EERE Network News
January 21, 2009
News and Events
President Obama Calls for Greater Use of Renewable Energy
President Barack Obama's inaugural address on January 20 noted the national security and climate change impacts of U.S. energy use and called for the use of renewable energy to fuel our cars and run our factories. It marks the first-ever mention of such issues in a U.S. president's inaugural address.
Bureau of Land Management to Establish Renewable Energy Offices
The Secretary of Interior has authorized the Bureau of Land Management to establish offices that will expedite renewable energy development on the National System of Public Lands. The first four offices will be located in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Wyoming.
USDA Guarantees an $80 Million Loan for a Cellulosic Ethanol Plant
Under a provision of the 2008 Farm Bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved a loan guarantee for a cellulosic ethanol plant that Range Fuels is building in Georgia. Other companies are planning to build advanced biofuel production plants in Florida, Louisiana, and South Dakota.
Offshore Wind Power Moves Ahead in Massachusetts and Rhode Island
A favorable Final Environmental Impact Statement from the Minerals Management Service bodes well for the Cape Wind project off of Massachusetts, as the project leaders hope to complete the project permitting by March. Meanwhile, Rhode Island could soon have a wind facility built in state-owned waters.
Northeast Greenhouse Gas Allowance Auction Raises $106.5 Million
Ten northeastern and mid-Atlantic states held their second auction of greenhouse gas emission allowances in December, and despite the dour economy, the clearing prices for the allowances actually went up. That also meant more revenue for states to plow back into their clean energy economies.
Energy Connections
2008 Lands Among the Ten Warmest Years on Record for the Globe
With a number of recent years falling close to one another in terms of global temperatures, climate statisticians can't quite say if 2008 is the seventh, eighth, ninth, or tenth warmest year on record. But they can say with certainty that the 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1997.
