Image Credit: maciekSz, Flickr CC

The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) is a massive piece of legislation that leaves no stone unturned. It has a cap and trade provision; it provides billions of dollars for the development of clean electricity by harnessing the power of wind and sun, and it also includes funding — to the tune of $90 billion –  to support an extensive energy efficiency program.

Ironically, while much attention has focused on the bill’s cap-and-trade provision, covered here, energy efficiency is the one provision in this ACES legislation that over the long-term could have the most impact in resolving the climate change issue.

Step 1: Reduce the Need for Energy

It’s true that building wind farms across the U.S. wind corridor or massive solar power plants in the western deserts sound like attractive propositions. However, they also generate their share of issues. …read more of Blogging ACES Pt. 2 – Energy Efficiency here

There are an abundance of events in my local town of Madison, Wi to celebrate Earth Day throughout this week and coming weekend. As with previous Earth Day events in town, Madisonians show a lot of interest in these events.

Many events are focused on environmental awareness with activities at area nature preserves and conservation sites. The UW Arboretum will feature a luncheon lecture on Native American rock and cave art in Wisconsin. The Arboretum will also host nature and wildflower walks for Earth Day.

Friends of the Lakeshore Marsh will feature a meeting on the Class of 1918 Marsh that is centered on area birds, insects, plants, and plankton and will discuss effects of watershed land use on the marsh. …read more of Celebrating Earth Day Locally here

Big agribusiness was shaken a little over the Obama administration’s proposed cuts to farm subsidies.

The plan was to end direct payments to farms with more than $500,000 in gross sales. The cuts would save over $9 billion over a decade, and therefore is part of the administration’s overall budget plan.

The potential problem with this cut is that the $500,000 in sales may not take into account the amount that farms may actually spend to grow their yields, nor how much they make in profits.

Nor does it consider how much the farm may have lost due to poor crops or weather conditions for the growing season. …read more of Farm Subsidy Cuts No Longer an Issue here

Among his first acts of business as President, Barack Obama has taken two separate actions to clean up the auto industry. He has asked the Department of Transportation to begin implementing a 2007 law requiring gas mileage standards to improve 40% by 2016, a law the Bush administration ignored after it was passed by congress.

His other move was more controversial: it was a request that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reconsider an application from 14 states that would allow them to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from automobiles. The same request was denied under the Bush administration.

California took the lead in requesting authority to implement limits at the state level that would require automobile GHG emissions to fall 30% by 2016. 13 other states have joined California in petitioning the EPA for this right: Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Opposition comes from the Republican Party and US auto industry, which raise several fears: …read more of Obama’s Plan for Green Autos here