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Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Westinghouse Electric Co. next week to discuss the safety of its proposed AP1000 nuclear-reactor design. Toshiba Corp.'s Westinghouse unit will address the commission's concern about the structural integrity of the silo-shaped shield building that would contain the reactor and trap radioactivity in an accident, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said. Containment buildings at existing reactors were poured at the site as a solid piece of steel-reinforced concrete, Jaczko said. Westinghouse wants to piece the building together from sections, he said. "When you're dealing with the kinds of accident scenarios that we look at, or...

The clean energy industry is speeding up its spending on Washington lobbyists. During the first six months of 2009 the sector spent $12.1 million on lobbying, London based research firm New Energy Finance reports.

Department of Energy Denies USEC’s Loan Guarantee Application -Company begins demobilization of American Centrifuge Plant- BETHESDA, Md. – USEC Inc. (NYSE:USU) President and Chief Executive Officer John K. Welch issued the following statement today after being advised that the U.S. Department of Energy would not proceed with USEC’s application for a loan guarantee to complete construction of the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio: “We are shocked and disappointed by DOE’s decision. The American Centrifuge met the original intent of the loan guarantee program in that it would have used an innovative, but proven, technology, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and...

Invitation by Harry Reid and Al Gore -- National Clean Energy Summit 2010 and Jobs and the New Economy; August 10, Las Vegas, Nevada

Duke University Official Caught in Alleged Child Sex String. College kids go through hell on rape charge. Pedophile gets a free ride from the new media. Well not tonight on the Bobby D Show. Tune in 10pm EST - 12 m

CONGRESSIONAL VOTES...

Climate Change: A suppressed EPA study says old U.N. data ignore the decline in global temperatures and other inconvenient truths. Was the report kept under wraps to influence the vote on the cap-and-trade bill? This was supposed to be the most transparent administration ever. Yet as the House of Representatives prepared to vote on the Waxman-Markey bill, the largest tax increase in U.S. history on 100% of Americans, an attempt was made to suppress a study shredding supporters' arguments.

Fiscal Policy: The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on an anti-stimulus package that in the name of saving the earth will destroy the American economy. Smoot-Hawley will seem like a speed bump.Not since a misguided piece of legislation imposed tariffs that turned a recession into a depression has there been a piece of legislation as bad as Waxman-Markey.The 1,000-plus-page American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) is being rushed to a vote by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi before anyone can seriously object to this economic suicide pact.

Fiscal Policy: The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on an anti-stimulus package that in the name of saving the earth will destroy the American economy. Smoot-Hawley will seem like a speed bump...As we've said before, capping emissions is capping economic growth. An analysis of Waxman-Markey by the Heritage Foundation projects that by 2035 it would reduce aggregate gross domestic product by $7.4 trillion. In an average year, 844,000 jobs would be destroyed, with peak years seeing unemployment rise by almost 2 million. Consumers would pay through the nose as electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket, as President Obama once...

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Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Subcommittee Chairman Edward J. Markey introduced "H.R. 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act." The Energy and Commerce Committee will begin markup of the bill on Monday, May 18, 2009, at 1:00 p.m., and will complete consideration before the Memorial Day recess. "The legislation will create millions of new clean energy jobs, save consumers hundreds of billions of dollars in energy costs, promote America's energy independence and security, and cut global warming pollution," said Chairman Waxman. "In support of these goals, this legislation ensures that consumers and industries in all regions of the country...

On Earth Day, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis wanted to make Obama's energy policy perfectly clear: "If we are going to create clean energy industry jobs in this country," they write in a widely syndicated op-ed, "break the stranglehold that foreign oil has on our economy and punish the polluters who are devastating our natural resources, then we've got to be honest about the difficult tasks and tough choices ahead. It's going to mean telling the special interests that their days of dictating energy policy in this country are over." Indeed, and we can...

Clean-energy investments target eastern Europe, but it remains to be seen whether they will create as many new jobs as hoped. Wind farms could benefit from greater investment by the European Commission.B. STRONG/REUTERS Three months after European Union (EU) leaders committed themselves to cutting greenhouse gases by at least 20% from 1990 levels by 2020, the European Commission has announced that it will subsidize 'green' programmes and infrastructures with €105 billion (US$136 billion). The windfall comes from the union's €347 billion in 'structural' funds. It is the second-largest budget in the commission's portfolio, behind agriculture, and is aimed at creating...

AT&T Inc. will spend up to $565 million over 10 years on alternative-fuel vehicles for its corporate fleet, the most significant investment by a U.S. company in transportation powered by natural gas. The Dallas-based telecommunications provider will purchase 8,000 vehicles that run on compressed natural gas for its fleet of installation and repair vans, and replace about 7,100 passenger cars with hybrid-electric models. The move expands on similar initiatives by companies like United Parcel Service Inc. and PG&E Corp., which already operate thousands of natural-gas-powered vehicles. AT&T will begin by deploying 800 new CNG and hybrid-electric vehicles in 2009. The...

As Congress tries to clean up the nation's energy sources and cut gases blamed for global warming, it is struggling to do so in its own backyard. The Capitol Power Plant, a 99-year-old facility that heats and cools the hallowed halls of Congress, still burns coal and accounts for one-third of the legislative branch's greenhouse gas emissions. For a decade, lawmakers have attempted to clean it up. In recent years, Congress has reduced its energy consumption. The steam and chilled-water power plant has become more efficient. It now burns more natural gas and only 35 percent coal, compared with 49...

Insight on President-elect Barack Obama's $1 million green jobs plan, with Van Jones, President-elect Obama advisor and CNBC's Melissa Francis. [CNBC Video]

On Christmas eve in 1938, the physicist Lise Meitner took a walk in the snowy woods of Kungalv, Sweden, with her nephew, Otto Frisch, also a physicist. A Jewish refugee who had recently escaped from Hitler's Germany, Meitner began discussing with Frisch some puzzling experimental results from a lab in Berlin. By the time their famous walk was over, Meitner had scribbled down for the first time the equations that demonstrated the possibility of extracting huge amounts of energy from the splitting or "fission" of uranium atoms. Seventy years ago today, the woman whom Albert Einstein called "our Madame Curie"...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California on Friday became the first state in the country to force big diesel trucks to clean up their exhaust, despite warnings from truckers the new rules will force them out of business. About a million vehicles, from big rigs to school buses, are affected by the new rules, which will begin taking effect in 2011 and do not require further ratification. Some vehicles will have to start retrofitting engines in 2011 and some older trucks will be forced into retirement starting in 2012. By 2023, all trucks must meet 2010 new engine emission standards. The...

Just as the world seemed poised to combat global warming more aggressively, the economic slump and plunging prices of coal and oil are upending plans to wean businesses and consumers from fossil fuel. From Italy to China, the threat to jobs, profits and government tax revenues posed by the financial crisis has cast doubt on commitments to cap emissions or phase out polluting factories. Automakers, especially Detroit’s Big Three, face collapsing sales, threatening their plans to invest heavily in more fuel-efficient cars. And with gas prices now around $2 a gallon in the United States, struggling consumers may be less...

[...] As the name suggests, the Camry CNG Hybrid concept transforms the stock gasoline-electric hybrid into one that runs on compressed natural gas. Why CNG? According to Chris Hostetter, Toyota's vice president of advanced product strategy, future demand for liquid petroleum will exceed supply, and automakers must look for an alternative. "We believe CNG will be one of those alternatives," he said. Indeed, it's an interesting choice. CNG burns cleaner than gasoline, producing less particulate matter, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrous oxide than its commonplace counterpart. Add the ability to run on electric power alone, and the Camry CNG...