Last week, Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy CEO Dick Kelly asked Congress to raise his taxes - specifically, his carbon taxes. In a statement that may sound the Paul Revere-like alarm for climate and energy policy, Kelly thinks the U.S. Senate chickened out of a climate bill. They backed off and "started calling it ‘cap and tax,'" Kelly told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Kelly is head of a multistate utility that has increasingly moved away from coal power and spent millions to retrofit some of its plants to cleaner-burning natural gas.  Kelly is joined in his attitude by Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers. Rogers has also stated that the "growing consensus in the electric utility industry" is to "act now." Rogers points to private capital that's waiting for a predictable regulatory landscape to set the stage for investment into clean energy.

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While Earth Day falls on Thursday this year, a growing number of college kids around the country may be wishing April 22 fell on Sunday. Why? They see a direct correlation between caring for the environment and their faith in Christ.

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Ameriprise, IBM, Fresh Energy. Not exactly three Minnesota organizations that most folks would expect to read together, but the three of us were recently named for the same award--Bronze Status as a "Bicycle Friendly Business" by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB).  We beat out companies the likes of Union Pacific Railroad, Assurant Health, and (ironically) Live Green Apartments to become one of 51 organizations nationwide to be recognized. 

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Seems everybody's trying to make a run for the border these days. With Latinos becoming the fastest-growing ethnic demographic in America, everyone wants them as customers, and yes, voters. Latinos (or Hispanics or Chicanos) are fiercely brand-loyal, credit averse, and proudly patriotic. If Latinos take up the cause of climate change and climate mitigation, they'll be formidable allies.

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President Obama must truly tire of all the comparisons to FDR: the booming voice, the easy charisma, and an administration that must deal with an economic disaster that could choke a goat. But wait, there's more...

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Ahh, War Games, what a movie.  The summer of '83.  Matthew Broderick was still playing teenagers. Ally Sheedy was still a TeenBeat pin-up girl you taped inside your locker at school. And the plot was two teenagers get the country to DefCon1 by hacking into an Apple 2e at the Pentagon that also talks. The great moral, of course, comes from the voice of this new Hal, who says rather than play thermonuclear war, "the only winning move is not to play."

We could use that advice now in regards to oil. We're already stuck with a deadly addiction to oil, and, now, some folks think our best option is to turn to Canada for more oil.

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Check the date. It's not April fool's. It's about a week after. So imagine the surprise on many faces when they heard that Big Stone II coal plant investor, Otter Tail Power (OTP), wants a new hearing on its certificate of need for transmission lines for the plant.

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Spring is here and some of us at Fresh Energy are biking to work. How 'bout you?

According to 1 World 2 Wheels, by riding your bike 8 miles total (4 miles to work and back), 3 times a week, you will save 23.28 lbs of CO2, burn 1,128 calories, and save $5.28 in gas.

If you do this every week of the year, you'll save 1,210.56 lbs of CO2, burn 58,656 calories, and save $274.56 in gas.

What this all means is that you can eat one more Krispy Kreme donut this year without feeling guilty.

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Here's a statement from a press release:

"The Aspen Institute proudly announces the winners of the second annual Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Awards, which will be presented at a special ceremony on March 27, 2009, during the Aspen Environment Forum."

Ok, so the Aspen Institute is giving awards to Van Jones for Thought Leadership (ok, great, applaud that), Wal-Mart for Corporate Energy Efficiency (ok, yeah, see that), and the Province of Alberta, Canada's Carbon Capture Initiative for Government (what the...).

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