The Los Angeles Times

By Marla Dickerson

Published: January 25, 2009

 

Note to President Obama: Energy efficiency and clean technology can help jump-start the U.S. economy. That's the message of a report released today by Next 10, a nonprofit research group in Palo Alto, which says California's experience underscores how the green sector is emerging as a key component of growth. Among the findings: Green-collar jobs are growing faster than statewide employment.

The New York Times

By Stephanie Rosenbloom and Michael Barbaro

Published: January 25, 2009

 

It was billed the Choice Meeting: a secret two-day conference in Arkansas in 2005 pairing Wal-Mart Stores, a symbol of scorched-earth global capitalism, with some of the nation’s most influential environmentalists. And it began with a zinger. “Tell me why I should care about an endangered mouse in Arizona?” asked H. Lee Scott Jr., the retail giant’s chief executive, only partly in jest.

The Wall Street Journal

By Stephen Power

Published: January 24, 2009

 

The state of California and the automobile industry are pressing the Obama administration to decide whether states may impose their own limits on autos' greenhouse-gas emissions, an issue that pits President Barack Obama's allies in the labor and environmental movements against one another.

The Wall Street Journal

By Shikha Dalmia and Henry Payne

Published: January 24, 2009

 

The curtain comes down this week on the 2009 Detroit International Auto Show -- and with it likely on the American auto industry as we know it. This might turn out to be a watershed year when some of the industry's big players permanently shift gears from serving ordinary car buyers to serving the grand designs of central planners. The only other time that the industry subordinated its customers to the government was World War II.

The New York Times

By J. Wayne Leonard

Published: January 24, 2009

 

During Senate hearings on his nomination as secretary of energy, Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate physicist, reiterated his and President Obama’s support for a cap-and-trade program as a cost-effective method to address climate change. Under such a program, a limit is set on emissions, and polluters can emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases only by obtaining permits.

The Tennessean

Published: January 24, 2009

 

Friday's balmy temperatures notwithstanding, it is cold outside this winter. For many folks, it also is cold inside. Higher energy costs, unusually low temperatures in November and December and the down economy have conspired to hammer natural gas and electricity customers. At Nashville Electric Service, the largest electricity distributor in Middle Tennessee, customer call lines were increased nearly 50 percent to handle the high volume of calls and complaints.

The Tennessean

By Decosta Jenkins

Published: January 24, 2009

 

At NES, we understand that these are difficult economic times for our customers. That is why we are committed not only to working with customers on a case-by-case basis to ensure that their power stays on this winter, but also to educating all customers about how they can conserve energy and reduce their electricity costs.

The Tennessean

By Howard Switzer

Published: January 24, 2009

 

It's being called a huge environmental disaster but, unlike Katrina, the TVA coal ash pond dam collapse disaster was not caused by the environment. Rather, this disaster was caused by the continued use of a dirty, poisonous fuel used in an outdated and inefficient mode of energy production — coal. Earthen dams holding the toxic materials from burning coal fail all the time.

Reuters

By Scott Malone

Published: January 24, 2009

 

Diversified U.S. manufacturers including General Electric Co and United Technologies Corp could be among the first companies to benefit from U.S. President Barack Obama's proposed $825 billion stimulus, but likely will not feel any effects until late this year. The program, which Obama said on Friday could be approved by mid-February, is intended to create or save 3 million to 4 million jobs and help the United States pull out of a year-long recession.

The Washington Post

By Elizabeth Razzi

Published: January 24, 2009

 

Frugality is finally showing up in new home developments. Although the number of new single-family houses sold this year will probably be down about 68 percent from the peak of almost 1.3 million sold in 2005, there will still be about 420,000 households buying new homes this year, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

The Los Angeles Times

By Marla Dickerson

Published: January 23, 2009

 

An environmental group has asked the California Supreme Court to review a controversial power transmission project that was approved last month by the state Public Utilities Commission. The petition filed late Wednesday by the Center for Biological Diversity alleges that the commission violated California law by failing to ensure that the proposed Sunrise Powerlink would be used principally to carry renewable energy and by rejecting alternative routes that would have avoided fragile wilderness areas. The group wants the court to void the decision and order the PUC to reconsider the proposal.

