View this email in a web browser.
Public Works Funding Falls as Infrastructure Deteriorates
It’s basically the opposite of a major government infrastructure program. Government spending on transportation and other public works is in decline as federal funding stagnates and state and local governments tighten their belts. Such spending equaled 1.4 percent of the nation’s economic output in the second quarter of 2017, the lowest level on record, according to Census Bureau data. [ read more … ]
National labs to cut more than 500 jobs
Two national labs are eliminating more than 500 staff positions as the Trump administration pushes for deep budget cuts at the Department of Energy. In an email to staff yesterday, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thomas Zacharia said the lab would reduce its workforce by 350 positions by the end of the year. The lab will open a voluntary separation program this month and could turn to layoffs if needed. Both labs said the overhaul was not related to President Trump’s proposed budget cuts for fiscal 2018, but the changes highlight what could happen if future funding reductions make it through Congress. Trump proposed an almost $1 billion cut to DOE’s Office of Science. [ read more … ]
FERC Quorum to be restored Monday
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission officially will be back to a voting quorum next week, after more than six months without enough commissioners to sign off on major decisions. New member Robert Powelson will be sworn in Monday, he told the Daily Local News, his hometown paper in Chester County, Pa. [ read more … ]
Climate Report Could Force Trump to Choose Between Science and His Base
A White House official said on Tuesday that it was still reviewing the draft document that was written by scientists, some of whom have said they fear Mr. Trump will seek to bury it or alter its contents before it is formally released. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said the administration would not comment on the report before its scheduled release this fall. [ read more … ]
Maine ranked 8th in growth of wind-power capacity in 2016, federal reports say
Maine ranked eighth nationwide in annual installed wind-power capacity for 2016, with 288 megawatts of utility-scale wind added last year, and 10th nationwide in the percentage of in-state generation of electricity from wind power, with nearly 14 percent, according to new U.S. Department of Energy reports. Maine is also home to the proposed 12-megawatt Aqua Ventus offshore wind project, the agency noted. The pilot floating wind farm, off Monhegan Island, has received funding from a program for demonstrating advanced technologies. [ read more … ]
Op-Ed: Wind Energy Is Proud to Be American
I was a kid in 1976 when America was celebrating its bicentennial. It was a really big deal. I remember seeing and hearing signs and symbols of American pride on everything. Red, white and blue was everywhere. I even had red, white and blue plaid bell-bottom pants! Today, America’s growing wind energy sector is becoming a source of that kind of national pride, and it should be. [ read more … ]
Solar eclipse on August 21 will affect photovoltaic generators across the country
On August 21, a solar eclipse will obscure the sunlight needed to generate electricity at approximately 1,900 utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the United States. However, relatively little solar PV capacity lies in the path of totality—where the sun will be completely obscured by the moon—and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) does not anticipate the eclipse will create reliability issues for the bulk power system. [ read more … ]
Operator of Big Montana Coal Plant Will Keep on Running It
The operator of one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the Western U.S. plans to keep running the 2,100-megawatt plant, a spokesman said Wednesday, in an abrupt reversal from its declaration last year that a new operator would be needed by mid-2018. The co-owners of the Colstrip Generating Station have decided Pennsylvania-based Talen Energy will keep running the southeastern Montana plant for the foreseeable future, said Talen spokesman Todd Martin. [ read more … ]
Germany’s long goodbye to coal despite Merkel’s green push
Burning coal for power looks set to remain the backbone of Germany’s energy supply for decades yet, an apparent contrast to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ambitions for Europe’s biggest economy to be a role model in tackling climate change. Merkel is avoiding the sensitive subject of phasing out coal, which could hit tens of thousands of jobs, in the campaign for the Sept. 24 election, in which she hopes to win a fourth term. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.