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Energy Bills Don't Reach Finish Line In Congress

When oil prices punched through $75 a barrel and gasoline topped $3 a gallon five months ago, members of Congress offered a raft of proposals, ranging from more U.S. drilling to windfall profits taxes to antitrust investigations. They railed against oil executives’ pay packages, and some called for higher gasoline mileage standards. Five months later, long after “Energy Week” came and went in the House of Representatives, Congress is heading home without adopting any significant legislation on energy. Most notably, the Senate and House failed to bridge differences over how much offshore oil and gas drilling to allow on the Outer Continental Shelf, with angry negotiators blaming each other for the collapse of talks early yesterday. Offshore drilling made it further than other energy proposals that came up during the long, hot summer of high gasoline prices. Among the ideas that failed to gain traction in Congress: a bipartisan move to raise mileage standards led by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) and others, and a White House request for clearer authority to set fuel efficiency targets under the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program. The CAFE fuel economy standard hasn’t changed since 1985. About half of […]

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Democrats Call for Bush Investigation for Blocking Climate Change Research

In light of reports Bush Administration political appointees blocked the publication of scientific research regarding global warming and its relationship to increased intensity of hurricanes, a group of Democratic lawmakers led by US Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) called on the Inspector Generals of both the Commerce Department and NASA to launch formal investigations. “We are deeply disturbed by what appears to be repeated instances of scientists at these agencies having publication of their research and access to the media blocked, solely based upon their views and conclusions regarding the reality and impacts of global warming,” wrote the lawmakers. Most recently, reports that political appointees at the Department of Commerce blocked the publication of legitimate scientific research that detailed the link between global warming and increased hurricane intensity and strength. “We strongly believe that research paid for with taxpayer funds should be published, disseminated and debated, rather than suppressed because it does not support the stated positions of the administration,” the lawmakers stated in their letter. “Unfortunately, this recent incident seems to be only the latest in a growing list of actions taken by this administration to conceal legitimate and scientifically sound findings that do not fit the President’s stated […]

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Midwest Farms Reap Benefits of Ethanol Boom

When he’s working on his farm, Jim Casey often glances at the ethanol plant looming over the prairie a half-mile away. “You know you’re making money when you see that smoke coming out of the stack,” he says. Ethanol plants are changing farming across the Midwest. The last time there was such a dramatic shift in agriculture was “when electricity came to the rural people” in the 1930s and ’40s, says Dave Hughes, president of the township board and a farmer who invested in the plant. Casey bought his shares in the ethanol biorefinery for $1,000 each three years ago. They’re now worth almost $4,000 each. Like the other 950 shareholders in the cooperative, he has gotten $400 in dividends for each share since the plant opened in April 2005. That’s not the only way his bottom line is being helped. Casey is selling part of his corn crop this fall to the plant for 17 cents a bushel more than he was offered elsewhere. He also saves fuel when he hauls his corn just down the road instead of trucking it to an elevator miles away. Because of the plant’s proximity, the value of his land has increased. “When […]

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PAM Launches Index-Based, Benchmarked Portfolios

Institutions and individuals interested in socially responsible investing (SRI) that have been held back by investment advisors concerned about a lack of index-based and benchmarked SRI investment choices now have avenues to invest. Progressive Asset Management (PAM) is launching “Progressive Track Investments(TM)” (PTI), the first comprehensive portfolio suite under one roof that is both socially screened and tracks existing benchmark indexes for most major asset classes. The seven portfolios are screened on social and environmental grounds by Progressive Asset Management and then optimized by Sausalito, CA-based Aperio Group, which uses factor-modeling techniques to replicate index benchmark performance. Each PTI portfolio seeks to track the financial performance of a specific market benchmark as closely as possible. Each PTI portfolio may hold up to 150 individual securities, permitting broad diversification within its asset class. PAM Director of Business Development Phil Kirshman, CFA, CFP, said: “We believe there is a place and a real need for both passive and active management strategies in the SRI world. For investment advisors who need SRI solutions but are strongly inclined to use passive investing tools, we offer the Progressive Track Investment portfolios as a unique addition to the SRI product landscape. In fact, PTI is a […]

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Canada: ICP Solar Raises $5M, Goes Public

ICP Solar Technologies, Inc. announced the closing of a merger with FC Financial Services, Inc. (OTCBB: FCFN). The new company will operate under the name ICP Solar Technologies, Inc. and will execute its renewable energy business plan as its sole business. ICP Solar will retain senior management led by Founder, CEO and Chairman Sass M. Peress, and Arlene Ades, Executive VP – Business Development. Pursuant to the merger, ICP Solar completed a $5 Million private placement of common stock, with additional warrants having an exercise value of $5 Million, from a group of institutional and accredited investors. “The successful completion of the merger and our financing represents a significant step in positioning the Company for future growth,” said Mr. Sass M. Peress, Chairman & CEO. “Substantial investments from premier institutional investors in our private placement have given us access to both capital and strategic introductions that will significantly benefit the Company moving forward. The public listing provides the proper venue for attaining a higher level of corporate visibility and allows investors to better assess ICP Solar’s value in relation to its publicly traded peers.” ICP Solar designs and manufactures solar cells and solar cell based products and building materials. The […]

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100+ Members of Congress Urge EPA to Allow CA's Emissions Rule

Following the publication of research suggesting that Earth may be near its warmest average temperature in a million years, more than 100 lawmakers urged the Environmental Protection Agency to allow California to go ahead with new greenhouse gas limits on cars and trucks. The proposed emissions standards have sparked a court fight between the state and automakers, which have said the state is exceeding its regulatory authority by effectively imposing mileage standards on cars and trucks. But the letter sent Tuesday says EPA should approve California’s new rule because the Clean Air Act of 1970 allows the state to develop its own standards on auto emissions, so long as those standards aren’t less stringent than federal standards. Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Clean Air Watch also urged EPA to grant a waiver in a separate letter also sent Tuesday. The EPA has not indicated when it might make a decision about the waiver. California’s new standards start with the 2009 model year and are to be phased in over a period of eight years. The letter says the standards would cut “global warming pollution from new vehicles by almost 30 percent” by 2016. The California rules, though, […]

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