Chicago Enviro Groups Want Controls on Coal Fired Plants

Fisk & Crawford Plants

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was presented with a petition on Wednesday that included more than 6,000 signatures urging support for a proposed ordinance that would control the emissions from two coal-fired power plants that spew tons of contaminants into the air in Latino neighborhoods. The effort is being spearheaded by the Chicago Clean Power Coalition

The environmentalists are demanding an ordinance directed at the Fisk and Crawford plants, located near the Latino neighborhoods of Little Village and Pilsen, respectively.  Both plants are owned by Midwest Generation. The coalition notes that Fisk, built in 1903, and Crawford, which dates from 1924, "are subject to more lenient federal pollution limits because of their age."

The environmentalists cite a 2001 Harvard University study which found that pollution from Fisk and Crawford could be responsible for 42 premature deaths, 66 heart attacks and at least 2,800 asthma crises annually.

Chicago's proposed Clean Power Ordinance has not been resolved despite months of discussions within the 50-member City Council. The measure recently was returned to the Council's agenda on the initiative of Aldermen Daniel Solis and Joe Moore, but no date has been set for a vote on it.

Kim Wasserman-Nieto, executive director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, demanded the mayor's intervention to "put this problem behind us once and for all."

The ordinance under study would obligate the plants to stop burning coal to generate electricity and to switch over to natural gas or stop operating.

It establishes that if an installation has a quarterly emissions average that exceeds the federal and state limits, it will be fined up to $10,000 and will have to suspend its operations until pollution controls are installed to ensure it complies with the standards. (Fox New Latino, 9/20/2011)

Greenpeace Needs Data & Application Specialist

Position Title: Data and Application Specialist
Location: Washington, DC

Greenpeace is looking to hire a member for the Data Team. The Data and Application Specialist ensures that users of our three databases are able to utilize the systems efficiently and effectively. The Specialist is expected to develop an understanding of how different departments utilize the data systems and make recommendations and improvements to systems and processes as needed. The Specialist will serve as the liaison between front end users and the more technical team members ensuring that both sides have a full understanding of a project and its goals. The Specialist also will be tasked with producing data selects, reports, troubleshooting user problems, training, and writing documentation.

The ideal candidate will possess excellent communication skills, enjoy learning new things, and excel at problem solving, as the position often requires unraveling intertwined trails of data. At times, the Specialist may be the only person who comprehends all facets of a problem and should be comfortable taking initiative and making recommendations on best practices. Additionally, candidates should have experience working with database applications and be comfortable handling large amounts of data.

Responsibilities

• Support front-end applications for the three database systems that are used by staff
• Develop and improve business processes
• Recommend best practices in data selection and message targeting
• Recommend solutions for data problems in user applications
• Prepare segmentations, reports, and data sets for staff
• Train users on best practices and usage of three databases

Qualifications

• Quick at learning end-user applications
• Able to devise creative solutions to data issues
• Capable of explaining complex technical concepts to non-technical people
• Experienced at working with a large amount of data on a daily basis
• Intermediate skills with data-related software packages. Experience with Team Approach or Convio Online Marketing is a plus
• Able to work independently and demonstrate initiative and follow through

To Apply

Please send cover letter, including where you heard of this position, and resume to resumes@wdc.greenpeace.org  by September 23, 2011.

Andrea Cimino, Recruitment Fellow
Greenpeace USA, Washington DC
202-319-2477

Natural Resources Defense Council Midwest Advocacy Director

Position Description:  Chicago Office: Background:

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a global non-profit environmental organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists. They have offices in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Beijing, China. Their staff of over 350 includes lawyers, scientists, economists, and policy experts work to protect the environment and public health through advocacy and education.

Specific Role:

The Midwest Advocacy Director will be responsible for building public support to advance NRDC’s strategic priorities and our federal, state, and local policy agenda in the region. The Director will work to build relationships with elected officials, advocacy groups, and other potential allies; coordinate with NRDC programs; and will be responsible for the development and execution of NRDC advocacy, coalition building and grassroots activities in the region. Specific near-term objectives include promoting clean energy policies; protection of the Great Lakes; strong mercury, smog, and carbon standards under the Clean Air Act, and robust support of the Clean Water Act. The Midwest Advocacy Director will be based in NRDC’s Chicago office, and will report jointly to both the Midwest Program Director and the Government Affairs Director.

