Siting Renewable Energy on Potentially Contaminated Lands, Landfills, and Mine Sites

What is Renewable Energy?

Renewable energy is energy obtained from sources that can be continually replenished, such as solar, wind, and biomass. Unlike fossil fuels, which will eventually be depleted, renewable energy technologies provide a lasting source of energy. Use of renewable energy can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decrease dependence on foreign oil, and provide domestic economic development opportunities. Renewable energy technologies discussed on the RE-Powering America’s Land website include wind, solar (photovoltaic and concentrating solar power), biomass (biorefinery and biopower), geothermal (flash power plant, binary power plant and geothermal heat pump), and landfill gas energy. Other renewable energy sources include hydropower, tidal power, geothermal direct use and biomass direct-combustion and other biomass to energy conversion technologies. You can read more about renewable energy on EPA’s Clean Energy web page.

What are contaminated land and mine sites?

Accidents, spills, leaks, and past improper disposal and handling of hazardous materials and wastes have contaminated tens of thousands of sites across our country. In addition, the U.S. has thousands of mine sites with areas contaminated or scarred by extraction, beneficiation or processing of ores and minerals. Contaminated land and mine sites can threaten human health as well as the environment, in addition to hampering economic growth and the vitality of local communities.

In many places, government, private, and non-profit organizations are working with each other to assess, restore, and return these unproductive properties to sustainable and beneficial uses that are protective of health and the environment. EPA and other government agencies manage multiple programs to clean up and revitalize contaminated properties. EPA alone tracks nearly 490,000 contaminated land and mine sites. You can learn more about EPA’s cleanup programs on EPA’s OSWER Cleanups web page.

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Elizabeth Warren Wants the Fed to Get Into the Student Loan Business

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has just introduced a new bill, the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act, to offer student loans at the same rates that the Federal Reserve charges big banks through its discount window lending program.  At the moment, that rate is about 0.75%.  The rates on federally guaranteed student loans, meanwhile, is set to double to 6.8% this summer.

"Some may say we can't afford this proposal," said Senator Warren as she introduced the bill.  "I would remind them that the Federal Government currently makes 36 cents in profit for every dollar it lends to students . . . meanwhile, the banks pay interest that is one-ninth of the amount that students will be asked to pay.  That's just wrong.  It doesn't reflect our values."

"Now some explain that the banks get exceptionally low interest rates because the economy is still shaky and banks need access to cheap credit to continue the recovery." She sighed loudly.  "But our students are just as important to the economic recovery as our banks, and the debt they carry poses a serious risk to that recovery."

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Energy Efficiency Upgrades Help Build Better Neighborhoods

In hundreds of communities all across the country, the Energy Department’s Better Buildings Neighborhood Program is spurring an energy efficiency transformation. Working with states, counties and cities, the Better Buildings Neighborhood Program is helping American families and business owners make energy efficiency upgrades that are saving them money and improving the efficiency of our nation’s buildings.

Created in 2010, the Better Buildings Neighborhood Program awarded $508 million in one-time grants to more than 40 state and local governments to create self-sustaining energy efficiency programs -- ensuring that the building upgrade industry will be able to support the demand for energy efficiency improvements long after the initial grants run out. By collaborating with local nonprofits, financial institutions, building efficiency experts and utilities, these programs are making it easier for consumers to access skilled energy efficiency professionals and obtain affordable loans for upgrades.

From neighborhood sweeps and energy advisors to on-bill loan payment and communitywide competitions, Better Buildings Neighborhood partners are showing real progress in increasing the comfort of our homes, lowering the operating costs for businesses and creating local job growth. In a little over two years, they have helped Americans improve the energy efficiency of more than 47,000 homes and 60 million square feet of commercial space -- achieving 15-20 percent in energy savings or more with every upgrade. These improvements are saving homeowners and businesses more than $41.2 million in annual energy costs while generating thousands of local energy efficiency jobs.

