QUICK NEWS, 4-15: ENERGY BILL BY EARTH DAY?; SUN VS EE FOR PACE INCENTIVE; ILLINOIS STUDIES GREAT LAKES WIND; PEOPLE LIKE SUN, HAVE QUESTIONS – POLL

ENERGY BILL BY EARTH DAY?
Senators push for energy bill by Earth Day
Jennifer Dlouhy, April 13, 2010 (Houston Chronicle)

"Offshore drilling is emerging as a major flashpoint in congressional climate change negotiations as pressure builds on senators to produce an energy bill before the Senate's schedule is consumed by a Supreme Court confirmation and election-year politics.

"Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said he and the other senators drafting the legislation, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., are on track to release a specific plan by Earth Day on April 22…They hope to propose legislation that would cap some greenhouse gas emissions, boost domestic oil and natural gas production, and spur new nuclear power — all while still attracting the support of at least 60 senators who would be needed to pass the measure…"

Some insiders say the new legislation will include a version of the simplified Cap&Dividend proposal.(click to enlarge)

"One of the potential obstacles: whether to expand on President Barack Obama's proposal for eventual drilling along part of the East Coast by giving coastal states more power over drilling in nearby waters…They also are considering provisions that would give states much more control over what happens near their coastlines.

"But it could be tough for the climate change negotiators to define a boundary that will please everyone — from oil-patch Democrats Mark Begich of Alaska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana to New Jersey environmentalists Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez…The negotiators will be locked in meetings with industry groups and other senators this week to fashion legislation that could be debated by the full Senate later this spring…"

Will Cap&Dividend's reduced emissions cuts be weak enough to satisfy opponents of the House bill? (click to enlarge)

"…[Kerry, Graham and Lieberman] are scrapping the economywide cap-and-trade plan [passed by the House that would put new, nationwide limits on greenhouse gas emissions and empower companies to buy and sell permits] in favor of a sector-based approach that would limit emissions from electric utilities, a possible new carbon fee on transportation fuels and eventual caps on emissions from manufacturers and other industrial facilities.

"The group also is adding provisions to spur [so-called “clean” coal] and incentives for nuclear power…[in the hope of] support from Democrats who back more expanded drilling and a handful of Republicans who have indicated they could support some kind of climate change measure…One of their targets, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.…[likes] the sector-based plan [more] than an economywide cap-and-trade approach to limiting emissions…But in one more sign of the challenges facing negotiators, Alexander wants any emissions caps to be limited to utilities — and not extended to manufacturers…"


SUN VS EE FOR PACE INCENTIVE
Two New Enemies: Solar and PACE; A program designed to make energy efficiency cheap has pit solar installers against retrofitters

"…Two of green tech's fastest growing segments -- solar and energy efficiency retrofitting -- have emerged as unlikely and in many ways unwilling antagonists because of the rapid popularity of property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing programs.

"Under PACE programs, governments provide financing to homeowners to help them buy new furnaces, replace drafty windows, and fill walls or attics with insulating foam. The loan then gets paid off as a supplement to the homeowner's property tax."

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"The problem is that solar panels generally can't qualify for PACE funding until other fixes have been accomplished…In most jurisdictions, PACE funding for solar kicks in after consumers can show a 10 percent reduction in energy consumption, says Cisco DeVries, one of the originators of the PACE concept…

"That second-in-line status burns solar companies. In many instances, homeowners won't be able to achieve the reductions, solar execs assert. PACE programs are also bureaucratic tangles…[T]he program could cause consumers to veer away from solar…Should they really have to wait to get the best deal until they put in insulation?
Additionally, solar installers claim the justification for PACE -- namely, that the gains achieved through energy efficiency retrofits cost less than putting solar panels on the roof -- has shrunk because of the nasty cost cutting that solar has endured…"

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"Matt Golden, president of energy efficiency startup Recurve, says that retrofitting is effectively in the same place that solar was a few years ago. Solar has benefited greatly from subsidies, like the German feed-in tariff and the California Solar Initiative. Now, retrofitting needs a boost from governments to really get moving…Golden and others also argue that efficiency remains cheaper than solar…[and there is already] a 30 percent tax credit for solar. A 30 percent tax credit for retrofits is capped at $1,500…

