Are Electric Vehicles Truly Cleaner?

CLIMATE IMPACT

A report released by the Union of Concerned Scientists puts to rest a question that has been dogging the electric vehicle industry and causing consumers to doubt the environmental benefits of electrical vehicles (EVs): are the greenhouse gas emissions of an EV actually lower than a conventional car using gasoline fuel? This question stems from the concern that because electric vehicles are plugging in to our nation’s electrical grid to charge and, on average, 45% of the electricity on our nation’s grid… Full Post >>

Clean Energy Worked on My House

Last fall, I wrote about how I had signed up for an energy retrofit of my house through Clean Energy Works Oregon. Clean Energy Works is a non-profit that allows utility customers to do home energy efficiency upgrades and pay for the upgrades through a charge on their utility bills. In that earlier post, I described the program and what made it attractive to me. Let me start with the advantages to the Clean Energy Works program:

The first is one-stop shopping. You… Full Post >>

CUB Applauds Coal Shut Down, Demands Better Analysis of Coal Investment

A couple of years ago, PGE was planning to invest $500 million in its Boardman coal plant. CUB challenged PGE to consider phasing the plant out instead of making the planned investments, and requested that PGE complete an analysis of a phase-out. PGE did the analysis and concluded that customers could save $200 million with a phase-out of the Boardman coal plant. (See Boardman Closure Update from last year.) 

Since that time, CUB has been working to… Full Post >>

CUB’s Week in Eugene

This past weekend, SA, Bob, and I had the pleasure of spending a few days in the great city of Eugene to partake in the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC). PIELC is an annual gathering for environmental activists, attorneys, students, scientists, and community members to share their expertise and insight about all things environmental (including lots of panels on energy and climate change, both of which are near and dear to CUB’s heart!).

We kicked off the weekend on Thursday night with a Meet… Full Post >>

Bob Jenks’ Appearance On KBOO’s Locus Focus

On Monday, CUB’s Executive Director Bob Jenks visited the Portland studios of KBOO-FM to speak with Barbara Bernstein, host of the show Locus Focus.

Bob discussed the history of the campaign to create CUB, what CUB does today, and how it benefits Oregonians.  He also talked about the fight against corporate influences in utility regulation, the closure of the Boardman coal plant, the elimination of nuclear power in the Northwest, the creation of the Energy Trust, and the Renewable… Full Post >>

Energy Exporting: Still a Bad Idea

Though it is sometimes enjoyable, saying “I told you so” is usually not an indication that the best outcome of a situation has been achieved. That’s certainly the case with the pending applications for liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals on the Oregon coast. In 2010, I wrote about these potential projects, which at that time were intended to be built to receive imports of LNG from the Middle East. Over the past couple of years, however, a sharp increase in the supply of shale gas… Full Post >>

Utility Consumer Advocates Gather In St. Louis

I recently traveled to St. Louis for the Annual meeting of National Association of Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA). The meeting brings together people who work on behalf of utility customers from around the country, and now that I am back in my beloved home state, I’d like to share some impressions.

Many folks may not know that there is a national organization that connects all the disparate consumer advocate groups throughout the United States. But there is.  NASUCA helps utility consumer advocates… Full Post >>

Natural Gas Update:  Technology and Regulatory Advances

Back in July, we wrote about the proliferation of shale gas extraction in the United States. Our conclusion was simple: because this rapid growth is likely to continue and there are significant environmental risks associated with extracting the gas, thorough studies and an open and frank dialogue involving all stakeholders are essential. None of that has changed, but there have been several developments since July that justify revisiting this topic.

New Technologies are Coming

A number of new and… Full Post >>

Engaging Topics Outside of the Energy Field

On November 19th, CUB had the pleasure of a visit and briefing from Josh Vincent of the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP). NCAP has been working for almost 35 years to protect community and environmental health by reducing pesticide use in the region and promoting environmentally friendly solutions to pest-related issues. The briefing represents CUB’s effort to understand other organizations and areas of environmental advocacy that often don’t enter our day to day work. Catriona McCracken, CUB’s General Counsel… Full Post >>

Oregon’s Incentives on Energy Efficient Appliances Set to Expire

During the summer, CUB Organizing Director Jeff Bissonnette posted an overview of the 2011 legislative session. Jeff reported that energy efficiency tax credits were mostly preserved under HB 3672, but also noted some changes. One of these changes is that the incentive for purchasing energy efficient appliances is about to expire for Oregon residents. The Residential Energy Tax Credit (RETC) provides state income tax credits for purchases of qualified home appliances. Earlier this year the state legislature, in an effort to reduce… Full Post >>

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