Energy

Image: The Presque Isle Power Plant near Marquette, Michigan. (photo: Superior Watershed Partnership)

readersupportednews.org - November 29th, 2014

Michigan regulators say residential and business customers are benefiting from a state law that requires utilities to implement energy-efficiency programs.

The state Public Service Commission this week issued a report showing that "energy optimization" savings in 2013 were over target. The targets were established under a 2008 rewrite of Michigan's energy law.

PSC Chairman John Quackenbush says for every dollar spent on energy efficiency programs, customers see $3.75 in savings. Statewide funding for such programs was $253 million in 2013, which regulators say will result in $948 million in savings over the lifetime of measures installed.

Image: President Obama meets with President Xi Jinping. Photo Credit: Pete Souza/White House

environmentalleader.com - November 13th, 2014

The US and China set ambitious climate change goals on Wednesday, with President Obama pledging to cut US greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

Chinese president Xi Jinping announced targets to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 or sooner and to increase China’s non-fossil fuel share of energy to around 20 percent by 2030.

The announcement was met with praise from environmentalists and business groups.

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citizensvoice.com - October 2nd, 2014 - Elizabeth Skrapits

The more natural gas wells in an area, the more of its residents end up in the hospital.

So indicate the results of an unreleased study that was revealed at a state Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing at King’s College on Wednesday on the subject of tracking, reporting and acting on public health concerns related to natural gas drilling.

State lawmakers believe there needs to be better collection and sharing of health data in Marcellus Shale drilling areas, and state Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, has sponsored a bill that would dedicate $3 million in drilling impact fees to the state Department of Health to conduct the needed research.

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Image: Jon Excell

theengineer.co.uk - September 24th, 2014 - Jon Excell

There’s no doubt that the decision by the $860 million Rockefeller Brothers Fund to reinvest its fossil fuel money in clean energy represents a pretty symbolic moment.

John D Rockefeller – who founded Standard Oil in 1870  – is one of the towering figures; some would argue the father, of the international oil industry. So the news that a charitable fund bearing his name is turning its back on the stuff that made the family fortune was always going to raise a few eyebrows.

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