Clean Energy

The Legislative Analyst's Office is turning up its criticism of Gov. Jerry Brown's plans for clean energy funding. Brown wants to increase energy efficiency at thousands of local schools with $450 million generated by Proposition 39, which changed the corporate tax code. But legislative analysts say that may not achieve the goal of maximizing energy savings. The analysts originally expressed their concerns in a January report and expanded upon them in a new report released Thursday.

Approved by voters in November, Proposition 39 is expected to raise close to $1 billion a year by eliminating a tax break enjoyed by some multistate businesses. The money, however, comes with a significant string attached: For the first five years, half of it must be spent on projects that improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse emissions. Gov. Jerry Brown wants to direct next year's allotment exclusively to public schools and community colleges, which isn't a bad idea. But he's doing it in a way that violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the initiative.

In celebrating his reelection Tuesday night, President Obama finally touched on a topic that he and Republican rival Mitt Romney rarely broached during the campaign: Climate change. During his acceptance speech, Obama make a strong play to win over the green sector, ranking environmental action high up on his priority list. “We want our children to live in an America that isn't burdened by debt, that isn't weakened by inequality, that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet,” he said, adding that “freeing ourselves from foreign oil” would be a top challenge.

Re "Crucial CO2 gauge hits key level," May 11 Our failure as a nation to address the climate change crisis is heartbreaking. We must transition off fossil fuels, period. And we have at our disposal a simple mechanism to make that happen: a carbon tax. Tax carbon at the mine or port and invest the money in clean energy. It is ridiculous to insist that we can't afford it. We should be putting every resource available into the fight to maintain a habitable planet. Vicki Kirschenbaum Burbank ALSO: Letters: Sen. Warren speaks up Letters: Tax breaks for tea parties?

I always felt an uncomplicated pride in the small role I played in protecting the East and West coasts from offshore oil drilling — until the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. We had a great story: A small group of dedicated environmentalists took on the combined power of the oil industry and consecutive Republican administrations and won one of the most expansive and enduring victories in the movement's history. For nearly 30 years, new oil and gas development has been banned along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

At a conference for green investors, Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates said that research funding for clean energy needs to at least double in order to see a viable, investor-attractive source of clean energy to reduce carbon emissions.  But Gates was not optimistic that the innovation would come anytime soon, saying that the United States and other countries do not adequately fund research and don't encourage experimentation by entrepreneurs.  ...

SAN JOSE - After a morning of closed-door campaigning here Thursday, President Obama plans to talk about tax credits for clean energy production during a visit to Iowa. As he focuses on his administration's efforts to boost job creation, Obama plans to call on Congress to extend tax credits designed to encourage businesses to invest in clean energy production, senior officials said. Obama is scheduled to make his remarks on a visit to TPI Composites, a global provider of composite wind blades to major turbine manufacturers.

At a time when the U.S. economy is desperate for jobs and investment in future growth, a slew of clean-energy projects are on hold largely because of political stalemate in Washington. With President Obama's energy and climate proposals bottled up in Congress, business leaders say they cannot tell what direction government policy will take on a variety of issues, including new energy taxes, tougher emissions standards for factories and vehicles, and guaranteed markets for start-up wind and solar power plants.

President Obama's plans to lead America out of recession rest in part on a task bigger than a moon shot and the Manhattan Project put together. His goal, which past presidents have spent more than $100 billion chasing with limited success, is to replace imported oil and other fossil fuels with a "clean-energy economy" powered by the wind, the sun and biofuels. The stakes are high. If Obama succeeds, he could spark a domestic jobs boom and lead an international fight against climate change.

In what could be an encouraging sign of change in the long-standing shortage of Americans preparing for "clean energy" careers, the subject is suddenly hot on college campuses across the nation -- a surge of interest largely stimulated by the specter of global warming.

SACRAMENTO -- Six months after voters approved new taxes to fund clean energy projects, Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers remain at odds over how to spend the money on improving energy efficiency at public schools and community colleges. Brown, who is scheduled to release his revised budget on Tuesday, is expected to tweak his original plan to distribute the money based on how many students are in each school district. But Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) believes the governor isn't doing enough to ensure the new taxes are spent wisely.

