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FERC chairman expected to step down — sources
The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was conspicuously absent from an agency meeting today as speculation mounted that he may soon relinquish his post. Kevin McIntyre, a Trump appointee who has been struggling with health issues, did not attend the gathering at FERC’s Washington, D.C., headquarters this morning, nor did he vote on agenda items. He was previously absent from FERC’s September meeting due to medical issues, according to an agency source. [ read more … ]
All eyes on FERC
FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre started swinging the gavel at the agency less than a year ago, and now there’s serious talk that he’s giving it up. FERC is expected to announce that McIntyre will yield the chairmanship, but a couple of important plot points remain unclear even for people inside the building. [ read more … ]
U.S. greenhouse emissions fell in 2017 as coal plants shut
Greenhouse gases emissions from the largest U.S. industrial plants fell 2.7 percent in 2017, the Trump administration said, as coal plants shut and as that industry competes with cheap natural gas and solar and wind power that emit less pollution. The drop was steeper than in 2016 when emissions fell 2 percent, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
‘The future is bright,’ Zinke tells industry group
“I am bullish on wind,” said Zinke, who was standing in front of a backdrop of an offshore turbine and an American flag. “My job is to make sure the future of wind is developed. The future is bright.” He noted recent offshore wind proposals off the coasts of Massachusetts — 90,000 acres, he said — and California. He said he gets along well with Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown. “Some things are not Republican or Democrat. A lot of things are red, white and blue,” he said. [ read more … ]
Op-Ed: What Offshore Wind Could Do for Economy and Jobs in New Jersey
Sometimes success is about being in the right place at the right time. Eight years after the signing of one of the nation’s most robust laws to open the market to offshore-wind generation, New Jersey’s moment has arrived. [ read more … ]
Report: Renewable shift coming by 2035
The age of oil and gas will be knocked from its reign by renewables within the next 20 years, a new report from Wood Mackenzie found. The energy advisory firm’s report, which looked at the global energy transition, found that the tipping point will arrive by 2035. [ read more … ]
Skeptics named as finalists for EPA’s Science Advisory Board
Finalists for EPA’s Science Advisory Board include researchers who reject mainstream climate science and who have fought against environmental regulations for years. [ read more … ]
Trump administration pushes EPA’s science overhaul to 2020
It was one of former Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt’s biggest and most ballyhooed projects. Now the Trump administration just said it won’t get done until 2020. On Wednesday, the Trump administration indicated it won’t finalize for another year a proposed rule limiting what science that agency can use when it writes new anti-pollution rules. The proposal would allow the agency to only consult studies in which the underlying data is public when writing those rules. [ read more … ]
Cash or credit? One is better for the planet, study finds
Consumers can help save the environment by choosing card payments over cash, according to a study by the Dutch central bank. The energy consumed by a debit card transaction could light an 8-watt bulb for 90 minutes, compared with two hours for a purchase using bank notes and coins, the researchers wrote in a working paper published Monday. Their work is based on 2015 data from the Netherlands, where debit cards made up about 99 percent of all card transactions. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.