Ideas
A pair of new federal air pollution regulations could result in the closure of up to 69 aging, inefficient coal-fired power plants, simultaneously reducing both harmful air pollutants and driving a 1.4 to 4.4 percent reduction in total US electric power sector CO2 emissions, according to a Breakthrough Institute analysis.

Thumbnail image for 3 coal.jpgBy Alex Trembath and Jesse Jenkins

Updated: This post was originally published on January 1, 2012. It was updated on January 27, 2012 to reflect the announced closure of six coal-fired power plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.


Two new federal air pollution regulations are expected to spur the closure of up to 69 aging, inefficient, coal-fired power plants, reducing both harmful air pollutants and emissions of the climate destabilizing greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), according to an AP survey of US power plant operators and a preliminary Breakthrough Institute analysis of the likely impacts on CO2 emissions.

According to the AP survey, 31 coal-fired electricity generating units at power plants in a dozen states are expected to close rather than face costly upgrades to comply with a pair of new EPA regulations designed to curb emissions of smog-forming pollutants and toxic smoke stack emissions. These plants are joined by four plants in Ohio that were formerly classified by the AP survey as "at risk for closure" and two plants in Pennsylvania and Maryland that were not on AP's list. These units have a combined nameplate capacity of 15,532 megawatts.*

Up to 32 additional coal-fired units with a combined 9,714 megawatts of capacity may also decide to close, as the costs of compliance with the EPA's recently enacted Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, designed to curb air pollution in states downwind from coal-fired power stations, and the new Mercury and Air Toxics Rule announced this week both take effect.

While the purpose of these regulations is to reduce harmful pollutants and improve public health, closure of these aging plants will also lead to a 1.4 to 4.4 percent reduction in US electric power sector emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), according to an analysis completed by the Breakthrough Institute. These air pollution regulations are thus a prime example of the ongoing success of pragmatic, "oblique" strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

EPA_Emissions_Reductions_Chart.png

Continue reading "Breakthrough Analysis: New Air Pollution Rules Could Reduce US Electric-Sector CO2 Emissions By More Than 4 Percent" »



Contrary to conventional wisdom, biodiversity is increasing in most regions of the world -- if you include the immigrants, that is.

Visit almost any city in the US or elsewhere today, and you are likely to find restaurants from all corners of the world: Indian, Thai, Italian, American, you name it. Clearly, gastronomical diversity within cities has increased hugely over the past couple of centuries. Now go to a city in another country -- and the range of cuisines on offer is likely to be nearly identical. This is a hallmark of globalization: increased diversity locally, decreased diversity globally. As Breakthrough Institute Senior Fellow Erle Ellis and colleagues show in a recent paper, the same phenomenon also applies to plants.

Continue reading "The Other Side of the Biodiversity Crisis" »



Obama's focus on energy innovation and the regulation of conventional pollutants, rather than climate science and carbon pricing, is part of a growing climate centrism that could hold bipartisan support on addressing issues related to climate change.

By Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus

In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama tacitly acknowledged how politically toxic climate change had become by not mentioning it once. His move angered many environmentalists who insisted there could be no significant action without a full-throated defense of the climate science against skeptics.

Obama Energy Centrism.jpgBut one year later, President Obama's shift can be understood as part of a new climate centrism, one focused less on climate science and carbon pricing and more on energy innovation and the regulation of conventional pollutants like mercury. In his 2012 address, Obama briefly mentioned the divisiveness of climate change as a segue to touting his energy policies.

Polls show that Obama's call for continued energy innovation funding was one of the most popular elements of his speech. Meanwhile, the EPA's new mercury regulations—which will result in the shuttering of some of America's dirtiest coal plants—have long been more popular with Independents and Republicans than carbon regulations.

These policies have a growing number of supporters on the right. Last week, John Tierney of the New York Times pointed to a new study in Science that touted the climate benefits of dealing with non-carbon pollutants:

After looking at hundreds of ways to control these pollutants, the researchers determined the 14 most effective measures for reducing climate change, like encouraging a switch to cleaner diesel engines and cookstoves, building more efficient kilns and coke ovens, capturing methane at landfills and oil wells, and reducing methane emissions from rice paddies by draining them more often.

Continue reading "Obama and the New Climate Centrism" »



A "no regrets" climate strategy: cutting non-CO2 contributors to climate change may be the fastest way to slow warming, while yielding significant, near-term co-benefits.

By Matthew Stepp, Clean Energy Policy Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and Jesse Jenkins, Director of Climate and Energy Policy at the Breakthrough Institute

It is time to take stock of our current climate trajectory, and consider what it means for climate policy. In Part 1 of this week long series, we argued that our current climate trajectory means we must 1) redouble efforts to reduce CO2 emissions as quickly as possible, and 2) we must proactively build resilience to the uncertain impacts of a changing climate. Part 2 examined why voluntary economic contraction is a not a viable strategy for reducing emissions “as quickly as possible.” Part 3 explained why implementing a robust clean energy innovation strategy is the key way to making clean energy cheaper than fossil fuels, thus enabling the rapid adoption of low-carbon energy sources and drastically reducing CO2 as quickly as possible. Part 4 discussed why adaptation through innovation is central to preparing for the impacts of a warmer world. Finally, Part 5 discusses how reducing a set of non-CO2 pollutants and greenhouse gases can make a significant, near-term dent in warming and buy time to decarbonize the energy system.

As we have argued previously in this series, averting as much dangerous climate change impacts as possible hinges on our efforts to drive innovation and make clean energy cost competitive with fossil fuels. The cost of decarbonization is the key moderating force affecting the pace of carbon dioxide (CO2) reductions, and innovation is the key to lowering these costs and accelerating climate progress. However, CO2 isn’t the only powerful contributor to global warming, and scientists have identified opportunities to make a significant, near-term dent in warming by tackling other greenhouse gases and pollutants.

While we cannot effectively manage human impact on the climate over the long-run without decarbonizing the global energy system — a task that hinges on the energy innovation efforts described in Part 3 of this series — in the short term, we would do well to seize opportunities to reduce non-CO2 emissions, particularly those with immediate co-benefits (e.g. profitable byproducts, improved public health, or better agricultural yields) that align incentives for rapid action.

Continue reading "The Future of Global Climate Policy: Slowing Warming by Cutting Methane and Pollutants (Part 5)" »



With the rise of global supply chains, manufacturing has been fundamentally transformed. Yet manufacturing still remains key to America's future prosperity. Creating a competitive advanced manufacturing economy requires new strategies and new thinking.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama laid out his election-year vision for restoring America's global competitiveness. U.S. manufacturing figured prominently:

Think about the America within our reach...an America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs...we have a huge opportunity, at this moment, to bring manufacturing back.

Last weekend, the New York Times ran a long and important piece on why one particular high-tech product, Apple's iPhone, is manufactured in Asia and not the United States. The article is part of a renewed debate about how the United States can reinvigorate its manufacturing sector, or whether it even should.

A key part of the article is that there is a dearth of middle-income jobs in U.S. manufacturing. A combination of labor-saving technological improvements and the off shoring of more labor-intensive manufacturing has led to a sharp reduction in factory jobs that were once a pathway to the middle class for many Americans. Manufacturing employment on the factory floor may simply never reach levels of previous decades.
Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Manufacturing Report Cover Screen Shot.png
Nevertheless, as we have written previously, advanced manufacturing remains critical to U.S. prosperity in the 21st century for three key reasons:

  • Advanced manufacturing drives productivity and innovation. Two-thirds of R&D investment occurs in industry and manufacturing is a core component of the nation's innovation ecosystem that is key to creating new technological industries.
  • Advanced manufacturing generates output and employment throughout the economy. It has the largest economic multipliers of any industry and large manufacturing facilities sustain entire communities. Even if manufacturing never supports as many direct jobs on the factory floor as it has in the past, restoring advanced manufacturing is thus essential to America's long-term employment challenges.
  • Manufacturing is critical to improve the nation's trade balance and tackling our $500 billion cumulative trade deficit. Manufactured goods still comprise 57% of U.S. exports and closing the trade deficit will be difficult, if not impossible, without manufacturing playing a key role.

Continue reading "Global Supply Chains and American Economic Competitiveness" »



Obama missed an opportunity in this week's State of the Union by failing to tie revenues from expanded fossil energy drilling to public investments in clean energy innovation.

Obama_Boehner_SOTU.pngMark Muro and Kenan Fikri. This post was originally published at The New Republic. Muro and Fikri are Policy Director and Senior Research Assistant, respectively, at the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program. Mark Muro was a collaborator the 2010 report "Post-Partisan Power" with the Breakthrough Institute and the American Enterprise Institute.

It was good to hear strong shout-outs for clean and renewable energy sourcing as part of the balanced energy stance promoted in President Obama's State of the Union speech this week.

We've long agreed that the "all of the above" energy approach Obama championed last night could be desirable so long as it is just that--oriented to the balanced development of all sources including American renewable and clean energy as well as fossil fuel resources.

