QUICK NEWS, January 29: STATE OF THE UNION 2014 EXCERPT – THE PRES ON SOLAR AND CLIMATE; THE BENEFITS OF WIND; THE JOBS IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY

STATE OF THE UNION 2014 EXCERPT– THE PRES ON SOLAR AND CLIMATE State of the Union: Text of Obama's address

January 28, 2014 (San Jose Mercury News)

“…It’s not just oil and natural gas production that’s booming; we’re becoming a global leader in solar, too. Every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar; every panel pounded into place by a worker whose job can’t be outsourced. Let’s continue that progress with a smarter tax policy that stops giving $4 billion a year to fossil fuel industries that don’t need it, so that we can invest more in fuels of the future that do.

“And even as we’ve increased energy production, we’ve partnered with businesses, builders, and local communities to reduce the energy we consume. When we rescued our automakers, for example, we worked with them to set higher fuel efficiency standards for our cars. In the coming months, I’ll build on that success by setting new standards for our trucks, so we can keep driving down oil imports and what we pay at the pump.

“Taken together, our energy policy is creating jobs and leading to a cleaner, safer planet. Over the past eight years, the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution more than any other nation on Earth. But we have to act with more urgency – because a changing climate is already harming western communities struggling with drought, and coastal cities dealing with floods. That’s why I directed my administration to work with states, utilities, and others to set new standards on the amount of carbon pollution our power plants are allowed to dump into the air. The shift to a cleaner energy economy won’t happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way. But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact. And when our children’s children look us in the eye and ask if we did all we could to leave them a safer, more stable world, with new sources of energy, I want us to be able to say yes, we did…” click here for more

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THE BENEFITS OF WIND Report: Wind Energy Yields Major Environmental Benefits For New Hampshire

January 21, 2014 (North American Windpower)

“Existing wind energy production in New Hampshire is providing significant environmental benefits for the state, according to a new report released by Environment New Hampshire…New Hampshire's wind energy is avoiding more than 157,267 metric tons of carbon pollution, the equivalent of taking 32,764 cars off the road, while it also saves 70,265,000 gallons of water per year, enough to meet the needs of 2,567 people…[W]ind energy in the state is [also] avoiding 148 tons of nitrogen oxides and 183 tons of sulfur dioxide…” click here for more

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THE JOBS IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY Proving Energy Efficiency Creates Jobs: Seeking A New Standard Method

Casey bell, January 22, 2014 (American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy)

“…The stronger the evidence that energy efficiency programs and polices create economic opportunity and jobs, the greater the likelihood that federal, state, and local governments will support them. Managers of existing programs use a variety of methods to monitor and evaluate their job creation impacts…The problem is that we do not know the best way to verify how many jobs have been created by a particular energy efficiency policy or program…The underlying economic argument for energy efficiency job creation, through both the initial investment in energy efficient measures and through resources shifted to labor intensive sectors of the economy made possible by energy savings, is compelling. However, the lack of a standardized, generally-accepted method of verification is problematic…ACEEE, with the support of the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, DC Sustainable Energy Utility, and Efficiency Vermont, is launching a project with the goal of addressing this issue…” click here for more

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