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| Show Us What Green Energy and Global Warming Activism Mean to You! Enter HEC`s Green Energy NOW! Video Contest |
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 HEC wants to know why you support green energy and what you`re doing in your daily life to fight global warming, personally and/or legislatively. Share your story, insights, and activism with Hoosiers by entering our Green Energy NOW! video contest by uploading a 3 minute video on our YouTube contest page.
Prizes will be awarded to the funniest, the most creatively produced, and most well-researched videos. For more information, guidelines, rules, and resources for the contest, click here. Start your video now, submissions will only be accepted between now and August 24th. Need inspiration? Watch here. |
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| Most Sweeping Energy and Global Warming Legislation in US History Passes House - Many Thanks to Congressmen Baron Hill & Andre Carson |
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.jpg) The American Clean Energy & Security (ACES) Act is the most comprehensive energy reform package ever brought before Congress and, for the first time in US history, would make a major dent in cutting national greenhouse gas emissions. The bill prevailed 219 - 212 on Friday, June 26, with Hoosier Congressmen Baron Hill and Andre Carson voting in favor.
While in need of some major improvements, the ACES bill (HR 2454), if it succeeds in the Senate, would jump-start the transformation of America`s energy economy toward one that is renewable, efficient, clean, and competitive and at last begin to address the transcendent environmental challenge of the 21st century - global warming. Read HEC`s comprehensive analysis of this bill in this report. For an executive summary, click here.
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| Hoosier Summers Heat Up; Reports on Climate Change in Indiana |
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 Increased flooding, warmer winters and summer heat waves will soon become the norm in Indiana, according to a report in the Indianapolis Star. The article, which draws facts from a multi-agency federal report, and a recently released analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists, draws attention to the need for action on the state and federal level. This story could not be more timely, as a vote will occur Friday, June 26th in the U.S. House on the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). HEC hopes you will take the time to contact your U.S. Representative, with these new facts in hand, and let them know the importance of curbing climate change now! See the article below for more details on ACES and how to contact your federal legislator. |
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| Senator Bayh Votes for a Seriously Weakened Energy Package |
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 On Wednesday June 17th, the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee passed an energy package that contains a number of major flaws, including a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) so weak that it would not deliver any new renewable energy generating capacity over what the market will deliver on its own.
Though Indiana`s Sen. Bayh voted in the end to pass the bill out of committee, he originally voted to delete the RES provision in its entirety and played a central role in passing amendments that honed its impact. These amendments include:
- exempting new nuclear power and "clean coal" from the RES baseline - effectively lowering the amount of renewable energy that the standard requires.
- an amendment from Sen. Bayh that allows for proceeds from the Alternative Compliance Payment (ACP) to be recycled back to states where they could be used to subsidize non-renewable energy projects, including nuclear and "clean coal."
The Senate has yet to follow up with a cap-and-trade bill for reducing greenhouse gases, comparable to the one the House Energy Committee passed last month as part of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES). HEC would like to commend Rep. Baron Hill for voting to move this comprehensive energy and climate legislation out of committee. Unfortunately, like the Senate package, ACES has been seriously weakened from its original form by compromises.
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| Read HEC`s Take on this Year`s Session in Our Indiana Legislative Review |
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| The 2009 session of the Indiana General Assembly had many surprises and some disappointments. With the special budget session beginning June 11th,
opportunities for improved funding of natural spaces and public transit still remain a possibility. Stay tuned for updates on the special session and learn more about HEC`s views on the 2009 session of the Indiana General Assembly here.
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Read HEC`s Concerns on Permit for Southern IN Biomass Plant
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 While biomass energy has the potential to be good for the green economy, concerns are being raised about the impacts a Southern IN biomass plant may have on the precious remaining forests and natural places of Indiana. Read more about HEC`s concerns in this Evansville Courier & Press article. |
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