OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Clinton to roll out green-energy plan

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TheHill:

On Tap Friday: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will use the big United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil as the platform to announce a new mechanism for financing green energy in Africa.

“The announcement will be made in conjunction with Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). The mechanism plans to align different types of U.S. financial support to catalyze higher levels of private sector investment in clean energy projects, primarily in Africa,” an advisory states.

 

House-Senate efforts to strike a deal on a sweeping surface transportation bill picked up speed Thursday after appearing near collapse in recent days.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Republicans will keep pushing for language that would ensure federal approval of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, a provision Senate Democrats and the White House are resisting.

Republicans are also pushing for provisions that would prevent stringent federal regulation of a waste product from coal-fired power plants called coal ash.

Check out The Hill’s Transportation Report blog for the latest.

Energy Department looks to get ‘Beyond Solyndra’

The Energy Department (DOE) is trying to burnish the image of the much-maligned loan guarantee program that backed the failed solar company Solyndra.

DOE unveiled a presentation called “Beyond Solyndra: How the Energy Department’s Loans are Accelerating America’s Transition to a Clean Energy Future.”

The presentation, which is being circulated on Capitol Hill, makes the case that the overall loan portfolio is a success and playing an important role creating jobs and helping to boost green-power generation.

Solyndra was a manufacturing company that went bust, taking a half-billion in taxpayer dollars along with it, but the presentation notes that a big part of the portfolio — 20 projects — is for electricity generation.

The projects together are expected to create enough electricity to power more than 2.5 million homes, according to DOE.