Cleantech Policy News (7 Stories)
1. Cap & Trade “has created 3,800 jobs and nearly $500 million in economic activity for Massachusetts since 2008.” That’s the verdict of a recent study on the matter, Inside Climate reports. Nothing surprising to those who follow the effects of cap & trade, but would probably surprise a ton of people who don’t. h/t Climate Progress
2. Richard Caperton, director of clean energy finance at the Center for American Progress, discussed the ins and outs of feed-in tariffs and how to make a good one over on Climate Progress. This is something we’ve covered numerous times on CleanTechnica, and John Farrel, in particular, gets into the topic a lot (you might recall his recent post showing that feed-in tariffs are responsible for most renewable energy in the world). Caperton’s piece is a good summary of the policy and includes very good recommendations on construction a feed-in tariff.
3. UK public overwhelmingly supports solar and wind power. “YouGov poll for Sunday Times finds over half of people want more wind turbines, while nearly three quarters support increased solar panel rollout,” Business Green reports.
4. Feed-in Tariffs in Malaysia drive super fast solar adoption. “After only a few hours, the budget for solar feed-in tariffs in Malaysia had been used up. By 2020, more than a gigawatt of PV is to be installed in the country,” Renewables International reported on Monday.
5. Carbon tax getting discussion/promotion in Bloomberg Businessweek (h/t Climate Denial Crock of the Week): “The best instrument for coordinating climate-change efforts is the price of carbon. The impact of any carbon-abatement plan — emission quotas, cap and trade, carbon taxes — can be measured by its effect on this price. The aim should be to equalize worldwide a gradually rising price of carbon.
“As a matter of practical politics, this flexibility is essential. It would allow governments to more easily tailor their climate-change policies to political and economic circumstances, altering them on the run if need be. The price of carbon would provide an international gauge of their abatement efforts, so that peer pressure could be brought to bear.”
6. 17,000 push for UK Prime Minister David Cameron to save solar subsidy program (and industry). A petition containing 17,000 signatures was handed to Downing Street urging Cameron to intervene in the feed-in tariff fiasco on Tuesday.
7. EU energy commissioner calling for 2030 renewable energy targets. “The EU’s energy commissioner has called for renewable energy targets that go beyond 2020 to be negotiated in the next two years to help businesses plan ahead,” Business Green reports. “Günther Oettinger was speaking at the launch of the EU’s long awaited Energy Roadmap to 2050, which details how the bloc plans to virtually decarbonise its energy infrastructure by the middle of the century.”
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