Seth Levine has posted Marion Jenkins’ detailed rebuttal to HB 1192.  Mr. Jenkins suggests this tax legislation should be opposed due to a wide range of problems, including it being a new tax which should go before all voters to the complexity in determining when a lump of software code is deemed “standard” and subject to these new taxes versus custom code that is not to be taxed.

The bottom line is really about jobs in Colorado.  And with this bill, the jobs which are easily moved to more business friendly states will start that migration. The Sixty-sixth General Assembly can choose to address the issues with the state budget directly and bring the issues to the people, or they can choose to tear down the reasons businesses choose to be in Colorado.

In a move clearly designed to keep up the pressure on the US to take strong action on climate change, UN climate chief Yfo de Boer stated, “Whatever route is taken, the president of the United States committed to a 17 percent emissions reduction in Copenhagen.  The president of the United States committed to more ambitious emissions reductions for 2030 and 2050. And it is those statements to which the international community will hold the government of the United States accountable.”

via U.S. Bound by Obama\’s Copenhagen Emissions Pledge — U.N. Official – NYTimes.com.

In Massachusetts, a proposed wind farm called Cape Wind was dealt a blow last Friday that will delay what would be the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. The Massachusetts Historical Commission agreed with local Indian tribes who claim that the location for the wind farm should be considered for listing in the National Historic Register because the Wampanoags’ history and culture are “inextricably linked to Nantucket Sound,” according to the opinion.

“If the tribes are successful, that would have a severe chilling effect (on the entire wind industry) because tribes up and down the coast could make the same claim,” said Mark Rodgers, the communications director for Cape Wind. “Never before has an open ocean been caught up in this kind of declaration.”

Then again, never before has a rare combination of private and government investment pumped so much into alternative energy projects. As these projects grow in frequency and scale, a new breed of NIMBY (not in my backyard) is emerging: Opponents of wind or solar installations who generally support renewable energy, just as long as they are built somewhere else. Coal and nuclear plants, it turns out, aren’t the only energy facilities people don’t want built in their backyards…or coastlines.

The Cape Wind fight, in particular, has brought together a testy combination of excellent wind conditions, opposition from well heeled local residents including members of the Kennedy clan, and a surprising assertion of Native American rights.

via .

NIST released a draft report on the SmartGrid interoperability standards yesterday.  The roughly 80 initial standards and 14 priority action plans are available for public review and comment for 30 days.  Following this comment period the first phase of NIST’s 3 phase approach will be completed with the final release of the NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Release 1.0.

Department of Energy Secretary Chu announces $93 million from the Recover Act to support the development of additional wind energy in the United States. The money will support R&D and testing for wind turbine drivetrains, support university and industry consortia focusing on critical wind energy challenges, advanced technology development in the private sector and a National Wind Technology Center in Colorado.

Chu also announced the National Renewable Energy Laboratory will receive $100 million for infrastructure projects. The largest is the development of an energy efficient LEED Platinum certified office, constructed at the same cost as that of a low efficiency commercial office building. The others are to use solar and other green energy sources to reduce the labs carbon use and to upgrade the integrated bio-refinery research facility used to develop commercial scale cellulose to ethanol technologies.

During his visit to the Golden, CO facility Chu stated that $26 billion of the more than $100 billion in the Recover Act for renewable energy projects had already been authorized with the goal of 70% being authorized by early September. He also discussed streamlining the DOE loan approval process with the goal of reducing the time to getting a loan application approved to a few months. It has been known to take years under the current process.

It is great to see some of this huge spending bill is being directed to innovation and more importantly that this is being coordinated with private industry. There continues to be a gap in funding for the commercialization of proven technologies. Until this gap is filled, the great innovation from the labs and universities will be delayed in helping solve our energy issues.

McKinsey’s Matt Hirschland interviews three European leaders about a global climate agreement this year.

McKinsey

Economists Nicholas Stern and Michael Grubb, along with European Commissioner Janez Poto?nik, agree that the United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held in Copenhagen in December 2009, marks a critical juncture for addressing climate concerns. And they all agree the United States must take serious action to back up the serious language currently coming out of Washington, D.C.

So just what is a cap and trade system and how does it work? MSNBC has a Frequently Asked Questions page that answers this question. While President Obama signaled his desires in his budget, congress is required to pass the legislation and the details. Many experts are suggesting legislation is unlikely this, however “Powerful Democrats such as House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., have said they would work hard to get legislation passed by this summer.”

Earlier this week, the White House stated a climate bill passed in 2010 would be fine as long as it included the critical components President Obama included in his campaign promises. This is consistent with President Obama’s budget which includes revenue for carbon cap and trade allowances of $658 billion in total for the years 2012 through 2019. $150 billion of this will be committed to invest in clean energy along with tax credits.

