Obama Energy & Environment Team Gets Busy

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how President-elect Obama’s Transition Team is approaching climate issues. According to Heather Zichal, a member of the Energy & Environment Transition Team, the new Obama administration is working hard to turn all the good talk about the environment into action.

In keeping with their “open government” image, the Obama team is asking the American people to send in our thoughts and opinions about environmental policies. So, channel your eco-angst into a good brainstorming session and submit your ideas at change.gov/environment.

Democrats Might Have a 60-Vote Bloc on Energy, After All

Despite the fact that Democrats didn’t reach that magical number of 60 filibuster-proof seats in the Senate, they might be able to get a lot done without interference from staunch business-first Republicans after all. Democrats currently have 56 seats with a few still undecided, and both candidates in Oregon are pro-clean-energy. Beyond that, there may be as many as half a dozen Republicans willing to reach across the aisle and help pass important clean energy legislation.

From The Wall Street Journal:

New Energy Finance says that could include both Republican senators from Maine, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Ms. Snowe worked with California Democrat Diane Feinstein on energy-efficiency and solar-power incentives. Ms. Collins is a true “all of the above” energy advocate, supporting biofuels, tougher fuel-economy standards, and a national renewable-energy standard.

Longtime Republican senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and John Thune of South Dakota are both big-time ethanol supporters. And as prairie-state senators, they have both become vocal advocates of federal support for renewable energy, especially wind power. In Nevada, Republican Sen. John Ensign worked with Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell to bolster federal support for alternative energy.

Other possibilities include incoming Republican Senator Jim Risch, and Obama’s former opponent John McCain.

This help from Republicans won’t necessarily come across for all issues, especially cap-and-trade schemes. But, it will make all the difference in moving forward the way we need to in order to properly address the energy crisis, global warming and the economy all at once.

Link [The Wall Street Journal]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Al Gore says “Go Vote for the Environment!”

Former Vice President Al Gore sat down in a live webcast with PowerVote.org to talk about the importance of getting out the “climate vote” in this election. Power Vote, a national non-partisan effort spearheaded by the Energy Action Coalition, is encouraging voters to go to the polls with energy and the environment on their minds. Sign the pledge to make clean, just energy a top priority in your vote this election.

Let’s Get This Straight: There’s No Such Thing as ‘Clean Coal’

During the Vice Presidential debate last Thursday night, the candidate’s responses to energy and environment issues were fairly predictable: Sarah Palin offered canned, cliché-ridden talking points about nuclear power and offshore drilling, and once again stated that she won’t fully attribute global warming to man.  Joe Biden emphasized that global warming is man-made, and pointed out that “if you don’t understand what the cause is, it’s virtually impossible to come up with a solution”.

While we at EarthFirst believe strongly that the Obama/Biden ticket is the only ticket that will properly protect the environment and address global warming in a meaningful way, let’s be clear on one thing: we cringe every time Obama and Biden utter the words ‘clean coal’.  Here’s why: there’s no such thing.

‘Clean coal’ is a myth perpetuated by – hadn’t you guessed already? – the coal industry.  It’s a contradiction in terms; an oxymoron.  The term isn’t just misleading.  It promotes a perception of this polluting, health-endangering, ecosystem-destroying technology that exists only in Imaginationland.

The talk of ‘clean coal’ really centers on attempts to make coal ‘less dirty’.  At least, marginally less dirty.  It relates to the idea of separating CO2 from the coal-burning process and burying it in liquid form, so it won’t end up in the atmosphere contributing to global warming.  The process is called ‘carbon capture and sequestration’, and it’s still decades away from commercial viability.  Like nuclear power, there are many safety issues involved, like the question of whether stored CO2 could cause leaks or earthquakes.  Plus, capturing and sequestering carbon takes a hell of a lot of energy – doesn’t that sort of negate the whole point?

Attempts to clean up the coal industry aren’t just arduous, they’re incredibly expensive.  And, that money could be going toward truly clean energy technology instead.  The fact is, we need to move away from polluting, environment-destroying energy sources like coal and oil, and we need to do it now.  We need a green energy revolution, which will provide millions of green-collar jobs that can lift these hacking, coal-stained miners out from under the ground and give them a healthier way to provide for their families.

That said, Obama/Biden is still by far a better bet for anyone who cares about the environment in any capacity.  Check back with us on Monday morning, when we’ll be delving into all of the ways a McCain presidency would be a complete disaster for the environment.

Wondering what’s so dirty about coal in the first place? Check out our previous posts, ‘Coal is Clean! Get the Real Facts About the Coal Industry’ and ‘Morgan Spurlock Hits the West Virginia Coal Mines for 30 Days’.

Photo credit: Coal-is-Dirty.com

We’re No Longer Asking. Give Us 100% Clean Energy in 10 Years.

We’re no longer asking. Give us 100% Clean Energy in 10 years.

Link [We Can Solve It.]

New See-Saw Technology Harnesses The Power of Children

I’m into old-school devices re-engineered to create energy or somehow become more efficient. Take the newly released solar-powered vibrator. Now there’s something that finally has come into the 21 Century!

Today’s latest find is a See-Saw designed to harness the power of children (obese, sugar-fueled kids are probably best), which could then be used to power a school for an evening. The idea came from a 23-year-old consumer product design student who became inspired after helping build a school in Kenya. From the article,

He said: “The current need for electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is staggering. Without power development is extremely difficult. “The potential for this product is huge and the design could be of benefit to numerous communities in Africa and beyond.” He has calculated that five to 10 minutes use on the see-saw could generate enough electricity to light a classroom for an evening, for example. Many schools in Africa open their doors in the evening to much older pupils but are only able to light their classrooms with candles or kerosene lamps.

Later this year, a prototype sourced with locally made parts will be setup in a village in Uganda.

We’re jazzed over the See-saw idea — but would be equally enamored with an energy-generating spinnie-ride as well. Sure, they always made me sick, but at least I could feel better knowing my nausea was helping save the world.

via BBC