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Trump Urges ‘Energy Dominance’ as He Promotes Exports, Jobs
The Trump administration said Thursday it is taking steps to expand oil drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans as President Donald Trump continues to push for U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. The Interior Department is rewriting a five-year drilling plan established by the Obama administration, with an eye toward opening areas in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans that now are off-limits to drilling. It’s one of six initiatives that the president unveiled Thursday in hopes of generating more energy exports and jobs. [ read more … ]
‘We will be dominant,’ Trump tells DOE gathering
President Trump outlined a multipronged effort today to boost nuclear power, export more gas and coal, and expand oil and gas drilling offshore and on public lands. Speaking to a packed room in the Department of Energy’s Washington headquarters, Trump blasted notions of the need for regulations as “fake” and said his new policies would usher in “millions and millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in wealth” that had been hamstrung by “massive” regulatory overreach during the Obama administration. [ read more … ]
Voters disapprove of Trump’s enviro policies — poll
Voters are not pleased with the Trump administration’s environmental stances, according to a new nationwide poll from the League of Conservation Voters. Fifty percent of voters had an unfavorable opinion of what they have heard about President Trump’s environmental polices. Twenty-seven percent approved. Fifty-six percent of people surveyed disapproved of Trump’s decision to exit the Paris climate agreement, compared to 34 percent in favor. Independents opposed the move 59 to 24 percent.
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Coal, nuclear vie for supremacy in key Energy Department study
The report, launched in April by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, is aimed at identifying government regulations and policies that the agency says improperly favor renewable energy over traditional fuels like coal and nuclear. The study, which is expected to come out next month, could provide a firmer policy basis for President Trump’s campaign positions on energy policy.Trump has so far issued executive orders aimed at promoting fossil fuels, but debates over energy policy are destined to be components of bigger fights such as tax reform or infrastructure.
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Trump taps Democratic Senate aide for FERC seat
President Trump announced last night that he plans to nominate Democratic Senate aide Richard Glick to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Glick, currently the minority general counsel for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has also worked for the Department of Energy and in the private sector, including as a lobbyist for the wind industry. [ read more … ]
Trump not out against wind energy, Grassley says
Sen. Chuck Grassley, who once said Donald Trump would end a tax incentive for wind energy production “over my dead body,” doesn’t think the president has a “case out against wind.” That hasn’t stopped the Iowa Republican from reminding the White House that he’s the author of the wind energy production tax credit legislation and should be consulted when the president is developing energy policy. Grassley made his comment Wednesday, the same day Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds met with the president at a White House energy roundtable. Earlier this week, Reynolds declined to criticize Trump for comments he made during a June 21 Cedar Rapids rally about wind energy lacking reliability. [ read more … ]
Wind Industry Tacks as Trump Shifts the Political Climate
Three days after Energy Secretary Rick Perry directed his staff to find ways to give a boost to coal and nuclear power, the rival wind industry kicked its lobbying response into action. The American Wind Energy Association would tap allies in Congress willing to weigh in with Perry and buy advertisements on “news channels closely followed by the Trump administration,” according to a memo its leader sent to board members. During the Obama administration it had touted its role in addressing climate change, but now it would emphasize an economic message, something sure to resonate with President Donald Trump. [ read more … ]
Utility Proceeds With Big Wind Investment in Top Coal State
President Donald Trump’s efforts to roll back coal and climate-change regulations aren’t discouraging a utility from making a $3.5 billion investment in wind energy, the bulk of which will build dozens of new wind turbines in the top coal-producing state. Rocky Mountain Power is ready to present its detailed wind plan to regulators in Wyoming, Utah and Idaho, utility officials announced Thursday.
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Solar energy revolution hits barrier: Air pollution
Solar energy is running into a pesky problem: air pollution worldwide. Researchers from Duke University found that air pollution — specifically airborne particles, which accumulate on solar cells — is cutting solar energy output by more than 25 percent in certain areas of the world, causing billions of dollars of losses. The research was published this week in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters. [ read more … ]
What makes people dislike wind? It’s not NIMBY
The “not in my backyard” barrier to wind development has been overstated, and other factors play much more of a role in whether communities support the resource, according to a report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The report surveys three decades of research on the factors driving pockets of opposition to wind farms and influencing community “acceptance.” In general, 70 to 90 percent of Americans have favorable views of wind power, but local conflicts can develop, researchers said. [ read more … ]
With wind farm moratorium, renewable energy deal in doubt
The future of legislation agreed upon by renewable energy interests and Duke Energy to extend the utility’s requirements to use more alternative power in North Carolina is in doubt as a key senator repeats his attempts to delay wind energy permits through 2020. The bill to change how the nation’s largest electric utility purchases electricity through solar, biomass and other options cleared the House earlier this month by a wide margin. Bill managers had warned against making significant changes that could scuttle the agreement, reached after months of negotiations.
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