As Better Buildings partners continue to make energy efficiency more accessible to homeowners and businesses, the Better Buildings Neighborhood Program is developing new ways to support the local programs. Most recently, the program announced the Better Buildings Residential Network -- a peer sharing network that makes it easier for communities learn from each other’s successes. By sharing best practices on things like workforce development and financing options, local efficiency programs can dramatically increase the number of American homes that are energy efficient.

These energy efficiency upgrades are making a real difference for Americans all over the country. The next few days, we will be sharing stories of families and businesses that are saving energy and money thanks to efficiency upgrades. Be sure to check back on Energy.gov to hear stories about real people who are benefiting from energy efficiency improvements through the Better Buildings Neighborhood Program.

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U.S. brings charges in first criminal case for consumer agency

A newly unsealed indictment filed in District Court in Manhattan charged Mission Settlement Agency and four individuals with mail and wire fraud over a scheme that prosecutors said victimized more than 1,200 people across the United States.

Prosecutors called the case the first criminal referral from the CFPB, an agency established after passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010. Richard Cordray, the agency's director, said at a news conference in New York that there are other instances of the CFPB referring cases to federal prosecutors "and there will be more."

According to the indictment, Mission, whose website lists a Brooklyn address, had touted its ability to help people reduce their debts to credit card companies and banks.

But the company instead "systematically exploited and defrauded" customers by failing to reduce their debts and charging excessive fees, the indictment said. Some customers had their credit scores cut, were hit by creditor lawsuits or were pushed into bankruptcy, the court papers said.

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US auto sales surge on truck and SUV demand

Detroit's Big Three automakers posted higher sales last month amid rising demand for larger vehicles such as SUVs and pickup trucks.

Strong demand for the Ram pickup helped drive Chrysler's sales up 11 percent last month as the company posted its best April in six years. General Motors Co.'s U.S. sales rose 11 percent in April on continuing demand for pickups as well as small cars. And Ford Motor Co. said its U.S. sales rose 18 percent in April thanks to big demand for the recently redesigned Escape SUV.

The increase is another sign that Americans continue to buy cars and trucks despite high unemployment and mixed economic signals.

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Buffett’s MidAmerican Plans $1.9 Billion of Wind Farms in Iowa

A unit of Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. plans to invest $1.9 billion to build additional wind farms in Iowa that would increase its wind generating capacity in the state by about half.

MidAmerican Energy Co., Iowa’s largest utility, plans to build as much as 1,050 megawatts of new wind power plants in the state, adding to about 2,285 megawatts of projects that it already owns and operates, the Des Moines, Iowa-based company said today in a statement on its website.

The projects may include as many as 656 new wind turbines and be completed by the end of 2015, and the proposal requires approval from the Iowa Utilities Board, according to the statement.

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IRS eyes U.S. accounts at Caribbean bank

(Reuters) - The Justice Department said on Tuesday that a federal court had authorized the Internal Revenue Service to seek information on U.S. taxpayers who may have accounts at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB).

In a move resembling a recent IRS inquiry into Americans with Swiss bank accounts, the Justice Department said a court order would let the IRS serve a 'John Doe' summons seeking records of FCIB's U.S. correspondent account at Wells Fargo & Co. A correspondent account is a bank deposit account maintained by one bank for another bank.

The order would allow the IRS to identify U.S. taxpayers with "interests in financial accounts at FCIB and other financial institutions that used FCIB's Wells Fargo correspondent account," the Justice Department said in a statement.

"Our work here shows our resolve to pursue these cases in all parts of the world, regardless of whether the person hiding money overseas chooses a bank with no offices on U.S. soil," IRS Acting Commissioner Steven Miller said in a statement.

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US Forest Service awards nearly $800,000 to units working to connect youth to nature

U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell today announced awarding $772,820 to help national forests enhance or establish More Kids in the Woods and Children’s Forests programs in 16 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Including more than $1.49 million in partner contributions, this award is part of the more than $2.26 million dedicated toward connecting American children to the great outdoors.

Today’s announcement is one part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s efforts to strengthen the rural economy, invest in youth and leverage resources through partnerships.

“Forest Service conservation education programs inspire young people to start exploring the natural world around them, which develops a life-long appreciation for the environment,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “Our partnerships help ensure that we bring the great outdoors to children, whether in an urban or rural setting.”

