ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL BLOGS

CAA dropping weatherization program (via Business Courier)

The Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency is temporarily withdrawing from the weatherization business, less than three months after an FBI raid of the program’s Bond Hill offices.

The announcement follows a Sept. 20 letter in which the Ohio Department of Development identified $795,526 in “questioned costs” in CAA’s federally funded program. Weatherization is one of several anti-poverty programs operated by CAA. It installs new furnaces, insulation and energy-efficient windows in low-income households.

“The magnitude of program compliance issues questions CHCCAA’s ability to manage the Home Weatherization Assistance Program now and going forward,” wrote Nick Sunday, deputy chief of ODOD’s office of community assistance, which administers federal spending of weatherization funds. “The agency has communicated its willingness to give up the program and to allow OCA to begin the process of selecting a new provider. OCA supports this decision."

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2011/09/21/caa-to-shut-down-weatherization-program.html

Not Solyndra ($800,000, not 1/2 billion dollars, at issue); nonetheless, this is yet another example of how government should not be entrusted with taxpayer dollars except where absolutely necessary.

67% Oppose Upcoming ‘Ban’ on Traditional Light Bulbs - Rasmussen Reports™

The new government regulations provide for the manufacture of similar-looking bulbs that will last longer and be more energy-efficient – but also more expensive. Critics view the regulations as unnecessary government intrusion in the free market and see them as effectively banning the kind of light bulb Americans have used for decades.

Just 20% of adults think the sale of traditional light bulbs should be banned. Sixty-seven percent (67%) oppose such a ban. Thirteen percent (13%) are undecided.

via www.rasmussenreports.com

The House GOP just tried to repeal this law but couldn't get the 2/3rds majority apparently needed to send this bill to the Senate. Anyway, with the Democrats in control on the Senate and the White Hosue, the bill was never destined for ultimate success. Further action on this will have to await the 2012 elections.

Vt. governor to sign mercury lamp recycling bill - Boston.com

Lamps containing mercury, including compact fluorescent bulbs, are praised for saving energy. But mercury is a known nerve poison and is a cause of concern when released into the environment.

Vermont's new law calls for producers to provide for the collection and recycling of the bulbs and other products containing mercury, including some thermostats and auto switches

via www.boston.com

What about when the bulbs break? Is the EPA going to pay to clean up your carpet? Save energy at the one end, pay for it at the other: how much energy will be used up in recycling and hazmat cleaning? Is there any real savings?

Government Catch-22 Clouds Consumer Adoption of Solar Roofs

From CNBC:

As the federal government pushes to make solar energy cost competitive with coal, local governments are undercutting the effort by imposing high fees and red tape on business and consumers.

“Consider thousands of local processes, fees and timelines,” says Rob Cahill, manager of business development for solar financier SunRun, pointing out that installing solar panels is still treated by city authorities like a complex home renovation. “It’s not surprising that a significant amount of (solar’s cost) is embedded in a local regulatory morass,” he says.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41732845

Fuel Fix » EPA proposes regulating mercury from coal plants

Federal environmental regulators proposed new rules today for mercury and other toxic air pollution from coal-fired power plants — a move that could cost industry billions of dollars while preventing thousands of premature deaths a year.

via fuelfix.com

As one internet commentator puts it,

"Coal is too polluting and dangerous.
Nuclear is radioactive.
Hydro destroy fish habitat.
Solar destroys desert lizard habitat.
Wind creates an ugly landscape."

Unfortunately, there is no thing as a risk-free world. Continued attempts to try to achieve it will cause us all to pay dearly as energy prices escalate.

Parnell claims administration openly hostile to oil states: Gov. Sean Parnell | Alaska news at adn.com

In a speech at the National Press Club, the Republican governor called the federal government "openly hostile" to oil-producing states, particularly for the delays in allowing Shell to drill exploratory wells on leases off Alaska's northern coast that the company purchased in 2008.

"If it looks like a moratorium and walks like a moratorium ... maybe it is," said Parnell, who is in Washington this weekend for the National Governor's Association winter meeting.

Parnell said there's a direct link between the economic recovery and the failure to use Alaska's oil reserves as a national security buffer against the uncertainty in Libya and other oil-producing countries in the Middle East. Higher gasoline prices could harm any economic recovery, Parnell said.

"This is the moment our government must re-examine its 'no new wells' policy when it comes to oil exploration and development here at home," Parnell said. "The U.S. foolishly imports more than 63 percent of our oil. That leaves us vulnerable to the economic shock of disruption of these oil supplies and it drives down that economic recovery."

via www.adn.com

This article presents pro's and con's about Gov. Parnell's argument. Especially see the commetns at the bottom of the article (some of the comments are the ususal ad hominem attacks and contribute nothing to the post-Giffords shooting "civility" cries we hear about so much from the media).

RIGZONE - Salazar: Won't Bow to Political Pressure to Restart Gulf Deepwater Drilling

nterior Secretary Ken Salazar said that U.S. regulators would not bow to political pressure to restart deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico before they are certain the oil-and-gas industry is capable of containing an oil spill like the one that followed last BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Salazar and Michael Bromwich--the head of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, which oversees offshore drilling--were in Houston Friday to meet with oil industry executives to assess the spill-containment systems they have developed in the wake of nation's worst-ever marine oil spill.

via rigzone.com

    The longer you wait, gentlemen, the mroe painful it's gfoing to be when mid-east oil becomes the possession of hostile regimes. 

    Also, why is there not much discussion about the fact that a federal judge ruled the moratorium illegal and yet the moratorium persists?

$700 million for power research bought… bird and salmon studies? - OC Watchdog - The Orange County Register

The quest was a noble one: To develop, and help bring to market, new energy technologies that are better for the environment, provide greater system reliability and lower system costs, while furnishing “tangible benefits to electric utility customers.”

Well, electric utility customers, you’ve shelled out $700 million for this noble effort since 1996, and what have you gotten?

Precious little that could be even loosely interpreted as “tangible benefits,” concludes a report by the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

via taxdollars.ocregister.com

The New Light Bulbs Lose a Little Shine - WSJ.com

California utilities have used ratepayer funds to subsidize sales of more than 100 million of the bulbs since 2006, most of themmade in China. It is part of a comprehensive state effort to use energy-efficiency techniques as a substitute for power production. Subsidized bulbs cost an average of $1.30 in California versus $4 for bulbs not carrying utility subsidies.

Anxious to see what ratepayers got for their money, state utility regulators have devoted millions of dollars in the past three years for evaluation reports and field studies. What California has learned, in a nutshell, is that it is hard to accurately predict and tricky to measure energy savings. It is also difficult to design incentive plans that reward—but don't overly reward—utilities for their promotional efforts.

When it set up its bulb program in 2006, PG&E Corp. thought its customers would buy 53 million compact fluorescent bulbs by 2008. It allotted $92 million for rebates, the most of any utility in the state. Researchers hired by the California Public Utilities Commission concluded earlier this year that fewer bulbs were sold, fewer were screwed in, and they saved less energy than PG&E anticipated.

via online.wsj.com