Click here for "Green" Miles Grant's live blog of the White House Clean Energy Economy Forum "from the auditorium of Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, VA." Here are some highlights:8:58am - Buzz in the room among Arlington politicos: Lots of momentum towards a climate deal at the UN talks in Copenhagen, Denmark that begin this week; White House beginning its pivot from (economically vital) health insurance reform to a more explicit message of jobs & the economy; and adding some pressure on Virginia Senators Mark Warner & Jim Webb to support strong clean energy & climate legislation.
9:15am - Gov. Kaine says until July 1 in Virginia, if a utility invested in efficiency, they were guaranteed a rate of return for new production, but not for new efficiency investments. In other words, they were guaranteed profit for increasing Virginia's energy usage, but not for cutting it. That law has now changed, and Kaine says utilities had a series of filings ready to go on July 1. Kaine says "We've not been leaders" on efficiency, in Virginia or perhaps even in the US, but "there's no doubt someone's going to be a leader" -- let's make sure that's us.
9:31am - Asst. Sec. Zoi says 9,000 homes in Virginia will see their energy bills go down thanks to weatherization investments that were part of 2009's economic recovery package. SprintNextel based in Reston is investing in fuel cells. Virginia Tech is researching smart grid technology, particularly the impacts of solar power.
9:38am - Rep. Connolly is particularly excited about the transit investments & incentives in the economic recovery and clean energy bills. Says the mechanism of cap & trade has been a proven method to address our acid rain & ozone problems.
9:43am - [Former] Sen. [John] Warner is enjoying the rhetorical freedom of retirement. Points to Salazar and says "They need you in that Senate. We're gonna ship you back!" Points to Kaine and says he should take a great sense of pride in his accomplishments as Virginia governor. Points to students and says younger generation needs to lean on Obama to come home from Copenhagen with a strong climate deal.
10:05am - Rep. Connolly says Northern Virginia has a sister city relationship with Stuttgart, Germany, laments that Germany is way ahead of America on clean energy.
10:23am - Question about offshore wind in Virginia competing with other federal agency concerns. Salazar says he's having "an ongoing dialogue" with Defense Sec. Gates. Trying to break through "regulatory logjam." Salazar expects "major movement forward ... especially here in the Atlantic."
10:25am - Rep. Connolly slams federal agencies for tying state & local officials' hands on managing sprawl & developing public transportation. "We have to change how transit is funded here in the United States."
