The expiration clock continues to tick on a federal solar grant that many clean energy advocates credit with jump-starting the solar and wind energy economy in the United States. And with few options left, supporters of the federal program have descended upon Capitol Hill in a final effort to convince a lame duck congress to extend the program.

As the mid-term election approaches, the race in Arizona for the state’s 8th Congressional District seat is proving to be a microcosm of how pivotal a role clean energy will play in shaping the nation’s political landscape.

On Monday, the Colorado-based Advanced Energy Industries announced that one of its companies, PV Powered, has been contracted to carry out development work for stage three of the Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) project.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell kicked off September by unveiling a new, $20.5 million, 40-project energy plan for his state, with the aim of creating jobs, increasing clean energy use and cutting back on overall energy use throughout Pennsylvania.

In an effort to further strengthen his state’s, “New Energy Economy,” Colorado Governor Bill Ritter has recently announced $2.2 million in New Energy Economic Development (NEED) grants for 23 state communities, school districts and nonprofits.

The plan is called the Renewable Auction Mechanism (RAM). It would would work much in the same way a Feed-in Tariff (FiT) system works, with the difference being that rates of the tariff would be set by an open bidding process. This would help in two ways: It would drive down high consumer rates and bring in returns for solar developers that are still within reason.

On Tuesday, Gov. Quinn signed two bills into law that could infuse Illinois’ solar energy industry.

Construction of the site is set to begin in 2011 and bring thousands of long and short term jobs to the state with the highest rate of unemployment – 14 percent according toCSMonitor.com – and home foreclosures – one in every 79 homes according to fox5vegas.

VA’s intial announcment in November only included solar installations at facilities in Texas, California, Nevada and Arizona that would amount to 1.7 megawatts (mw) of solar energy. Last week, VA unleashed a broader plan that included installations at 18 medical centers in eight states and American Samoa that together would total 3,020 kilowatts (kW) of solar energy.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer set a serious and ambitious tone at a pre-conference press briefing for the Copenhagen climate negotiations. The talks have the potential to directly impact renewable energy industries by producing a carbon-conscious world. To follow what’s going on and engage in conversation, check out the YouTube Channel and the iPhone app.