Major Responsibilities/Activities

• Develop and help manage a robust NRDC network in the Midwest, leverage influence of “Grasstop” supporters, allies and affinity groups on NRDC’s strategic priorities.
• Help develop and oversee strategies, including campaigns, to promote NRDC’s policy objectives in the Midwest.
• Foster a network of relationships with elected and appointed officials, businesses, civic leaders and advocacy groups, and build an advocacy structure to affect and influence decision-makers, opinion leaders and policy experts in the Midwest on NRDC’s strategic priorities.
• Work with NRDC’s government affairs, communications, development, program staff and policy advocates in planning and implementation of NRDC’s governmental and policy advocacy in the Midwest.
• Help foster effective connections between NRDC’s regional and national staff on campaigns and programs.

Specific Role: Major Objectives: Professional Requirements:

• B.S. or B.A. degree in public policy, political science government, or related area; Master’s or J.D. degree preferred;
• At least 10 years experience in government relations, political consulting or legislative practice; Excellent interpersonal skills;
• Demonstrated leadership, management, and administrative skills; and
• Excellent written and oral communications skills required.
• Work experience in government relations and legislative action;
• Practical experience with political campaigns, policy advocacy, or public interest campaigns;
• Practical knowledge of energy policy, public health issues, or environmental regulations desired;
• Practical experience with press and/or social media advocacy desired; and
• Practical knowledge of key political figures and issues in the region.

Personal Requirerments:

NRDC offers competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a pleasant working environment and is committed to workplace diversity. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with experience.

Interested candidates may send information to: Christine Boulware at chrisb@boulwareinc.com

Natural Resources Defense Council is committed to ensuring diversity in its workplace, and candidates from diverse diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. For further information about NRDC, please visit http://www.nrdc.org/

Natural Resources Defense Council Job Announcement

African American Environmental Association: 25th Anniversary

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

By Norris McDonald

Today is our 25th anniversary.  We was incorporated on November 20, 1985.  The African American Environmentalist Association (AAEA) is the outreach arm of the Center for Environment, Commerce & Energy (Center).

You can see a listing of many of our activities during that time at our original website, which we converted to Multiply when the original Msn Groups platform ended).  There is more activity information at our History page. My career has been very satisfying.  From my beginning in the Fall of 1979 at the Environmental Policy Center (now Friends of the Earth) until today, the adventure has been incredible.  I started out in the Washington, D.C.-based environmental movement.  Jimmy Carter was president and was just finishing a rough 4-year run.  I shook his hand at the Democratic National Convention in New York in 1980 not knowing that Washington was about to get a completely new makeover.  The Reagan era was interesting and quite the challenge for the environmental movement.  I still remember his 'no standard standard' for appliance efficiency standards.  I also remember the Air Florida crash and the Metro subway accident on the day that I was walking back from the U.S. Department of Energy after testifying on appliance standards.

Well, without sounding like the old guy in the room sharing old war time stories that nobody really wants to hear, the situation today is as exciting as ever.  We are embarking on trying to build biomass power plants in Mississippi, California and in Kenya.  The adventure continues and I am having more fun than ever.  Our team is lean and mean and green. 

I have kept the AAEA small on purpose and will continue to do so.  I almost died from respiratory failure in 1991 and 1996 (intubated for 4 days in ICU each time).  After getting divorced and full custody of my son when he was 2 years old, I decided that I wanted to stick around to see my son grow up.  But I also wanted to continue with my entrepreneurial environmentalism.  So keeping it small worked.  Although I still struggle with a chronic acute asthma that could kill me any day, my son is now 18 and I am still 'doing my green thing.'  Life is good.  Hey, and we just opened a new Center Hollywood blog this week (Also see AAEA Hollywood).  Oh, and if you're feeling generous, feel free to click on our Donation button on our sites.

Remembering Environmental Justice Legend Dana Alston

Dana Alston was 47 years old when she died 11 years ago on August 7, 1999.

