Author Archive

Joe Walsh

EnergyWorks Community Relations provides strategies and manages public engagement to support siting, permitting and construction of renewable energy and conventional electric transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Joe Walsh launched EnergyWorks CR on the stength of his combined experience managing grassroots community and government affairs for Massachusetts' largest investor-owned utility, and his award-winning legal scholarship on land use and zoning law in energy and environmental policy.

Joe was awarded the Suffolk University Jurisprudence Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Environmental Law for his work analyzing the pathways and obstacles to adoption of renewable energy in state, federal and international energy policy. "Home Rule on the Ropes," his paper on renewable energy zoning in Massachusetts is on SSRN's Top Ten lists for the Journal on Urban Economics & Public Policy and the Journal of Public Policy.

A research assistant on Westlaw's definitive energy regulation reference, "The Law of Independent Power," Joe is also a former state legislative aide and US Army linguist and is the founder of the community relations network at LinkedIn. His writing on law, politics and policy is featured on the blogs at www.CleanTechies.com and www.RenewableEnergyWorld.com.

Joe lives in Boston, Mass. with his wife and two young children.

Health Care Bill Hailed by Obama, but Stupak-Pitts Abortion Amendment May Divide Dems in 2010

While passage of House a health care bill was hailed as a victory for President Obama, the Democrat divide over the Stupak-Pitts abortion amendment is already playing out in the Massachusetts race for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat. After climate change compromise, inevitable escalation in Afghanistan, and little movement on gay rights, is the House health care bill’s abortion amendment a bridge too far for progressives? Will health care galvanize or divide Dems heading into 2010. And, what might it mean [...]

Senate Set to Compromise on Health Care and Climate Change

Olympia Snowe’s support of the finance committee draft puts health care back in play, but without a public option. The Graham-Kerry compromise climate bill would start to cap carbon, but also allow coal to cash in. Will progressives settle for incrementalism?

Trip to 2010: Worst-Kept Secrets Will Kill Climate Bill

Time-traveling to 2010 reveals how some of Washington’s worst-kept secrets will catch up with President Obama and cripple his climate agenda.

Who’s Counting? Obama’s Olympic Failure Has Meaning for Copenhagen and Climate Change

Failure to read the field on Chicago’s Olympic bid begs the question: who is counting votes for President Obama? The White House will need a much better ground game if the US is going to lead the world on climate change.

Utilities Divided as Exelon Quits Chamber Over Climate Change

Is Exelon’s departure from the US Chamber of Commerce a harbinger for the entire utility sector? Or, is there a divide emerging within the industry?

UN Speeches Ramp Up Rhetoric in US – China Climate Change Arms Race

As the world arrives at the UN ahead of Copenhagen, the US has more to lose than China in an escalating war of words over climate change leadership.

Cap-and-Trade Depends on Obama’s Health Care Success

Once upon a time, Obama’s plan called for cap-and-trade dollars to fund health care reform. Greens should be watching the health care fight, because the closer he gets to a bill, the more he will need cap-and-trade in order to pay for it.

Sarkozy Proposes Carbon Tax on Personal Consumption

Cap-and-trade calamity? Au contraire. While the US flounders on regulating carbon, France’s Nicholas Sarkozy is pushing forward with new carbon tax legislation that will only add to France’s edge in the emerging green economy.

After Van Jones Resigns, His ‘Homeboys’ Keep on ‘Greening the Ghetto’

Ousted White House adviser Van Jones’ green-collar ghettos legacy lives in a Los Angeles-area program that trains former gang members to install solar panels.

Senate Climate Debate: Six to Watch on the Climb to Sixty

If the Senate can get 60 votes for climate change legislation, these are the six Senators that lobbyists will be courting, the White House will be pressing, and you should be watching.

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