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.
Dr. Gabriel Alvarez from King Juan Carlos University authored a May 2009 study entitled “Study of the effects on employment of public aid to renewable energy sources” (KJCU Study). Dr. Alvarez has tried repeatedly to correlate the Spanish investment and experience with Renewable Energy technologies (RETs) with that of the U.S. However, even cursory analyses of the Spanish public policies that have been employed over the past decade reveal significant and dramatic differences from the current and proposed domestic (U.S.) approach to RET deployment, and thereby obviate any implied correlation between the negative conclusions of the KJCU Study and the impact of the domestic RET investment. Additionally, included within the KJCU Study are several assumptions with respect to the economics of the U.S. investment inRETs that are fundamentally incorrect.
The Kresge Foundation has announced a new comprehensive grantmaking programs: The Environment Program. With the announcement of this new program, the foundation is expanding its commitment and narrowing its focus in each field for maximum long-term impact in its strategic areas of interest. The Environment Program addresses environment-related social issues, particularly those affecting minority, low-income, and other underserved communities. The Environment Program seeks to have tangible effects on the practices and policies associated with climate change and environmental sustainability. The programs are in the development stage; program teams will be refining their grantmaking focus and strategy over the next year.
Energy efficiency has never been more important, according to new research commissioned by Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) . The Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI) survey, a research report targeting professionals responsible for energy management, revealed barriers to investing in energy efficiency include: limited funding, uncertainty about future energy prices, government incentives, and energy and climate legislation.
