WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With the results of the presidential and congressional elections resolved, now is the time to focus on how to move the country’s energy security forward with the same balance of power: Democratic control of the White House and Senate, without a supermajority, with a GOP majority in the House of Representatives. The much-lamented partisan gridlock which prevailed over the last two years could easily continue, but now is the time to look toward the future and remain optimistic on where room exists for compromise and forward momentum. Here are a few of the upcoming debates that Securing America's Future Energy expects to see in the coming weeks and months:

Leslie Glustrom, research director of Colorado-based Clean Energy Action, and an unwavering critic of utility reliance on coal for electricity generation, will be the featured speaker at RENEW Wisconsin's Energy Policy Summit.

Recipient: East Orange, City of

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman and Brunei Darussalam Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister's Office Pehin Dato Mohammad Yasmin Umar met upon the occasion of the visit of His Majesty Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei. They agreed that the United States and Brunei will create, and jointly chair, a new workstream of activities on renewable energy power generation to promote and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy technologies in the countries of the East Asia Summit. Projects proposed include the following:

Recipient: Executive Office of the Commonwealth of Kentucky

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A new report published by the anti-regulatory Mercatus Center, an advocacy group associated with the Koch brothers, took aim at appliance and vehicle efficiency standards. In the report, the authors argue that standards reduce consumer choice and are not justified because the environmental benefits are small and consumer benefits are non-existent.

CHICAGO, Illinois -- All of Chicago's mayoral candidates committed to improving Chicago's environment through their responses to the Green Growth Platform issued by the City's leading environmental and conservation groups.

This report summarizes the contributions of its Working Groups over the last year. It presents a high-level view of the current status of the commercial building sector, barriers and challenges, and recommendations for industry in each of the working group topics.

Recipient: Rio Rancho, City of

Recipient: Suffolk, County of

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Important tax credits for technologies which will help the nation transition away from a petroleum-dominated transportation sector were supported through year end in the Fiscal Cliff bill (H.R. 8. American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012):

The DOE's June 2010 technical report, Zero Energy Buildings: A Classification System Based on Renewable Supply Options

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Energy announced two new online tools to assist state and local policymakers, consumers, and stakeholders in evaluating siting and policy issues to help accelerate the use of distributed wind energy systems, such as wind turbines installed at a homes and businesses. DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy funded development of the "Distributed Wind Site Analysis Tool" and "Distributed Wind Policy Comparison Tool" through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants. The tools are designed to help more people across the country install wind turbines to produce clean, renewable energy.

SACRAMENTO - The California Energy Commission has awarded more than $3 million for three research projects on low-carbon, alternative fuels; climate change and energy generation; and "green" job training. Funds for the three projects come from the Commission's Public Interest Energy Research program.

BOSTON & GREENFIELD, Mass. -- Buildings are the number one source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – especially in cities. In Boston, they account for 74 percent of the city’s carbon footprint. What if we could reduce this number dramatically by building and renovating homes so that they produce more energy than they consume? A new effort now underway by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) is betting that we can.

Recipient: Fresno, City of

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) announced the first-ever awards initiative for exceptional state-led energy efficiency programs. A total of 18 top programs from 14 states are being recognized by ACEEE. In addition to five top programs, ACEEE also recognized ten program with Honorable Mentions, and three Emerging Programs. 

AMES, Iowa -- The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture has awarded grants for 15 innovative research and demonstration projects that will begin work in 2013.

AMES, Iowa -- The Leopold Center has awarded grants for 19 new projects that address the need to move toward agricultural sustainability and resilience on the Iowa landscape. The projects will fund a wide range of activities, from research on prairie strips to hold nutrients and biochar to improve soil quality, to year-round use of high tunnels for food production and development of resources for immigrant and minority populations who want to farm in Iowa.

WASHINGTON -- Even though the United States is awash in cheap natural gas, and flat global demand is depressing oil price futures, the picture for clean energy alternatives brightened considerably this year, according to a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance cited by Reuters.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For the ninth time in two years, Congress passed a stopgap extension of the transportation and infrastructure bill. The measure gives congress 90 days to reformulate the legislation and hopefully by the next deadline there will be an actual, multi-year, surface transportation bill which includes provisions to revitalize the nation’s infrastructure.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- What is driving the current surge in American petroleum production, how will it influence the nation’s energy landscape, what are the implications for our energy security, and what is the relationship between energy security and energy independence? Securing America's Future Energy released The New American Oil Boom, a policy report exploring both the benefits inherent in this production growth, as well as the threats posed by oil dependence to the nation’s long-term prosperity.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- News coverage of Hurricane Sandy has rightly focused on the human cost, infrastructural damage, and property losses. However, without discounting these considerations, it is important to take note of the continued vulnerabilities to our energy security made evident by this disaster.

Recipient: City of Delray Beach

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Individuals and firms on a daily basis take the cost of oil into consideration when deciding the optimum use of their vehicles. However, they do not necessarily take into account the additional costs to society, such as impaired flexibility in addressing national security threats overseas and consequent military expenditures, the negative trade balance, congestion related losses in time and productivity, and greenhouse gas emissions. These negative externalities are not factored in the price of gasoline, and therefore are not considered by individuals and firms in their cost/benefit decision processes. This leads individuals to consume higher levels of gasoline, and thus oil, than what is arguably desired by society as a whole.