BUTQ1JTD7A.DTL State releases new cap-and-trade alternatives analysis. California regulators have revised their analysis of alternatives to cap and trade in the wake of last month's court decision that found the groundwork for the nation's first economywide greenhouse gas trading system insufficient. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith's May 20 decision handed back the California Air Resources Board's cap-and-trade program, the cornerstone of its efforts to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Environmental justice groups had sued over the market-based model, which they alleged would increase air pollution in some spots by allowing companies to buy their way to compliance. Posted. BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2011/06/14/6/ FUELS Senate to vote on repealing ethanol tax credits. WASHINGTON -- With lawmakers desperately working to shave federal budget deficits, the Senate is debating a measure to eliminate ethanol tax credits that pay the oil industry $5 billion a year. The biggest defenders of the subsidies, however, include farm belt conservatives leading the charge for less government. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is forcing a vote on a measure Tuesday that would repeal the credits. Coburn says they are wasteful subsidies for an industry that no longer needs them. "The days of placing spending programs in the tax code and giving them holy status are over," Coburn said. "Ethanol is bad economic policy, bad energy policy and bad environmental policy." Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2011/06/14/1731338/senate-to-vote-on-repealing-ethanol.html GREEN ENERGY EPA chief Lisa Jackson says Sacramento is on the right track to attract clean tech. The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that the Sacramento region is on the right track in its effort to attract green jobs and clean tech industry. Making her first visit to the capital region, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said she was impressed by the commitment of local business and political leaders to developing Sacramento into a hub for the green economy. "There is another gold rush coming to Sacramento, and your commitment to an emerald community and green will make that happen," she said. Posted. http://www.modbee.com/2011/06/14/1731321/epa-chief-lisa-jackson-says-sacramento.html Google invests $280 million to spur home solar. NEW YORK -- Google is investing $280 million to help private homeowners put solar panels on their rooftops. It's Google's latest - and largest - investment in clean energy. The money will allow installer SolarCity to offer solar systems to homeowners for no money up front. In exchange, customers agree to pay a set price for the power produced by the panels. Google earns a return on its investment by charging SolarCity interest to use its money and reaping the benefits of federal and local renewable energy tax credits. Posted. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/14/google-invests-280-million-to-spur-home-solar/ http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jun/14/google-invests-280-million-to-spur-home-solar/ http://www.nctimes.com/news/science/article_272425a2-b4a7-5425-a4cf-04dd7903a481.html http://www.modbee.com/2011/06/14/1731547/google-invests-280-million-to.html http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_18269725?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_18269725 Wind power and water power collide in the Northwest. Reporting from Rufus, Ore.— The wide, green gorge where the majestic Columbia River begins its final push to the sea generates so many stiff breezes that windsurfers from around the world make their way to Hood River, not far from here, to ply their colorful sails atop the churning whitecaps. Lately though, electricity, not recreation, has become the big-ticket wind client in the Columbia Gorge. Wind turbines have sprung up all over the blustery hilltops in eastern Washington and Oregon, an area soon to become home to the largest wind farm in the world, developed for customers of Southern California Edison. Indeed, half the massive new wind p