ACORE_logo_SQ_GREEN.jpgThe American Council on Renewable Energy (“ACORE”) has adopted a new strategic plan.  The objective of the plan is to identify the issues affecting the renewable energy industry over the next ten years and position ACORE to effectively work with the renewable energy industry to deliver the value and benefits of renewable energy.  The plan identifies four principal areas that ACORE will focus on:
Continue Reading ACORE Adopts New Strategic Plan

By Susan Marriott

President Obama proposed several broad energy-related initiatives in his State of the Union address last week, which are summarized in David Flynn’s post below. Noticeably absent from the President’s address was “clean coal,” which had been part of the President’s “all of the above” approach to domestic energy development. The apparent absence of coal from the President’s energy agenda is another setback to the future of the coal industry, which has been declining in the U.S. due to greenhouse gas regulations and competition from natural gas. Nevertheless, recent developments in carbon capture and storage (“CCS”) technology may help the coal industry adapt to a changing regulatory environment.
Continue Reading With Impending New Regulations, Coal Industry Focuses on Carbon Capture and Storage

President Obama’s State of the Union address touched on many issues of critical importance to Americans, including America’s energy future and its link to economic growth and prosperity.

In discussing the need to maintain investment in science and innovation, the President called for the U.S. to “reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race,” and further stated, “no area holds more promise than our investments in American energy.”

The President focused on:
Continue Reading Obama’s State of the Union Address and America’s Energy Future

State Supreme Court Justice Ferris D. Lebous recently overturned a local ordinance adopted by the Binghamton City Council in 2011 to ban activities associated with gas drilling and exploration for a period of two years. Justice Lebous’ decision is the first in New York State to overrule a local ordinance pertaining to the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Continue Reading State Supreme Court Overrules Local Fracking Ordinance

The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has created a new website and Twitter feed to provide facts about renewable energy in the U.S.  This informative, non-partisan organization is looking to address some of the mis-information about renewable energy, and facilitate fact-based decision and policy making regarding renewable energy.  The links for both the website

Considering the current climate of hostility toward renewable energy in the wake of the Solyndra debacle, it may come as a surprise that in general, renewable energy remains a strong investment.

To place the return on the federal government’s clean energy research and development (“R&D”) investment into the proper context, Joseph Romm of Climate Progress recently referenced a report by the National Academy of Sciences (“NAS”) which independently verified the U.S. Department of Energy’s (“DOE’s”) venture capital success.
Continue Reading New York’s Solar Jobs Act May Boost Returns on Solar R&D