“America, in the face of our common dangers; in this winter of our hardship let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brace once more the icy currents. An endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s chirdren, that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end. That we did not turn back nor did we falter and with eyes fixed on the horizon and god’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”

Idaho State energy czar Paul Kjellander sees BTUs where other see Cow $#!+ and he hopes to get others to see it his way.  As head of Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otters Office of Energy Resources, Kjellander is pushing a package of income tax credits, property tax waivers and other incentives in the 2009 Legislature starting Jan. 12 to transform Idahos southern heartland into a methane Mecca.

That odor wafting from 550,000 cows that make up Idaho's growing dairy herd smells like energy independence and economic development to state energy czar Paul Kjellander.

 With over half a million cows and ranking 3rd in dairy production, there is definitely a lot of manure.  This contributes greatly to agriculture being the third largest producer of methane in the US.  Methane by volume has 25 times the greenhouse effect as CO2 on climate and is second to CO2 in greenhouse gas contribution to global climate change.

Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc. soon aims to sell electricity from its $8.5 million, 2.25 megawatt digester and generator facility at the 10,000-cow Bettencourt Dairy in Hansen to Idaho Power Co., the state’s largest utility.

This is the agricultural conglomerate’s first such project, but Cargill has another southern Idaho plant due to open in 2009. It’s also exploring similar endeavors in neighboring Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, California, Texas, New York and Indiana, said Craig Maetzold, Cargill Environmental Finance’s operations manager.

“We believe the credits in renewable energy are only going to increase in value in the future,” Maetzold said.

The European Parliament has approved a deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the 27-member bloc. The package will obligate EU nations to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels. The package also seeks a 20 percent energy savings and increasing the use of renewable energy sources up to 20 percent of the total. Lawmakers in Strasbourg also agreed measures to cut CO2 emissions from new cars by 18 percent by 2015.

President-elect Obama has followed up on his campaign climate commitments in selecting his “Green Team” for environment, energy and new coordinating positions. His picks confirm the Obama administration intends for the US to make an about-face on energy and environmental issues. His selections are experienced in alternative energy and cap-and-trade systems. In several cases choosing science and engineering over legal and political experience, Obama is clearly indicating the climate debates in his administration will include significant scientific evidence.

Steven Chu, the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a 1997 corecipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, is Obama’s pick for secretary of energy. Lisa Jackson, a former commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection who was trained as a chemical engineer, is nominated for the post as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. And Carol Browner, former EPA chief in the Clinton administration, has been asked to serve as a “high-level coordinator” on energy issues—and perhaps something of a “czar” on climate change.

Department of Energy – Steven Chu
At Berkeley, Chu has strongly advocated research into solar power and advanced biomass, in particular biofuels made from grasses that won’t compete for space with farmland. At a talk this summer in Nevada, Chu said, “In the first eight months of a new research program, we have developed ways to separate out cellulose, and we have already made a yeast [that] makes a gasolinelike fuel. Already within eight months, we are working on diesel and jet replacement fuels. We need to work with making this really scalable so it will outperform the yeast we have to today.” (One potential disagreement with Obama: Chu has criticized corn-based ethanol, which Obama has strongly supported in the Senate and in the campaign.)

Administrator of the EPA – Lisa Jackson
Ms. Jackson had been the head of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection since 2006, and in October, Gov. Jon S. Corzine announced that she would become his chief of staff starting on December. She presently serves as Vice President of the Executive Board of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a program organized by northeast states to develop a regional cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy producers. She has a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton and spent 16 years at the federal E.P.A. as a top enforcement officer in Washington and New York. She has led the Obama transition team at E.P.A. and knows the agency inside and out, according to associates.

Coordinator of Energy and Environmental Policy
Browner will work closely with Obama, who pledged his “personal engagement” in these issues, and coordinate the work of the DOE, EPA, as well as the federal, state and local governments. Obamo pointed out that Browner will bring her experience from the EPA of establishing the NOx and SO2 emissions trading programme. On the international stage, she was behind drafting the US’ submission to the Kyoto protocol in 1997, which he said was the “the best framework for carbon policy that has ever been developed.”

Ms. Browner, an acolyte of former Vice President Al Gore, will have forceful support in the new Congress, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, who will be the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who is returning as chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Opposing their efforts will be many Republicans and some Democrats, as well as manufacturers, utilities, oil companies and coal producers who will bear the brunt of the costs of any steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the main culprit in global warming.

