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E.P.A. Chief Doubts Consensus View of Climate Change
Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Thursday that carbon dioxide was not a primary contributor to global warming, a statement at odds with the established scientific consensus on climate change. Asked his views on the role of carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping gas produced by burning fossil fuels, in increasing global warming, Mr. Pruitt said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that “I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so, no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.” [ read more … ]
Cars Seen Missing U.S. Mileage Targets for First Time Since 2004
Cars and light trucks from the 2016 model year will be the first to fall short of U.S. fuel economy targets in more than a decade, according to a new projection released by regulators that will feed a debate over efficiency standards between automakers and environmental groups. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration forecasts that the 2016 models will average 32.1 miles per gallon, below the target of 32.8. The agency forecasts another shortfall in model year 2017 of 31.8 miles per gallon compared to a projected target of 33. [ read more … ]
White House Pushes for Deep Cuts to Clean Energy Office
The White House is seeking to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the budget of an Energy Department division that has funded technological research in projects ranging from the LED light bulb to plug-in electric trucks, according to people familiar with the plans. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, currently funded at $2.1 billion a year, would see its allocation slashed by at least $700 million under a proposal from the Office of Management and Budget, according to three people briefed on the plans who asked not to be identified discussing the internal deliberations. [ read more … ]
Here are 5 Texas-sized ideas for Energy Secretary Rick Perry
A major infrastructure need relates to long-distance electricity transmission lines. As governor, Secretary Perry oversaw the nation’s single most successful transmission development program. In just five years, Texas built more than 3,500 miles and $7 billion of transmission lines to move wind energy from rural west Texas to Dallas and Houston — helping Texas become the nation’s wind power leader. Secretary Perry has authority to unstick some of the siting and financing problems bedeviling many other U.S. long distance transmission lines. The DOE’s Power Marketing Administrations, like the Bonneville Power Administrationand Western Area Power Administration, own tens of thousands of miles of transmission lines and have financing and eminent domain authority to build new lines and upgrade existing ones. Last year, for example, Energy Secretary Moniz used DOE authority to advance a major transmission line from wind-rich Oklahoma to the southeast. Secretary Perry should consider the same for other stalled projects. [ read more … ]
Column: Our future depends on wind farms
But I won’t sugarcoat things, it’s a hard way to earn a living. Margins are thin, and we’re beholden to things far beyond our control, like changing commodity prices or poor weather. So when I had the chance to lease some of my land for a wind farm, I jumped at the opportunity. This means we won’t have to worry about being able to pass the ranch to the next generation. The lease payments we get will ensure our lifestyle. Unfortunately, our lawmakers are considering a bill that puts all of this at risk. They’re proposing setbacks that would make building future wind farms much more difficult. [ read more … ]
Tesla’s Elon Musk offers to solve power crisis in South Australia
Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk on Friday offered to save Australia’s most renewable-energy dependent state from blackouts by installing 100 megawatt hours worth of battery storage, valued at $25 million, within 100 days of signing a contract. The offer follows a string of power outages in the state of South Australia, including a blackout that left industry crippled for up to two weeks and stoked fears of more outages across the national electricity market due to tight supplies. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.