Senate Poised to Give Blank Check to Energy Projects
OPS_admin | Sep 25, 2009 | Comments 0
| Union of Concerned Scientists
This fall the Senate is expected take up a climate and energy bill that would establish a new agency within the Department of Energy to administer federal loan guarantees for private “clean” energy projects. The bill, the American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 (S.1462), was passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in June.
The proposed new agency, the Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA), would offer a range of financing options, including direct loans, letters of credit, loan guarantees and insurance for energy production, transmission and storage projects that emphasize so-called “breakthrough” technologies to reduce global warming emissions and energy consumption. Renewable energy, advanced nuclear, and coal carbon capture and storage projects all would qualify for assistance.
On the face of it, a federal “clean energy bank” sounds like a good idea. In fact, the House included a provision for CEDA in the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill it passed in June. But experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) took a close look at the Senate’s proposal and found a number of serious pitfalls that the House’s version avoided. For example, the Senate’s proposal would permit potentially unlimited loan guarantees to a wide range of costly energy technologies without the benefit of congressional oversight through the appropriations process. As drafted, it also would not restrict the amount of financial support that could go to the most costly, most risky, and least sustainable energy technologies. Finally, it would do nothing to prioritize the most cost-effective, environmentally sound technologies to address global warming. These deficiencies would put U.S. taxpayers at risk for loan defaults.
Full Story: Senate Poised to Give Blank Check to Energy Projects | Union of Concerned Scientists.
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If we don't change our ways soon...
A new report by the Royal Society, chaired by Nobel prize-winning biologist Sir John Sulston warns that world population must be stabilized and consumption in wealthy nations must be reduced or the entire planet is in big trouble. As the report reads: "The number of people living on the planet has never been higher, their levels of consumption are unprecedented and vast changes are taking place in the environment. We can choose to rebalance the use of resources to a more egalitarian pattern of consumption... or we can choose to do nothing and to drift into a downward spiral of economic and environmental ills leading to a more unequal and inhospitable future."This is the same warning that President Jimmy Carter gave Americans back in the 1970's - but it was ignored when Ronald Reagan came to power with a "more positive" message basically telling Americans we can do whatever we want. And then after 9/11 - Bush told us all we should go shopping and consume ever more.And now with corporations calling the shots in Washington - long-term sustainability of the planet takes a back seat to short-term profits. If we don't change our ways soon - and embrace clean, alternative energy and educate women around the plant - then we all could be headed for a rough century.-Thom(Is there any chance we will learn in time? Tell us here.) -
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