New Jersey Governor signs solar bill

New Jersey Gov. Christie and the state's environmental groups have landed on common ground _ a highly unusual occurrence.

That's because earlier today Christie signed a bill that would encourage the growth of the solar industry in the state.

New Jersey already is a leader. It is second in the nation in solar installations. So far, more than 775 megawatts of solar has been installed in the state, enough to power about 130,000 homes. (Or, as the environmental groups note, more than the amount of energy produced by Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant, which they have pushed to have shuttered.)

Renewables hope to avoid Dodd Frank regulations

By: Rick Umoff,

Cleantech Law Partners

What do the 2008 financial crisis, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), and renewable energy have in common? More than you might think. In July 2010, the CFTC was granted expanded authority under the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd Frank”) to regulate the risky transactions thought to be at the heart of the financial crisis.[i] These transactions, including credit default swaps, collateralized mortgage obligations, and other derivatives labeled “swaps,” will be subject to a new regulatory regime. In its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the CFTC asked renewable energy stakeholders to comment on whether environmental commodities, such as renewable energy certificates and carbon offsets, should be regulated as swaps.[ii]

Vermont: Committee starts over on renewable power bill

Legislation that would require utilities to purchase green energy will go back to the drawing board, according the chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Energy.

The bill, H.468, would have required utilities to purchase 80 percent of their power from qualifying renewable sources in 2025.

The bill set out ambitious goals for utilities, but after weeks of testimony, the second draft eased these qualifications by requiring 75 percent renewables by 2032. Thirty-five percent of those would have to come from “new” generation that came online after Dec. 31, 2004.

Environmental groups rally for NY ban on fracking

Health and environmental groups rallied at the Capitol on Monday to call for a legislative ban on hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells, saying no amount of regulation can adequately safeguard water supplies from contamination.

"Fracking is the most important environmental issue this state has faced in the past 100 years," Sen. Tony Avella, sponsor of a bill to ban hydraulic fracturing, said at the rally in the Legislative Office Building next to the Capitol. "There is no possible regulation or series of regulations that can stop the one incident that pollutes our water supply for 1,000 years."