Barack Obama and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (Official WH Photo by Pete Souza)

With the summer beach season open for business, it's not surprising that the most talked-about political odd couple of 2012 – President Barack Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – spent last Tuesday touring the Jersey Shore's post-Sandy recovery efforts.

But what may be surprising to E2 members is that more and more, it's the federal government – and not the insurance industry – that pays for cleanup efforts in the aftermath of the kinds of extreme weather events associated with climate change.

According to a report released in May by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), American taxpayers in 2012 paid $96 billion to clean up last year's droughts, storms, floods, and forest fires. This is about three times the $33 billion private insurers paid out last year to cover...read more >

Michael Rucker, CEO Juwi Wind

In January of this year, Michael Rucker, CEO of juwi Wind North America, took on the role of Chapter Director for the Rocky Mountain chapter of E2.

We recently had a chance to talk to Michael about the wind industry and his thoughts on the current policy environment.  Here's what he had to say:

On wind purchasers
Most wind power is purchased by utilities – traditional, conventional off-takers - in the various markets we work in, but increasingly we are seeing industrial and commercial customers come directly to the markets, especially in the deregulated parts of the US.  They are often looking for wind, and they place a higher value on the sustainable aspects of renewable energy and on the hedge value of a completely stable energy price during the course of a project's life. 

In some areas, you are also seeing...read more >

The Last Mountain

When you turn your lights on, as E2 members, you already know that somewhere, probably far from home, there are costs that aren't factored into the price of power. After watching the stirringly effective film, The Last Mountain, you'll have a more complete picture of just how high these costs are for coal-generated electricity. The film draws power from the brave resistance of a West Virginia community fighting to save the hills surrounding them from the devastating impact of mountaintop removal coal mining.

On April 25th, E2 members and guests gathered at Greentown Labs, a cleantech incubator in Boston, for a film screening followed by a discussion with producer and E2 Member Eric Grunebaum.

Mountaintop removal is a form of strip-mining using heavy explosives to crush and remove hundreds of feet of a mountain to reach thin coal seams beneath. The mountain's remains are...read more >

U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index

A clean energy research and advisory firm today released a report showing that leadership in clean-tech deployment in states and their metropolitan areas is "inextricably linked."

The report – titled "U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index" – was released by Clean Edge, an E2 partner. The report listed the top 10 states and metro areas in the country, with California emerging as the leader in the states and San Francisco tops among cities.

The entire report and the rest of the top 10 can be found at www.cleanedge.com.

"Clean-tech deployment in the U.S. is largely being driven by state and metro-level activity," said Ron Pernick, Clean Edge's managing director. "And it's no longer about small, barely visible slices of market share. Overall, renewable energy from wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and other...read more >

To read the latest press releases from NRDC, click here.