In that nexus lies a politically defensible sweet-spot notwithstanding the tough politics of the energy debate.

And yet, the President left out a crucial link in his renewed commitments to both clean energy and increased conventional energy: He missed the opportunity to tie the revenues from fossil fuel drilling permits and licenses to investment in energy innovation.

Continue reading "The Missing Link in the SOTU Energy Agenda" »



In the face of uncertainty, resilience is key. Time to make adaptation and resilience a cornerstone of our climate policy efforts.

By Matthew Stepp, Clean Energy Policy Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and Jesse Jenkins, Director of Climate and Energy Policy at the Breakthrough Institute

It is time to take stock of our current climate trajectory, and consider what it means for climate policy. In Part 1 of this week long series, we argued that our current climate trajectory means we must 1) redouble efforts to reduce CO2 emissions as quickly as possible, and 2) we must proactively build resilience to the uncertain impacts of a changing climate. Part 2 examined why voluntary economic contraction is a not a viable strategy for reducing emissions “as quickly as possible.” Part 3 explained why implementing a robust clean energy innovation strategy is the key way to making clean energy cheaper than fossil fuels, thus enabling the rapid adoption of low-carbon energy sources and drastically reducing CO2 as quickly as possible. Part 4 discusses why adaptation through innovation is central to preparing for the impacts of a warmer world and buying us time to drastically cut emissions.

The door is closed to mitigating away all of the potentially dangerous impacts of climate change.  We’ve simply waited too long to take sweeping action and provide a cheap and viable clean energy substitute to fossil fuels.  In Part 1 of this series, we discussed that even so, the key objective of climate mitigation efforts is still the same – we must drastically cut emissions as quickly as possible (and Part 2 and Part 3 discussed how). 

Yet the warmer world we have locked ourselves into does inform other policy choices. In particular, building our resilience to extreme weather and increasing our adaptive capacity is now equally as important as mitigation and should be treated as such. Advocating for adaptation and mitigation is nothing new – in fact it’s common place. The argument here is that adaptation must now be a cornerstone of all climate policy choices – domestic or otherwise.

FEMA_resilience.jpeg

When it comes to climate adaptation policymaking, a lot of work needs to be done, as it’s still a topic that has been largely ignored by U.S. decision makers. In fact, the most immediate hurdle is for decision makers to stop paying lip-service to the need for an adaptation policy and begin aggressively implementing real resilience efforts.

Continue reading "The Future of Global Climate Policy: Building Resilience Through Climate Adaptation Innovation Policy (Part 4)" »



Accelerating energy innovation to make clean energy cheap is the key to unlocking rapid reductions in climate destabilizing greenhouse gas emissions.

By Matthew Stepp, Clean Energy Policy Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and Jesse Jenkins, Director of Climate and Energy Policy at the Breakthrough Institute 

It is time to take stock of our current climate trajectory, and consider what it means for climate policy. In Part 1 of this week long series, we argued that our current climate trajectory means we must 1) redouble efforts to reduce CO2 emissions as quickly as possible, and 2) we must proactively build resilience to the uncertain impacts of a changing climate. Part 2 examined why voluntary economic contraction is a not a viable strategy for reducing emissions “as quickly as possible.” Part 3 explains why implementing a robust clean energy innovation strategy is the key way to making clean energy cheaper than fossil fuels, thus enable rapid adoption of low-carbon energy sources and drastically reducing CO2 as quickly as possible.

As we wrote in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, our current climate trajectory and global political economy dictates that the only way we can limit potentially dangerous climate change impacts, above the dangerous impacts we’re already locked into, is to redouble efforts to reduce global CO2 emissions as quickly as possible. To rapidly decarbonize the economy requires greatly accelerating the replacement of fossil fuels with low or zero-carbon clean energy substitutes. Implementing the right strategies to do so raises numerous stark policy choices and issues.

post3image-EI.png.png

The most fundamental issue is that energy is largely a fungible commodity – the electricity coming out of your wall socket doesn’t have any immediately tangible differences whether it comes from a coal plant or a wind farm. The only immediate difference is cost. This key reality means that the rate of adoption for new clean energy technologies is largely moderated by two principal levers:

(1) The level of public tolerance for paying for the cost of cleaner energy in the form of higher energy costs, subsidies, or reduced economic welfare; and

(2) The cost competitiveness of clean energy compared to fossil fuels.

Continue reading "The Future of Global Climate Policy: Clean Energy Innovation Imperative (Part 3)" »



CNN's sloppy fact-checking leads them to draw blatantly false conclusions on the history of the shale gas revolution.

cnn.jpeg"They did a hell of a lot of work, and I can't give them enough credit for that. DOE started it, and other people took the ball and ran with it. You cannot diminish DOE's involvement." So said Dan Steward, former geologist and Vice President for Texas-based gas company Mitchell Energy, in an interview with the Breakthrough Institute.

In a recent edition of their political fact-checking series, CNN makes glaring historical omissions in their claim that the private sector, not the government, was the leading developer of the technologies that led to the modern shale gas boom.

In a reaction to President Obama's statement in this week's State of the Union address that "it was public research dollars, over the course of 30 years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock," CNN reporter Matt Smith claims that the President's analysis was "true, but incomplete." In reality, CNN's fact-check is light on the facts and could use a check of its own.

CNN claims that hydraulic fracturing has been around since initial private application in the 1940s, and therefore government investment was inconsequential to the modern gas boom. This is like saying government investment in jet engines was inconsequential because the Wright Brothers pioneered air travel. CNN gets its facts and its history wrong. Here's what really happened:


  • All the component technologies and techniques that made the shale revolution possible - massive hydraulic fracturing (MHF), microseismic imaging, and directional drilling among others - are direct products of federal R&D and demonstration.

  • At the request of the gas industry, a diverse set of federal labs and agencies spearheaded R&D and demonstration of early shale extraction technologies, including the Morgantown Energy Research Center, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Bureau of Mines, the Department of Energy, and the national laboratories.

  • The Department of Energy first demonstrated MHF in 1977. Slickwater fracturing, Mitchell Energy's technique for Barnett drilling in the late 1990s, was an incremental improvement on this foundational innovation in hydraulic fracturing.

  • In a joint DOE-industry venture, the first successful multi-fracture horizontal well was drilled in 1986. The Gas Research Institute (GRI), which was funded partially by a government-imposed surcharge on retail gas bills, subsidized Mitchell's first horizontal well in 1991.

  • Sandia National Labs developed microseismic imaging technology and mapping for use in coalbed methane recovery. Data and techniques developed by Sandia were cited as critical contributions to Mitchell Energy's R&D in the 1990s.

  • The federal Section 29 tax credit for unconventional gas resources benefitted the gas industry from 1980-2002.

  • Using an innovative technique called slickwater fracturing and capitalizing on federal contributions like MHF, directional drilling, and microseismic imaging, Mitchell Energy engineers drilled the first economical well in the Barnett Shale in 1998. This was the first profitable commercial shale drill in history.

Continue reading "CNN Blows Obama SOTU Shale Gas Fact-Check" »



In his State of the Union, President Barack Obama referred to the findings of a Breakthrough Institute investigation, which found that 30 years of federal funding led to the shale gas revolution.

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama referred to the findings of a Breakthrough Institute investigation, which found that 30 years of federal funding led to the shale gas revolution.

"It was public research dollars, over the course of thirty years," said the president, "that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock -- reminding us that Government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground."

Obama is referring directly to a Breakthrough Institute investigation, which found that all the major technologies -- massive hydraulic fracking, horizontal drilling, 3-D mapping -- came from federal funding. Breakthrough's research was published in the Washington Post, with a longer history of shale gas and key interviews published at the Breakthrough.

Obama-state-of-the-union1-430x320.jpg

Continue reading "Obama's Energy Revolution" »



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 ... 152 Next
Get Connected
RSS Subscribe to RSS Feed

twitter Follow the BTI on Twitter

twitter Join the BTI on Facebook

donate to Breakthrough

Recent Breakthrough Blog Posts Archives
Categories
Contributors
Blog advertisement
Nau Clothing

Breakthrough Analysis: New Air Pollution Rules Could Reduce US Electric-Sector CO2 Emissions By More Than 4 Percent

The Other Side of the Biodiversity Crisis

Obama and the New Climate Centrism

The Future of Global Climate Policy: Slowing Warming by Cutting Methane and Pollutants (Part 5)

Global Supply Chains and American Economic Competitiveness

The Missing Link in the SOTU Energy Agenda

The Future of Global Climate Policy: Building Resilience Through Climate Adaptation Innovation Policy (Part 4)

The Future of Global Climate Policy: Clean Energy Innovation Imperative (Part 3)

CNN Blows Obama SOTU Shale Gas Fact-Check

Obama's Energy Revolution

SOTU: Public Purchasing Power

SOTU: Government Must Strengthen Vital Public Investments

SOTU: Obama the Climate Pragmatist?

SOTU: "All of the Above?"