Dana Alston, left, was a leader of the original environmental justice movement that started in the 1980's. She was one of the organizers of the first National Environmental Justice Leadership Summit in 1992. She participated in the meetings to convince the U.S. EPA to open an Office of Environmental Justice. She was a committed environmental justice activist and the movement clearly benefited from her leadership. We remember you Dana. And we will never forget you.

Dana Alston received a Bannerman Fellowship in 1992 in recognition of her leadership in the development of the environmental justice movement. The Bannerman Fellowship Program was founded in 1987 on the belief that the most effective approach to achieving progressive social change is by organizing low-income people at the grassroots level. In 2002, the Fellowship Program was renamed the Alston/Bannerman Fellowship Program in honor of Dana Alston.

Dana died on August 7, 1999 at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. Dana was a native of New York and lived in Washington, D.C. She was in San Francisco for treatment of kidney disease and consequences of a stroke when she died.

Her son, Khalil Alston-Cobb, now 17, resides in Clinton, Maryland. He is (or was at 16) a skateboard enthusiast (see videos). Here is how Khalil describes himself on his MySpace page:

"I like Skateboarding, Playing videogames, listening to music, talking to Gurls, surfing the Web, and Chillin wit the Homies."

Khalil is also on Twitter. He has a great skateboarding video on MonsterArmy.com. He is listed on Children of the Struggle. Dana would be very proud of her teenage son. All who knew her are not surprised that Khalil is an energetic and productive young man.

EPA Seeks Public Comment on Strategic Plan

To Move Forward on Agency Priorities

Draft plan will help advance Administrator Jackson’s seven priorities

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking public comment on its draft FY 2011-2015 strategic plan, which helps advance Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s priorities and the mission to protect human health and the environment. Administrator Jackson’s seven priorities are; taking action on climate change, improving air quality, protecting America’s waters, cleaning up our communities, assuring the safety of chemicals, expanding the conversation on environmentalism and working for environmental justice, and building strong state and tribal partnerships.

The draft plan identifies the measurable environmental and human health benefits the public can expect over the next five years and describes how EPA intends to achieve those results. The draft plan proposes five strategic goals and five cross-cutting fundamental strategies that aim to foster a renewed commitment to accountability, transparency and inclusion. The plan is prepared in accordance with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993.

The public comment period begins June 18 and closes July 30. EPA will use stakeholder feedback to prepare the final strategic plan, which will be released by September 30. Comments on the draft strategic plan may be submitted through http://www.regulations.gov/. The Docket ID number is EPA-HQ-OA-0486.

For the first time, EPA is using a discussion forum to solicit ideas and feedback on the cross-cutting fundamental strategies, a new element of EPA’s strategic plan. The agency will use the feedback provided through https://blog.epa.gov/strategicplan as it implements the cross-cutting fundamental strategies and takes actions to change the way EPA does its work.

Information about the draft plan

Sustain Magazine Promotes Green Urbanism

The latest issue of Sustain Magazine reflects current thinking in the area of green urbanism and urban sustainability in our cities. The issue features seven perspectives on the ideal city in terms of policy and planning. This publication (co-edited by John Gilderbloom and Matt Hanka) presents American and Dutch analysis on a range of topics including: equitable development; downtown revitalization; the benefits of bicycling; neighborhood planning; urban morphology; creating aculture of tolerance; and reducing carbon emissions.

Sustain Magazine is a peer reviewed publication, and it is produced by the Kentucky Institute for the Environment and Sustainable Development (KIESD). Formed by the University of Louisville in 1992, KIESD provides thegeneral public and the research community statewide with the tools andthe space to work towards a brighter future. The Institute if a forum for conducting interdisciplinary research, applied scholarly analysis, public service and educational outreach on environmental and sustainabledevelopment issues at the local, state, national and internationallevels.

Sustain Magazine of KIESD

Sustainable Communities Issue

New Book on Environmental Justice By Dorceta Taylor

A new book from a University of Michigan professor explores how the centuries-old connections between racism and the environment in American cities.

"The Environment and the People in American Cities, 1600s-1900s: Disorder, Inequality, and Social Change" was written by Dorceta Taylor, left, a professor at the School of Natural Resources and Environment and director of an institute studying the issue of environmental justice its modern context. Duke University Press plans to release the book this month.

