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Latest Trump tariffs stoke energy fears
President Trump’s plan to slap sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum imports is drawing fire — and confusion — from strange bedfellows, including top Republicans, Koch-funded advocacy groups and the solar industry. The proposal to impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum is also stoking fears of a global trade fight. [ read more … ]
Russians stoked controversy over KXL, Dakota Access — report
Russian social media trolls associated with the same shadowy company recently indicted for attempts to tamper in U.S. elections made thousands of posts aimed at influencing American energy policy over the past two years, House Republicans said today. An investigation by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, which has been ongoing since last summer, found an estimated 9,097 posts or tweets from Russian accounts on energy between 2015 and 2017. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
GE Plans Wind Turbine Nearly Three Times as Tall as Statue of Liberty
General Electric Co. GE -0.64% said Thursday that it is planning to build what would be the world’s largest offshore wind turbine—a behemoth nearly three times as tall as the Statue of Liberty. The announcement launches the struggling conglomerate into competition with international turbine makers such as Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A/S and Germany’s Senvion SA, which are racing to make more powerful and economical wind farms that can be built without government subsidies. [ read more … ]
Hope for cap-and-trade bill fades as clock ticks
An effort by Oregon lawmakers to pass a cap-and-trade bill this year is faltering. The measure has been viewed as one of greens’ best opportunities nationally for passing significant legislation at the state level this year (Climatewire, Nov. 29, 2017). But in a sign of the challenges facing proponents, House supporters last week proposed an amendment that would postpone a vote on key details of the bill until 2019. [ read more … ]
West Coast states protest repeal, threaten lawsuits
Officials from California, Oregon and Washington lined up yesterday to urge U.S. EPA not to repeal the Clean Power Plan, even as they acknowledge that their efforts are likely futile. The third of four “listening sessions” across the United States being held by EPA to take public comment on its plan to repeal President Obama’s signature climate regulation served as a demonstration of the country’s political polarization on climate change. [ read more … ]
N.J. BPU: Here’s What We’ll Do To Implement Governor’s Offshore Wind Order
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) has approved an order that implements Gov. Phil Murphy’s recent executive order that calls for the full implementation of the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act (OWEDA) and moves the state toward a 1.1 GW offshore wind solicitation. In its order, the board directs staff to take a number of actions aimed at implementing the governor’s executive order. [ read more … ]
EU Sees Higher Climate Target Possible as Cost of Renewables Falls
The falling cost of wind and solar power puts higher renewable energy targets within reach, according to a European Commission study seen by Reuters, pressuring EU legislators to set more ambitious climate goals. Tough talks are now underway between EU nations and the European Parliament to set new targets for renewable energy’s share of the bloc’s overall energy use from 2021 to 2030. [ read more … ]
Microsoft to buy solar power in Singapore in first renewable deal in Asia
Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it will buy solar power from the Sunseap Group in Singapore, the technology company’s first renewable energy deal in Asia. Microsoft will purchase 100 percent of the electricity generated from Sunseap’s 60 megawatt-peak solar power project for 20 years for its Singapore data operations, the software company said in a statement. Sunseap’s project consists of an array of solar panels on hundreds of rooftops across the city-state.
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Wind Group Denies Involvement in Oklahoma Lawmaker Tracking
The Wind Coalition denies that it hired a Texas political consultant to follow an Oklahoma legislator. Court records show the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation found that political consultant George C. Shipley hired private investigators who placed a tracker on state Rep. Mark McBride’s vehicle. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.