SOTU: US Needs Advanced Manufacturing Policy

The Future of Global Climate Policy: Is Economic Contraction a Climate Solution (Part 2)

CO2 Scorecard Misrepresents and Misunderstands Efficiency Rebound Research

The Future of Global Climate Policy: Taking Stock of Our Climate Outlook (Part 1)

Avoiding a Natural Gas Bridge to Nowhere

Debate: Progressive Economics and the Great Recession

How to Make it in America

Collateral Damage From Not Knowing What You Are Talking About

What Manufacturing Renaissance?

New Brookings Paper Praises State Clean Energy Funds Amidst Washington Paralysis

MIT Study: Rebound Effects Erode Auto Efficiency Gains

Terry Engelder on the Federal Role in the Shale Gas Revolution

2012 Budget Increases Nuclear Energy Research Funding

Top Ten Breakthrough Moments of 2011

Climate Pragmatism in Action: New Mercury Regulations To Trigger Less Coal Use

Politics vs. Innovation

New Investigation Finds Decades of Government Funding Behind Shale Revolution

History of the Shale Gas Revolution

Interview with Dan Steward, Former Mitchell Energy Vice President

2012 Federal Budget Halts Further Cuts to Energy Innovation

Growing Expert Consensus on Manufacturing Reaches White House

After Durban

Taking on the Three Deficits Report a "Must Read"

Fossil Fuel Imports, Use Soar as Japan's Nuclear Fleet Sits Idle

Climate Pragmatism in Australia

Let's Shelve the Drivel: Boosting Energy Innovation to Reduce America's Three Deficits

New IEA Report Issues Strategic Recommendations for Clean Energy Scale-Up

A Clean Energy Deployment Administration

A National Clean Energy Testbeds Program

Policy Key to Weather Cleantech Crisis

Bridging the Clean Energy Valleys of Death

What Secretary Chu Should Be Asked Today... But Won't

From Solyndra Circus to Clean Energy Reform

Can Technology Save the Environment?

The UK steady-state economy

Energy access for the poor: no cause for environmental alarm

The Secret of Where Good Energy Comes From

Modernizing Liberalism

Stand With Science: Graduate Students Uniting for Protection of Science Funding

Taking on the Three Deficits: An Investment Guide to American Renewal

Three Deficits Approach to Energy Budgets

Bavaria to Swap Nuclear for Fossil Energy

The Economist Embraces Climate Pragmatism as "Next Steps" for Climate

A Clean Energy Comeback Strategy

Manufacturing Growth: Advanced Manufacturing and the Future of the American Economy

CNN: Government to Thank for Technologies We Can't Live Without

Mark Lynas Interviewed in Yale 360

Writings By Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger

Occupy Wall Street and the New Inequality

Energy Innovation 2011

The Economist: Then and Now

Republican Support for Innovation Grows

The iPhone and the Invisible Hand of Government

European Commission Publishes Report Warning Policymakers to Attend to Rebound Effects

ARPA-E Announces Latest Round of Funding

DOE Releases First Quadrennial Technology Review

Friday Factoids: California Nuclear vs. Renewables

The Submerged State: Tackling Denial About the Government's Role in Technology Innovation

Senator Murkowski's Wise Words on National Energy Policy

On Making Innovation the Default Energy and Climate Policy Choice

Global Energy Intensity on the Rise

The Carbon Tax, Then and Now

What A Coal Shortage Means for the Energy Poor

Germany Trades Domestic Nuclear for Imported Nuclear

Energy Innovation Literature Round-up

Thomas Friedman's Quasi-Market Fundamentalism

Industry Titans Push Energy Innovation

CBO Director Urges New Spending to Spur Economic Growth

War on Terror Over

Romney Joins Conservative Innovation Hawks with New Economic Plan

Does Efficiency Present a Catch-22?

KQED Forum: Jenkins Discusses Solyndra Bankruptcy and Future of US Energy & Manufacturing Policy

Solyndra Failure No Reason to Abandon Federal Energy Innovation Policy

Green Scissors 2011: A Misguided Proposal for Budget and Environmental Reform

Surviving the Coming Clean Tech Crash

SF Chronicle: "No Nukes" Concert Wholly Misguided

How to Grow Out of the Decline

Book Review: The God Species

Heritage Foundation Gets Rebound Effect Backwards in Fuel Economy Attack

Clean Energy Innovation Policy in Congress: The Battery Innovation Act of 2011

Statement on "Climate Pragmatism" from Breakthrough Founders, Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus

Climate Pragmatism: Innovation, Resilience and No Regrets

Ronald Reagan: Innovation Hawk?

Assessing Obama's Environmental Record

When Politicians Put Experts Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Krugman Still Doesn't Get It

House Budget Aims to Gut Energy Innovation Investments

Australia Unveils Carbon Price Policy

The Hedonistic Roots of the Tea Party

Dropping the Ball on Energy Innovation: ARPA-E and the 2012 Budget

New Report Sizes the Clean Economy

The Coming Clean Tech Crash

UNIDO: Does energy efficiency lead to increased energy consumption?

The Great Speedup?

Google: Energy Innovation Can Have A "Transformative Impact" On U.S.

Updated: 2012 House Appropriations Bill Strips DOE Office Budgets

Freakonomics Features BTI on Future of Nuclear Power

Analysis: Germany's Plan to Phase Out Nuclear Jeopardizes Emissions Goals

More Voices Advance a New Climate Paradigm Abroad

The Carbon Price Debate As Smokescreen For Inaction

Rebound and Rigor: NRDC's Entry into Rebound Effect Debate Stuck in the Past

Coming June 23, 2011: Breakthrough Journal

Germany's Burned Bridge

China Invites South Africa to Partner to Develop Clean Energy

Dan Sarewitz on Senator Coburn's New Report

Capsule Reviews of Three New Studies of Innovation

Biden: National Investment Will Spark Energy Innovation

Updated: Nuclear and Fossil: Can Germany Shut Down Both?

Socolow: Climate Stablization Wedges Were a Mistake

United Kingdom's Nuclear Plans on Track

Japan's New Emissions Math

Return to Fantasy Island: Targets Without Policies

UPDATED ANALYSIS: The Costs of Canceling Japan's Plans for Nuclear Power

Bill Gates: Gov't Not Investing Enough in Energy R&D

IPCC on Renewable Energy

Weighing in on the Gas Tax Debate

All About the Fundamentals: Three Misconceptions of the Heritage Foundation's Deficit/Energy Proposal

Esty and Porter's Call for a Carbon Tax Misses Badly

Offshored Emissions Negate Carbon Cuts by Developed Countries

Newt Gingrich: Innovation Hawk?

Avoiding Carbon Emissions with Nuclear Power

ITIF: The Case for a National Manufacturing Strategy

Know Your Heritage: The Heritage Foundation's Incoherent Attack On Public Investment in Energy Innovation

Friday Factoids: The Clean Energy Price Gap (Updated)

Quote of the Day - April 15, 2011

Losing the Future?

Budget Deal Cuts Innovation Investments

ANALYSIS: Nuclear Moratorium in Germany Could Cause Spike in CO2 Emissions

Ryan's Budget Proposes Cuts to Energy Innovation Investments

The Costs of Replacing Japan's Nuclear Power

Fukushima in Context

The Future of Nuclear Power: Shellenberger on KQED Forum

Report: A Carbon Price Won't Get You Breakthrough Innovation

Breakthrough's Jesse Jenkins on NPR: Nuclear as Usual

Doing the Math: Comparing Germany's Solar Industry to Japan's Fukushima Reactors

ANALYSIS: Decline in US Nuclear Power Would Increase Carbon Emissions

Canada Remains Committed to Nuclear Power

Fukushima's Political Fallout Now Reaches China

Situation Report: Fukushima

Key Energy Innovation Agency Draws Bipartisan Support in Senate

Quote of the Day

Senate Democrats Propose Across-the-Board Cuts in Energy Innovation Budgets

Innovation Hawks Warn Against Torching America's Seed Corn

Friday Factoids: Why Phasing Out Subsidies for Fossil Fuels Won't Make Clean Energy Competitive

The Fierce Urgency of Now: Notes from the ARPA-E Summit

Climate Challenge Hinges on Fueling China with Clean and Cheap Energy

FAQ: Rebound Effects and the "Energy Emergence" Report

Solving the Energy Poverty Problem

The Long Death of Environmentalism

The New Republic: Geographic Clustering's Relationship to Cleantech Innovation

More Donors Need to Support Innovative Climate Solutions

Grounding Our Innovation Policy Debate

Senate Democrats Aim to Invest in Clean Energy, Innovation, Infrastructure

House GOP Budget Proposal Slashes Energy Innovation Investments

E&E News: "Energy Emergence Report" points to energy efficiency's double-edged sword

Founders Statement on "Energy Emergence" Report

"Energy Emergence: Rebound and Backfire as Emergent Phenomena" - Report Overview

Amory Lovins in Business Week

Post-Partisan Power Offers Way Forward on Current Budget Debate

President Obama's Budget Would Invest in Energy Innovation

Do Nations Compete for Jobs and Industry?

