Thanks for posting this, Bill. Very cool. I hadn't seen it.

Thanks, Bill. Madeleine will be missed but her legacy will live on with this task force. If you decide you'd like a landscape architect to serve, give me a holler at the office.

Now that Knoxville has a plan, let's see about the national climate discussion in Congress.
American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009
It has the votes in the house, but is roughly 15 shy as is in the Senate. They will eventually pass something, but the final bill will have major effects that will be good or bad depending on whether or not they get it right. If Congress doesn't put a price on carbon the task will be assigned to the EPA which recently complied with a 2007 court order classifying carbon as a hazardous emission.
discussion draft
watch here

Hearing Schedule, 4/21-4/24

"It will be an exhaustive set of hearings," Ed Markey (D-MA) said on Friday.
* Tuesday, April 21 - 3:00pm
o Opening statements for all members
* Wednesday, April 22 - 9:30am
o 1st Panel - Administration - Secretaries Chu and LaHood, Administrator Jackson
o 2nd Panel - USCAP Panel - don't know how many organizations will testify
o 3rd Panel - Achievability/Economic Benefits - Union of Concerned Scientists, EPA
* Thursday, April 23 - 9:30 am
o 1st Panel - Electricity/Utility Issues (allocation policies) - EEI, APPA, NRECA, AGA, NARUC, Center for Budget & Policy Priorities
o 2nd Panel - International Competitiveness - trade-exposed companies, border provisions, international engagement
o 3rd Panel - Low Carbon Electricity - CCS, Renewables
* Friday, April 24 - 9:30 am
o 1st Panel - Possibly a high profile witness (Stern, Gore, Hollywood?) or an undetermined panel
o 2nd Panel - Energy efficiency - transportation, buildings, appliances, utilities
o 3rd Panel - Other topics - Carbon markets, state roles, interaction w/ Clean Air Act, adaptation

Well read this and it is great to see the Knoxville Mayor join the Al Gore crowd. You won't see Zach Wamp talking about carbon. Clear choices for Tennessee, vision from Zach Wamp and liberal policies and gas gouging from the Knoxville Mayor.

Gee, live long enough and you'll see everything. In this case I actually agree with Hornback;

I was going to say the same thing. However, I was already wondering too about how odd the report does look to the mayor. Aside from his family and his party, hasn't he has personally invested heavily in virtually the same politics as Hornback's, through his support to Duhbya, Palin, Thompson, et. al., if nothing else? Does the mayor really believe all that IPCC, anthropogenic warming, CO2 is a pollutant stuff? I truly find it hard to reconcile the good mayor with his publicly known politics. I'm not asking Dr. Lyons or anyone else for an answer to this conundrum. It is just what I find so puzzling and, yes, disturbing about the mayor.

As for the report, mega kudos to Bill and his team (and even the mayor!). I've just skimmed it so far, but it looks excellent. I've never met Madeleine Weil, so I hope she'll not be sorely missed in terms of continuing the policies of the E & S Task Force. Sorry to hear she's left, though.