Green Options

President Obama’s stated desire to invest in smart-grid and broadband infrastructure syncs nicely with Google’s desire to improve the nation’s broadband infrastructure and build a smarter grid.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar sends Bush offshore drilling plan back to the drawing board.

In a presidential memorandum to the Secretary of Energy, President Obama has ordered the DOE to come into compliance with three decade-old energy efficiency laws, starting this year with nine categories of products, including ovens, vending machines, microwave ovens, dishwashers and light bulbs.

Spending in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on environmental projects being debated in Congress right now already includes $100 billion in ‘green stimulus.’ But because of the stated preference for so-called ’shovel-ready’ infrastructure projects, long-term infrastructure projects like mass transit and a smart grid may suffer.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin released an energy plan for Alaska that looks a lot more like an abdication of state responsibilities’ than it does a document of executive leadership.

Mason’s take sounded a lot like the line of argument I heard from Sarah Palin about five months ago.

In one of his last move Secretary of the Interior, outgoing Secretary Dirk Kempthorne issued a Secretarial Order authorizing the Bureau of Land Management to establish offices to expedite the permitting of renewable energy and associated transmission facilities on BLM lands.

In his first full day in office, President Barack Obama was delivered a letter from 97 businesses, organizations and activists outlining recommended first steps for coming to grips with climate change.

The 44th President faces enormous challenges implementing an environmentally-friendly agenda.

Though President Obama did not utter the word “environment” per se, he spoke both directly and indirectly about the major energy and environmental issues of today; more so than any of his predecessors.

There will be many firsts at Tuesday’s Presidential Inauguration, but mentioning the environment in the inaugural address will not be one of them: though pretty darn close.