David Brooks on Deficit Cutting Mirages

The White House Strategy for Energy Innovation

DOE's 'SunShot' Aims to Innovate to Make Solar Energy Cheap

The Innovation-Deficit Debate, Future of Climate Politics, and Green Heretics

Webinar: China and Energy - Innovation, Competitiveness, and Meeting Soaring Demand

Nathan Lewis on Energy Realities: Can We Get to 80% by 2035?

China R&D Investment to Grow Faster than U.S.

Putting So-Called "Deniers" In the Hot Seat

Friday Factoids: The Scale of Obama's Electric Vehicle Challenge

Obama's Breakthrough

SOTU: In the Face of Spending Cuts, Making the Case for Investment in Innovation

Six Misconceptions about Rebound and Backfire

Friday Factoids: Shanghai 1990-2010

Shellenberger, Nordhaus & Hayward: "Hitting the Reset Button on Energy Policy"

Effective media reporting of sea level rise projections: 1989-2009

Climate Plan B: A National Strategy for Technological Innovation

Kerry Warns of "New Sputnik Moment," Calls for Bipartisan Investment Strategy

Will Fixing Market Externalities Speed Clean Energy Innovation?

Economists Moving Beyond Carbon Pricing

Budget Cuts Could Threaten Clean Energy Competitiveness

Why Climate Science Divides Us But Energy Technology Unites Us

President Signs Major Competitiveness Legislation

What A Difference a Few Years Makes: GOPers Flee from Greener Past

Innovation Conservatism

Richter: Energy in Three Dimensions

Energy Innovation 2010 - Event Recap and Videos

Tracking a Rising Tiger: China

The Efficiency Illusion

Belfer Center: Governments of Emerging Economies Out-Investing US in Energy Research

Presentation: "Where Good Technologies Come From"

Energy Innovation 2010: A New Beginning for U.S. Energy Policy

Where Good Technologies Come From: Case Studies in American Innovation

The New Energy Conversation

ITIF: A New Approach for STEM Education

Why Japan Disowned Kyoto

Energy Innovation 2010: Rethinking Energy Innovation

Obama: New Sputnik Moment Demands Investment in Science & Education

Shorting America's Clean Energy Future

U.S. Must Triple Investment in Energy Technology: President's Science Advisors

Chu: Increasing Energy R&D is an Economic Competitiveness Imperative

WSJ: Forget the U.N. Climate Convention, Rethink Innovation Instead

Eye on the Prize: China is Make or Break for Climate

Quote of the Day

Can Federal Investment Reduce the Budget Deficit?

Scientists: Innovation Needed on Energy Storage, Grid

Creating a Clean Energy Century

Reid Promises Incoming Senator: Cap and Trade is Dead Next Session

Washington Post Endorses Energy Innovation Investment

Innovation Mercantilism: the Bad, Ugly and Self-Destructive

Educating the Energy Generation: Workforce Needs in Renewable, Nuclear Power Sectors

Phasing out Fossil Fuel Subsidies Will Help, But Only Innovation Can Make Clean Energy Cheap

iPods and Federal Innovation Policy

NPR: Pielke Jr. Explains Energy Policy Future After Cap and Trade

Business and Academic Coalition Urge Congress to Reauthorize Landmark Competitiveness Bill

United States, Australia Partner to Make Solar Energy Cheap

Europe to Ban Carbon Offsets?

Tracking a Rising Tiger: South Korea

The Future of Philanthropy in a Post-Cap and Trade World

Economic Doctrines and Climate Change

After Copenhagen: From Climate Nihilism to Climate Pragmatism

Majority of Americans Support Increased Funding for Clean Energy Research

Should We Borrow from the Future to Pay for Clean Energy Innovation Today?

Sen. Graham: GOP should seek bipartisan progress on energy policy

Technology-First Consensus Grows

Media Controversy Over Stimulus-funded Clean Energy Grant Program Lacks Substance

Critics of Clean Energy Stimulus Program Miss the Point

Easing the Fear of Nuclear Power

America Faces $2.2 Trillion Bill to Modernize Crumbling Infrastructure

YaleE360: Pielke's "Iron Law" of Climate Policy

OnPoint: Muro and Jenkins talk Post Partisan Power

"Post-Partisan Power" - The Bipartisan History of American Innovation

"Post-Partisan Power" - Summary of Recommendations

"Post-Partisan Power" - Report Overview

The U.N. Climate Negotiations' Last Breath

The 411 on "The Climate Fix" by Roger Pielke Jr.

Valley of Death Alive and Well for Clean Tech Firms

The Technology-First Climate Fix

Friday Factoids: The Clean Energy Price Gap

Green Jobs for Janitors: How Neoliberals and Green Keynesians Wrecked Obama's Promise of a Clean Energy Economy

The Military's Clean Energy Imperative

Advanced Energy Research Agency at Risk

Senators Push Last Ditch Effort to Spur Domestic Clean Energy Manufacturing

Energy Access in Nigeria

Recarbonization of the UK Economy

In 40 Years of Energy Efficiency Improvements, No Change in Household Energy Consumption

America Must Realize Its "Cluster Moment"

Why Energy Efficiency May Not Decrease Energy Consumption

"Gathering Storm" Threatens U.S. Competitiveness

Bingaman Leads Last Ditch Effort for Clean Energy Progress

Access to Energy, Poverty Alleviation and Policy Blinders

Right and Left Move to New Climate Center

Senior Fellow Wins Grant for Climate Focused Technology Policy

Brooks: Anti-government Ideology Threatens American Greatness

As Manufacturing Shifts Abroad, Innovation's Reward Dwindles

The Climate Fix: Pielke Jr.'s New Book Earns Praise

"Minuscule": Effects of European ETS on CO2 Emissions

Starving Clean Energy to Pay the Rich

Does November GOP Win Spell the End for Clean Energy Progress? Maybe Not

Collection: The Death of Cap and Trade

Former UN Climate Chief: Emissions Targets and Timetables are Irrelevant

Science: Scale of the Climate Challenge Demands Committment to Technology Innovation

Republican Candidates Wield Cap and Trade as Political Weapon

German Nuclear Power and the Future of Climate Policy

Brookings Report: Mountain West Can Lead the Way on Energy Innovation

Barack Obama: A Quiet Revolutionary

The Economist's Strange Attack on Industrial Policy

Gates: Invest in Innovation to Make Clean Energy Cheap

White House Report: Stimulus Driving Clean Energy Innovation, Manufacturing, Markets - But What Comes Next?

Getting it Wrong on Carbon Caps and Clean Tech Investment

Does New Republican Bill Signal Bipartisan Support for Clean Energy Investment?

Unfulfilled Promises on Clean Energy Technology?

A Resurgence of Coal Power in the US

New Paper on Australian Bushfires

Free Preview of R. Pielke's "The Climate Fix"

Bucking the Debate: Clean Energy Industrial Policies At Work

Deutsche Bank's Parker: Senate Clean Energy Policy Failure Driving Investor Exodus

A Needed Debate on Industrial Policy

In Defense of Andy Grove: Toward a More Effective Industrial Policy

Quote of the Day: August 9, 2010

Munroe: Offshoring Manufacturing Threatens U.S. Leadership in Innovation

A Turn to Technology

Talking Energy Innovation at the Daily Dish

In Defense of Bill Gates

Cap & Fail: The Collapse of our Climate Policy Paradigm

Global Warming Lobbying as Metaphor

Famous Last Gore Words, Part 2

Why Romantic Comedies Suck

Famous Last Gore Words, Part I

Why Does Washington, D.C. have fewer obese?

How America Can Lead the Clean Energy Race

India: A Path to 20,000 MW by 2022

Dealing with the Electoral (Un)Importance of Climate Change

The $35 Laptop: Can Indian Public Investment Make Computing Technology Cheap?

Personal Insecurity and Climate Politics

Myths About the Death of Cap and Trade

"Climate Bill Set Aside, What's Next for U.S. Energy Policy"

Time to Bury Cap and Trade and Plan Anew

Despite Uptick, IEA Finds Major Global Energy R&D Gap

Atkinson: Cut the Deficit with Public Investment

China Leaves U.S. in Clean Energy Dust: Teryn Norris on The Alyona Show

Beck: Beyond Petroleum, Realizing Solar Potential

UK Government Cuts Critical Investments in Energy R&D

Testimony: The Challenge of China's Green Technology Policy

Progressive Climate Policy: the Case for Nation Building

Asian Nations Vie for Nuclear Market Share

Emissions Trading Scheme Still Shelved Under New Aussie PM

Jenkins 'Empanelated' At Grist

The Emerging Climate Technology Consensus

In Defense of 'Energy-Only'

U.S. Innovation Strategy: The Case for Domestic Manufacturing

Breakthrough Philanthropy

How Might Indians React to a $30/tonne Carbon Tax

Elementary Particles, Complex Challenges

Harnessing the Power of Hubbert: Reducing our Exposure to the Oil Risk

Forget About the Deficit - Invest in the Green Economy Now!