"Over time, the problem could resolve itself through mergers, i.e., solar installers will become retrofitters and vice versa. An earlier advocate of the comprehensive approach, Standard Renewable Energy, recently got bought by GridPoint, and GridPoint is now in the process of rebranding Standard Renewable. Lowe's works with Akeena on solar and Recurve on retrofits…Recurve is a licensed solar installer…partners with solar companies…[and] has installed solar thermal water heaters…"


ILLINOIS STUDIES GREAT LAKES WIND
Evanston takes a look at wind turbines in Lake Michigan
Jeff Long (w/Brian Cox), April 14, 2010 (Chicago Tribune)

"…[G]iant wind-turbines one day could tower above the waves of Lake Michigan several miles off shore, generating enough electricity to power the city's 30,000 homes…[The Evanston, Illinois, City Council] voted 9-0 to ask developers to submit their ideas about building the massive turbines…Ald. Judy Fiske said she thinks the city should proceed cautiously…

"The wind turbines-in-the-lake concept has been discussed elsewhere, including Chicago…The request could pit traditional allies against each other in a debate over clean air versus pristine lake water, a new arena that means different things to different people…Some say the super-size turbines would cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide a sustainable form of energy. Others warn the 200-foot structures could upset the delicate ecological balance of fish and other wildlife habitats, create an eyesore and become hazards to navigation and to migratory birds…"

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"The debate also could help sort out regulatory battles over who exactly controls the lake — from the state legislature to the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency…Evanston expects to seek permission from all of those agencies, if the project goes beyond the planning stage. The towers would be built about six to nine miles off shore.

"The idea is so new that the permit process doesn't even exist yet in Illinois or anywhere among the Great Lakes states…Michigan has bills pending that would regulate offshore wind energy, sparked in part by a Norwegian company's proposal to build 200 turbines in the lake some four miles from the shores…And a nonprofit development group formed recently near Cleveland with an eye toward promoting construction of hundreds of turbines in Lake Erie."

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"Chicago officials, meanwhile, began talking about wind turbines four or five years ago…But concerns over the threat they pose to migrating birds ended the discussion…Residents along the lakes need to ask plenty of questions about such projects…

"Evanston, which has been looking at ways to be more environmentally friendly since it signed the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement in 2006, considers the proposal a way to reduce the emissions that contribute to global warming…City officials want to look at all the issues surrounding wind power…Officials are already bracing for possible winds of discontent…The Alliance for the Great Lakes — an organization typically skeptical about most man-made intrusions into the vast natural resource it defends and promotes — is open to hearing what ideas take shape…"


PEOPLE LIKE SUN, HAVE QUESTIONS – POLL
44% Favor Solar Energy For Home Heating
April 8, 2010 (Rasmussen Reports)

"…Forty-four percent (44%) of Americans believe solar energy should become a standard method of heating homes in the United States, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey…Twenty-three percent (23%) disagree and don’t see a standard heating role for solar energy in the nation’s housing. Another 33% aren’t sure.

"Nearly one-out-of-three adults (31%) say they are at least somewhat likely to use solar power in their homes in the next five years, including 13% who say they are very likely to do so…Sixty-two percent (62%) are unlikely to use solar power this way, with 40% who are not very likely to use it in their homes in the next five years and 22% who are not at all likely to."

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"Most Americans see a need for major lifestyle cutbacks to help the environment, but even more don’t think that's likely to happen…Those ages 18 to 40 feel more strongly than their elders that solar energy will become a regular heating source for homes in this country. Those in this age group are also roughly twice as likely as older Americans to say they are very likely to use solar power in their homes in the next five years.

"Over half of adults who earn $75,000 or more per year believe solar energy will become a standard method of heating homes in the United States…Twenty-five percent (25%) of Americans who earn more than $100,000 per year say they are very likely to use solar power in their homes in the next five years, compared to just six percent (6%) of those who make between $20,000 and $40,000 annually."

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"Fifty-five percent (55%) of voters believe finding new sources of energy is more important than reducing the amount of energy Americans now consume. Support for finding new sources of energy has been this high or higher for months…

"…[J]ust 17% of Americans say it is at least somewhat likely that the next car they buy will be all-electric…Voters support offshore oil drilling more than ever, and most don’t agree with President Obama’s decision to limit where that drilling can be done…Nearly half of Americans (49%) favor the building of new nuclear power plants. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are opposed to the idea, and 24% are not sure…"