The Associated Press

Published: January 23, 2009

 

New Jersey's largest utility plans to spend $888 million on energy infrastructure and efficiency initiatives it says will create nearly 1,700 jobs. Public Service Electric and Gas Co. announced its plans in filings Thursday with the state Board of Public Utilities. The utility, which has more than 2 million customers in New Jersey, wants to spend $698 million in accelerated investments in electric and gas distribution system capital projects. It also wants to spend an additional $190 million to encourage conservation and create green jobs.

Kingsport Times News

Published: January 23, 2009

 

A new report shows Tennessee could reduce the unemployment rate, reduce manufacturing job losses and increase income growth by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy. The report “Growing Green: The Potential for Green Job Growth in Tennessee” was prepared by the Research and Statistics Unit of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Employment Security Division and released to the Governor’s Task Force on Energy Policy.

CNN

By Matt Ford

Published: January 23, 2009

 

Recent world events have shown in stark relief how financial speculators hype industries up, only to scare and scatter when a bubble bursts leaving the value of stocks and shares to tumble. We've seen it in the property sector, in hedge funds. Before that it was dotcoms. It seems to be a cycle as old as banks and financial markets. But could the next victim be green technology?

Knoxville News Sentinel

By Frank Munger

Published: January 23, 2009

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory wants its energy operations to be as advanced as its energy research. "It's the right thing to do, but it also gives us a test-bed to demonstrate in a real-world sense the viability of these solutions," ORNL Director Thom Mason said Thursday, soon after dedicating a new solar array that is the second largest in Tennessee and will provide more than 50 kilowatts of power to the lab's energy grid.

The New York Times

By Andrew C. Revkin

Published: January 23, 2009

 

A new poll suggests that Americans, preoccupied with the economy, are less worried about rising global temperatures than they were a year ago but remain concerned with solving the nation’s energy problems. The findings are somewhat at odds with President Obama, who has put a high priority on staving off global warming and vowed Tuesday in his Inaugural Address to “roll back the specter of a warming planet.”

The Associated Press

By Mark Stevenson

Published: January 23, 2009

 

Mexico inaugurated one of the world's largest wind farm projects Thursday as the nation looks for alternative energy, in part to compensate for falling oil production. Mexico is trying to exploit its rich wind and solar potential after relying almost exclusively on petroleum for decades. With oil production down by 9.2 percent in 2008, Mexico now is turning to foreign companies, mainly Spanish, to tap its renewable riches.

Reuters

By Ayesha Rascoe

Published: January 22, 2009

 

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday was set to approve energy measures included in Democrats' economic recovery package, even though a leading Republican criticized the bill as too narrow. The $825 billion plan would spend about $25 billion on renewable energy, energy efficiency and electricity transmission.

Bloomberg News

By Jeff Green

Published: January 22, 2009

 

Toyota Motor Corp. ended General Motors Corp.'s 77-year reign as the world's largest automaker after avoiding the worst of the meltdown in global auto demand. GM's 2008 sales fell more than 11 percent to 8.35 million vehicles, according to a company statement Wednesday. Toyota posted a 4 percent drop to 8.92 million. Toyota seized the crown after demand for fuel-efficient cars helped boost sales 70 percent since 1999.

Bloomberg

By Daniel Whitten

Published: January 22, 2009

 

A House panel today approved spending an estimated $54 billion in economic stimulus funds for environmentally friendly energy projects, including improving the transmission of wind-generated electricity and expanding conservation projects. The energy plan, approved 34-17 by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, includes about $54 billion in spending for power lines, efficiency projects, and insulating low-income homes, according to a summary provided by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.