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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup: June 9, 2010

DOE: $29M for Weatherization Training Centers Energy Star Launched for Data Centers U.S. Small Wind Market Gained Ground in 2009 Forecasters Predict Very Active Atlantic Hurricane Season DOE Halts Sales of Inefficient Heat Pumps, Air Conditioners ZeaChem Breaks Ground on Oregon Cellulosic Biorefinery DOE Awards $29 Million for Weatherization Training Centers DOE selected 34 projects to develop and expand weatherization training centers across the country – they will receive $29 million under the Recovery Act. Located in 27 states, the projects will provide green jobs training for local workers in energy efficiency retrofitting and weatherization services. The funding will support expansion of eight existing weatherization training centers and establishment of 26 new training centers, more than tripling the number of DOE-funded weatherization training centers nationally. Under the Recovery Act, the Obama Administration is making unprecedented investments in clean energy, including $5 billion to significantly ramp the pace of weatherization in the US. These training programs will support a range of public and private energy efficiency efforts, including DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program. That program has funded weatherization of nearly 200,000 homes since last February, using both Recovery Act and annual program funds. See the DOE press release and the Web site […]

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Lessons from the Agonizing Oil Spill

by Rona Fried, Ph.D. Before the catastrophic BP oil drilling failure, polls showed that Americans favored oil drilling as a safe way to increase our energy independence. This was after decades of polls trending in the opposite direction. Are Americans learning something from this? I submit that Americans have become too trusting and complacent toward multinational corporations – will this be a wake-up call? Since the Obama Administration came into office, we’ve seen stark reminders of corporate greed and lack of appropriate regulatory oversight in just about every industry – the recent coal mining accidents, the outrageous behavior of Wall Street firms, a health care industry that raises premiums 40% even in the face of regulation, and now, an oil industry that proves it’s completely unprepared to deal with an accident. It’s bad enough that BP has no idea how to stop or contain the oil spill, but why couldn’t they and/or the US government protect the shorelines and wetlands from the inevitable drift of oil? Is it too much to ask that before oil drilling is approved that a plan be in place to prevent it from reaching our shores (and skimmed immediately from the water)? Is it too […]

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