Must Be Green to Apply- Unless You’re not Green (Legal Planet Blog, Mar 13, 2009)
Topic: Renewable Energy
Category: Citizen
What is it? A cautionary blog that warns of possible consequences associated with the construction of new transmission lines to carry electricity from renewable resources. Since the renewable resources are intermittent, there will often be room for coal and natural gas-generated power on the lines, and if there are no restrictions on what type of energy is allowed to be transmitted, emissions could actually increase. Senators are currently debating requirements for these lines.
Author: Steven Weissman
Accessed: Mar 13, 2009
Support: Environment and Energy Daily, which originally reported on the debate; Senator Jeff Bingaman, who is arguing against requiring lines to carry green energy; Senator Harry Reid, who recommends that 75% of new line capacity be reserved for renewables, and David Morris of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. He states that half of all states could meet or exceed their energy needs by using their own renewable sources.
Audience/Agenda: This is from a blog about environmental law associated with the University of California. The blog likely receives more visitors than is typical for WordPress, but it does not have its own domain. The target audience is professionals and students interested in environmental law, and the posts seem extensively researched and well-written. As with most university-associated media, it probably slants a little bit to the left.
Usefulness: This identifies one of the areas in the economic stimulus plan’s green initiatives that may not help as much as was thought. Now that money has been set aside for renewable energy, it will be necessary to closely monitor the positive and negative effects of the spending if we want to succeed in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and negating the effects of the recession.
Filed under: Citizen, Source Notes
