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GOP Senators Say Wind Tax Credit Is Safe in Their Tax Overhaul
Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee said they oppose a move by their colleagues in the House of Representatives to scale back the wind production tax credit. “We think that issue has been dealt with,” South Dakota Senator John Thune, the Senate’s No. 3 ranking Republican, said in an interview. “There may be folks who would like to follow the House approach, but I don’t think that’s what we are going to able to do over here.” [ read more … ]
House Moves Ahead With Tax Bill as Pushback Mounts
“What we are incurring is immense debt at immense cost to the American people just to benefit a handful of people at the top and some multinational corporations that don’t believe in paying their taxes,” said Representative Lloyd Doggett, Democrat of Texas. But the Democratic amendments went nowhere. [ read more … ]
Groups push for energy incentives in upcoming Senate bill, House continues markup today
During a broad denunciation of the legislation, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) estimated the changes to PTC and ITC renewables threaten $50 billion in investments, as he ticked off projects in the home states of Midwest Republicans on the panel. “Why would we put at risk a billion and a half in South Dakota? Why would we put at risk almost $11 billion in Texas? Why would we put at risk almost a billion and a half in Kansas?” he asked. “Fifty thousand jobs are at risk because people took Congress at its word.” [ read more … ]
U.S. Governors Head to Germany to Reassure Global Leaders of American Leadership on Climate Change
Governors from the bipartisan U.S. Climate Alliance are travelling to Bonn, Germany this week for a meeting of the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to discuss their states’ continued commitment to global climate action. Alliance co-chairs California Gov. Jerry Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and members Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe will convene a panel to discuss U.S. state-driven climate leadership, on Monday, November 13. This is the largest delegation of U.S. Governors ever to participate in an official UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting. [ read more … ]
Wind and Solar Power Advance, but Carbon Refuses to Retreat
Leaving aside President Trump’s past declarations that climate change is a hoax, there are heartening signs that the strategy may work: Global carbon-dioxide emissions have stopped rising. Coal use in China may have peaked. The price of wind turbines and solar panels is plummeting, putting renewable energy within the reach of meager budgets in the developing world. [ read more … ]
China’s Technology Ambitions Could Upset the Global Trade Order
Under an ambitious plan unveiled two years ago called Made in China 2025, Beijing has designs to dominate cutting-edge technologies like advanced microchips, artificial intelligence and electric cars, among many others, in a decade. And China is enlisting some of the world’s biggest technology players in its push. [ read more … ]
New Path Eyed for High-Voltage Transmission Lines in Idaho
Federal officials have released their latest analysis on proposed routes for two high-voltage transmission lines in southwestern Idaho intended to modernize the Pacific Northwest’s energy grid. The 183-page draft environmental assessment released by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management late last week covers two segments of the Gateway West project proposed by Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power. [ read more … ]
Iowa’s North English Wind Project sold
Tradewind Energy- one of the largest independent wind and solar project development companies in the U.S. – announced the sale of the Iowa-based North English Wind Project to MidAmerican Energy Company. The North English Wind Project is located in Poweshiek County, Iowa. Construction has begun and will be comprised of up to170 Vestas 2.0 MW wind turbines, built on 36,000 acres of participating properties, and will interconnect to the existing Montezuma 345 kV substation. Once fully constructed, the project is expected to have a capacity of up to 340 megawatts (MW) of wind energ [ read more … ]
Why Is America Wasting So Much Energy?
Partisan fights in Washington can leave the impression that we’re hopelessly divided. The truth is there are plenty of bipartisan solutions to the energy and environmental challenges we face, and energy efficiency is near the top of the list. America fails to capture some two-thirds of the power it generates, much of it through simple waste, according to federal data. In a recent survey, the United States was ranked eighth among 23 of the world’s top energy-consuming countries in efficiency, behind several European nations, China and Japan. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.