The nominees have a record of supporting high levels of federal involvement in energy and environmental issues, both in terms of money invested and regulatory oversight. During the early 1990s, Browner earned a reputation for attempting to uphold water and air regulations in the face of opposition from congressional Republicans. Jackson, likewise, at a congressional hearing last May on mercury emissions, told lawmakers, “Implementing the real maximum achievable protections is simply the only moral and ethical choice available if we are to meet our responsibility as public officials.”

Citing lower forecasts in 2009 output along with an increase in the number of firms announcing temporary shutdowns, analysts are scaling back their forecasts for carbon emissions and the price for allowances for those emissions. Societe Generale has cut their forecast for EUAs a third to 17 euros a ton. They went on to say prices could rise to 20 euros by 2012, sharply down from estimates earlier this year that prices would reach 37 euros during this timeframe.

Deutsche Bank believes EU emissions in 2009 could be 10% below 2007 levels. This would push emissions below allowances for 2009. The excess allowances for 2009 can be “banked” for use through 2012 and the forecasted emissions for 2009-2012 remain slightly above the EU carbon allowances. As a result of reduced emissions and smaller shortfall, UN-approved Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) which EU industry can import from developing nations to meet compliance, may be able to meet the entire shortfall. Price estimates for EUAs and CERs clearly indicate analysts believe CERs will set the pricing for EUAs for the next few years.

The good news is EU will be able to meet the allowances under phase 2 with a small “carbon price” in this recessionary period. This is also the bad news, as the lower price reduces the investment per ton of CO₂ available for carbon abatement projects. The net is by 2012, the European Union will have done less and perhaps much less to lower the Green House Gases (GHG) they produce per unit of energy they consume than anticipated when the allowance allocations were set.

Packing up his campaign talk of tackling global climate change head-on, President-elect Obama has selected Nobel physics laureate Steven Chu to head up the department of energy.

Chu heads the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, stamping his imprint on the lab with an aggressive focus on developing new alternative energy technology. “If I were emperor of the world, I would put the pedal to the floor on energy efficiency and conservation for the next decade,” Chu stated in an interview last year.

Chu’s experience in advanced technology and renewable energy and lack of background in fossil fuels signals Obama expects the energy department to concentrate on new fuels, experts said.

“I believe that the selection of Steve Chu suggests that President-elect Obama is quite serious about reordering the energy sector and executing his vision of a green economy,” said Jerry Taylor, a senior fellow at Cato Institute.

This video is worth a few minutes of your time.

The Generation WE movement is the largest generation in history, they are independant – politically, socially, and philosophically – and are spearheading a period of sweeping change in America and around the world. Check it out.

The McCain – Clinton Gas Tax Holiday is a farce and voters are beginning to realize this. Of course, Obama has been correctly outlining the problems all along. There are numerous problems with this approach even if the money would trickle into the hands of the consumers who most need it and therefore spend it on other items. At 18.4 cents per gallon, the family burning two gallons per day would receive a savings of $11 dollars per month or 5% of the cost of gasoline at the current $3.61 per gallon.

And of course, it is a proposal that few in Congress support and President Bush will veto. So, it’s a non-starter and perhaps in the eyes of two candidates a safe proposal aimed to win voter favor without having all the downsides. And there are several.

First of all, the tax generates revenue to pay for roads and bridge maintenance, which if anything is too small for our aging infrastructure. Of the three ways to pay for this, Clinton suggests taxing the windfall profits on Oil Companies while McCain says cut other spending. Let’s start with McCain. Congress has shown little appetite for cutting spending and the Whitehouse seems to agree that deficits matter not to voters. So, he is really offering the third option of borrowing to pay for this when we need to do the opposite.

Clinton wants to tax the Oil companies with a Windfall Profit tax which would do two things. First of all, it would diminish the expected returns on oil production and over the long term would decrease supply. It would in the short term put higher price pressure on Oil and with more demand coming during the summer driving season, it is more likely this added tax expense would be passed on to consumers.

If you want to help consumers and the retailers they visit, there are better ways to insure the money get to the right people. The stimulus package aims (many would argue aims poorly) to get $600 to those who need it most and are most likely to use it. The gas tax suspension would do no such thing.

And now here is the real catch. The realities of market economics cannot be suspended. Demand will increase to a point where it meets supply. Fiddling with the gas tax will not change this and the US Fuel Retail system has very little slack capacity. Therefore, supply is relatively inelastic and prices will move with demand. Bottom line, the gas tax will be eaten by the Gasoline Value Chain and consumers will be left with little in their pocket other than a higher debt and nothing done to solve the longer term energy issues. It’s bad policy, bad economics and it is time for us to show politicians, that pandering for votes is bad politics.