The disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has reopened the debate over the direction the United States’ energy future is headed. Now more than any other time in history, citizens are beginning to understand the necessity to evolve past our love affair with oil. An economy that is dependent on a non-renewable, quickly fleeting resource can only move towards instability if alternative fuels are not found. The Congressional Budget Office is beginning to analyze how energy policies and initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will affect employment in an economy that is trying to pull itself out of a recession. Democrats are pushing for a comprehensive energy bill that will enhance the production of clean energy technologies, put a price on emitting carbon, reduce greenhouse gases by a significant amount over the next 20 years, and influence entry into a range of new renewable energy industries. Senators John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman are due to present their energy bill in the Senate next week. This bill, The American Power Act will be hard-pressed for passage without strong republican backing. The loss of republican Senator Lindsay Graham as a cosponsor of this bill is devastating. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, “the oil spill showed drilling alone would not solve U.S. energy problems and that higher summer fuel prices will heighten consumers’ views that the country must move more aggressively into alternatives.” (Cowan & Gardner, 2010) If the country decides to aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this will have many significant implications for employment in our country.
Since the turn of the 21st century the amount of lobbyist spending in the environmental and clean energy technology sector has grown by more than 200%. Spurred by investment from private firms and the public outcry of an exorbitant amount of college campuses across the country, clean energy technology and climate legislation are taking the main-stage on capitol hill. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 was passed last year in the House of Representatives and the Kerry-Graham-Leiberman bill is due out later in 2010.
On February 23, 2010 I was privileged enough to be a part of a conference call that took place between students from college campuses around Michigan and the environmental liaisons from Senator Stabenow and Senator Levin’s office. The conference call took place to discuss important environmental concerns from students all over Michigan, and what their policy makers are doing to move Michigan’s economy forward. My environmental economics class was able to draft a series of questions for the senators offices and listen to the senators position’s on these issues.
The European Space Agency is now accepting proposals from young researchers undertaking innovative research projects that are focused on understanding Earth’s systems. This call for proposals is headlined under the Changing Earth Science Network Initiative. The Changing Earth Science Network Initiative, which was launched last year accommodates post-doctoral scientists for two years to undertake research […]
The debate surrounding global climate change has been a very hot button issue for the past few years. In most cases the average person doesn’t know enough about the science behind this issue to make an informed decision. The fact is that climate change will become a major issue within the next two decades and will have a host of environmental as well as economic impacts in the United States. Climate change will play a major role in the way our economy functions as well as the way our legislators make decisions.
The Economist Intelligence Unit Survey finds mixed results in a poll of 202 executives in the financial and corporate social responsibility sectors. Many executives believe that sustainability practices will have a significant effect on their company’s bottom line in the long run. However, short term results are less optimistic. Executives report the main roadblocks to sustainable practices as the lack of participation in reporting firms, as well as low cash incentives.