These Forest Service investments align with President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative that seeks to empower Americans to share in the responsibility to conserve, restore and provide better access to our lands and waters, and leave a healthy and vibrant outdoor legacy for generations to come. Programs like More Kids in the Woods and Children's Forests also support Let's Move Outside!, First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative to raise a healthier generation by engaging kids and families in active, outdoor recreation across public lands and waters.

Scientific studies document that outdoor activity is a factor in developing the cognitive, emotional and physical well being of children. Early exposure and participation can ensure a healthier lifestyle and increased ability to be successful. Studies also show that outdoor experiential learning, when correlated to classroom instruction, can help children succeed academically.

Conservation education helps people of all ages understand and appreciate this country’s natural resources and how to conserve those resources for future generations. In Fiscal Year 2012, more than 6.8 million people participated in Forest Service environmental literacy programs and activities, far beyond the 4.2 million agency target. Education programs are delivered by a network of land managers, scientists, educators and interpreters representing all branches of the agency.

The success of these programs is a result of leveraging resources as well as strong public/private partnerships. More than 2,500 individual organizations at the national, state, Tribal and local levels help to ensure that our conservation education efforts meet local needs and improve our outreach to diverse, underserved and urban populations. For example, our partnership with the Ad Council includes the highly successful online Discover the Forest, offered in English and Spanish, to help inspire children ages 8-12 and their parents to reconnect with nature, experiencing the great outdoors first-hand.

More Kids in the Woods projects, which provided outdoor learning experiences for more than 55,000 children in Fiscal Year 2012, include activities and programs designed to spark curiosity about nature and promote learning through applications of science, technology, engineering and mathematics principles. Hundreds of partners contribute their time, energy and resources within these projects to help connect kids and families with the natural world.

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SENATE PASSES BILL LETTING STATES TAX ONLINE SALES

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate aimed to help traditional retailers and financially strapped state and local governments Monday by passing a bill that would widely subject online shopping — for many a largely tax-free frontier — to state sales taxes.

The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 69 to 27, getting support from Republicans and Democrats alike. But opposition from some conservatives who view it as a tax increase will make it a tougher sell in the House. President Barack Obama has conveyed his support for the measure.

Under current law, states can only require retailers to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state. That means big retailers with stores all over the country like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target collect sales taxes when they sell goods over the Internet. But online retailers like eBay and Amazon don’t have to collect sales taxes, except in states where they have offices or distribution centers.

As a result, many online sales are tax-free, giving Internet retailers an advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.

‘‘We ought to have a structure in place in the states that treats all retail the same,’’ said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation. ‘‘Small retailers are collecting (sales tax) on the first dollar of any sale they make, and it’s only fair that other retailers who are selling to those same customers the same product have those same obligations.’’

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Battery to Bring Renewable Energy to the Grid

Researchers from Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory of the US Department of Energy say the new battery is readily scalable while also providing the best balance to date between efficiency and cost – all necessary conditions for making renewable energy a major grid supplier.

“For solar and wind to be used in a significant way, we need a battery made of economic materials that are easy to scale and still efficient,” says Yi Cui, Stanford associate professor of materials science and engineering and a member of the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, a joint initiative launched by SLAC and Stanford University.

“We believe our new battery may be the best yet designed to regulate the natural fluctuations of these alternative energies.”

The new technology developed by Cui and his colleagues is a “flow” battery, which is easier to build on a larger scale than traditional batteries and better at accommodating the abrupt, sizeable shifts in the energy output which characterize solar and wind power facilities.

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Weekly Address: The President Talks About How to Build a Rising, Thriving Middle Class

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CBO shows decline in budget deficit

For the first seven months of 2013, the deficit was $489 billion. That is $231 billion less than the budget shortfall for the comparable period last year.  The decrease is almost entirely due to revenue increases. Revenues rose $200 billion and spending decreased only $11 billion.

Individual income tax and social insurance payroll taxes are up 16 percent this year compared to last year. 