"The Environment and the People in American Cities" provides a sweeping and detailed examination of the evolution of American cities from Colonial New York and Boston to recent urban planning and labor reform efforts, outlining the rise of problems like overcrowding, pollution, poverty and epidemics and connecting them to systemic environmental racism and other forms of environmental inequities.

In its coverage of race, class and gender inequalities, the book includes a dimension missing from other academic books on environmental history. Professor Taylor adds to current research on the subject by exploring the emergence of elite reformers, the framing of environmental problems and the responses to perceived breakdowns in social order. By focusing specifically on cities, she offers important clues to understanding the evolution of American environmental activism.

Beyond the contribution to historical literature on the subject, Professor Taylor connects her findings to current issues in environmental policy. The book grew out of an undergraduate class on environmental politics Professor Taylor taught more than a decade ago. After finding no books or articles examining race, class or gender and the environment in a historical context, she decided to write her own. The project eventually grew into two books.

While all-male expeditions and solitary males who retreat to the woods for months or years at a time are idealized in many environmental history accounts, the urban activists receive no such acclaim or glory," she said, noting that female, working class and ethnic minorities were active in environmental activism and affairs. "In the city, the classes, races and genders interacted with each other to create a kind of environmentalism that was very fluid and dynamic.

Throughout her analysis, she connects social and environmental conflicts of the past to those of the present. She describes the displacement of people of color for the production of natural open space for the white and wealthy; the close proximity between garbage and communities of color in early America; the "cozy" relationship between middle-class environmentalists and the business community; and resistance to environmental inequalities from residents of marginal communities.

Official First Family Photograph

The Obamas in the Green Room, Sept. 1, 2009, with Sasha, second from left, and Malia, right. (Annie Leibovitz for the White House)

What Are You Breathing During Your Hotel Visits?

In July of 1976, the American Legion held a conference at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia to celebrate the country's bicentennial anniversary. Within two days of the event, the veteran attendees were diagnosed with pneumonia-like symptoms. The incident resulted in 221 veterans diagnosed and 34 dead.

In January 1977, the cause of the mysterious epidemic, which came to be known as Legionnaires' disease, was identified as a bacterium (Legionella pneumophila) growing in the hotel's cooling tower and introduced to the building via the nearby fresh-air intake.

The first recognized outbreak of Legionnaires' disease focused national attention on indoor air quality, and thus changing building standards forever. To engineers and designers, the challenge became one of providing a healthy indoor environment without sacrificing comfort or energy efficiency.

According to the International Hotel & Restaurant Association: “People spend 80 percent of their time inside buildings. While energy efficiency is critical to cutting costs and emissions, the indoor environment is the most fundamental element of service quality. Guests want a comfortable environment in order to be productive at meetings and enjoy their leisure time, be it in their rooms, in restaurants, or around establishment premises. At the same time, employees need to concentrate to work efficiently and creatively. To guarantee these expectations, a good indoor environment is essential.”

With the proliferation of the concepts of sustainability and “green”, travelers are making decisions based not only on price, but a hotel company's commitment to the health and well-being of its guests. They want an environment free of airborne pathogens. As time has passed and studies have continued, scientists have continued to uncover additional hazardous sources that trigger headaches, nausea, and dizziness. Additional studies into indoor air quality revealed the existence of radical elements infiltrating the air. From asbestos-stained walls to volatile organic compounds, to radon poisoning, the fact is that now there is more to be cautious of than in the past.

However, when in a poll, the majority of hotel guests stated ultimately only a good night's sleep was a factor in their hotel choice. Yet, many factors affect a person's sleep, including the conditioned environment.

Improving Hotel Air Quality

While many people say that letting outside air in is sufficient to improve indoor air quality, that fact is that outdoor air is also not at optimal levels. This is even further the case if the outside air is humid, which only encourages mold growth. The most practical solution is for hotels to supply portable air conditioners as a courtesy or as mobile room cooling units that guests can rent out. Colder room temperatures keep bacteria and viruses at bay, which is why your hotel room is always set to freezing.

Ensuring that a hotel's indoor environment is one that will keep guests coming back is a never-ending job. From design to construction/renovation to operation, a hotel operator must be cognizant of issues associated with the indoor environment and address them proactively as well as reactively.

