April 16, 2010

Before his inaugural, Barack Obama spoke of healing the country's divisions and of lifting its spirits. But more than a year later, those lines have become entrenched, best illustrated by the bitter healthcare vote. That has left an irreconcilable gash between the two parties that might make future agreements impossible.

But the recent acrimony will not deter the president from tackling another contentious subject: climate change. His political tactics, however, will evolve. Instead of relying on floor leaders to push through his policies, the president is working in advance of a vote to make key concessions to opponents.

Below are a few letters received at EnergyBiz Insider on topics that appeared in the past few weeks. They capture the essence of how many readers say they feel.
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April 14, 2010

Some clouds have lifted but the solar energy still has to contend with rough weather ahead. Industry advocates say that less restrictive financing and more access to public lands would brighten their day.

The industry, in truth, has grown exponentially and continued to win a goodly share of the venture capital dollars entering clean energy markets. But it remains a tiny sliver of the overall electricity mix, pushing the sector to ask more of its government by allowing it to develop utility-scale solar energy projects on public lands and to speed up loan guarantees promised in the stimulus bill to such plants.

April 12, 2010

Nuclear energy development in this country is getting a big boost now that the nuclear loan guarantees are being processed. Southern Co., which snagged the first $8 billion of what will be $54 billion pie, still has to wait about a year for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to okay its license application.

As part of his green agenda whereby the country rescues itself from economic despair and the hazards of climate change, President Obama has started to come on strong for nuclear energy that has relatively few greenhouse gases associated with it. It's a simple but realistic equation: Besides coal, nuclear energy is the only other source of base-load power that can run continuously and serve large populations. By guaranteeing the loans, the government has agreed to pay them off if any private builder should default.

April 09, 2010

No issue has been as politically polarizing as climate change. With the positions of both the right and the left mostly predictable, the power is now in the hands of the political and industrial moderates.

Legislation to curb greenhouse gases may be stalled on Capitol Hill where the administration has lost its filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. But regulations released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce such heat-trapping emissions are moving forward. That should force Congress' hand, which can either step up and write its own rules or live by what the federal agency is imposing.