http://www.windaction.org/ facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts en-us Windaction hourly 1 http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.windaction.org/articles/38046 Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:25:34 GMT Congress is slowly but steadily drilling into energy policy tax issues, but anyone hoping to see detailed plans soon may be disappointed. "Like any good play, you have to set the scenes, and we'll see what happens in the final act," said Steve Nadel, executive director for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38046 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37897 Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:07:58 GMT Mr. Sanford said he wrote the bill because he is opposed to government mandates, not because he favors any particular energy source-a sentiment echoed by legislators in other states. "Texas is blessed with a lot of incredible resources for energy, wind and solar amongst them. But they need to be developed with free-market principles, not with the heavy hand of government directing us to an inefficient process," he said in an interview. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37897 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37681 Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:53:41 GMT It's difficult to assess just how much oil and gas may be within reach, said Adam Sieminski, head of the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department's independent statistical arm. "The one thing I can say with absolute confidence here today is that our long-term forecasts are going to be wrong. It looks like the direction that we're going to be wrong, when it comes to oil, is that there's going to be more of it," he said. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37681 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37684 Sat, 09 Mar 2013 17:13:34 GMT Industrial-scale energy projects on Bureau of Land Management lands are pushed through by energy companies touting jobs and economic booms to communities. Not mentioned is the potential loss of tourism revenues if people stop coming to recreational areas that are visually blighted. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37684 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37690 Thu, 07 Mar 2013 17:50:59 GMT Burdened by global overcapacity, slowing demand and the resurgence of fossil fuel production, clean-tech investments have fallen heavily out of favor. "Market analysts at Goldman Sachs, HSBC and UBS are now advising their clients to steer clear of clean tech." http://www.windaction.org/articles/37690 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37341 Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:31:39 GMT Crane has said the tax credit keeps turbines spinning even when there is no demand for power, driving down the price Exelon receives for power from its nuclear plants. In wind-rich areas like Illinois, that means there are instances when Exelon pays customers to take their power rather than the other way around. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37341 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36855 Sun, 23 Dec 2012 03:42:01 GMT Van Jamison, a vice president for Gaelectric, an Irish firm developing several wind projects in Montana, says in the past few months, scores of potential wind projects here have withdrawn their spot from the queue for transmission of their power, meaning they've pulled back on their plans. "This is not a very robust market, where you'll be able to make any kind of money any time soon." http://www.windaction.org/articles/36855 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36777 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 02:30:05 GMT Edison Mission owes bondholders $3.7 billion and could yet reach a deal with those creditors before next week in an attempt to stay out of bankruptcy. But the bonds are held by a wide array of investors, making it difficult to get enough creditors to sign off on a deal, the people familiar with the matter said. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36777 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36730 Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:15:01 GMT Vestas is cutting working hours at its Colorado blade plants at Windsor and Brighton in preparation for a post-PTC slowdown in the US wind sector. The company said it had told employees at the factories that it was reducing their weekly hours from 40 to 32 hours. The change will take effect in January. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36730 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36499 Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:50:35 GMT Senator David Vitter, R-L, said that the decision to permit an offshore wind farm - while still ruling out oil and gas development in the area - is evidence that the Obama administration is "picking energy industry winners and losers." "Sec. Salazar should at least be able to defend the economics of the lease sale for wind energy," Vitter said in a statement. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36499 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36381 Mon, 22 Oct 2012 12:58:24 GMT The resilience of Colorado's vaunted "new energy economy" is being tested after a series of job cuts, financial setbacks and political firestorms. ...Hard times for the green industries stem from a combination of technical challenges, low-cost foreign competition and an uncertain outlook for government support of alternative energy. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36381 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36398 Thu, 18 Oct 2012 09:09:34 GMT According to Glaess, Minnesota is losing money from the excess power because a state mandate requires the state to generate a certain amount of power from renewable sources, and it requires the state to buy that power, whether it is needed or not. "It's a terrible policy to make these mandates," Glaess said. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36398 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36124 Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:35:49 GMT The power generated by the mega-plants will be among the most expensive renewable energy in the country. ...Stanford University economist Frank Wolak said the state's renewable energy strategy could boost electricity rates 10% to 20%, depending on a number of factors. Potentially, consumers' bills could go up by 50%. "It is easily in the billions of dollars," he said. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36124 http://www.windaction.org/articles/35775 Mon, 13 Aug 2012 21:54:05 GMT On jobs, the promise fell short. The White House said its clean-energy stimulus funds created 224,500 jobs. An independent study this year concluded that 70,000 jobs were added to clean technology industries from 2007 to 2010. That study was done by the Brookings Institution, the Breakthrough Institute and the World Resources Institute. http://www.windaction.org/articles/35775 http://www.windaction.org/articles/34898 Wed, 02 May 2012 15:22:20 GMT The Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012 would increase power prices by about 4 percent in 2025 ...the agency said today in a statement on its website. That gap may increase to as much as 18 percent by 2035 as utilities seek to reduce carbon emissions by shifting their mix of power plants away from coal in favor of natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy. http://www.windaction.org/articles/34898 http://www.windaction.org/articles/34788 Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:26:27 GMT Gains in the sector don't necessarily lead to wider employment. The wind industry, for example, has shed 10,000 jobs since 2009 even as the energy capacity of wind farms has nearly doubled, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry has added 75,000 jobs since Obama took office, according to Labor Department statistics. http://www.windaction.org/articles/34788 http://www.windaction.org/articles/34673 Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:50:13 GMT The current study, released in July of 2011 by the Economic Financial Studies School of Business at Clarkson University, cites losses of up to 40 percent on properties located within 0.10 miles of new wind turbine facilities. This has prompted him to revise his loss figure upward to a maximum of 40 percent and expected adverse impacts out to three miles, with effects becoming less extreme with distance. http://www.windaction.org/articles/34673 http://www.windaction.org/articles/34495 Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:29:27 GMT U.S. investments in turbine farms and wind-energy businesses tumbled 38 percent last year to $9.7 billion, according to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Venture capitalists have practically left the sector altogether. They invested only $177.6 million in wind startups last year, down 71 percent from the year before. http://www.windaction.org/articles/34495 http://www.windaction.org/articles/34420 Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:44:32 GMT Iberdrola Renewables Inc., the U.S. arm of a Spanish energy giant, received more than $1.5 billion for its wind and solar projects. In January, it laid off 50 people, leaving about 850 U.S. employees, according to spokeswoman Jan Johnson. The company takes credit for creating more than 15,000 jobs ..."How dare they claim they created those jobs," said Dick Messbarger, executive director of the nearby Kingsville Economic Development Council. "Their existence is almost invisible." http://www.windaction.org/articles/34420 http://www.windaction.org/articles/34184 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:53:09 GMT "Iberdrola Renewables is focusing on operations in 2012 rather than new building due to low energy prices, a poor economy and regulatory uncertainty," Johnson said, adding that the company has a "solid balance sheet, positive cash flow and no real debt." http://www.windaction.org/articles/34184