IEA: New Report Says $46 Trillion More to Clean Tech by 2050

China's Not-So-Spontaneous Decarbonization

Independence Day Thought

EDF Throws in the Towel on an Economy-Wide Cap

Welcome to Breakthrough Bootcamp

Decelerating Decarbonization of the Global Economy

Scaling Nuclear in China

With Seconds on the Clock, Democrats May Waste Last Chance for Clean Energy Win

Inventing the 21st Century

A Bipartisan Strategy for Energy Leadership

Just Released: New Analysis of the Role of the Presidential Science Advisor

The Myth of "Energy Independence"

Hope For A Bipartisan Energy Policy Buzzer Shot?

IEEE and GridWise Urge Senator on RE-ENERGYSE

Moving On: Democrats After Cap and Trade

Cap and Trade: Dead to Obama

Analysis of Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act Climate Bill: Full Breakthrough Institute Collection

Obama Signals Need for New Energy Agenda

Fellow of the Month: Aden Van Noppen

King Coal

Carbon Offsets Fraud Continues

The Case for Establishing an Energy Consensus

Realpolitik Goes Mainstream

Converging on National Energy Innovation Policy

ITIF: 10 Myths of Addressing Global Warming and the Green Economy

Public Still Believes in Climate Change

China Focused on Leapfrogging Other Nations in Advanced Vehicles

U.S. High-Tech Leaders Call for Tripling U.S. Public Investment in Energy Research and Development

The Power to Compete: Benchmarking the Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act on Clean Energy Innovation and Competitiveness

Graham Calls it Quits on Kerry-Lieberman

Applied Materials: America Needs to COMPETE

Why CO2 should not be considered pollution

Clean Energy COMPETES: Strengthening Clean Energy Competitiveness through the America COMPETES Reauthorization

"Strengthening Clean Energy Competitiveness: Opportunities for America COMPETES Reauthorization"

Direct Action on Climate Change: Successful Tactic or Green Nostalgia?

Envisioning an Energy Innovation Network for Economic Growth

House Passes Competitiveness Bill After Near-Collapse

The Onion: Biblical Armageddon Must Be Taught Alongside Global Warming

The Futility of Forecasting

To Boost Clean Tech Exports, U.S. Must Make Clean Energy Cheap

Green VS. Green, Part 2

Green VS. Green, Part 1

The Collapse of Competitiveness Policy?

An Onshore Compromise over Offshore Drilling

Atkinson: Investment in Innovation and Manufacturing Critical to US Clean Energy Competitiveness

House Fails to Pass America COMPETES Bill

Labor Must Start Nation Building

Friday Factoids: Fatalities from Energy Production Accidents

Hartwell Paper: A New Approach on Global Climate Policy

Australian Progressives to Rudd: Time for a Clean Energy Investment Strategy

Clearing the Clean Energy Innovation Threshold

Sen. Alexander and BTI's Jenkins: Contemplating the Future of Energy Legislation

Fellow of the Month: Lindsay Meisel

China's Energy Intensity Increases

US Emissions Reductions: Business as Usual

Sinophobia and the Collapse of Copenhagen Climate Talks

In Search of Energy Innovation Role Models

Cape Wind: Never Again

The Carbon Price Paradox

Cape WIN: Triumph Over NIMBY

Australia Needs a Solar Snowy Mountains Scheme

Over 100 Student Body Presidents Urge Congress to Support Energy Education

Cap and Trade De Ja Vu

Live Webinar: Predicting the Fate of the Climate Bill

In Pursuit of Plan B

What It Takes to Pick a Winner

Don't Worry: Jobs are Coming Back to America

Friday Factoids: Living Life With No Lights

Why the Private Sector Can't Do Energy Alone

High-Speed Rail Back on Australian Agenda

Climate Legislation to the Back of the Line?

DOE Announces Clean Tech Manufacturing Programs with an Eye Toward Making Clean Energy Cheap

Climate Paradigm in Collapse

Earth Day Thoughts on American Innovation

Analysis of Kerry-Graham-Lieberman Climate Bill: Full Breakthrough Institute Collection

Senate Climate Bill Trio Scrapping Oil and Gasoline Fee?

Earth Day: From Conservation To Innovation

Clean energy jobs CAN be shipped overseas (and what to do about it)

Into the Lion's Den: ITIF's Atkinson Tells CAP Why We Need to Make Clean Energy Cheap

Quote of the Day, April 20, 2010

Cap and Charade? Shellenberger to Debate at Commonwealth Club

WATCH: China building ambitious "Solar Valley City" to advance solar industry

Nuclear Power: The Energy Phoenix

Promoted: GE Research Centers in China Take the Lead

Carbon Price Won't Cut It: 10 Senators Call for Investments in U.S. Clean Tech Competitiveness

Carbon Price Won't Stop Oil Sands

A Clean Energy Competitiveness Strategy for America

The iPad is Coming - Make Clean Energy Cheap

Helping America COMPETE

Krugman Removes All Doubt

Collection: Breakthrough Institute Analysis of Congressional Climate Bills

Wonders By DARPA: The "Agency of Wonder"

Post-Rio and Post-Copenhagen Media Cliffs

Bingaman Gets Clear on U.S. Clean Tech Competitiveness

Nostalgia Clouds the Larger Purpose of Earth Day

Exhibit India: The Case for Decarbonization

CAP as White House Public Relations Annex for Climate

George Will Embraces Decarbonization

Tale of Two Offshore Wind Farms

Calling Young Leaders: Apply for Policy Fellowship with Americans for Energy Leadership

China to the High Speed Rail Rescue

Does Paul Krugman Advocate Energy Conservation and Deemphasize Technology? Yes

The Emerging Climate Consensus: Global Warming Policy in a Post-Environmental World

Energy Poverty is Being Stuck 125,000 Years in the Past

What the Massey Mine Tragedy Says About Our Energy Transition

New Digs for Dot Earth 2.0

Dog Food Beats Energy

Don't Count on Perfect Knowledge for Perfect Decisions

Over-promising Energy Efficiency

Correcting the Record on Waxman-Markey

If Not China, Then Who?

Trend? Another Carbon Offset Auditor Suspended

After "Drill, Baby, Drill," Obama Should Embrace Another GOP Energy Plan

Swezey on KPFA: Can the United States Regain Leadership in the Clean Energy Race?

The Limits of Earth Hour

Fellow of the Month: Leigh Ewbank

Pew Study: China Skewering Clean Tech Competition

Exodus to the Land of Clean Technology

Taking Climate into their Own Hands

Why Climate Science Needs A Few Skeptics

Who Killed Cap and Trade, Part II

Earth Hour: A Time to Marvel at the Wonder of Modern Energy?

Freeing Energy Policy From The Climate Change Debate

The Emancipation of Energy Policy

Standing Up for Re-ENERGYSE

The Moral Rebound Effect

Energy Efficiency: Too Good To Be Totally True

World Leader in Innovation: China?

Europe's Big Investment Plan for Super Grid

The End of a Bipartisan Era

Revkin Gets Real on Climate Challenge

Without Affordable Clean Alternatives, South Africa Turns to Coal

France Drops Carbon Tax Plans After Sarkozy's Party Gets Clobbered

Pop Quiz: Which Has a Greater Power Output, A Boeing 747 or an Aircraft Carrier?

Throwing the Race for Green Energy: Q&A with Teryn Norris

Discover: Prominent Climate Scientists Disagree on Challenges to the Field

Pielke: To Solve Climate Change We Must Understand the Limits of Science

Nisbett: Why Climate Scientists Should Put Down the Pitchforks

Energy Innovation: How Can We Keep It Blooming

Racing for Clean-Tech Jobs: Why America Needs an Energy Education Strategy

Energy and Financial Interests Pushing Offsets in Senate Climate Bill

Vaclav Smil Launches New Website

Gallup: American Concern for Environmental Issues at 20-Year Low

Mead: I Blame Al Gore

Want High Speed Rail? China's Got It

Even Adam Smith Wouldn't Say A Carbon Price is All We Need

We Were Warned

Sarewitz: Why Climate Science Won't Solve Climate Change

IBM's R&D Investment in China Debunks Claim that R&D Will Stay in U.S.

The Death of a Great Conservationist

CBS Evening News on China's Lead in the Clean Energy Race

Think You Know What a 'Green Job' Is? Think Again

Better Late Than Never

Chu: Yes, We Need a Manhattan Project on Energy

Welcome, readers of the Wall Street Journal and the Albuquerque Journal...

Beyond "Buy American": The U.S. Needs a Clean Energy Strategy

Week in Review: A Carbon Price Won't Win America Any Clean Tech Awards

Innovating to Zero: Bill Gates' push for Energy R&D

Storm Clouds on the Clean Tech Horizon?

Why Joe Romm Won't Debate Roger Pielke Jr.

