase in energy research and development in the president’s coming budget — is meant to be the meat on the bones of the “Mission Innovation” initiative launched at last year’s climate talks in Paris. [ read more … ]
Obama’s spending blueprint aims for ‘green’ legacy
President Obama will deliver his final budget proposal today, which will seek to cement his environmental legacy with billions of dollars in clean energy investments and by building on the global climate deal struck in Paris. “My budget is going to double our investment in clean energy research and development by the end of the decade,” Obama said Friday during a short White House press conference. “That’s going to help businesses create more jobs faster, it’s going to lower the cost of clean energy faster, it’s going to help renewable power compete with dirty fuels across America in a more effective way.” [ read more … ]
World faces narrow window to cut carbon emissions — study
Humans have only a small window to zero out carbon dioxide emissions that could lead to changes affecting the globe for tens of thousands of years, according to new research published today. The study in the journal Nature Climate Change warned that the climate change debate has focused on time frames that are too short, largely ignoring long-term changes to the ecology and geology of the world. [ read more … ]
EU Installs Record Wind Power as Technology Leapfrogs Hydro
The European Union installed record wind-power capacity in 2015 as the technology leapfrogged hydropower to become the third-biggest source of electricity in the 28-nation bloc. Germany’s market led the growth, installing 47 percent of the 12.8-gigawatts of new wind power capacity across the region, the European Wind Energy Association said Tuesday in an e-mailed report. Record offshore installations canceled out a dip in new onshore machines. That pushed the total for 2015 above the 12.1 gigawatts registered in 2014. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.