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COAL: States sue Trump admin for ending lease moratorium
Four states sued the Trump administration today for lifting an Obama-era moratorium on federal coal leasing. California, New York, New Mexico and Washington filed suit this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. They are challenging Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s decision to scuttle a broad Obama-era review of the coal leasing program. [ read more … ]
Trump taps McConnell aide, Pa. regulator to serve at FERC
President Trump announced his intent to nominate a top adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and a Pennsylvania regulator to be members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Neil Chatterjee, a longtime energy aide to McConnell, and Robert Powelson, a Pennsylvania regulator who is serving this year as president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, will need approval from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee before moving to the full chamber. [ read more … ]
No Paris decision until after G-7 — Spicer
President Trump will delay a decision on whether to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement until after the Group of Seven summit in late May, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said yesterday. Members of the Cabinet and top presidential advisers were set to meet on the issue today but postponed the deliberation, Spicer confirmed. [ read more … ]
Greens worry grid study could threaten wind PTC
Clean energy advocates are worried a fast-tracked Department of Energy study on subsidies and grid reliability could be used to attack critical tax incentives for wind and solar producers. Lukas Ross, climate and energy campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said a study Energy Secretary Rick Perry ordered last month that was revealed through media reports could lay the policy groundwork for Republicans to undo the wind production tax credit (PTC) or other incentives in a larger tax reform package. [ read more … ]
Clean energy critic to staff: ‘I like renewables’
“I like renewables & efficiency,” Simmons wrote. “I know that’s contrary to some of the things that have been written about me, but it’s true.” The blog item — “4 Questions With New Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Simmons” — appears to have been drawn from a Thursday interview and posted yesterday. Simmons said his journey to EERE had reinforced how quickly the industry is evolving, pointing out that people a decade ago thought the United States had reached “peak oil” and would soon be importing natural gas — predictions that were wrong.
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Editorial: The huge wind boom in Kansas
In 2011, wind power accounted for 8 percent of the electricity generated in Kansas. By last year, that proportion increased to almost 30 percent. Kansas is the fifth-largest producer of wind energy in the country, and its capacity will increase through 2017. According to a report issued by the American Wind Energy Association, Kansas ranked second in the U.S. in first-quarter wind installations this year — the 200-megawatt Cimarron Bend II and 280-megawatt Western Plains wind farms brought the state’s total capacity to 4,931 megawatts. [ read more … ]
US Energy Dept. To Trump: Lalalalala We Can’t Hear You, Wind Power Rocks!
Energy Secretary Rick Perry has been steadily undercutting the Trump Administration’s pro-coal messaging with a flood of press releases, tweets and articles touting clean tech and renewables. The good news is so relentless it’s almost like he’s laughing and pointing over at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. You won’t find much on the Energy Department’s main News & Blog page, but the agency’s social media, offices and labs are firing on all pistons. In the latest development, the agency’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory is out with a new report on the economic benefits of offshore wind development. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.