U.S. Clean Energy Policies Risk Losing Lead Over China

Alex Morales, Bloomberg News  – The U.S. government is creating a “boom and bust” in renewable energy investment that threatens to undermine its lead over China, the Pew Charitable Trusts said in a report.

U.S. investment reached $48.1 billion in 2011, largely in wind and solar power, the Washington-based research group said last night in a report based on Bloomberg New Energy Finance data. Those funds trumped the $45.5 billion China allocated to renewables, for lead for the U.S. since 2008. … Continue Reading

Is Solar Power Really too Expensive or Is that Just What Opponents Want You to Think

Example of a centralized solar plant model where everything would be controlled by the utility company - even price.

Recently I visited the west coast of the U.S. and being a resident of Florida for the past twenty-plus years I must say that I was totally exhilarated by what I saw in California, and totally disappointed with what I know to be the case in Florida. Over and over, I saw the rooftops of homes covered with solar panels. Compare that to what is the case in Florida where such a sight is barely nascent. The simple fact is that Florida (the Sunshine State) homeowners are virtually non-existent when it comes to distributive solar power or rooftop solar. How is this possible when you consider the following presumption… … Continue Reading

Winds of change blow through China as spending on renewable energy soars

China's Gobi Desert is becoming a home for its massive renewable energy transformation.

Jonathan Watts (guardian.co.uk) in Jiuquan – World’s biggest polluter spends £4bn a year on wind and solar power generation in single region as it aims to cut fossil fuel use

The remote, wind-blasted desert of northwestern Gansu could be the most unloved, environmentally abused corner of China. It is home to the country’s first oilfield and several of the coalmines and steel factories that have contributed to China’s notoriety as the planet’s biggest polluter and carbon dioxide emitter.

But in the past few years, the landscape has started to undergo a transformation as Gansu has moved to the frontline of government efforts to reinvent China’s economy with a massive investment in renewable energy. … Continue Reading

New Solar Panels Blossomed Despite a Tough Year for the Industry

Solar is becoming very affordable for buyers

By DIANE CARDWELL - Last year seemed like a dark one for the solar industry: Stiff competition from China drove American manufacturers to layoffs and even bankruptcy, while the low price of natural gas and the loss of a critical government subsidy weakened incentives for new solar developments. And then there was the long shadow of Solyndra, whose bankruptcy after receiving federal loans cast a pall over other green-energy endeavors. … Continue Reading

The War Against Oil is Being Won

by Dana Blankenhorn – With natural gas prices having tanked, and the President being given stick on the campaign trail over high gas prices and failed subsidies at Solyndra and elsewhere, it may be hard to see that the War Against Oil is being won.

But it is.

The War Against Oil is a long-term project, begun some years ago, meant to wean the market from its dependence on fossil fuels and create a new era of sustainable abundance. It is at the heart of today’s politics, oil interests having taken command of our politics 12 years ago and retaining an absolute stranglehold on the Republican Party. But this is, in the end, an economic struggle, and what ultimately matters is cost. … Continue Reading

Why Rising Gas Prices Could Backfire on the GOP in November

A gallon of regular is 19 cents higher than it was a month ago and 40 cents more than a year ago. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Eight months before the fall elections, Republican strategists are in a dour mood.

• The economy has begun to gain traction.
• Their leading candidate for president, Mitt Romney, is universally viewed as an uninspiring poster child for the one percent, with no core values anyone can point to except his own desire to be elected.
• Every time Romney tries to “identify” with ordinary people he says something entirely inappropriate about his wife’s “two Cadillacs,” how much he likes to fire people who provide him services, or how he is a buddy with the people who own NASCAR teams rather than the people who watch them.
• The polls show that the more people learn about Romney, the less they like him.
• The Republican primary road show doesn’t appear to be coming to a close any time soon.
• Together, Bob Kerrey’s announcement that he will get into the Senate contest in Nebraska and the news that Olympia Snowe is retiring from the Senate in Maine, massively increase Democratic odds of holding onto the control of the Senate.
• The Congress is viewed positively by fewer voters than at any time in modern history — and two-thirds think the Republicans are completely in charge.
• Worse yet, the polling in most presidential battleground states currently gives President Obama leads over Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

The one thing Republican political pros are cheering right now is the rapidly increasing price of gas at the pump and the underlying cost of oil.

The conventional wisdom holds that if gas prices increase, it will inevitably chip away at support for President Obama — and there is a good case to be made. After all, increased gas prices could siphon billions out of the pockets of consumers that they would otherwise spend on the goods and services that could help continue the economic recovery — which is critical to the president’s re-election.

But Republicans shouldn’t be so quick to lick their chops at the prospect of rising gas prices. … Continue Reading

Obama Says Energy Costs Show U.S. Must Go Beyond Drilling

NBA star Vince Carter of Dallas Mavericks hosts a high-end fundraiser for President Obama's election campaign in his home in prestigious Windermere, Florida

President Barack Obama said rising gasoline prices are a “painful reminder” of why the U.S. must develop alternative energy sources, and he criticized Republicans who he said were offering slogans rather than strategy.

Obama, in Miami promoting his administration’s energy and economic policies as the Republican presidential candidates have ramped up attacks on him over prices at the pump, said the U.S. must go beyond focusing on domestic gas and oil exploration. … Continue Reading

China sets up first renewable-energy think tank

China seeks major advancements in renewable clean energy

BEIJING – China has established its first national think tank on renewable energy to conduct research and develop programs and policies, as part of the country’s effort to deal with climate change and carbon emissions.

The China National Renewable Energy Center, launched on Thursday, will also draft industry standards and carry out international cooperation programs. … Continue Reading