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Print Edition StoriesWednesday, June 23, 2010
Policy Tracker
Oil spill alters climate change bill; Vt., Conn. get energy funds
BP hones skills through MIT programs
UMass Boston launches Entrepreneurship Center
MHT's Galen Moore: N.E. firms target individual carbon footprints
Oil spill boosts, but alters, climate change bill
The catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has given new momentum to climate change legislation, but capping carbon emissions still faces a difficult road ahead in the Senate.
President Barack Obama pointed to the “inherent risks to drilling four miles beneath the surface of the Earth” as a reason to “aggressively accelerate” the nation’s transition “to a clean energy economy.” The only way to do this, he said, is “putting a price on carbon pollution” so that “capital comes off the sidelines and the ingenuity of our entrepreneurs is unleashed.”
The president endorsed legislation sponsored by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., that takes a sector-by-sector approach to cutting carbon emissions. The bill would set a floor and ceiling for the price of carbon and establish a system for selling and trading carbon permits among electric utilities, large manufacturers and other major emitters of greenhouse gases.
Senate Majority Harry Reid announced plans to bring “a comprehensive clean energy bill” to the floor in July. Like Obama, Reid cited the Gulf oil spill as a reason for prompt action.
Reid asked the chairmen to submit recommendations by July 4 on what should be included in the bill to reduce the risk of future oil spills and make sure oil companies are held fully accountable if they do occur.
— Kent Hoover, ACBJ Wire Service
Vt., Conn. get energy funds
The U.S. Department of Energy recently selected 20 communities, including two in New England, for more than $60 million in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to implement local energy efficiency and renewable energy programs focused on cutting energy use by homes, vehicles and businesses. Local governments, nonprofit organizations and quasi-governmental organizations are among the recipients for the competitive grants, administered under the DOE Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program.
The New England recipients are Connecticut Innovations Inc. of Rocky Hill, Conn., which was awarded $4,171,124, and Rutland West Neighborhood Housing Services Inc. in West Rutland, Vt., which was awarded $4,487,588.
— MHT staff
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