An incisive and clear essay by Peter Rothstein, President of the New England Clean Energy Council (NECEC), published on the Commonwealth Magazine website makes powerful and accurate points about the benefits of clean energy to the regional economy.  His analysis and arguments are deeply consistent with the points that CLF’s Jonathan Peress made in a recent entry on this blog outlining the benefits of the investments generated by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) documented in a study by the Analysis Group.

Unlike the attacks on the clean energy programs that he is responding to, Rothstein backs his assertions up with facts and figures. Here is a long quotation from his essay:

Clean energy investments have many positive benefits, making our energy infrastructure more efficient and sustainable and while growing the regional economy. Though you might not know it from the headlines, the clean energy sector is one of the few bright spots in the economy, growing steadily throughout the recession – 6.7 percent from July 2010 to July 2011 alone. Massachusetts is now home to more than 4,900 clean energy businesses and 64,000 clean energy workers – 1.5 percent of the Commonwealth’s workforce. This job growth is not a transfer of jobs from other industries – it’s a net increase that results from the Massachusetts innovation economy creating new value for national and international markets, not just local.

 Clean energy is starting to grow in much the same way as the IT and biotech sectors, which took decades to become powerhouses of our innovation economy. Massachusetts clean energy companies have brought significant new capital from around the world into Massachusetts, earning the largest per capita concentration of US Department of Energy innovation awards. Massachusetts companies have also brought in the second largest concentration of private venture capital in cleantech, a sector which grew 10-fold over the last decade.

 Consumers, businesses, and the Massachusetts economy all win if we stick with policies that drive clean energy investments. The combination of efficiency and renewables prescribed by the Green Communities Act is a positive force to control costs and make bills more predictable for consumers. While the prices of natural gas and oil are anything but predictable, the impact of investing in renewables is clear and positive as these technologies continue to get cheaper. Solar costs have come down nearly 60 percent since 2008 while wind turbine prices have dropped 18 percent.

It is indeed good news that new technologies not only confront the brutal logic of climate change but also boost our economy by virtue of being sound investments.  At such times as these, we should treasure every bit of good news we find.

Maine has a new motto: We can get there from here.

As Washington has failed to advance clean energy legislation, and Governor LePage has expressed open hostility to the state’s renewable portfolio standards (RPS), I am reminded of that famous quip from Bert and I: “You can’t get they-ah from he-ah.” For Mainers concerned about Maine’s dependence on expensive, dirty fuels, and sincere in their interest in building a sustainable economy for the years to come, this quip has become a frustrating reality – a reality we can change, with your help.

CLF is a part of a coalition of groups from the private and nonprofit sectors, the Maine Citizens For Clean Energy, www.cleaneenergymaine.org,  that is working to enact a law by public referendum that would increase the amount of renewable energy generated in the state and increase our ability to implement energy efficiency measures that would reduce our reliance on oil and other fossil fuels, saving us money and helping our environment at the same time.

To do this, we need to get the referendum  on the ballot for state-wide vote in November 2012 by gathering more than 70,000 signatures from Maine voters by January 2012. The signs are strong: we have met with considerable early success, are ahead of our goals, and see evidence of strong support from Maine residents.

This year, on November 8^th, 28,000 Maine voters registered their interest in putting a citizen’s initiative on next year’s ballot to expand clean energy in Maine. The coalition, as Environment Maine said in their press release, had set a goal of 20,000 only two weeks before. In our current effort to collect 70,000 signatures, we are well ahead of our goals.

This should not be surprising, as polls of Maine residents have consistently shown strong support for energy efficiency. One poll, conducted by NRDC, showed “Nearly 80% of voters back the use and expansion of energy efficiency technologies.” Another, conducted by Portland-based Critical Insights and discussed by NRCM, “shows that Maine voters overwhelming oppose specific environmental rollback proposals now before the Maine Legislature.”

Groups in Maine have heard and are working to promote the interest of Maine voters. Already, CLF is working with a coalition of Maine businesses, workers, health professionals, citizens and public interest groups. We are joined by – Reed & Reed, general contractor, NRCM, and the Maine Renewable Energy Association, among others.

The message Maine voters have delivered so far is clear: We can get there from here.  We need your help.  Please sign a petition supporting the referendum or better yet, volunteer to gather signatures in your community.

This ballot initiative comes at a crucial time and allows for a broad discussion by the people of Maine as to the value of renewable and energy efficiency. If successful, the ballot measure would require that the current RPS be increased by 20 percent by 2020 and would ensure adequate funding from utilities for all cost-effective efficiency measures.

If you’d like to help ensure the passage of this ballot initiative, you can do two things.

First, help us gather signatures. If you haven’t signed the petition, please do so now.

And, secondly, if you’re willing to volunteer – more than willing to provide you with all you’ll need. Simply get in touch with us here at our Portland, Maine, office.

Help us, and our broad coalition, to deliver to Maine what voters want: expanded energy efficiency and, with it, a clean, clear path forward.

No one knows better than the US military that our dependence on fossil fuels comes with enormous hidden costs.  In this Op-Ed in the Tampa Tribune three retired generals and one retired admiral discuss the hundreds of soldiers who have died and the thousands of their brother-in-arms who have been seriously wounded guarding fuel convoys in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Our military has long known about the overarching threat to our security from unchecked global warming.