Closing the clean energy gap with Asia

Applied Materials and Breakthrough Institute: Closing the Clean Energy Gap with Asia

Analysis of Cantwell-Collins CLEAR Climate Bill: Full Breakthrough Institute Collection

To Make Poverty History, Make Clean Energy Cheap

Daily Caller Interview: Ted Nordhaus posts full text of interview with Mike Riggs at the Daily Caller

Storm Clouds on the Clean Tech Horizon: Presentation to the Clean Tech Group

Innovating to Zero: Gates Wants Clean, Cheap Energy Fast

Cantwell-Collins Calls the Question on Offsets

Remaking the Global Climate Framework

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish: Why Obama's Symbolic Spending Freeze May Grow the Deficit

Friday Factoids: U.S. Military Spending Highest in Post-WWII Era

Wisconsin: Focus on energy education

It's Not All Good: Why You Should Worry About the Clean Energy Race

Educating the Energy Generation

San Jose Mercury Special Series: "The Cleantech Revolution"

Friday Factoids: Clean Energy R&D Top Policy Response Finds Yale Poll

Daily Breakthrough: All is Not Lost

Leading Science and Technology Experts Named Breakthrough Senior Fellows, 2010

A Critical Moment for Energy Leadership

Australian Climate Politics: Time Labor Adopted a New Approach?

RE-ENERGYSE America: Obama's proposal for clean-energy education

Jenkins on ABC: U.S. Needs a National Strategy to Win the Clean Energy Race

Australia Update: Opposition Attempts to Brand Emissions Trading a Tax

Daily Breakthrough: Did the President Choke or Panic?

Think Tank? Or In the Tank?

Clean Tech Execs Champion Innovative Clean Energy Deployment Administration

Michael Shellenberger on "Living on Earth"

Wyden to Chu: Clean Tech Competitiveness Is the "Challenge of Our Time...Not Clear What the Strategy Is"

Daily Breakthrough: How to Get Over the Death of Your Paradigm

Friday Factoids: U.S. Renewable Energy Trade Deficit Soars

Bingaman and Gates Back Chu on Energy R&D

Gates: Efficiency Won't Cut It

What Comes After Cap and Trade?

Asia Challenges U.S. Innovation Leadership, New Report Shows

A CLEAR Look at the Cantwell-Collins Climate Bill, Part 2: Structural Advantages

The End of Magical Climate Thinking

Daily Breakthrough: America's Future is Up in the Air

Friedman's carbon pricing strategy won't win the clean energy race

Daily Breakthrough: Avatar, Eco-Paranoia, and Technology

NYT: Q&A with Bill Weihl, Google's "Green Energy Czar"

Obama says STEM Education Critical for Competing with Asia

Environment after nature: Time for a new vision

BBC World Service: Who is to Blame at Copenhagen?

Roger Pielke Jr: Post-Copenhagen, More Questions Than Answers

Newsweek: Copenhagen R.I.P

Earth to Thomas Friedman: Winning the "Earth Race" Requires Federal Investment

Open Letter to Bill McKibben: Blaming Obama for Copenhagen Is Wrong

Obama Announces Climate Deal, UNFCCC Crumbles?

The Copenhagen Spin from Around the Climatesphere

Part II: Climate Realpolitik and the End of Postcolonialism

Manufacturing & Tech News: Asian Nations Dominate Renewable Energy Industries

Catch 22 in Copenhagen

Up, Down or Sideways

The Science is Settled

A CLEAR Look at the Cantwell-Collins Climate Bill, Part 1: Climate Goals

Quote of the Day, December 16, 2009

Science Can't Tell Us What to Do

"Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant" cited in Time Magazine's "Top 10 Green Ideas of 2009"

The End of "Developing Countries"

China's Crash Program for Clean Energy

Copenhagen Coverage

Senators Introduce Bill to Boost Clean Tech Manufacturing

Thoughts on Ending Energy Poverty and Copenhagen's Zero-Sum Game

New "Tri-Partisan" Climate Framework Aims to Clear High Senate Hurdle

Contrivance in Copenhagen

Quote of the Day, December 10 2009

TIME: Technology, Not Targets, Are What Matters Most in Copenhagen

Climate Negotiators in Copenhagen Can Save the World?

Empty Targets: Do Copenhagen Emissions Commitments Have Any Integrity?

$10.5 Trillion by 2030: the Number that Should be at the Heart of Copenhagen Climate Talks

NYTimes Gets "Lessons from Kyoto" Right

CNBC: U.S. Must Support Clean Energy Economy Effort to Win Clean Energy Race

Nature: Technology-Led Policy Needed for Climate Success in Copenhagen and Beyond

TIME Magazine Says "Climate McCarthyism Must Stop"

Climate Conundrum Continues in Run-up to Copenhagen

Foreign Manufacturers Compete for U.S. High-Speed Rail Cash

CDM Halts China Wind Projects

Quote of the Day - December 2nd, 2009

Senators Introduce Solar Manufacturing Jobs Creation Act

Talking Points for Youth Clean Energy Forum

China's Carbon Intensity Pledge

No Ice Water For You

Chinese Government to Support Clean Tech Exports with $2.9 Billion

The Politics of Gratitude

Fine Print: Greenwire finds the truth about the EU Cap and Trade "Success Story"

Energy Tribune: Nordhaus and Shellenberger Discuss "Climate McCarthyism" and Why They Couldn't Possibly Be Libertarians

South Korea to Invest 5 Percent of GDP in R&D

Meantime, In the Real World

Public Investment in Science Works For US, too

Climate McCarthyism Part 4: The Headquarters in Washington

Has Air Capture Hit the Mainstream Debate?

E&E NEWS: Report warns of 'Asian Tigers' surging ahead

"Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant" Report Overview

Asia Beats U.S. 3-1: Major New Report on US vs. Asian Competitiveness in Clean Energy Technology

Winning the Clean Energy Race: A New Strategy for American Leadership

IN THE NEWS: Newsweek asks, "Is America Losing Its Mojo?"

Apocalypse Fatigue: Losing the Public on Climate Change

WSJ: Asia Leads World In Green-Tech Investments, says Siemens CEO

IMechE Report on UK Climate Policy

EVENT: Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant: Major New Report on US vs. Asian Competitiveness in Clean Energy Technology

Climate McCarthyism Part 3: The Hyper-Partisan Mind

EPA Attempts to Rein in Lawyers' Critique of Cap and Trade

Climate McCarthyism Part 2: Equate Your Political Opponents with Holocaust Deniers

The Real Policy Lesson From the Chinese Wind Turbine "Scare"

Australian Prime Minister Ignores Cap and Trade Critique

Jon Stewart Challenges Al Gore On Climate Technology Challenge

Everything EPW Republicans Need to Know They Should Have Learned in Kindergarten

Climate McCarthyism, Part I: Joe Romm's Intimidation Campaign

The Green Politics of Personal Destruction: Deconstructing Joe Romm

Analysis of Kerry-Boxer CEJAPA Climate Bill: Full Breakthrough Institute Collection

Be Careful with Polls

EPA Lawyers Criticize Cap and Trade, Carbon Offsets in Pending Climate and Energy Legislation

Friday Factoids: Climate Bills vs. Expert Consensus on R&D

KPFA Radio: Former Sen. John Warner and Breakthrough's Jenkins Talk Climate Bill

The Innovation Consensus: $15 Billion for Clean Energy R&D

Google Calls for $15bn/year for R&D in Testimony Before Senate EPW Committee

TNR: Brookings' Muro Calls on Senate for More Investment in Clean Energy R&D

Nation's Leading Universities Echo Calls for $15b/year in Clean Energy R&D; Draw $5b/year Bottom Line for Climate Bill

Kerry-Boxer "Clean Energy Jobs" Bill's Clean Energy Investments a Fraction of Expert Recommendations

Turning Rhetoric to Reality?

Kerry-Boxer Climate Bill Allowance Allocation Breakdown

Friday Factoids: So You Want To Spur a Clean Energy Revolution?

Is Predator Assassination Program Helping or Hindering The War on Terrorists?

