March 24, 2010

Some in the power sector have unclean hands. A nonpartisan environmental group has published a report detailing the industry's mercury emissions and noting that the biggest emitters of them have not yet installed some commercially-available technologies that would cut those pollutants.

While the criticism heaped on certain utilities is deserved, many others are taking action to curb their mercury emissions. Even the Environmental Integrity Project, which released its annual assessment of the industry's mercury emissions, says that overall those pollutants dropped by 4.7 percent between 2007 and 2008 -- the latest timeframe for which the group has collected data from the Environmental Protection Agency. But it hastens to add that those same emissions increased at 27 of the worst 50 coal plants.

March 12, 2010

Getting power generation projects permitted is a headache. That includes wind and solar. But a clever idea is now making headway -- to place such green facilities on land that is now contaminated.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory are now evaluating just how feasible it is to build renewable generation on dirtied lands. The thinking is that these disturbed properties are abundant and located in all 50 states -- typically with the infrastructure already in place and near the population centers that must be served by the electricity. And obviously, the opposition to building in these places would be far less than in unspoiled areas.

January 20, 2010

The utility culture is mixed. And with varied viewpoints, each is pushing Congress to enact their brand of climate legislation.

But a central message that runs through the assorted arguments is that any final laws should keep cost under control. As such, most utility groups favor giving away most of the initial allocations that would allow them to exceed carbon emission limits while at the same time, passing along any revenue gains from the sale of those credits to consumers.

Sunday, 03 January 2010

President Obama and the United States Environmental Protection Agency are gearing up to put the nation on a low-carbon diet and their strategy would do Weight Watchers proud: Count first, cut later.

The counting began Jan. 1, when some 10,000 companies and other entities, including municipalities and even some universities, must start measuring their greenhouse gas emissions.

And while it's uncertain when mandatory cuts will be announced -- and whether Congress or the EPA will act first -- the law firm of Plunkett Cooney said polluters might want to start dieting sooner rather than later because their GHG emissions, down to the plant level, will become part of the public record after March 31, 2011.

January 04, 2010

The New Year is ringing in renewed hope. And so it is with the framers of the most recent global climate change accord. And while those advocates for change have fallen short of winning approval to make immediate and deep cuts in carbon emissions, they are vowing to continue their fight into 2010.

With 192 nations having joined the Copenhagen talks, firm obligations were always considered elusive. Most in the global community did express the desire to gradually transform their energy production. But only a core element made the steadfast pledge to notably reduce their carbon emissions. As such, the parties will keep working and striving to reach the air quality standards that they say are necessary.