Reducing our dependence on oil and building a clean energy future will require work on a wide variety of fronts – and that is why CLF is working not only to foster renewable generation like wind and solar power but also working “on the demand side” to ensure that energy efficiency prosper as well.

This is a challenge that stretches far beyond the realm of electricity use or heating or cooling buildings and homes.  We use enormous amounts of energy in our transportation sector.   We can be more efficient and reduce our fossil fuel use by driving cleaner cars that get more miles per gallon.  We also can build and operate transit systems that move masses of people in a far more efficient manner.  Even just building sidewalks and more “walkable” communities reduces driving, fuel consumption and emissions.

Pushing for better transit, more sidewalks, more efficient buildings, the retirement of old coal plants and wind and solar power might seem very far removed from the effort to protect the nation, but it really isn’t such a stretch and it is part of what drives forward the work of organizations like CLF and our many friends, allies and partners.

Ever buy a furnace? How about a central air conditioning system?

Even if you haven’t you can guess that finding one that is right for your home, your bank account and will not be an energy hog is a tricky business.  Especially if it is wintertime in a cold place and you need to get the heat back on NOW.  And while air conditioning can be a luxury for some of us, imagine if you lived in a hot place and you have a family member with a medical condition who really needs cool and filtered air.

These kinds of examples – and the fact that the ability to shop for these large heating and cooling devices is limited, not to mention the fact that they are often installed by landlords, prior owners and others who don’t end up paying the bills of running them.

Driven by the need to improve the basic efficiency of all furnaces and central air conditioners a group led by the Appliance Standards Awareness Project crafted a set of new standards for these vital machines that were acceptable to environmental and efficiency advocates and to industry.  In a press release the good folks at ASAP summed up this development this way:

A diverse coalition of consumer, manufacturing, and environmental groups praised new energy efficiency standards just released by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) establishing the first-ever regional standards for central air conditioners and furnaces, as well as strengthened national standards for heat pumps. The new rules are based on a joint recommendation filed with DOE by the groups in 2009.

“Climates as different as those of Minneapolis and Miami need different furnace and AC standards,” said Andrew deLaski, Executive Director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP). “Until now, we’ve had one-size-fits-all national standards. These new, regional standards are a major breakthrough that will benefit consumers and the environment.”

Once the latest updated standards take effect, a typical new air conditioner in the South will use about 40% less energy, and a typical new furnace in the North will use about 20% less than before national standards were established in the late 1980s. According to DOE’s analysis, the improvements to the air conditioner and heat pump standards announced today will save 156 billion kilowatt hours of electricity over 30 years, or about enough to meet the total electricity needs of all the households in Indiana for three years, while delivering net savings of more than $4.2 billion to U.S. consumers. The new furnace standards will save 31 billion therms of natural gas, or about enough natural gas over 32 years to heat all the homes in New York State for more than 11 years and save consumers $14.5 billion.

While the Federal Government took a ridiculously long time to approve these standards their issuance is still very good news.

For more information check out the ASAP fact sheet on this.  Or if you want the down and dirty details the actual rule is available for light reading.  And if you think this is important then let your voice be heard – the US Department of Energy, in that notice, actively asks for input on the rule saying they may back off from it “if adverse comments are received”.

But hopefully this rule will move forward and the day when all furnaces and central air conditioners are efficient and kind to both our wallets and our environment will arrive sooner than later.

As implementation of the energy efficiency funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act continues to roll forward a window is about to open that will allow buyers of energy efficient appliances to receive substantial rebates.

There is real concern that these programs could prove so popular that the window for getting the rebates will open and close very quickly.  Some states, like Massachusetts, are offering the opportunity to reserve a chance to reserve the rebates  ($250 per dishwasher, $200 per refrigerator, $175 per clothes washer and $50 per freezer) in advance – the Online Reservation Tool to make that happen is scheduled to “go live” at 10:00 AM on April 22, although you can check at the same web page to see what stores are pre-qualified (pretty much all appliance sellers, although note that Boston neighborhoods like Dorchester are listed separately in the alphabetical list of stores) and what models will earn you a rebate.

Some states, like Rhode Island, have given out all their rebate funds – in that case people replacing appliances ruined in flooded basements may have played a role.

To see what the story is in your state click on your state on this map on the U.S. Department of Energy Website.

And if you are buying an energy efficient appliance after these particular rebates are exhausted (they only work in pre-qualified physical stores) or just want to pick up some really cool light bulbs be sure to take a look at the CLF online store operated by the Energy Federation featuring the best of all such stuff and where every purchase benefits CLF.

If President Obama can make the case that “insulation is sexy stuff” in a moment captured on video then we can say that providing the residents of Massachusetts with the chance to save money while staying warm in the winter is sexy as well.

The situation is simple – the federal government sets minimum efficiency standards for furnaces.  If a state wants to have tougher rules, ensuring that furnaces sold in that state use less fuel and produce less global warming pollution, it must ask permission from the feds to do so.  Massachusetts has done so.

CLF submitted a letter in support of this request by Massachusetts.  Among other things we noted the high numbers of renters in Massachusetts compared to the national average and how renters can’t choose the furnace that heats their home, making minimal efficiency standards all the more important.

Ok, we admit this isn’t really sexy.  But it is very important and CLF is proud to be doing this kind of effort in alliance with the consumer advocates at the National Consumer Law Center (who happen to be housed in offices right across the street from CLF’s Boston office) and the experts at the Appliance Standards Awareness Project.