Greenpeace: Climate Legislation More Likely to Perpetuate Fossil Fuel Economy than Spur Swift Transition to Clean Energy

Politico Poll Shows Climate Still Ranks Dead Last Among Voter Concerns

Leaked Letter Says India May Cooperate on Climate Without Kyoto

Kyoto Pronounced Dead, Makes Room for New Kaya-Direct Framework

Symbolism? German Solar Team Bests U.S. In Shadow of U.S. Capitol

OPED: A carbon tax, not a cap and trade

Preliminary Climate Talks Stumble Over Available Finances for Developing Nations

What Will Happen at Copenhagen

Understanding Decarbonization of the US Economy in 2008

$24 Billion Blowing in the Wind

Vaclav Smil on Terrorism, and the Hierarchy of Catastrophe

Forest Offsets Scam Exposed, Not a Strategy to Mitigate Climate Change

Carbon Border Tariffs Put U.S. In Climate Conundrum

Soros Slams Emissions Trading, Hires Kyoto Critic

Sen. Boxer Green Lights Senate Climate Debate

Kerry-Boxer Carbon Price Will Remain at Price Floor According to First Modeling of Draft Bill

First Progress Report of the UK Committee on Climate Change

Quote of the Day - October 9th, 2009

National Institutes of Energy Needed to Fill Energy R&D Gap

European Commission Creates Roadmap, Not Budget for Clean Energy Investment

Climate Envoy: U.S. Unlikely to Commit to Emissions Target This Year

IEA Sends Message to Copenhagen Delegates: $10 tn Needed to Combat Climate Change

Is China's Energy Intensity Story A Myth? Part II

EU Set To Enter Clean Energy Race with $73 billion for R&D

Quote of the Day, October 6th, 2009

Blast from the Past: Romm's Critique of the Waxman-Markey Blueprint

Only Technology Policy, Not More Targets and Timetables, Can Save Copenhagen

India to US: We Laugh at Your Measly Targets

Nature's Pre-Copenhagen Book Club

New "National Schedules" Proposal Could Change International Strategy in Time for Copenhagen

Energy and Water Appropriations Conference Confirms No Funding for RE-ENERGYSE

Politics Trumping Policy in the U.S. Emissions Bill

Waxman-Markey's Senate Sibling Mirrors House Climate Bill

Romm: Climate Bill Set to Over-Allocate Pollution Permits

Lomborg is All Over the Place

Krugman Confuses Ends and Means

Nicholas Stern's "New" Climate Policy

EU Court Ruling Reveals "Cracks" In Kyoto Framework

Pielke, Jr.: Akihiro Sawa on Japan's 25% Emissions Reduction Target

Japan: We've Got a Strong Goal, But Not a Clue How to Meet It

Stavins: For Energy Efficiency, No Such Thing As a "Free Lunch"

Climate Bill Analysis Part 20: Over-Allocation of Pollution Permits Would Result in No Emissions Reduction Requirement during Early Years of Climate Program

Is China's Energy Intensity Story A Myth?

Breakthrough Institute, Third Way Receive Global Accelerator Award for Joint Report

UN Climate Summit: U.S., China Emphasize Clean Energy Investment, Not Binding Emissions Targets

Graphic of the Day (Sept 22, 2009)

Ten Weeks to Copenhagen - Jenkins on KPFA Radio

Carbon Offset Auditor Suspended Casting More Doubt on Offsets Market

National Institutes of Health: A Model for Jumpstarting Energy R&D

PRESS RELEASE: Brown Leads Clean Energy Panel to Outline Need to Invest in Clean Energy R&D

Senator Brown, Leading Energy Think Tanks Push for More Research Investment and New National Institutes of Energy

US-Europe Climate Rift?

Jumpstarting a Clean Energy Revolution: A Gathering Global Consensus

The Trouble with "Sustainability"

"Jumpstarting a Clean Energy Revolution with a National Institutes of Energy" Report Overview

Clean Energy Centers Growing Worldwide, Not in U.S.

Business Group Predicts US$1 Trillion Clean Energy Market in China

RAND: Chinese Region Slated to be Emerging Technology Powerhouse

UN Survey Says Massive Global Investment Needed to Fund Developing Clean Energy Economies

Japan's New Government Plans to Expand Clean Energy Deployment Incentives

A National Institutes of Energy: The Clean Energy Revolution Needs R&D

Wind in Wall Street's Sails: Investment Rushes Into Wind, But Can We Make It Last?

Spontaneous Decarbonization in China's Proposed Emissions Targets

Quote of the Day, Sept 2nd, 2009

Foreign Affairs: Policy, not Carbon Caps, for Success in Copenhagen

"Slime" Could Be Latest Weapon in Climate Fight Arsenal

US Must Not Blow Its Chance as Foreign Investments Bring Wind Jobs Ashore

Can U.S. Meet Africa's Call for Annual $67 Bn in Adaptation Aid?

NYT: China's Solar Industry Poised to Leave U.S. in the Dust

Indian Prime Minister Says India Must Invest in Clean Energy Technology

National Journal: No Waves Until Obama Decides on Cape Wind

Are Some Thoughts Best Left Unsaid?

Quote of the Day - August 21st, 2009

Nationalism: Rhetoric or Realpolitik, Part 2

Nationalism: Rhetoric or Realpolitik, Part 1

Failing to Overwhelm

DOE smacks down Space Solar to Fund Hot Parking Lots

ARRA: DOE Announces $2.3 billion in Tax Credits for Clean Energy Manufacturers

New Report Recommends Technology Deployment Targets to Decarbonize Industry

CS Monitor: China Aims to "Leapfrog" U.S. in Clean Energy Race

UN Climate Chief: Global Community Needs to Invest $300b Annually in Climate Fight

Quote of the Day, August 13th, 2009

Two Great Graphics

China and India Reject Carbon Caps

Seeking to Have an IMPACT on Climate Policy, Senator Brown Calls for New Investments in Clean Energy Manufacturing

Is the Silicon Valley of Clean Energy Growing in China?

Quote of the Day, August 10th, 2009

Senators: Climate Bill Should Support Clean Energy Manufacturing

Chu Supports Innovation Agenda, Despite Congressional Barriers

Goldman Sachs: "New Carbon Market Presents Major Opportunity"

Secretary of Energy: Breakthroughs Essential to Fully Meet Nation's Energy Challenges

Tony Blair, Climate Group, and CAP call for public investment and technology-centric climate policy

Shouldn't Energy Innovation be Worth More than Rush Limbaugh?!

U.S. Business Leaders Urge America to Get Serious about the Clean Energy Race

Congress Rejects Obama's Vision for Energy Education, Universities Demand More

National Academies: America's Energy Future Demands Sustained National Commitment to Clean Energy

Revkin: Will Obama Invest $150 Billion in R&D Alone?

Senate Rejects Obama's Energy Education Program

Pielke, Jr: Forget "Magical Solutions" and Directly Decarbonize the Economy

Joe Romm's Strategy to Lose the Clean Energy Race

Obama Administration "Strongly Opposes" Senate's Attempt to Cut RE-ENERGYSE Program

Joe Romm Ignores Facts in Attacking Breakthrough Institute Op-Ed

Will America Lose the Clean Energy Race?

Study: Geothermal Could be Cost-Competitive for a Fraction of Oil and Coal's R&D Investments

White House: "process is ongoing" to fund RE-ENERGYSE

Japan Plans to Make Solar Energy Cheap

PRESS RELEASE: Over 100 Groups Urge Congress to Support Obama's Energy Education Initiative

40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing - Lessons for the Clean Energy Race

Will Obama Break His $150 Billion Promise?

Washington Post: Asia's Clean Tech Tigers Surging Ahead in Clean Energy Race

34 Nobel Prize Winners Write President Obama Urging Support for Clean Energy R&D

Mexico 2010

Snowy Mountain Scheme for the 21st century

Radio Interview on Climate "Super Lobby" Analysis with Teryn Norris

New Climate Bill Could Create "Super Lobby" Against U.S. Emissions Reductions

House and Senate Committees Cut Funding for Obama's Energy Education Initiative

Climate Bill Analysis Part 19: ACES Could Align Economic Interests to Weaken Climate Legislation

How to Get Climate Policy Back on Course: New Report Proposes Post-Kyoto Framework for Copenhagen

China and India Launch New Solar Energy Projects

China's Big Plan to Win the Clean Energy Race

Road to Copenhagen: The Need for a New Framework

South Korea to Invest $85 billion in Green New Deal

China to Build World's Largest Wind Project

Quote of the Day, July 2nd 2009

Quote of the Day, July 1st, 2009

Regulate to Innovate?

Critics Condemn ACES Climate Bill

Brookings Institution: Senate Must Strengthen Clean Energy Funding in ACES

Rep. Waxman Responds to Breakthrough Institute

Democratic Congressmen on ACES Climate Bill: "Doing nothing actually results in more renewable energy than approving ACES"

Letter to Obama & Congress: $30 billion Annually Needed for Energy Technology

Obama Energy Promises Not Matched by House Energy Bill

Climate Bill Analysis Part 18: Understanding EPA's Analysis of the ACES Renewable Electricity Standard

Analysis of Waxman-Markey ACES Climate Bill: Full Breakthrough Institute Collection

Climate Bill Analysis Part 17: ACES Allowance Allocation Update

Climate Bill Analysis Part 16: EPA Projects Fewer Renewables Under Waxman Markey than Business As Usual

Welcome NPR Listeners

Jenkins on KPFA: Is the Climate Change Bill in Danger of Being Ineffective?