The U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC's) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating systems take a comprehensive approach to sustainable building design, construction, and operation, addressing total environment (e.g., thermal comfort, day lighting and views, productivity of workforce, ventilation, cleaning products). In a hotel, it is critical that not only air quality be addressed, but all other factors affecting the guest experience. Although no specific certification exists for hotels, the USGBC and American Hotel & Lodging Association are working together to develop one.

Shireen Shah is a writer with http://www.air-purifier-home.com/. Follow her on Twitter@AirConditioners

Live a Green Lifestyle This Summer

By Shireen Qudosi

What is a Green Lifestyle

A green lifestyle is an ethical commitment to conservation - or just simply a greater awareness of what we're consuming and what impact we have on our environment. Over the last few years, with the rise of a 'green' trend, we've seen a lot more companies not only catering to the green market, but making it easier to consumers to be educate on ways to be more eco-friendly. Just picking up a few tips here and there goes a long way. And with summer right around the corner, now is the best time to see what little hidden eco trolls lurk in the habits we've developed over the years.

Fueling your BBQ

Nothing says summer like a BBQ. It's good to know you don't have to sacrifice your time honored summer tradition just to stay in step with Mother Earth. If you're going to BBQ, make sure you use propane rather than wood or charcoal, since propane burns much cleaner. Using briquettes or charcoal creates about 105 times more carbon monoxide than if you cooked on a propane grill - not to mention the fact that those fumes are not only entering into the atmosphere, but directly into your food and lungs.

However, if you can't resist charcoal, consider Cowboy Charcoal. This way, you're not exposing yourself or your family to harmful volatile organic compounds. And if you want to get really nifty, try a using solar energy to cook your food! With the emphasis on green, more and more companies are not only redesigning existing products to be more eco-friendly, but they're coming up with new clever ways to do the same old thing. Featuring several different types of cookers, from a flat top grill to an oven, Solar Cookers completely take away any lingering guilt you may have for flaring up the BBQ grill.

Conscientious Cooling

One of the biggest barriers to a green summer is your central air conditioners. Every time you switch on the central air, you pump out harmful gases into the environment that contribute to the global warming crisis. The more gases that go into the atmosphere, the more we turn out planet into a mini-bake over - creating a cycle that makes us run to our ac all over again. But not only are standard ACs destructive to the environment, they're also considerably harmful to your health.

A smart green alternative is a portable AC unit. Portable air conditioners are mobile cooling units, and unlike their bulky and expensive counterparts, portable ACs do not require specialized installation. Portable, or mobile ACs, are cost-effective, energy efficient, environmentally-friendly, easy to use, and now offer multiple features that makes these little gizmos a must have - especially during summer months!

However the one gold-nugget piece of info that most people don't know is that there is more than just one type of mobile cooling unit. Portable ACs are one thing, but you also have the option of a swamp cooler. Swamp coolers, also commonly referred to as evaporative coolers, have the same effect as a wet towel on a fan. If you're looking to browse smart green cooling alternatives, consider a Soleus portable air conditioner or a Symphony Swamp Cooler.

Don't be a Water Waster

Water is one of the biggest wasted resources during the summer, but there are a number of ways we can just begin to be more aware of how much of this liquid resources we're wasting in even the smallest ways. Starting with the garden, people think because its hotter they have to water their lawns that much more. What's worse, people will water their lawn during the day - big mistake! Not only are you wasting water this way since it evaporates faster (driving the need to re-water), but you're actually killing your plants. Water droplets act like a magnifying mirror attracting even more light/heat to your already fragile plants. What should you do? Wait till late evening or even early night, and water as you would during any other reason.

But along with BBQs and AC's, swimming pools is the third key word that comes to mind when people think of summers. If you've got a pool, think about making a change that not only helps the environment, but helps you directly. Most swimming pools have countless chemicals poured into them weekly. These chemicals come into contact with your skin, your eyes, and are sometimes even accidentally ingested. The smart green move is to invest in a chemical free pool that uses ionization technology to keep your pool clean and sanitary.

