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Trump eyes climate skeptic for key White House environmental post
President Donald Trump may tap a vocal critic of climate change science to serve as the highest-ranking environmental official in the White House. Kathleen Hartnett White, who says carbon emissions are harmless and should not be regulated, is a top contender to run the Council on Environmental Quality, the White House’s in-house environmental policy shop, sources close to the administration told POLITICO. [ read more … ]
Solar hits big, brief milestone in California
For three hours on March 11, solar power met roughly half of all electricity demand across a big swath of California, according to a new estimate from the federal government. Even for a state used to setting renewable power records, it was a milestone. And while temporary, it will doubtless happen again as the state advances toward its goal of getting half of all its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. [ read more … ]
America’s Wind Energy Boom May Finally Be Coming to the Southeast
It has been a long, uphill battle for wind energy proponents in states like North Carolina. Across the country, wind energy is growing rapidly, surpassing hydropower dams as the largest source of renewable energy in the country. By the end of 2016, the wind industry supported more than 100,000 jobs. But the Southeast has almost completely been left out of that boom. State lawmakers and utility companies have been reluctant to break from fossil fuels, technological advancements have been slow, and the geography of the region is not entirely conducive to large-scale wind. [ read more … ]
Apple Says Three More Suppliers to Use Solely Renewable Power
Another three Apple Inc. suppliers committed to using solely renewable energy to manufacture components for the iPhone maker. Compal Electronics Inc., Sunwoda Electronic Co. and Biel Crystal Manufactory Ltd. have made the pledge, bringing the total number of Apple suppliers seeking to use just renewable power to seven, executive Lisa Jackson said in an interview. Apple itself now gets 96 percent of its energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar, according to Jackson, Apple’s vice president in charge of sustainability and government affairs. [ read more … ]
IRS Boosts Wind PTC To Adjust For Inflation
On April 11, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced an inflation adjustment increase in the production tax credit (PTC) for power sold in 2017 that is generated by wind, closed-loop biomass and geothermal projects to 2.4 cents/kWh from the prior 2.3 cents/kWh. The inflation adjustment announcement is being published in the Federal Register. [ read more … ]
Unlikely Riches Found in the Dirt-Poor Badlands of North Brazil
Wind is as good as gold to Mario Araripe, a Brazilian tycoon who built his empire by tapping the same gusts that brought Portuguese sailors to South America five centuries ago. Harvesting those breezes, he created an estate that includes about 170,000 hectares of land in Brazil’s northeast and Casa dos Ventos, the wind-energy giant that’s developed almost a third of Brazil’s current and planned capacity. His company’s share of that capacity, plus the revenue from a 2.3 billion reais ($767 million) sale of wind assets to Cubico Sustainable Investments Ltd. last year, have helped Araripe grow a personal fortune that the Bloomberg Billionaires Index values at $1.3 billion. [ read more … ]
Germany Approves 1st Subsidy-Free Bid for Offshore Wind Park
German authorities have approved the first bid to construct an offshore wind park without feed-in subsidies, indicating the growing competitiveness of renewable energy. The agency that oversees access to Germany’s electricity grid says the bid was one of four to receive approval for projects in the North Sea with a total capacity of 1,490 megawatts. On average the bids sought a subsidy of about $0.0047 per kilowatt hour under a system designed to encourage power companies to feed renewable energy into the grid.
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Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.