Climate Bill Analysis Part 15: EPA Projects Coal Will Expand Under Waxman-Markey

Climate Bill Analysis Part 14: Waxman-Markey Puts Ratepayers at Risk

Innovation Economics Can Fight Global Warming

Quote of the Day, June 16th, 2009

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 13: EPA Analysis Projects Waxman-Markey Would Not Require Emissions Reductions Through 2020

Quote of the Day, June 15, 2009

Breakthrough Generation Launches 2009 Fellowship Program

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 12: CBO Projects Waxman-Markey Would Cut Cumulative Emissions by Just 2% Through 2020

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 11: New UCS Analysis Finds Waxman-Markey RES Won't Increase Clean Energy Deployment

Is Cap and Trade Enough? Why Reducing Emissions Depends on Technology Innovation

Quote of the Date, June 8th, 2009

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 10: Smart Provisions Could Spur Clean Technology - If They Are Funded

Jeffrey Sachs Calls for Focus on Clean Tech, Not Emission Reduction Targets

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 9: Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Confirms Breakthrough's Analysis of Renewable Electricity Standard

Defending Big Government - Or Why We Can't Leave Energy Innovation to Markets

George Will, Inequality, and the Green Bubble

Public Opinion and Climate Change, A Summary of Twenty Years of Opinion Research and Political Psychology

Breakthrough Lecture Series 2009 at UC Berkeley

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 8: Waxman-Markey's Non-Binding Emissions "Cap"

Quote of the Day, June 1st, 2009

Solar Advocacy Group Says Climate Bill Will Fail to Make Solar Energy Cheap

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 7: Renewable Electricity Standard Severely Weakened; May Have Little to No Impact

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 6: Strategic Reserve May Allow "Cap" to Rise by 10 Percent, Introduce Billions More Offsets

Quote of the Day, May 27th, 2009

EIA: World Energy Use Will Rise 44% By 2030; Developing Nations Demand Abundant, Affordable Energy

As Climate Bill Passes Tough Committee, Why Am I So Worried?

Secretary Chu: Climate Debate May Have "Over-Obssession" With Emissions Targets

Why The Industrial Revolution Started in Britain

Quote of the Day #2, May 26th, 2009

Quote of the Day, May 26th, 2009

Joe Romm Tries to Shut Down Climate Bill Debate by Attacking Breakthrough Institute

Wind Power Finally Approved for Cape Cod

Quote of the Day, 5/22/09

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 5: Foreign Offsets Receive 2.5 Times More Money than U.S. Clean Energy

Green Bubble Culture

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 4: Emissions "Cap" May Let U.S. Emissions Continue to Rise Through 2030

U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Plunge in 2008

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 3: Key offset limit eliminated, increasing domestic offset use, lowering allowance prices

Quotes of the Day, 5/19/2009

Transparency in a Cap and Trade Regime

The Flawed Logic of The Cap-and-Trade Debate

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 2: Clean Energy R&D Investment May Be 30 Times Smaller than President Obama's Budget

Australian Government to Invest Billions in Clean Energy

Update to Waxman-Markey Analysis

All About Offsets

Climate Bill Analysis, Part 1: Waxman-Markey Gives Nearly 5 Times More to Polluters than Clean Energy

Quote of the Day, 5/14/09

Climate Bill Heading for Markup - Will it Invest in a Clean, Prosperous Energy Economy?

Invest in New American Energy

Cap and Trade Worked for Acid Rain, Why Not for Climate Change?

Graph of the Day, May 12th, 2009

Ten Reasons why the Stress Test Wasn't Stressful

Climate Psych: A Review of the Psychological and Economic Factors that Shape Attitudes on Global Warming

Nordhaus featured on ABC Australia's "National Interest"

DOE Budget Fleshes out Obama Energy Education Initiative

Postnaturalism, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Human Nature

Bjorn Lomborg Wants to Make Clean Energy Cheap, Doesn't Know How

The Green Bubble, Why Environmentalism Keeps Imploding

The (Dangerous?) Allure of Geo-engineering

Australia Shelves Cap and Trade

The Revolution Will Not Be Patented

Beyond the Pollution Paradigm: Why We Can't Leave Saving the Planet to Environmentalists

New Polls Show Support for Increased Energy Prices? Not So Fast.

How Wall Street Rules

Why Canadians are not yet ready for environmental pricing reform

Summers Calls for Public Investment to Fuel Next Growth

To Make Clean Energy Cheaper, U.S. Needs Bold Research Push

Senator Specter Changes Parties, Doesn't Change Climate Politics

Obama Launches Energy Education Initiative

International Carbon Offsets: The Next Trillion Dollar Issue

President Obama Promises New National Committment to Science and Innovation

The Sherrod Brown Test: Finding Consensus on Climate Policy

Quote of the Day, April 23rd, 2009

The Sherrod Brown Test: Finding Consensus on Climate Policy

The Cap and Trade We Need

Obama is just blowing smoke

Britain to Invest in New Coal Plants

What are Clean Energy Investments Good For?

WSJ Calls for Bank Restructuring - Where is Obama Team Getting Its Advice?

Waxman: Carbon revenues should "by and large" be invested in clean technology

How to Lose a Debate

National Science Board Calls for New Commitment to Clean Energy Innovation

Is Waxman-Markey's "Cap" and Trade System Full of Hot Air?

Scientists Say Don't Bet on Holding Warming to 2C

Is California a Model for an Energy Efficient Economy?

Obama's Climate Suicide Threat

Obama's Climate Policy Bind

John Holdren's Minor Geoengineering Gaffe

What Can Building Retrofits Achieve?

Is free range natural?

Hitchens on the Continued Relevance of Marx

How Fast Can a Big Economy Decarbonize?

John Holdren's First Interview - Supports Geoengineering, Including Air Capture

Quote of the Day, April 9 2009

Spinning Probabilities in GRL

Friedman Misstates Polling Data, Criticizes Greens

Is Joe Romm an Energy Challenge Denier?

Soaking Up the Sun: Solar Power in Germany and Japan

Inheriting the Wind: Danish Wind Power

Silicon Valley Garage or Government Lab: Personal Computing

The Semiconductor Revolution: Microchips

From Kitty Hawk to Boeing Field: the Aviation Industry

An Introduction to Case Studies in American Innovation

REPORT: Case Studies in American Innovation

How Democrats Can Win the Climate Debate

How Democrats Can Win the Climate Debate

Quote of the Day, April 6th, 2009

How to Game the Geithner Plan

New Oil Shock Poised to Strike as Economy Recovers

Special Coverage: Cap and Trade, DOA?

Congress Debates Pollution Pricing; Public Wants Clean Energy Investment

The Worst of Both Worlds: Climate Bill on Crash Course for Compromise

Senate Republicans Outflank Dems on Climate

Did the Senate Just Preemptively Kill Cap and Trade?

Jenkins Talks the Markey-Waxman Climate Bill on KPFA

New Climate Bill Proof of Misplaced Priorities

Senate Says No to Pollution Pricing Paradigm

Quote of the Day, 3/31/09

Galbraith on the Economy: Time to Go Big or Go Home

Are Greens Tipping the Debate Away from what Really Matters?

To Build a Better Lightbulb

The Economist Weighs in on the Energy Innovation Challenge

Breakthrough's Jenkins Speaks on Climate Policy and Politics

President Obama and Secretary Chu Deliver Double Dose on Energy Innovation

MIT President Hockfield at the White House: Investing in Energy R&D "Best Strategy" for Economic Growth

Why We Must Make Clean Energy Cheap

Quote of the Day, 3/20/09

The Challenge Ahead: More than a Third of Senate Now "Swing" Vote on Climate

Shell Retires Renewable Energy Business

Cap and Trade Going Under Down Undah

Investment trumps environmental regulation

Pielke on Adaptation, Coal, and the Politicization of Science

Is it Time to Get Serious About Geoengineering?

Michael Shellenberger on Planet Forward TV: Make Clean Energy Cheap

Newsweek Nails the Energy Challenge

Quote of the Day, 3/13/09

America is #... 15?

Refrigerator Lust and Disgust

What's driving opinion on global warming?

Playing the Expectations Game as Copenhagen Looms

What's Next? A New Model for Student Innovation

Mitigation Math: Hypothetical Answers

US Mitigation Math

What's Next: Climate Entrepreneurs

Want to Save the World? Make Clean Energy Cheap.

Steven Chu calls for $150 billion investment in "breakthrough" energy R&D

Quote of the Day, 3/9/09

Quote of the Day, 3/6/09

Energy Experts Call for High-Risk, High-Reward Energy Innovation

January 2012

December 2011

November 2011

October 2011

September 2011

August 2011

July 2011

June 2011

May 2011

April 2011

March 2011

February 2011

January 2011

December 2010

November 2010

October 2010

September 2010

August 2010

July 2010

June 2010

May 2010

April 2010

March 2010

February 2010

January 2010

December 2009

November 2009

October 2009

September 2009

August 2009

July 2009

June 2009

May 2009

April 2009

March 2009

February 2009

January 2009

December 2008

November 2008

October 2008

September 2008

August 2008

July 2008

June 2008

May 2008

April 2008

March 2008

February 2008

January 2008

December 2007

November 2007

October 2007

September 2007

August 2007

July 2007

June 2007

May 2007

November 2006

September 2006

December 2005

October 2005

June 2005

April 2005

October 2004

January 2004

June 2003

 
 
Privacy : Contact