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>>Senate Starts Debate on Broad Energy Bill
Source: reuters.com / Valerie Volcovici
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday began debate on the country's first major energy bill in over eight years, featuring measures aimed at protecting the electric power grid against cyber attacks and speeding exports of liquefied natural gas. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican chair of the Senate energy committee and Washington Senator Maria Cantwell, its ranking Democrat, urged lawmakers not to thwart passage of the bipartisan bill, which cleared their panel in an 18-4 vote.
>>New York State Launches $5 Billion Clean Energy Fund
The State of New York on January 21 announced the New York State Public Service Commission's approval of a 10-year, $5 billion Clean Energy Fund to accelerate the growth of New York's clean energy economy and address climate change. It is designed to advance solar energy, wind energy, energy efficiency, and other clean tech industries.The Clean Energy Fund, to be administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, is projected to result in more than $39 billion in customer bill savings over the next 10 years through innovative projects and private-public partnerships focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, making energy more affordable through energy efficiency and renewable energy, and mobilizing private-sector capital. As part of the Clean Energy Fund action, $150 million is allocated for the development of new large-scale renewable power projects in 2016. See the New York governor's news release.
>>Amendment to Energy Bill, the SAVE Act, Needs Your Support
Right now the Senate is debating passage of a comprehensive energy bill. One piece that was left out of the proposed bill -- but is being introduced as an amendment -- is the SAVE Act. The SAVE Act would do more to account for the value of energy efficiency in the home purchasing/mortgage process. Here's a one-pager about the SAVE Act, from last year.
>>SPF Foam Installer Training with ABAA -- Register by Feb. 8
Source: airbarrier.org
ABAA will be hosting an SPF Installer Training course in East Windsor, N.J, Feb. 23-25, 2016. This course is designed for the experienced SPF installer to learn how
to install SPF as a complete air barrier system in commercial buildings. This
course includes instruction on everything from selecting proper materials,
substrate preparation, application technology, troubleshooting and hands-on
training. The deadline to register for this course is Monday, Feb. 8 at noon CDT. The classroom will be at Coastol Insulation Corp.
>>8 Energy-Saving Solutions on the Horizon
Source: energy.gov
Thanks to breakthroughs by our National Labs, industry and academia,
equipment we use in our homes is more energy efficient than ever before, saving
consumers money and slashing carbon pollution. Let’s take a look at a few
technologies we can expect to see in the marketplace within the next few years
that will make our homes even more sustainable.
>>Congress Passes $1.8 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill and $680 Billion Tax Extenders Package
Source: Craig Brightup
On December 18, 2015, Congress passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus
spending bill and $680 billion tax extenders package that the President signed
into law. The "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016" funds the federal
government through September 2016 and the "Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes
Act of 2015" (PATH Act) extends over 50 tax breaks for businesses and
individuals. Full coverage of this news will be included in the next issue of SPRAYFOAM Professional.