This post was co-authored by Matthew Stepp, Clean Energy Policy Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), and Teryn Norris, President of Americans for Energy Leadership. Originally published at Americans for Energy Leadership.

In the aftermath of the debt ceiling crisis and as the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction seeks a second budget deal, many public interest groups are working hard to ensure that even while Congress cuts wasteful spending, it preserves vital public programs and expands smart investments in the nation's future. In the energy and climate policy community, a broad range of groups are fighting to defend clean technology investment programs - such as the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) - that have taken years to establish and offer a glimmer of hope amidst a largely bleak political and policy landscape.

Other organizations are taking a different approach. This week, two progressive groups - the environmental Friends of the Earth and consumer advocacy group Public Citizen - drew attention when they joined the libertarian Heartland Institute and deficit-hawk Taxpayer for Common Sense in releasing a spending cut plan. In a report called "Green Scissors 2011," the groups call for $380 billion in spending they identify as "wasteful government subsidies" and "environmentally damaging."

Continue reading "Green Scissors 2011: A Misguided Proposal for Budget and Environmental Reform" »

The following was written by Jesse Jenkins and Alex Trembath and submitted to the National Journal discussion "How Can Washington Green America's Economy?"

Before discussing the best way to green the economy, it's important to note that the U.S. economy has been greening steadily over the past three years. Buoyed by the policies established and extended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the largest federal investment in clean tech in American history, the clean energy industry has experienced precipitous growth, as documented by Mark Muro and colleagues at the Brookings Metro program in their recent "Sizing the Clean Economy" report.

Unfortunately, the path of progress may be coming to an end. Our research shows that over 70% of the federal policies and funding support for clean energy that has catalyzed the recent growth of the industry is expected to lapse in the next three years, or has already expired. And make no mistake--clean energy is an industry dependent on government subsidy: tax credits, depreciation and other subsidies compose one third or more of the total after-tax value of most solar, wind or other renewable energy projects, for example. So while ARRA provided a "down payment" on a green economy, as these public investments fade away, we are now more likely to witness a clean tech crash than a clean tech revolution.

Continue reading "Surviving the Coming Clean Tech Crash" »

Today's print edition of the San Francisco Chronicle featured an op-ed by Breakthrough's Jesse Jenkins and Sara Mansur. The full-text of the article is appended below; a shortened version of the op-ed can be viewed in today's print edition of the Chronicle and online here after 3 AM on Friday, August 5th.

"No Nukes" Revival is Wholly Misguided

Recent news that Musicians United for Safe Energy is reuniting for a concert protesting nuclear power strikes these two Millennials as wholly misguided. While the anti-nuclear generation can be forgiven for the tragic outcomes of their original efforts, this attempted revival exhibits an inexcusable ignorance of the real threats faced in the 21st century.

The original No Nukes concerts, held after the Three Mile Island accident, helped derail the growth of nuclear power in the United States. What resulted was not the new energy economy powered by wind and solar power imagined by many anti-nuclear activists, but rather a massive expansion of fossil powered energy that sent carbon emissions soaring by 22 percent. Now, the septuagenarian rockers will come together this August to try to repeat their past "success."

No Nukes front man Graham Nash recently trumpeted the group's continued opposition to nuclear power in Rolling Stone, insisting that "coal plants put a lot of shit and mercury in the air but a coal plant won't be poisonous for 100,000 years."

What?! Global warming is the intergenerational threat today, not nuclear power. With coal and other fossil-fuels driving carbon dioxide emissions to their highest levels in history, ours is a generation preparing for a world that will be deeply and irrevocably impacted by climate change -- a world plagued by severe heat waves, floods, droughts, and record wildfires, and the potential displacement of millions of people.

Continue reading "SF Chronicle: "No Nukes" Concert Wholly Misguided" »

By Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus

Monday's dismal manufacturing report and Tuesday's deal to slash spending have spooked the markets, which fear lower growth. While Obama and the Democrats say they will now focus on increasing jobs, the question is what can actually be done to grow the economy?

For Vaclav Smil, the famously pessimistic polymath, the answer is clear: the U.S. must manufacture its way out of decline.

Smil, virtually unknown in the United States, is no armchair pundit. The author of 32 books on risks, catastrophes and much else, Smil is a legend to energy wonks like Bill Gates and was the first non-American to win an AAAS Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology.

Continue reading "How to Grow Out of the Decline" »

"We are as gods and have to get good at it." Mark Lynas quotes Stewart Brand here, using the mantra as a guiding metaphor for his new book The God Species: How the Planet Can Survive the Age of Humans. Echoing many of the chief criticisms the Breakthrough Institute has levied against traditional environmentalism, the book offers a new perspective on the ecological challenges that civilizations face, one couched in human dignity and prosperity.

Continue reading "Book Review: The God Species" »