WASHINGTON -- Clean-energy jobs make up a small part of U.S. employment, but a new federal report shows they are growing much faster than other work, even healthcare. The nation had about 3.4 million green energy jobs in 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday in its second annual and final look at this emerging category of employment. (More on why it's the last report later.) In all, so-called green jobs accounted for just 2.6% of all employment that year, but a comparison with 2010 data shows that these jobs grew at four times the rate of all the others combined.

In the clean energy market, the U.S. trumped China. At least in 2011. U.S. firms held a $1.63-billion surplus in the clean energy trade over China, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. That surplus was for 2011, the latest year data is available. It was a rare bright spot in a relationship that had the overall U.S. trade deficit with China hitting $315 billion last year. Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew's clean energy program, said the findings highlight the long-term potential for the U.S. to hold its top spot in the clean energy sector.

The Legislative Analyst's Office is turning up its criticism of Gov. Jerry Brown's plans for clean energy funding. Brown wants to increase energy efficiency at thousands of local schools with $450 million generated by Proposition 39, which changed the corporate tax code. But legislative analysts say that may not achieve the goal of maximizing energy savings. The analysts originally expressed their concerns in a January report and expanded upon them in a new report released Thursday.

WASHINGTON -- Energy Secretary Steven Chu said he is leaving the Obama administration, ending a tenure marked by active development of alternative energy that won plaudits from environmentalists and drew attacks from conservatives, especially after the bankruptcy of the federally-backed solar panel maker, Solyndra. Chu said that he planned to stay at least through late February and was prepared to stay longer in order to hand over the agency to a new secretary. A Nobel laureate in physics, Chu oversaw the deployment of $35 billion in stimulus funding, much of it to research initiatives and companies charting new vehicle fuels, advanced batteries for large-scale power storage and  renewable energy.

Sen. John Kerry, President Obama's nominee for secretary of State, may not be able to bring peace to the Middle East, end enduring trade and currency disputes with China or mend fences with all the anti-American leaders in Latin America. But he may be capable of redirecting the debate over an issue of equal or greater importance: climate change. Kerry is among the most forward-thinking members of the U.S. Senate when it comes to understanding both the threats of and the practical responses to global warming.

In the clean energy market, the U.S. trumped China. At least in 2011. U.S. firms held a $1.63-billion surplus in the clean energy trade over China, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. That surplus was for 2011, the latest year data is available. It was a rare bright spot in a relationship that had the overall U.S. trade deficit with China hitting $315 billion last year. Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew's clean energy program, said the findings highlight the long-term potential for the U.S. to hold its top spot in the clean energy sector.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who was an early advocate for clean energy during his first governorship 30 years ago, told business leaders at an event here today that he was committed to picking up where he left off.  Brown talked about tax incentives for solar energy that he approved in 1977, initiatives that he said were eagerly embraced.  At the time, there was "no resistance," he said. "Those were the good times. " Today, the governor, who is in the second year of his third term, said he finds himself facing more resistance to his proposals.

Congress demonstrated last week that its current polarized membership is probably incapable of agreeing to any kind of tax increase, even as an alternative to much bigger tax increases slated to take effect automatically. Nor do many Republicans seem receptive to President Obama's argument that tax increases are a necessary part of a multi-year effort to bring down the federal deficit. So it seems almost risible to argue that Congress should impose a whole new type of tax that would cost U.S. companies tens of billions of dollars, much (if not all)

WASHINGTON - On election night, President Obama uttered a phrase that thrilled environmentalists. "We want our children to live in an America that isn't burdened by debt, that isn't weakened by inequality," Obama said, "that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet. " Environmental optimists run the risk, however, of ending up like a kid who expected a puppy for Christmas and got socks instead. Those in industry who think that Obama's frequent campaign talk about the benefits of oil and gas could mean opening more land to drilling may also be disappointed.