There are a ton of small things you can do that will make a big difference, promoting not only a healthy lifestyle, but a healthy environment. Share these ideas with your friends and family and get the ball rolling on your green summer!

Shireen Qudosi is a green expert working with Air Conditioner Home. A premier online retailer of residential/commercial cooling, Air Conditioner Home is dedicated to raising consumer awareness on green issues & promoting both air purification and eco-friendly cooling.

Renewables Conference Sponsored by Envirokinetics

AAEA Midwest Office Director is also president of Envirokinetics, which sponsored a Renewables Energy Coference on September 8, 2008.

In Memoriam: Robert J. Knox

Bob Knox was a friend and inspiration to AAEA as he was to many other institutions and people all over the country.

Robert J. Knox was a founding Deputy Director and former Acting Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice(OEJ). Mr. Knox was an engineer by training and he began his career in Region 4 as a manpower development specialist working on water related issues. He moved to Region 2 where he led manpower and training programs.

In the early 1980s he served as the Director of the Office of Civil Rights. Thereafter, he was the Hazardous Waste Ombudsman for OSWER. When the Office of Environmental Justice was formed in 1992, he served as the founding Deputy Office Director with Dr. Clarice Gaylord, then OEJ Director. Bob spent his last 12 years in EPA working on community engagement activities. Bob retired from EPA in December 2004. In his retirement, he began taking coursework toward a masters degree from Howard University's School of Divinity. He was also a former deacon at the Gethsemane Baptist Church.

Federal Lending For Building Coal Plants Suspended

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has suspended a low-interest lending program for rural electric cooperatives seeking federal assistance to build new coal-fired power plants during fiscal 2008 or 2009. The suspension is acknowledgement about concern for global warming. The low-interest loans are perceived as subsidizing coal plants that emit greenhouse gases while failing to accurately calculate the financial and environmental risks associated with those plants. The RUS has provided $1.4 billion in low-interest loans for coal-fired plants over the past six years. Rural electric cooperatives rely on coal for 80 percent of their power, well above the 50 percent national average.

The last loan for a generating plant was made in 2006. But rural cooperatives have applied for $1.2 billion in loans to cover all or part of four more coal-fired plants, including controversial ones in eastern Kentucky and southern Illinois. The Sierra Club also has a major program to prevent the building of coal plants around the U.S. Yet the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is concerned that global warming retrofit expenses and higher coal prices for rural power generation co-ops could pass the increases along to consumers. Power generation co-ops are separate from distribution co-ops, which in the past have forced some generators into bankruptcy rather than pass along higher costs. (The Washington Post)

AAEA Midwest To Speak At Delta College Earth Day Event

AAEA Midwest Director James Mosley will speak at Delta College located near Bay City, Michigan on April 7 for their Global Awareness Program and Earth Day Celebration. The theme of the event is, "Sustainability: Challenges and Choices for Our Planet." Mr. Mosley will speak about global, national, state and local environmental and energy issues. Another panel will discuss coal issues, which will include industry, state and NGO panelists. College representatives will give a presentation on the Delta College “EverGreen” Green Campus Initiative. Other issues to be discussed include alternative auto fuels, hybrid vehicles, bio-diesel, pollution prevention and there will be a film and a Global Awareness World Event.

On April 8, solar power will be discussed and there will be musical performances. The Student Environmental Club will be available to answer questions and the will be vendor displays all day. Delta College has a 640-acre main campus in University Center, Michigan and additional locations in Midland, Saginaw, and Bay City. This college has over 10,000 students enrolled.

FutureGen Clean Coal Project Cancelled

The Bush administration dropped its support for a $1.8 billion planned 275-megawatt coal-fired plant power plant designed to store greenhouse gases underground, because of ballooning costs. This decision comes about a month after the private partners in the project picked Mattoon, Illinois as the site for the project. Congress appropriated $108 million for the plant that was authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, but the cost of the project has doubled and other technologies could be better. The Center would like to see a conversion plant that converts carbon dioxide into gasoline. FutureGen is one of the most advanced projects for determining whether emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, can be captured from coal-fired plants and stored, or sequestered, underground. The Center will examine whether CO2 to gasoline conversion qualifies for the FutureGen project. By contrast, the FutureGen project is a nonprofit venture that included 13 utilities and coal companies constructing of a plant that would turn coal to gas, strip out and store underground the carbon dioxide that contributes to climate change, and then burn the remaining gas to produce electricity and hydrogen.

