Gov. Ed Rendell, who has been outspoken on the need to limit emissions of global warming gases, has not delivered on a promise to come up with his own strategy for Pennsylvania. Administration spokesmen would give no reason for the delay, other than to say a plan is still being worked on.

Gordon Brown has been accused of presiding over an environmental policy based on "propaganda and deceit" after a leaked document suggested vital ‘green' energy targets will not be met. Government officials also faced charges of seeking to "undermine" specific environmental commitments made by Tony Blair shortly before Mr Brown took over as Prime Minister last June. The former Prime Minister signed up to a new European Union target of achieving 20 per cent of energy from renewable sources such as wind and tidal power. But a leaked document from officials in the former Department of Trade and Industry revealed that Britain has little hope of achieving its target. According to the briefing paper obtained by The Guardian, officials said the best the UK could actually achieve was just nine per cent by 2020.

Government officials have secretly briefed ministers that Britain has no hope of getting remotely near the new European Union renewable energy target that Tony Blair signed up to in the spring - and have suggested that they find ways of wriggling out of it. In contrast to the government's claims to be leading the world on climate change, officials within the former Department of Trade and Industry have admitted that under current policies Britain would miss the EU's 2020 target of 20% energy from renewables by a long way. And their suggestion that "statistical interpretations of the target" be used rather than new ways to reach it has infuriated environmentalists.

Although the law has many positive aspects it removes the ability of local government to protect its citizens. Large wind facilities dominate a landscape and cause significant environmental alteration to rural areas, where they are most often sited. It does nothing to protect real estate values nor remove the onus of improperly assessed wind facilities already permitted by local governments. We believe these deficiencies should be remedied prior to enactment.

MONTPELIER, Vt. --Gov. Jim Douglas on Thursday said he was "disappointed" with the Public Service Board's approval a day earlier of a 16-turbine wind power project planned for the northeastern Vermont town of Sheffield. "I don't think industrializing our ridge lines is the right thing to do for the natural beauty of our state," the governor said at a news conference. "I don't think the modest amount of electricity that will be generated from wind turbines is worth the impairment of our ridge lines. "But I also respect the law," and the quasi-judicial board's role under it in making determinations about utility projects, the governor said, though he added he expected the ruling might be appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court.

Madrid has passed legislation to allow the installation of offshore wind parks along Spain's 4,000 kilometres of coastline. The move has been enthusiastically applauded by supporters of renewable energies but slammed not only by conservationists who fear the turbines will prove to be a chain of offshore eyesores, but by fishermen as well who are deeply concerned about the effect they will have on the local fishing industry.

Increasing demands on an aging U.S. power infrastructure are likely to make headlines this week as temperatures in the Midwest and South approach 100 degrees. The nation's economic growth since the 1950s has "outstripped the growth of the power system," says Dr. Mariesa Crow, the Fred W. Finley Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla.

(AXcess News) Washington - Large-scale renewable energy sources, such as wind power and ethanol, can't serve communities economically as good as locally-owned operations, according to a study of renewable energy facilities conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The study finds that there are indeed small cost reductions from very large scale, absentee owned renewable energy facilities. However, those cost reductions are overshadowed by the significant loss in potential economic benefits from locally owned and more modestly scaled facilities.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $16-billion tax bill Saturday that would extend renewable energy tax credits and encourage energy efficiency, paying for itself by axing tax breaks to oil and gas companies. The White House said in a policy statement Friday U.S. President George W. Bush would veto the measure if approved, because it would, along with a broad energy package passed earlier by the House, "lead to less domestic oil and gas production, higher energy costs, and higher and higher taxes." Along with the House energy legislation, the two bills form a package that will go to conference for melding with a major energy bill the Senate approved in June.

WASHINGTON -- Declaring a new direction in energy policy, the House on Saturday approved $16 billion in taxes on oil companies, while providing billions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives for renewable energy and conservation efforts. Republican opponents said the legislation ignored the need to produce more domestic oil, natural gas and coal. One GOP lawmaker bemoaned "the pure venom ... against the oil and gas industry." The House passed the tax provisions by a vote of 221-189. Earlier it had approved, 241-172, a companion energy package aimed at boosting energy efficiency and expanding use of biofuels, wind power and other renewable energy sources.

The North-east countryside could be "hijacked" to help meet renewable energy targets, an expert has warned. Ecologist Dr John Etherington said the Government would require armies of turbines - and that the open spaces of the North-east could be a prime site. He said: "Rural land is being hijacked as the renewable power generating areas for the cities and big towns.

