The Climate Policy, Renewable Energy, & Sustainability Blog
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides almost $94 billion dollars in direct and indirect spending to clean energy company and projects. See Show me the Money: A Guide to Sources of Funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
On June 17, 2009, I will be speaking in Cle Elum, Washington about how…
On June 12, 2009, the Department of Energy ("DOE") announced that an agreement has been entered to develop the nation’s first commercial scale, fully integrated, carbon capture and sequestration project in the country.
The Project will be constructed by the FutureGen Alliance and will serve as a flagship facility to demonstrate commercial scale carbon capture…
On June 1, 2009, the Department of Energy ("DOE") announced plans to deploy $256 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("Recovery Act") to be used to improve the energy efficiency of the American economy. Three recent DOE Funding Opportunity Announcements ("FOAs") have been issued in conjunction with this Recovery Act announcement. Additionally, a…
The Western Governors’ Association ("WGA") will hold its annual meeting in Park City, Utah on June 14-16, 2009. Based on a review of the Agenda posted to the WGA’s website, the focus of the meeting will be on developing regional and global strategies for addressing important issues related to energy resources, climate change and water. I will be attending the annual meeting this year and reporting on the outcome of discussions on the following topics:
On June 14, 2009, there will be a panel discussion on policies and technologies to address water use in an era of declining water supplies due to climate change. Panelists include: Dr. Peter H. Gleick, co-founder and president of the Pacific Institute; Professor Eilon Adar, Zuckerberg Institute for Water Resources, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Doug Miell, Principal, Miell Consulting; Cameron J. Brooks, Ph.D., Director of Solutions and Business Development for IBM Corporation’s Big Green Innovations initiative.
On June 15, 2009, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff will provide their perspectives on developing large amounts of clean energy in the West and the transmission lines needed to bring it to market. Following their remarks, they and the Governors will have the opportunity to discuss what cooperation is needed between states and the federal government to accelerate progress. An outline of discussion points that might be expected from the Governors during this session could include topics addressed in the letter dated May 1, 2009 from the WGA to the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.Continue Reading Annual Meeting of the Western Governors’ Association: June 14-16, 2009, Park City, Utah
Late last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) and the State of Washington signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to coordinate their review of hydrokinetic energy projects in Washington state waters. The MOU is intended to reduce some of the regulatory barriers associated with siting and permitting such projects, while also ensuring that projects…
Query this: the California legislature has passed the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) and Senate Bill 97, making it clear that the impact of a project’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has to analyzed under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Your project is one GHG source among literally thousands of sources in California contributing to global climate change. There is no recognized CEQA threshold of significance for GHG emissions. We’re months away from having new CEQA Guidelines adopted under SB 97, but, in any case, the proposed draft amendments to the CEQA Guidelines do not establish a threshold of significance. And yet, you, as a project developer, need to analyze and reach a definitive (and defensible) conclusion on the cumulative impact of your project on climate change. What do you do? Continue Reading Evaluating Climate Change Impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act: Center for Biological Diversity v. Town of Yucca Valley
My colleagues Michael O’Connell and Stephen Kelly, both of whom have a great deal of experience representing clients engaged in energy and natural resources transactions with Indian tribes, are putting on a webinar entitled "Doing Business with Indian Tribes." Since the best private lands are often already spoken for, renewable energy developers are looking …
We announce the publication of a guide to federal clean energy funding opportunities under the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”). Titled “Show Me The Money,” the guide reviews the various programs and potential sources of federal funding for clean energy companies and projects. The guide addresses funding opportunities under the…
On April 27, 2009, the first Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) was announced offering up to $150 million to fund transformation energy research and development projects. These funds are part of the $400 million appropriated to ARPA-E under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Individual awards of $500,000 to $20 million…
U.S. EPA is holding a public hearing in Sacramento, California today on the agency’s proposed rule on mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting. EPA held public hearings on the new rule in the Washington D.C. area earlier this month.
Over 13,000 facilities nationwide, accounting for about 85% to 90% of GHGs emitted in the U.S., will be required…