In January, Congress and the White House agreed to allow income taxes on those making more than $400,000 per year to rise and to end a 2-percentage point payroll tax holiday for all workers.

That has contributed to $132 billion more in income taxes and $52 billion more in payroll tax revenue, CBO estimated.

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Renewable Energy: How the Military Will Help America Become Energy Independent

The United States military has the best means of advancing renewable energy. According to Pew Charitable Trusts, the DOD already committed to supplying 25% of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. The Department of Defense policy shifts toward using more clean energy in order to increase national security and save money, which could have far-reaching effects. Here is an interesting look at some of the other ways our future sustainability might end up being owed to the military.

The Department of Defense and its military branches have been national leaders in building, modifying, and the achievement of energy-efficient measures and renewable technologies. Energy independence and national security are interrelated world issues and the United States and its dependence on foreign sources of energy composes a serious threat militarily, socially and economically. More than a decade ago, the Department of the Army proposed a new vision of sustainability for the military.

In a 2010 study by the Department of Defense, the DOD realized that the agency accounts for 80% of the US Government’s energy Consumption. What it all boils down to is not all about how “green” environmentally you are but the measures of the finances and social performance in corporation over a period of time. Triple Bottom Line (3BL) was first introduced in 1994 by John Elkington. His argument was that companies should prepare three different bottom lines. One measure is profit and loss, the second measure is how socially responsible an organization has been throughout its operations and the final measure is how environmentally responsible the organization has been.

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Takei & Jesse Ferguson Team Up, Take on Same-Sex Marriage Opponents

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I Will NOT Be Denied

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1ST CHINESE AUTOMAKER IN US TO OPEN CALIF. PLANTS

LANCASTER, Calif. (AP) — The first Chinese-owned vehicle manufacturer in the United States unveiled ambitious plans Wednesday to eventually build as many as 1,000 plug-in electric buses a year at a refurbished RV manufacturing plant in a wind-swept, sage-dotted corner of the Mojave Desert.

In a news conference on a patio outside BYD's new energy-efficient production facility, the company's senior vice president, Stella Li, said the first of 10 zero-pollution vehicles, already on order from the city of Long Beach, should roll off the assembly line next year.

Within two years, Li said, BYD Motors expects to be producing 50 buses a year, and it will continue to ramp up production, hoping to reach the plant's capacity of 1,000 buses a year within a decade or two.

All the buses will be powered by the company's own iron-phosphate batteries, which will be manufactured at another plant near the bus factory in Lancaster, 60 miles east of Los Angeles. BYD is the world's largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries.

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Prisoners pair up with hard-to-train dogs

The heavy steel door slid open with grinding, sullen deliberation. Twelve prisoners, rarely allowed into the concrete yard outside, filed through into the sunlit morning.

The men had been chosen for this privilege from among more than 30 fellow inmates in the Alternative Sentencing Detention Unit of the Philadelphia prison system. A program they knew little about other than its name - New Leash on Life USA - and the basic premise: They would be given dogs to live with and to train for the next three months.

Most were lured by the possibility of early parole. That was the bait offered by the program, in conjunction with defense lawyers and prison officials. The real objective was more profound, more personal, and more ambitious than any of them would realize for several weeks, after they were in deep.

If they allowed themselves to care about the animals, trust the people running the program, and believe in themselves, they could redirect the course of their lives.

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Health centers to help uninsured individuals gain affordable health insurance coverage

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced new funding to help more uninsured Americans enroll in new health insurance coverage options made available by the Affordable Care Act.  Approximately $150 million will help community health centers provide in-person enrollment assistance to uninsured individuals across the nation.  About 1,200 health centers operate nearly 9,000 service delivery sites nationwide and serve approximately 21 million patients each year.

“Health centers have extensive experience providing eligibility assistance to patients, are providing care in communities across the Nation, and are well-positioned to support enrollment efforts,” Secretary Sebelius said.  “Investing in health centers for outreach and enrollment assistance provides one more way the Obama administration is helping consumers understand their options and enroll in affordable coverage.”

