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  • Harnessing America’s Energy Future in the Great Lakes

    Posted by By Victoria Pebbles on May 29, 2012 at 11:57 AM EDT

    Editor’s Note: This blog introduces readers to Victoria Pebbles, Program Director at the Great Lakes Commission based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

    Last week, the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Energy Consortium met for the first time. This fledging group is comprised of representatives of five states (Il, MI, MN, NY and PA) and 10 federal agencies that signed a federal-state Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on March 30 this year to cooperate on siting offshore wind in the Great Lakes. Not dissimilar to international protocols which set forth rules for intergovernmental cooperation, the three non-signatory states can sign the MOU at any time in the future.

    The MOU aims to “promote the efficient, expeditious, orderly and responsible evaluation of offshore wind power projects in the Great Lakes.” Signatories are committed to documenting their existing regulatory frameworks for offshore wind by June 30, 2013. This “regulatory roadmap” will provide a starting point for identifying opportunities to improve coordination and efficiencies with evaluating applications for offshore wind projects. The agreement also commits the signatories participate in pre-application consultations and joint application reviews — a practice that sometimes occurs with other projects but one that should become more standard practice as a result of the MOU. Ultimately, signatories are also committed to applying lessons through the Consortium when evaluating future offshore wind proposals. 

    The best lessons are learned from actual experience. At this time, all eyes are on Lake Erie where the only active Great Lakes offshore wind project is being planned for a 20-30 megawatt (MW) pilot project seven miles offshore downtown Cleveland. The developer, Freshwater Wind, enjoys broad-based community support from the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo), a private, non-profit regional corporation working to build wind turbines in Lake Erie and stimulate an offshore freshwater wind industry.

    Companies all around the Great Lakes see the offshore wind industry as a catalyst for employing the region’s outstanding engineering and manufacturing assets to design and build the offshore wind turbines; and using the region’s natural assets, the Great Lakes and connecting waterways, to move these large products to other parts of the country and overseas. 

    That is why it is important for the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Energy Consortium to carefully complete its work. Then, when more proposals for offshore wind in the Great Lakes come, and they will come, states and federal agencies will have a rational policy framework for evaluating proposed offshore wind power projects in the Great Lakes that is efficient, expeditious, fair, and responsible. 

    Victoria Pebbles is Program Director at the Great Lakes Commission

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  • Weekly Wrap Up: President Obama Tweets to America

    Posted by Derick Chapman on May 25, 2012 at 5:19 PM EDT

    Download Video: mp4

    Here's a quick glimpse at this week on WhiteHouse.gov:

    An Affront to American Values: At the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security President Obama addressed how world hunger does not receive the attention it deserves from the global community, including our own nation. He mentions that, “When tens of thousands of children die from the agony of starvation, as in Somalia, that sends us a message we’ve still got a lot of work to do.  It’s unacceptable.  It’s an outrage.  It’s an affront to who we are."

    G8 Summit: This past weekend the U.S. hosted leaders from the eight largest nation’s in terms of economy at Camp David in Chicago. At this summit, world leaders held conversations about world hunger, as well as on the priority of growth in jobs in the world economy.

    The Final Chapters: President Obama participated in the International Security Assistance Force meeting on Afghanistan, with more than 60 countries where he reiterated that troubles in Afghanistan were not over, but that serious progress has been made towards solving issues with Al Qaeda.

    Resilience in the face of Tragedy: Then President Obama made his way to Joplin, Missouri to attend the town’s high school graduation. This visit nearly coincided to the day with the one year anniversary of the tornado that devastated the town. President Obama remarked on how the spirit of Joplin was commendable, and a testament that the American people are in it together, even in the toughest of times.

    The Future of Energy: President Obama’s last stop this week landed him in Newton, Iowa where TPI Composites manufactures wind turbine blades. Here he restated the importance of cleaner, renewable energy and pushed Congress to act on his To-Do-List. "If Congress doesn’t act, companies like this one will take a hit," he said. "Jobs will be lost. That’s not a guess, that’s a fact. We can’t let that happen." The President followed up this talk up with a session of live tweeting to people, answering thier questions in less than 140 characters.

