Thursday
Feb112010
The Council of State Governments/Eastern Regional Conference
100 Wall Street, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10005
www.csgeast.org
Energy and Environment Program Webinars
CSG/ERC 2001 Annual Meeting Presentations and Video Clips Now Available
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Energy & Environment Program Sessions
August 6 & 7 Offshore Wind Seminar
August 8 Energy & Environment Committee Meeting: Linking Electric Vehicles, Renewable Energy, and the Grid
Energy Plenary: Advancing the Regional Clean-Energy Economy
Energy & Environment Committee Site Visits: Sustainable Nova Scotia
Click here to access presentations and video clips.
Weekly News Highlights
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program launched in the Northeastern U.S. three years ago, has saved customers nearly $1.1 billion on electricity bills, helped create 1,600 jobs, and has retained more than $765 million in local economies by reducing the demand for fossil fuels, according to a new analysis. Yale Environment 360 (11/15)
Arizona is formally withdrawing from the Western Climate Initiative, a regional collaboration to establish a cap-and-trade program to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The Associated Press (11/16)
On Thursday, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell said he would vote against a regional agency plan to allow a controversial type of deep shale-gas drilling in the Delaware River watershed. Delaware Online (11/18)
Winter in Massachusetts is undergoing a redefinition due to a warming climate that has raised average temperatures. MassLive (11/13)
The Obama administration proposed on Wednesday doubling auto fuel efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, a White House energy priority that has come under scrutiny in Congress. Reuters (11/18)
To read the complete newsletter on CSG/ERC's Web site, click here.
Report from the States
In the Spotlight
The Newest Question in the Continuing Debate about Shale Gas & the Environment
Among the environmental controversies sparked by the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract shale gas, the most basic one concerns the quantity of greenhouse gas emitted over the fuel's entire life cycle --from the initial stage of drilling and completing wells, through the intermediate steps of processing, transporting, storing and distributing gas, to the endpoint of its combustion at power plants. Until recently, this issue played a far less prominent role in the shale-gas debate than concerns about the possible harm to water supplies, air quality or the character of rural communities. But in recent months, concerns about the contribution of shale-gas wells to greenhouse-gas emissions have come to the fore. More
On Thursday, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell said he would vote against a regional agency plan to allow a controversial type of deep shale-gas drilling in the Delaware River watershed. Delaware Online (11/18)
Winter in Massachusetts is undergoing a redefinition due to a warming climate that has raised average temperatures. MassLive (11/13)
The Obama administration proposed on Wednesday doubling auto fuel efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, a White House energy priority that has come under scrutiny in Congress. Reuters (11/18)
To read the complete newsletter on CSG/ERC's Web site, click here.
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Report from the States
The Bright Future of Solar Energy in New England
Experts expect global market dynamics for solar energy to change dramatically in the next year, with two important results. The price of solar photovoltaic cells (PVs) could fall by as much as 25 percent, and solar developers from Europe are setting their sights on the U.S. as the next best market opportunity. Although California and the Southwest come to mind first when thinking about energy from the sun, it is Northeastern states that may be the most attractive region for developers. More
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In the Spotlight
The Newest Question in the Continuing Debate about Shale Gas & the Environment
Among the environmental controversies sparked by the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract shale gas, the most basic one concerns the quantity of greenhouse gas emitted over the fuel's entire life cycle --from the initial stage of drilling and completing wells, through the intermediate steps of processing, transporting, storing and distributing gas, to the endpoint of its combustion at power plants. Until recently, this issue played a far less prominent role in the shale-gas debate than concerns about the possible harm to water supplies, air quality or the character of rural communities. But in recent months, concerns about the contribution of shale-gas wells to greenhouse-gas emissions have come to the fore. More