With these new funds, health centers will be able to hire new staff, train existing staff, and conduct community outreach events and other educational activities.  Health centers will help consumers understand their coverage options, determine their eligibility and enroll in new affordable health insurance options.  Community health center staff will provide unbiased information to consumers about health insurance, the new Health Insurance Marketplace, qualified health plans, and Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

This funding opportunity was issued by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and it complements and aligns with other federal efforts, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service funded navigator program.

Today’s funding announcement is part of the administration's larger effort to make applying for health insurance as easy as possible.  For example, last week, we released a single, streamlined application that was shortened from 21 to 3 pages.  We are committed to providing the type of assistance that Americans need to ensure that they have access to affordable health care.

“Health centers work in communities across the country, giving them a unique opportunity to reach the uninsured in their communities and help connect them with the benefits of health insurance coverage under the health care law,” said HRSA Administrator Mary Wakefield, Ph.D, R.N.

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U.S. Sees First Debt Reduction Since 2007 as Revenue Rises

The U.S. Treasury Department (USGG10YR) projected it will reduce government debt this quarter for the first time in six years as tax receipts exceed forecasts and spending diminishes.

The pay-down in net marketable debt was estimated at $35 billion in the April-June period, compared with a projection three months ago for net borrowing of $103 billion, the department said in a statement today in Washington. Treasury officials also see net borrowing of $223 billion in the quarter starting July 1. The estimates set the stage for the department’s quarterly refunding announcement on May 1, when debt issuance plans will be released.

A sustained economic expansion and across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration may help deliver the first net decline in debt since 2007, when the government lowered borrowing by $139 billion before the global financial crisis spawned the worst recession since the 1930s. While the economy’s strength is helping boost tax revenue, total U.S. public debt outstanding is approaching $17 trillion.

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Obama Might Actually Be the Environmental President

There are two basic ways to measure this, which must be taken together. The first, and simplest, is to ask: How much carbon are we emitting into the atmosphere? In the first year of Obama’s presidency, the United State pledged that by 2020 it would reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases by 17 percent (starting from the level set in 2005). That 17 percent reduction is the brass ring of the environmental movement. It is the target the cap-and-trade legislation was designed to hit. It is also the target that Obama must be able to claim he is on track to reach by the time of the next international climate summit in 2015. That occasion, most observers agree, will probably be the world’s last chance to sign an accord that averts catastrophically and permanently higher temperatures.



As it happens, after decades of rising, carbon-dioxide emissions in the United States started falling in 2008. They have kept falling. By the end of last year, emissions had fallen almost 12 percent below the 2005 level. That is to say, with 12 percent of the 17 percent drop having already occurred, and seven more years to go until the target date, the U.S. is two-thirds of the way to its environmental goal after just one-third of the time has passed. If you follow this measure, climate policy looks like a runaway success.

The second way to measure Obama’s climate-change record is: What has he done? He has done quite a bit, probably far more than you think, and not all of it advertised as climate legislation, or advertised as much of anything at all. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was many things—primarily, a desperate bid to shove money into enough Americans’ pockets to prevent another Great Depression—but one of them was a major piece of environmental reform. The law contained upwards of $90 billion in subsidies for green energy, which had a catalyzing effect on burgeoning industries. American wind-power generation has doubled, and solar power has increased more than six times over. As Time magazine’s Michael Grunwald detailed in his book The New New Deal, the new law suddenly transformed the Department of Energy, previously a sclerotic backwater charged mainly with overseeing the nuclear-weapons cache, into a massive new engine of cutting-edge environmental science.

The administration has also carried out an ambitious program of regulation, having imposed or announced higher standards for gas mileage in cars, fuel cleanliness, energy efficiency in appliances, and emissions from new power plants. In aggregate, they amount to a major assault on climate change. Some environmentalists judge them to be insufficient—a fair critique—but many more Obama supporters aren’t even aware that they exist. This is likely because none of these regulations produced any political theater. There was no legislation, no ponderous Sunday-morning talk-show chin-scratching, no dramatic wrangling of votes on the House floor. Just the issuing of a new regulation, a smallish one-day story.

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