Energetics Cliff Notes - Tuesday Edition

A note to my readers: some of you may have noticed my recent contributions to WattHead - Energy News and Commentary and the Americans for Energy Leadership Blog. For those interested, be sure to follow my future posts on these excellent new sites, and check out what other authors have to say. Now on to the news...

• Elizabeth McGowan thinks that GOP victories in November could actually benefit climate/energy policy, if a newly balanced Washington power structure moves past cap-and-trade.
• Despite global temperatures and increasing extreme weather, 2010 is a banner year for climate skepticism.
• The Solar on the White House campaign was officially defeated this week, with Secret Service concerns about rooftop installations trumping climate symbolism.
• PG&E's market capitalization fell by $1.2 billion following the San Bruno natural gas explosion.
• A new study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) says offshore wind resources have the potential to quadruple US energy needs.
• Dan Froomkin presents a case of industry capture of federal inspectors by the oil industry.
• Dan Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at UC Berkeley, is joining the World Bank as its Chief Technical Specialist for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.
• The AGs from Nebraska, Alabama, Texas and North Dakota are preparing lawsuits challenging California's AB 32 on the premise that it violates the Interstate Commerce stipulations of the U.S. Constitution.
• Today is the 40th anniversary of the Clean Air Act and the 50th anniversary of OPEC.
• This is one of the more ridiculous things I've seen lately.

Energetics Cliff Notes - Tuesday Edition

• The Atlantic provides graphics that depict the frightening scale of the oil slick in the Gulf, courtesy of Google Earth.
• The California Public Utilities Commission has unveiled SASH, a program to help low-income households install solar systems to their rooftops.
• PG&E has acknowledged that thousands of its Smart Meters are providing inaccurate billing information.
• David Zetland at Aguanomics discusses the human right to water (spoiler: he's not a fan).
• The White House is cracking down on the Minerals Management Service, the government agency that was at least partly responsible for the Gulf Spill (industry capture!).
• The New York Times' Room for Debate is always illuminating, and this time they take on the Gulf Spill.
• Krugman lends his voice to the chorus on the Spill.
• Roger Pielke Jr. discusses the modus operandi of climate action in response to a letter from 255 scientists.
• Fred Palmer of Peabody Coal calls burning fossil fuels "the Lord's work."
• The House recently passed Home Star, a $6 billion rebate program for energy efficiency.

Energetics Cliff Notes - Tuesday Edition

• More on yesterday's coal mine explosion from HuffPost.
• Mother Jones calls for more transit investment from any climate/energy bill.
• Mostly by way of CO₂ emissions' impact on ocean acidification, the EPA is considering regulating those emissions through the Clean Water Act.
• This infographic map shows apparent correlation between mountaintop removal sites and poverty rate.
• Wired has a piece on the potential of offshore wind to power the entire Atlantic seaboard.
• Two Prop 16 stories: one op-ed on why PG&E is so afraid of public power; and another on the massive amount of money PG&E is throwing behind the ballot initiative.
• A subject for a future post: positive signs from the ashes of Copenhagen.
• Check out @googlepubpolicy on #dctalks over consumer energy use/data.
• Yet more loaded language attached to energy-climate discourse: DoD calls climate change an "instability accelerant."

Energetics quote-of-the-week:

"By giving people the ability to monitor and manage their energy consumption, for instance, via computers, phones or other devices, we can unleash the forces of innovation in homes and businesses."

- letter to the Obama administration signed by Google, AT&T, Intel and others

Prop 16 Update

From Calitics:

The CA State Association of Counties said NO to Prop 16, the PG&E Hidden Agendas Scheme. The law would require a 2/3 vote of the people to allow a community to start a community choice aggregation (CCA) programs. They're planning on spending $35 million to pass the measure.