The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) welcomes the upcoming release of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed limits on carbon emissions from existing power plants. The draft standards, under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, are scheduled to be released on Monday, June 2, and are expected to set a national limit on carbon pollution from power plants, while providing states with maximum flexibility to reduce their emissions. Rather than tackle emission-heavy plants directly, states should be able to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy technology deployment, or join regional cap-and-trade programs that allow market forces to best meet the overall carbon reduction targets.

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Once again, a seminal scientific report is confirming that climate change is happening and is already having adverse impacts throughout the United States. Today, the federal government released the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA), the most comprehensive and transparent examination of peer-reviewed science on climate change impacts in the United States ever produced. The NCA echoes the findings of the latest reports from the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change, which state with high certainty that emissions from human activities are causing global climate change.

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Wednesday, January 29, 2014——In last year's State of the Union, President Obama vowed, "If Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will." Tonight, President Barack Obama reiterated the pressing need to act on climate change, and highlighted some of the actions his administration has taken, without the need for Congressional approval, since the unveiling of his National Climate Action Plan in June. "Over the past eight years, the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution more than any other nation on Earth," noted the President. These executive actions are welcome, but only bipartisan, Congressional action can achieve the results necessary to prevent disastrous climate change.

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The first part of the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), which reviews the scientific evidence for climate change and its causes, will be released on Monday, September 30, but a summary for policymakers was made public Friday with its key conclusions. According to this summary, "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased."

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September 20, 2013---The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) welcomes the Environmental Protection Agency’s draft rules for restricting carbon pollution from new power plants, which were released today. These rules would mark the first federal carbon emission limits on power plants, which represented 40 percent of all energy-related emissions of greenhouse gases in 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration. Most of those emissions came from coal plants.

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March 12, 2013—In an effort to help address the array of energy challenges facing the country, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the University of Maryland, and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) have developed 'Energy 101', a unique, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary model framework born out of DOE's desire to introduce college students to energy literacy and sustainability and to encourage them to pursue energy careers. The partners will offer a webinar on April 10, 2013, for faculty, administrators and other interested parties to learn about the 'Energy 101' framework and how it uses group projects, DOE's Energy Literacy Principles (essential energy concepts for all citizens, from K-to-Gray), and educational modules to help students make informed choices about energy production, energy use, and sustainable development. Webinar participants will be able to ask questions at the end of the presentation.

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February 12, 2013—In tonight's State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama emphasized the need to keep the economy on the right track as it regains its strength and creates new jobs. He also reiterated the critical need to address climate change, after a year which saw record heat, drought, and weather extremes in the United States: "For the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change."

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The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) are pleased to announce the release of their joint report, Climate Adaptation & Transportation: Identifying Information and Assistance Needs (view the report's summary here).

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Washington, DC – A partnership announced today will implement an innovative program to finance energy efficiency improvements for rural homes with low-cost loans that are repaid through customers’ electric bills (aka “on-bill financing”). The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), a nonprofit policy education and outreach organization, will work with electric cooperatives in South Carolina to design and implement the pilot project for a “Rural Energy Savings Program” that will serve as a model for similar programs in other states, and a pending national program. The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina (ECSC), the state association of electric cooperatives, and Central Electric Power Cooperative, the state’s generation and transmission co-op, will be EESI’s lead partners in this effort. The collaboration between the co-ops and EESI to design and implement this pilot project is being supported by a $225,000 grant to EESI from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

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“We are in a crisis. It is time to face it head-on with all the tools we have. Deployment plans by the National Academies of Science and by various private organizations show the way. The key remaining ingredient is a national will. The good news is that the U.S. can virtually eliminate use of petroleum in our passenger cars by 2050 with the right combination of policies, research and assistance to commercialize a portfolio of vehicle and fuel technologies. Efficiency, biofuels, natural gas, battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles all will make a contribution,” they said.

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