2010

AMERICAN POWER ACT IS 'BUSINESS AS USUAL' EXCEPT FOR A CARBON CAP

                                         For further information, contact:

                                    Scott Sklar - 202-347-2214 - solarsklar@aol.com

As an ardent supporter of a cap on greenhouse gases, and over 30 years as a leader in the clean technology field, it is with a heavy heart to call on the recent Kerry Lieberman Climate Bill as a costly, over-regulated approach to greenhouse gas mitigation with a primary focus on maintaining the technology status quo, with all its national security and environmental failings.

Scott Sklar, President of The Stella Group, Ltd. who serves on no less than 10 non-profit clean energy advisory boards and Boards of Directors, states, "this proposed American Power Act preserves the status quo, and actually undercuts the national transition towards high value energy efficiency and renewable energy. Further, the Bill accentuates through massive subsidization US reliance on centralized energy generation that is vulnerable to terrorism and "acts of nature",and  inherently costly needing massive subsidies for the entire fuel cycle - extraction, conversion, utilization of energy and disposal of wastes. This Bill deserves to be defeated."

Dennis Hayes, Earth Day cofounder, laid out the concerns in his April 28, 2010 Huffington Post commentary, "The Cantwell-Collins bill is not unflawed but has the basic structure right. It caps carbon "upstream" at the 2,000 places--ports, pipelines, mine mouths, etc. -- where it enters the economy. It auctions carbon permits each year up to the limits of the cap -- so, unlike with KGL (Kerry, Graham, Lieberman), we will know precisely how much carbon will be emitted to the atmosphere each year from all fossil fuels.

 A billion-dollar push for clear might have produced an energy revolution. (America didn't lead the information revolution by trying to placate the interests of IBM, Control Data, and AT&T, but that's what Kerry-Graham-Lieberman does for the National Coal Association, the American Petroleum Institute, and EEI. Let's not let ourselves get compromised into capitulation by 2,000 pages of KGL loopholes. Cantwell-Collins is 39 pages long and is a lobbyist's nightmare: anyone can understand it. This is one of those Civil War moments, except the future of the planet--not just the Union--is at stake. What we need is not Henry Clay but Abraham Lincoln."

 This view fits neatly with Amory Lovin's recent article in Grist responding to Stewart Brand;'s paper on nuclear energy, of which I excerpt:

 "Today, most dispassionate analysts think new nuclear power plants' deepest flaw is their economics. They cost too much to build and incur too much financial risk. My writings show why nuclear expansion therefore can't deliver on its claims: it would reduce and retard climate protection, because it saves between two and 20 times less carbon per dollar, 20 to 40 times slower, than investing in efficiency and micropower."

2008

Stella Group Announces New Solar Installation in Washington, DC, and Three New Projects (September 2008)

2007

2006

Environmental and Energy Saving Tips - Common Cents Energy Efficiency for Individuals (2006)

Top 10: What Should I Do In My Home or Office Building?A Guide by The Stella Group, Ltd.    (2006)

Concentrated Solar Power Makes a Market Comeback
(April 20, 2006)

2005

Planned NREL R&D Staff Cuts Are a National Shame
(December 20, 2005)

EPA Lauded for Proposed Regulations on Stationary Diesel Engines
(July 1, 1005)

The Stella Group LTD. Leases GENCORE 5 kW Fuel Cell
(May 30, 2005)

33 Business and Environmental Organizations Call for Aggressive U.S. Response to Climate Change as Kyoto Protocol Goes into Effect
(February 15, 2005)

Environmental, Business Groups Oppose Senate Appropriations Rider
That Restricts States' Clean Air Options to Regular Small Energy Users (September 23, 2003)

Exempting Old Power Plants from Clean Air Act Hurts Clean Energy Industries (August 24, 2003)

Mixed Bag for Clean Energy Technologies (May 16, 2001)

Comparison of German and US Renewable Energy RD&D Spending.
(November 16, 2001)

Policy

• Bush Administration released their FY 2002 federal budget and clean energy programs were slashed and burned.
• Energy Bill - Impacts on Distributed Generation and Renewables -
  Overview