Judges should have the power to compel the prime minister to set out the remedial measures his government will take if it fails to hit targets to reduce carbon emissions, a cross-party committee of MPs and peers has recommended. A bill due to be introduced in the next parliament places a legal duty on the environment secretary to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2050. The bill sets out a series of milestones, including five yearly "carbon budgets" setting out the projected carbon emissions.

In its official policy statement, the White House said the energy bill and its related tax package would "fail to deliver American consumers or businesses more energy security, but rather would lead to less domestic oil and gas production, higher energy costs, and higher taxes."

WELLSBORO - Plans by the state to allow wind farms to build on all but 2 percent of state forest lands have been abandoned, according to a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources spokeswoman. Chris Novak, agency director of communications, said Thursday that discussions had been ongoing but, because of efforts to attract people to the natural resources and develop ecotourism, the agency has pulled state forest lands in the 12-county area known as "The Wilds" out of the running. "The Pennsylvania Wilds are off the table, along with all other state forest lands, except about two percent located in spots in the southcentral portions of the state, wherever there is adequate wind and ridge tops," said John Quigley, DCNR director of legislation and strategic initiatives.

WASHINGTON -- A rebellion by oil-state Democrats over $16 billion in new taxes on oil companies is threatening to upend House Democratic leaders' plans to swiftly pass energy legislation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remained confident she would have the votes to pass the energy package Friday ahead of Congress' monthlong summer recess, according to her aides. But she needs solid Democratic support to overcome staunch GOP opposition. "I know they're looking for votes," said Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, one of the Democrats who has balked over the oil industry tax increases. Green said some of the "Blue Dog" Democrats - moderate to conservatives, including lawmakers from oil producing states - were threatening to withhold their support. "I think it's too much to hit one industry with," Green said in an interview.

Denmark still leads the world in wind power per capita but experts are worried that its position is starting to weaken. Statistics continue to support Denmark's claim to being one of the world leaders when it comes to wind energy, but experts are concerned over failure to erect new wind turbines, reports financial daily Børsen.

Hatfield Colliery, a centre of union militancy during the great strike of the 1980s, is coming back to life. Surging demand for coal around the world and hopes that improved technology can usher in a new generation of clean coal power stations has made deep- coal mining an economic prospect in the UK once again...........While the power station will burn coal, unlike other older coal-fired stations, it will not be pouring huge quantities of carbon dioxide and sulphur into the atmosphere. Those gases will be extracted before the fuel is burnt, and will be pumped in liquid form for up to 400 miles to the oil and gas fields under the North Sea. In that way it makes an important contribution to solving one of the government's big dilemmas - how to keep the UK supplied with cheap energy and at the same time cut emissions of greenhouse gases. Richard Budge has an almost messianic belief in clean coal as the fuel of the future. "Clean coal costs only two-thirds of the cost of wind power. Wind farms are ugly, but that's not a reason for not building them. The reason is they are ineffective. Wind farms only work one day in three, and you don't even know which day. Every time the wind doesn't blow, gas stations take up the merit order.

Aug. 1--RALEIGH -- North Carolina is on the verge of becoming the first state in the Southeast to require that a significant portion of its electricity come from sources of renewable energy. But the same bill that will mandate more solar and wind energy also contains a provision that environmentalists say will promote the construction of coal and nuclear-power plants. And critics say that the bill could hurt electricity consumers and have other environmentally detrimental effects.

You already drink shade-grown coffee, drive a Prius, and shop strictly organic at PCC. So naturally you're the best kind of customer-indeed a captive customer-for the ad blitz Seattle City Light has recently devised for its two-year-old "Green Up" program. Your latest billing envelopes have encouraged you to Green Up by adding a voluntary premium of as much as $12 to your monthly bill. For what purpose? To buy an amount of wind power equal to a percentage of your household's usage of cheap hydropower. "Participating in the Green Up program demonstrates your preference and support for clean energy and a healthy environment in the Northwest," says the city's Web site. "It helps promote economic development in rural parts of the region, improves our energy security, and reduces pollution." Really?

Parents saving for college, mobile home owners facing eviction, and businesses that generate or use alternative energy are among the beneficiaries of a wide-ranging tax break bill signed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski on Tuesday......The energy initiative, which ranks as the biggest tax break in the bill, will expand the credit for businesses to build wind farms, use solar or otherwise boost the use of clean energy. Now the credit is 35 percent of costs, with a cap of $3.5 million. The new law increases the credit to 50 percent, with a $10 million cap. It's estimated to cost the state at least $6 million a year by 2009-11.