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During its eight years in office, the Obama administration undertook an ambitious effort to transition the US economy towards the use of renewable energy technologies, and promote American leads in the global ‘cleantech’ industry. While many of the strategies selected to achieve these goals rendered positive results, others proved unproductive and/or politically toxic. Approaching the issue from a critical innovation framework (which focuses on the political and economic conditions under which the federal government is best able to promote technological change), this paper argues that the administration ignored some of the key conditions that have historically allowed Washington to succeed in promoting the uptake of new technologies. The paper describes the nature of these mistakes, and suggests an alternative way forward based on historical precedent. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports the results of a study that sought to reflect, based on two cases, upon opportunities and challenges, possibilities and limits, for the insertion of small business ventures -- new ventures and micro and small enterprises -- in the productive field that became known, especially after the Rio Conference 92, as green economy. The search for clean technologies has become a great challenge and at the same time, a great business opportunity. The possibilities were opened up for large companies, able to mobilize the necessary resources for this transition. The limits were evident for small businesses. Evidence has been pointing out the necessity of developing instruments, particularly on public policies, able to offer support to small businesses so that they can overcome their limits. The focus of the study was precisely on this point: the experience of two incubators, one American and another Brazilian, specialized in supporting small businesses oriented to the markets of clean technologies. Qualitative in the method and with exploratory purposes, the research was designed as a multiple case study (based on two cases), having the documentary research as strategy for data collection. Supported by the literature of environmental management (with emphasis on small businesses with clean technologies) and business incubators (with greater emphasis on the typology of incubators), the research revealed a large gap between the realities of the two countries, either in numbers of incubators within the field of clean technologies, or in the mobilization of institutional actors who act in support of these incubators. Based on the two case studies it was possible to identify a single strategic affinity between the two incubators and a set of dichotomous elements, both strategically and in terms of management. In view of these findings, as conclusions of the paper, some suggestions are pointed out for the Brazilian movement of incubators in the will to incorporate environmental elements into their strategies and their management systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine energy is an emerging renewable energy industry with the potential to produce 2300 terawatt-hours per year from resources within the United States. As development and testing of marine energy devices advance, regulatory and permitting decision-makers are concerned about the uncertainty surrounding the potential environmental effects resulting from the introduction of these novel devices in coastal and riverine environments. The Triton Initiative researches and provides recommendations for environmental monitoring technologies and methods to inform industry stakeholders with the data necessary to permit the testing of marine energy systems. Effective dissemination of the research findings is essential for improving the accessibility of data to stakeholders who may use the results to inform policy decisions, yet few frameworks for conducting science communications for marine energy projects exist. In this paper, we present tools, channels, and tactics for developing a science communication framework for marine energy projects, or similar areas of study, using the Triton Initiative's pilot science communication program as a case study. By leveraging existing bodies of work in disciplines such as communications theory, marketing, public relations, and social science, the presented framework includes audience identification and analysis; channel development, including a website, blog, newsletter, social media, and webinars and presentations; and metrics for determining success. Outcomes from one year of Triton's case study are presented, including the most effective tactics and lessons learned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and the United States have seen expeditious investment growth in renewable energy and climate-related industries. Due to differences in political environments and governance structures, monetary settings, and prevailing market technologies and geographic conditions, the two countries demonstrate varied strengths and weaknesses in promoting climate investment. Both countries can learn from each other's distinctive strengths and weaknesses to identify potential opportunities both for domestic climate programmes and energy cooperation to jointly pursue pathways to achieve net zero carbon footprints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research has demonstrated that although organizations generally avoid uncertainties, this behavior is not universally true. To better understand the contingencies around organizations' responses to regulatory uncertainty, we consider the influence of corporate structure on attentional processing. Our theory and findings suggest that because corporate structure differentiates their problem-solving and learning activities, headquarters and subsidiaries differ in attention allocation on their strategic agendas. Our results show that headquarters display lower levels of uncertainty aversion than do subsidiaries, but all organizations generally make greater shifts in attention toward alternative courses of action if they possess complementary experience and access shared experience. We test these ideas using a sample of U.S. electric utility companies attending to renewable technologies from 2000 to 2010—a market greatly affected by regulatory uncertainty. By linking models of decision making under uncertainty and learning with the attention-based view, we develop a more comprehensive understanding of the ways uncertainty influences organizational attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a search for Schumpeterian solutions, the Obama Administration has made venture capital a cornerstone of its Clean Technology policy, adopting a strategy of providing large loan guarantees to a few venture capital financed firms. This article argues that three key conditions are necessary for venture capital to successfully open new economic spaces and then it applies them to assess the viability of venture capital investment in clean technology. The article concludes that large loan guarantees are unlikely to be effective. Other government policies such as SBIR grants, university R&D support, certain (de)regulatory actions, large-scale demonstration projects, and/or procurement decisions can better encourage both incremental and Schumpeterian innovation without distorting the turbulent dynamics of new market creation. This analysis can also be applied to other sector- and market-specific innovation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008, Hawai'i's electric utilities and state government committed to transforming Hawai'i into a world leader in the adoption of renewable energy. The characteristics of Hawai'i's electricity system--including high imported fossil fuel costs--appeared to make this project more technically feasible, economically attractive, and politically popular in Hawai'i than in any other state. And yet, a decade later, Hawai'i's electricity grids remain less renewable than those of many mainland states (such as California), and continue to emit 35 percent more carbon per kilowatt-hour than the U.S. average. Why? In this Article, I trace the disappointments of the last decade to incentives problems endemic to Hawai'i's electricity law. Specifically, Hawai'i's attempt to hybridize the traditional vertically integrated utility model with pro-competition policies encourages independent power producers to take the lead in developing transformative renewable projects, but leaves them reliant on traditionally regulated utilities with an incentive to favor utility-owned projects. In the resulting stalemate, both utilities and independent power producers propose transformative projects, but neither has the power to bring those projects to completion. The options for improving incentives in Hawai'i's electricity sector fall into three categories: (1) performance-based ratemaking; (2) industry restructuring; and (3) cooperatization or municipalization. I conclude that performance-based ratemaking, wheeling-based restructuring, and ISO-based restructuring are unlikely to furnish a sound framework for Hawai'i's electricity sector. By contrast, a simpler generation divestiture reform based on the TransCo model of restructuring has potential, as do governance changes like cooperatization or municipalization. By clearing out the unnecessary incentives conflicts that have hampered progress over the last decade, these policies could allow Hawai'i to make good on its renewable energy ambitions over the next decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on a bill "Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act" introduced by the Senator Christopher Coonsmade for qualifying income related to renewable energy in the U.S. Topics discussed include enactment of Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 which deals with rules of taxation under Internal Revenue Code; and history and mechanics of Master Limited Partnerships in the country.