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  • President Obama Talks Clean Energy in Iowa

    Posted by Matt Compton on May 24, 2012 at 8:21 PM EDT

    President Barack Obama at TPI Composites Iowa’s wind turbine blade facility (May 24, 2012)

    President Barack Obama delivers remarks urging Congress to act on the “To Do List” and highlighting the need to invest in clean energy by passing legislation, at TPI Composites Iowa’s wind turbine blade facility in Newton, Iowa, May 24, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

    In Iowa this afternoon, President Obama continued to press lawmakers to take action on his To-Do List for Congress.

    He traveled to Newton to push for the renewal of a tax credit for companies that produce clean energy. The credit currently supports as many as 37,000 jobs.

    His host for the visit was TPI Composites -- a company that makes blades for wind turbines and employs more 700 people.

    "If Congress doesn’t act, companies like this one will take a hit," he said. "Jobs will be lost. That’s not a guess, that’s a fact. We can’t let that happen."

    Currently, 20 percent of all the electricity used in the Iowa is generated by wind power, and there are currently more wind power jobs in the state than in any other in America.

    Overall, the United States generates enough electricity from wind to power 10 million homes. And there are 500 production facilities in 43 states putting people to work in that industry.

    Later, he answered questions about the To-Do List on Twitter.

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  • In Case You Missed It: Broad Bipartisan Support to Extend the Production Tax Credit

    Posted by Heather Zichal on May 23, 2012 at 4:54 PM EDT

    Tomorrow the President will travel to TPI Composites in Newton, Iowa where he will highlight steps Congress can take right now to create American jobs, and support American companies and manufacturers – all while continuing to increase clean energy production here at home.   

    As part of his Congressional To-Do List, the President will call on Congress to pass legislation that will extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC) – which provides an important tax credit to utility-scale wind producers in the United States – alongside an expansion of the 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit that supports American-made clean energy manufacturing in towns and cities across the country. According to industry estimates, the wind industry supports nearly 20,000 direct jobs along with over 30,000 manufacturing jobs in its supply chain, and some in industry have estimated that without extending the PTC, as the President is calling for, up to 37,000 jobs could be lost.

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  • Unlocking the Power of Energy Data

    Posted by Todd Park, Jason Bordoff, and Dave Danielson on May 22, 2012 at 8:00 PM EDT

    The U.S. Government, as well as the private sector, is sitting on a vast – and in many cases, untapped – supply of energy data.  Sets of data aren’t what most people think of when we talk about safely and responsibly developing American energy resources such as wind, solar, oil, and gas. But data are also essential components of the President’s all-of-the-above energy strategy.  To help harness the power of these data through a combination of technology and ingenuity, the Obama Administration has launched the Energy Data Initiative (EDI).  The goal of EDI is to drive entrepreneurs to use data to create tools that can help Americans save money on utility bills and at the pump – by, for example, virtually identifying cost-effective retrofits or delivering route- and vehicle-optimization tips to improve fuel efficiency. In doing so, this will generate a rising tide of innovation that can help grow the economy and create jobs. 

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  • Wrapping Up the G8 Summit at Camp David

    Posted by Megan Slack on May 19, 2012 at 8:01 PM EDT

    G8 Summit in Camp David, 2012 Logo

    This weekend, the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia joined President Obama at Camp David for the annual G8 Summit. The leaders met to address major global economic, political, and security challenges, including energy and climate change, food security and nutrition, Afghanistan’s economic transition and transitions taking place across the Middle East and North Africa.

    Energy and Climate Change:

    At the Camp David Summit, G-8 Leaders recognized that the development of and universal access to environmentally safe, sustainable, secure, and affordable sources of energy is essential to global economic growth and to their overall efforts to address climate change. 

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