Federal Climate Legislation, Energy Monitors Promoted at Solar Meeting

Experts at the American Solar Energy Society meeting in Phoenix said federal climate legislation could have a big impact on energy development, according to the Arizona Republic. Brad Albert, general manager for resource planning at Arizona Public Service, said that a federal climate change policy would encourage the company to invest in renewable power. Albert was quoted as saying: "Having a climate-change policy would do a great deal for anchoring our renewable-energy policy."

Cathy Zoi, assistant Energy secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, said the Obama administration still hoped Congress would pass legislation that would regulate CO2 emissions from power plants. She was quoted as saying: "We still are very interested in getting a comprehensive cap on carbon. Energy prices don't now include the pollution."

Speakers at the meeting said devices that showed consumers how much energy they were using and what it cost would help conservation efforts. Zoi was quoted as saying: "We need some type of speedometer on energy. Imagine going to the grocer and buying food, but not knowing what it costs. Now you only know at the end of the month what you have used" in energy.

Commentators Abound With Views on What Climate Bill Would Do

Commentators abound on the new Senate climate bill. For example, Derek Thompson, a staff editor at Atlantic Business, wrote: "The Senate bill is a lot weaker on renewable energy mandates and efficiency standards. In fact, it's worth reiterating that the Senate bill's renewable targets would do less (yes, less) than what we could expect to happen if no bill passed at all. If environmental groups want to strengthen the bill, this is, far and away, the most promising place to do so, especially since these items will make a big difference in the short term."

James M. Taylor, a senior fellow for environment policy at the Heartland Institute, wrote on NewsBlaze.com: "The Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act recycles the job-killing, energy-restricting provisions of prior global warming bills, with the only significant difference being the accompaniment of comical talking points designed to con the American public into believing that replacing efficient energy sources with inefficient ones will somehow create jobs and benefit the economy."

Noting that only 25 percent of carbon allowances would be sold under the new legislative outline, E. Thomas McClanahan, a Kansas City Star editorial columnist, wrote: "The rest? Given away, of course: to power distribution companies, refiners, developers of carbon-capture schemes and something called the National Industrial Innovation Institute."

Writing in the Baltimore Sun, Brad Heavner, state director of Environment Maryland, stated: "The bill as a whole needs improvement to remove the subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear power."