Thirty years working on energy policy and I had never thought much about fluid hydraulics. But today I had lunch with Professor Kim Stelson,  Director of the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power, and his colleague Michael Gust, Industrial Liaison Director. It turns out that the Center has been headquartered at the University of Minnesota for the past four years, and it may be the University's best kept secret.

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While watching Senate energy negotiations stall, collapse, and enter the critical life support phase, I didn't take the time to flag a good energy bill my legislators introduced July 21. The bill's goal is to keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter - without warming your children's world - by promoting thermal renewable energy.

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Want to make the electricity you use in your home or business greener? Find out if your utility company offers a green electricity program (sometimes called green pricing) - a plan that lets you use electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar. According to BrighterEnergy.org, more than 850 utilities in the United States now offer green electricity programs, and more than 650,000 people across the country are purchasing renewable energy to power their lives.

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Bill Gates, Microsoft Chairman and co-founder, intends on presenting a plan to Congress and the White House on how to change the way Americans consume energy. Gates recently appeared on ABC News to talk about his vision of a clean energy future and why government leadership is so important. He also participated with other business executives in the American Energy Innovation Council's report, "A Business Plan for America's Energy Future."

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An analysis recently released by McKinsey and Company called "The U.S. Low Carbon Economics Tool" provides in-depth macroeconomic modeling of different scenarios of possible energy and climate policies. With the recent release of the American Power Act, an analysis of this type is invaluable for better understanding the implications of different policy measures as well as the economic impact of inaction. With this tool we can better understand the changes to jobs, gross domestic product (GDP), energy prices, taxes, energy demand, and industry cost structure in relation to different policies.

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The gubernatorial race in Minnesota is about to begin, and it's important that the next governor supports efforts that will make Minnesota a leader in the clean energy economy. This Sunday at 1:00PM is your chance to see where the candidates stand on comprehensive climate legislation. The Living Green Expo will feature a Gubernatorial Candidate Forum on Clean Energy, Clean Water and Minnesota's Future. Candidates confirming their attendance are Democrats Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza and the Independence Party's Rob Hahn and Tom Horner. Republicans Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert have been invited. Learn more about the Living Green Expo, and make sure you visit Fresh Energy's booth!

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Who should we look to for examples of implementing clean energy solutions? Turns out, the U.S. military's a good place to start. The Pew Project on National Security, Energy and Climate recently released "Reenergizing America's Defense," a report which describes the efforts the U.S. military is taking to enhance energy efficiency and harness clean energy technology. The U.S. Department of Defense has established stringent goals that will reduce dependence on fossil fuels and cut global warming pollution.

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On April 1, the governor signed HF 2695 into law. This omnibus jobs bill included the PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) program, which will help small renewable developments and efficiency upgrades. PACE is basically a low-interest funding mechanism that a municipal financing district or finance company can opt to offer to residents. It helps reduce the up-front costs of small scale renewable and efficiency upgrades for home and business owners by spreading the costs out over time via a property tax assessment - much like how sidewalks and streetlights are currently funded, but applied to the individual property. The program will allow local governments and other entities to opt-in to offer this program to residents, providing a new and innovative funding mechanism that will create jobs in the renewable and efficiency sectors and make renewable energy projects and energy efficiency upgrades more affordable for Minnesotans.

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President Obama has voiced that "climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time." In his State of the Union, he expressed the importance of passing a comprehensive clean energy bill in order to meet this challenge and help recover the American economy. In the recently released 2010 Economic Report of the President, it was reported that "a clean energy transformation is essential."

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In a just-released study, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) found that "if Congress passed climate and energy legislation that strengthened the energy efficiency and renewable energy standards in [the ACES bill] the House of Representatives approved last June, consumer electric and natural gas costs would be $113 billion lower by 2030, and emitters would pay 4 percent less in compliance costs." Read the entire analysis here. 

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