ACORE News

Aug. 3, 2010 -- Despite repeated pledges to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and criticism from some quarters that government support for renewable energy technologies is too generous, global subsidies provided to renewable energy and biofuels are dwarfed by those enjoyed by the fossil fuel industry. <<Full story>>

August 3, 2010 -- Gov. Bill Ritter lost no time in making known his problem with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s draft Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Accountability Act. On July 27, the same day Reid released a draft of his bill, Ritter joined Sen. Mark Udall to urge the Senate to include a renewable electricity standard in national energy legislation.... “Colorado’s renewable energy standard is a proven and successful driver of our new energy economy,” Gov. Ritter said. <<Read full story>>

Aug. 2, 2010 -- There’s no surprise in this, but a new survey by Bloomberg New Energy Finance comparing subsidies  for fossil fuels with those for renewable energy sources finds a glaring gulf — with the fuels of convenience getting around 10 times the advantages around the world as non-polluting energy sources. <<Read full blog post>>

Aug 2, 2010 -- [A coalition of business leaders] ....representing over 5,000 businesses.... [is] highlighting the costs of the U.S. Senate's failure to act on comprehensive clean energy legislation using a ticker that counts, in real time, the amount in which America is falling behind other countries in clean energy investments since the Senate abandoned climate legislation in July. <<Full story>>

Aug. 1, 2010 -- The sweeping energy and climate change bill that Democrats had envisioned earlier this year has been pared down to legislation that would eliminate the cap that limits oil companies’ liability for spills. <<Full story>>

July 30, 2010 -- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rebuffed a challenge to its move to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, saying that climate science is sound in showing that they endanger human health and welfare. <<Full story>>

Bill introduced in Congress is modeled on Germany's success in using feed-in-tariffs to power a clean energy boom

July 29, 2010 -- Inslee’s legislation, introduced late Tuesday night, is called the Renewable Energy Jobs and Security Act. It’s a tweaked version of a bill that went nowhere after the Washington Democrat first introduced it in 2008...In a nutshell, Inslee’s bill is based on Germany’s feed-in tariff, an enormously successful program that many consider the gold standard worldwide. <><<Full story>>

July  29, 2010 -- The survey of 2,502 state residents from July 6-20 showed 67 percent of them supporting AB.32, the groundbreaking state law that mandates a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. In addition, Californians by a nearly 2-1 margin said the state's actions to reduce global warming would result in more jobs, and 76 percent say the state should regulate greenhouse gases from sources including power plants, cars and factories to accomplish that goal. <<Full story>>

July 28, 2010 -- Even as several Democratic senators questioned Majority Leader Harry Reid's assertion that a renewable electricity standard (RES) lacks support, the $15 billion energy bill does not include a provision to require utilities to get a certain percentage of their power from renewable sources... <<Full story>>

July 28, 2010 -- The Senate's small energy package unveiled last night flirts with Republican opposition and turns its cheek to clean-power Democrats. Its first vote, nonetheless, is planned for next week. <<Full story>>

Jul 27, 2010 – In a move that could tip the scales in favour of the US low-carbon sector, Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas yesterday called on the Senate to reinstate the national renewable energy standard (RES) in the new energy bill.
“As we begin consideration of comprehensive energy legislation, it's essential we include ideas that will help drive our national energy production in the direction of more clean, renewable energy,” Brownback stated. “A moderate RES would be an important step towards a cleaner energy future.” <<Full story>>

July 26, 2010 -- Renewable energy financing will decline precipitously next year if the US Congress fails to extend the cash grant programme, financing experts have warned... “The 1603 grant is the most urgent issue," said Michael Eckhart, president of the American Council on Renewable Energy in Washington, DC. <<Full story>>

July 24, 2010 -- This past week the largest semiconductor equipment company, Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT), based in Santa Clara, CA, who also produces solar cell process equipment, announced plans to restructure its Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES) segment in order to prioritize other green energy applications including its crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar and light-emitting diode (LED) technology, while deemphasizing thin-film solar solutions. <<Full story>>

July 23, 2010 -- (ACORE member) Arizona Public Service Co. has entered into a long-term power purchase agreement with Perrin Ranch Wind LLC, a subsidiary of (ACORE member) NextEra Energy Resources, for 100 percent of the energy output from a wind farm located 13 miles north of Williams in Coconino County, Ariz. When completed, the 99-megawatt Perrin Ranch Wind Energy Center will be the largest wind project in Arizona. <<Full story>>

July 23, 2010 -- SunPower, a company that designs and manufactures solar technology, and Solar Ventures, an Italy-based developer and operator of PV power plants, have executed a contract to design and build three solar power plants totaling 11.1MW in the Piedmont region of Italy. <<Full story>>