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Trump’s Plan for Coal Emissions: Let Coal States Regulate Them
The Trump administration this week plans to formally propose a vast overhaul of climate change regulations that would allow individual states to decide how, or even whether, to curb carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants, according to a summary of the plan and details provided by three people who have seen the full proposal. The plan would also relax pollution rules for power plants that need upgrades. That, combined with allowing states to set their own rules, creates a serious risk that emissions, which had been falling, could start to rise again, according to environmentalists. [ read more … ]
Commissioners ‘in the dark’ about chief of staff remarks — Glick
More than a week after controversial comments by Chief of Staff Anthony Pugliese, members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are unaware of exactly what, if anything, the agency is doing to assist the Trump administration in identifying specific power plants deemed critical to the grid and possibly worthy of financial support. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
New York studies European offshore wind industry to inform development plans
New York has set aggressive plans for developing its nascent offshore wind industry, targeting 2,400 MW of capacity by 2030, and announced last week it will be studying European offshore wind transmission models in an effort to benefit from advances made on the other side of the Atlantic. While the United States has several offshore projects in development, only one is currently operating. But the pace is expected to accelerate both domestically and abroad — analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance expect offshore wind resources to grow 600% globally by 2030. [ read more … ]
Modernizing renewables mandates is no longer about the megawatts
RPSs were conceived as a means to drive the market for renewables to achieve policy goals like reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and increasing power system reliability through resource diversity. As the supply of renewables has expanded, states like Massachusetts and Arizona are experimenting with new policies to achieve the same goals in new ways. Ideas like Massachusetts’ Clean Energy Standard (CES) and Arizona’s Clean Peak Standard (CPS) are gaining momentum as policymakers come to understand the need for ways to evolve the RPS concept. [ read more … ]
She’s fighting Trump on climate change — and bringing cookies
“I wish I could tell you I had a road map to success here. I don’t know how it’s going to play out. I hope we will be able to get our federal counterparts to sit down at the technical level, as well as the industry, and come up with an alternative to the [notice of proposed rulemaking] that the feds released in August.” [ read more … ]
As Trump Dismantles Clean Air Rules, an Industry Lawyer Delivers for Ex-Clients
On Tuesday, President Trump is expected to propose a vast rollback of regulations on emissions from coal plants, including many owned by members of a coal-burning trade association that had retained Mr. Wehrum and his firm as recently as last year to push for the changes. The proposal strikes at the heart of climate-change regulations adopted by the Obama administration to force change among polluting industries, and follows the relaxation of separate rules governing when power plants must upgrade air pollution equipment. Mr. Wehrum, who has led the E.P.A.’s clean air office since November, also helped deliver the changes in several of those rules. [ read more … ]
Jane Goodall, Alec Baldwin to headline Calif. summit
Actor Alec Baldwin and former Vice President Al Gore will headline a star-studded roster at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco next month. The first wave of speakers and delegates features other big names, from former Secretary of State John Kerry to famed primatologist Jane Goodall. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.