Richard Moody is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media U.S. Rep. John Faso introduced legislation February 15, that would establish an incentive program for businesses to move the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels and identify new ways to combat climate change. The bill would direct the Secretary of Energy to establish Climate Solutions Challenges, a program to organize prize competitions on five topics, including carbon capture, energy efficiency, energy storage, climate resiliency and data analytics to better understand climate and weather, or to better inform the public about those topics. “Rep. Faso opposes defunding climate change research,” said Faso spokesman Joe Gierut. “He opposed an effort in the House to remove the Department of Defense’s responsibility to examine impacts of climate change on military assets.” Announced as a bipartisan effort, the Kinderhook Republican is working with Illinois Democrat Rep. Daniel Lipinski on the legislation. Asked if Faso's bill goes far enough to shift the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels, Karen Frishkoff, a member of the Citizens Climate Lobby’s Columbia County chapter, said, “The bill is something. I don’t think it will do enough to move the economy from fossil fuels to renewables....You need to change how people spend their money.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.