International negotiations struggle to keep pace with global problems like climate change. To fill this gap, local governments increasingly take matters into their own hands. For example, to promote the benefits of clean energy, a local government might give subsidies to renewable energy companies. Since 2001, California has given $2 billion in such subsidies, while states ranging from Minnesota to Kansas and Mississippi have doled out hundreds of millions OF dollars each. Cities, such as Austin and Los Angeles, have also gotten into the act, contributing millions to renewable energy firms. To build support for these measures, the local government might condition the subsidy on the recipient's use OF components manufactured in the locality. In 2013, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said these kinds of subsidies are unlawful because they discriminate against foreign products. This Article argues that the decision fails to account for the public goods generated by such programs, and suggests a new way for the WTO to review local subsidy programs that would balance the WTO's impulse to protect international trade with the valuable global public goods such programs promise. To make the case, I report on the results OF an original fifty-state survey. I identify forty-four state renewable energy programs in twenty-three states within the United States that violate the WTO's 2013 decision. I argue that these programs can increase global welfare in the aggregate, notwithstanding their discriminatory nature. They can do so by creating political support at the local level for renewable energy programs that might not pass otherwise. Local governments internalize few of the benefits from providing global public goods, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions through costly investments in renewable energy technology. Local efforts to address global public goods problems thus have to be linked to a concentrated benefit within the enacting jurisdiction. Protectionist measures that discriminate against foreign products provide this link, mobilizing local economic interests to pass global public goods programs that create benefits in other jurisdictions. Reforming international trade law to allow these linkages is imperative if local governments are to continue to play a role in solving global problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a speech by Neil Auerbach, a private equity investor delivered at the Green for Green:The Business and Law of Renewable Energy Finance Symposium in New York University School of Law Washington Square, New York on February 15, 2013. Topics of the speech mentions the future of the clean energy finance, the renewable energy Goldman Sachs investment and the use of Section 29 tax credit.

This Article is the first to detail the balance legislatures and courts have struck between private property rights and the compelling public interest in energy production. By examining how property rights have consistently yielded to energy development from colonial times to the most recent decisions involving hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), it identifies a coherent energy/property balance that has shaped property expectations to accommodate energy needs. The Article then applies this insight to current disputes pitting aggressive renewable energy policies--such as nuisance immunity or mandatory installations on private property--against fundamental property expectations: the right to exclude and the right to use and enjoy. In doing so, it analyzes how the energy/property balance informs reasonable property expectations and helps resolve Fifth Amendment takings claims. The central conclusion is this: throughout our legal history and into our energy future, when circumstances pit private property rights against the societal need for energy, i.e., when it comes to energy versus property, energy tends to win. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses greenhouse gas mitigation, global climate change, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its reported denial of the liability protection that renewable energy developers need to repower the contaminated land in America as of September 2012. American environmental laws are addressed, including the Clean Air Act. Damages and abatement are examined in relation to common law public nuisance. other topics include electricity demand and economic growth.

In this article, the author discusses political, social, and environmental aspects of the U.S. for laws related to energy production. Topics discussed include demand of economically feasible energy sources, production of usable energy from wind and U.S. framework for renewable energy. Also mentions about National Environmental Policy Act of the U.S.