The project is a joint venture between a private industry alliance, which would cover 26 percent of the cost and the Department of Energy, which was supposed to cover 74 percent. Half of the nation's electricity is produced by coal-fired plants so dealing with the carbon dioxide for is important for reducing this main greenhouse gas emission that is producing climate change. The cost was first estimated in 2004 at $950 million and the $1.8 billion final cost estimate assumed that construction costs escalate at a 5.2 percent annual rate. DOE has refused to issue a record of decision on the environmental impact statement, which blocks development of the project. DOE has decided to pay the cost of adding carbon capture and storage technology to new or existing coal plants bigger than 300 megawatts. (The Washington Post) (The Washington Post)

DOE Selects "Clean Coal" Demonstration Site

The U.S. Department of Energy's FutureGen Alliance named Mattoon, Illinois, as the site for a new $1.8 billion "clean coal" demonstration plant that will capture carbon dioxide and store it underground permanently. The FutureGen project, which also aims to eventually produce some hydrogen from coal, is expected to be online in 2012.

The plant in downstate Mattoon will be a joint venture between the U.S. Department of Energy and the FutureGen Alliance, a non-profit consortium of coal producers and energy generators. Downstate Illinois has the coal, the geology and the commitment needed to demonstrate this project. The Center supports this project. (Reuters, The Baltimore Sun)

Congress Passes Final Energy Bill

The House passed the final version of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 today (Dec 18) by a vote of 314 to 100. The Senate passed the revised energy bill 86 to 8 on Dec 13. It now goes to the president for his signature. President Bush signed his second energy bill (H.R. 6) and thus leads America into a new age of automobile efficiency. Raising vehicle fuel economy standards is a great achievement that eluded other presidents and congresses since the passage of the original mileage law (Energy Policy Conservation Act of 1975).

President Bush signed his first energy bill, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. AAEA atttended the signing of that historic legislation.Key provisions of the bill include: Autobile fuel efficiency stardard of 35 miles a gallon by 2020, Renewable fuel ethanol use increased to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022, Green Jobs training for 35,000 people every year, Increases the efficiency of buildings and appliances and eliminates incandescent light bulbs by 2015, among others. The new law also goes far in helping to fulfill the goals of the California global warming law and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Iniative (RGGI) of the Northern states.Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate) [H.R.6.ENR]

Ethanol Supports Increase With Energy Bill

The House passed the Energy Bill today (H.R. 6), the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007 on a vote of 235-181 and now it moves to the Senate for final passage. President Bush has threatened to veto the bill because of provisions included that he opposes (Statement of Administration Policy). President Bush supports the most important provision of the legislation: increasing automobile fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, 40 percent more than the current 27.5 mpg standard. AAEA supports the legislation (and administration objections).

Update (evening Dec 13): The Senate passed the revised energy bill 86 to 8, which makes it veto proof. President Bush will sign it anyway if the House passes the revised bill, which eliminated the tax package.

Update (morning Dec 13): The Senate voted 53 to 42 (evidently changed to 59 to 40), which fails to get the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture and close debate, effectively killing the measure. The Senate will try to rework the bill for passage before Congress adjourns. The bill failed largely because of the provision to pay for the renewables items with ending about $13 billion in tax breaks for oil companies over 10 years.

Energy Tax Incentives Package: The new $21 billion tax incentives package measured over 10 years includes 1) $2.8 billion in incentives for energy efficient products, 2) a $993 million credit for plug-in vehicles and 3) more than $7 billion in incentives for renewable fuels.

KEY PROVISIONS OF THE ENERGY BILL

1) Fuel Efficiency. The new stardard would be 35 miles a gallon by 2020.
2) Renewable Energy. Electric utilities would be required to use renewable energy sources for at least 15 percent of their power generation.
3) Taxes. A $21 billion package of tax incentives.
4) Efficiency Standards. Incandescent light bulbs would be eliminated by 2015.
5) Renewable Fuels. Ethanol use would be increased to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022. (The Washington Post)

* Eliminated