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Governors' Wind Energy Coalition

November 21, 2018

Today’s Wind & Solar Energy News will not publish during the Thanksgiving holiday. It resumes on Monday, November 26.

Top Story

Video may complicate FERC nominee’s path to confirmation

Rod Kuckro and Hannah Northey, E&E News reporters  •    •  Posted 2018-11-21 04:35:14

At the free-market group’s event, McNamee emphasized the need for public awareness that “fossil fuels are not something dirty, something we need to get away from,” but instead are the “key to our prosperity” and a “clean environment.” He said that “renewables, when they come on and off, it screws up the whole physics of the grid.” He also decried the “tyranny” of environmental groups that back renewable power. [ read more … ]

Policy & Poliics

‘Like a Terror Movie’: How Climate Change Will Cause More Simultaneous Disasters

By John Schwartz, New York Times  •    •  Posted 2018-11-21 04:36:45

Global warming is posing such wide-ranging risks to humanity, involving so many types of phenomena, that by the end of this century some parts of the world could face as many as six climate-related crises at the same time, researchers say. This chilling prospect is described in a paper published Monday in Nature Climate Change, a respected academic journal, that shows the effects of climate change across a broad spectrum of problems, including heat waves, wildfires, sea level rise, hurricanes, flooding, drought and shortages of clean water. [ read more … ]

‘Up to the courts’: The 50-state climate change strategy

Benjamin Hulac, E&E News reporter  •    •  Posted 2018-11-21 04:37:27

For seven years, Filippone and other American youth have engaged in a full-court-press strategy nationwide to hammer home the idea that state governments should value and protect the atmosphere as a public trust, and that by failing to do so they are unlawfully breaking their obligations to their residents. The 50-state strategy is a lesser-known prong of attack from Our Children’s Trust, a legal nonprofit group locked in a high-profile fight with the Trump administration over its landmark climate change case, Juliana v. United States. [ read more … ]

New House Rules chairman aims to bridge Dems’ divide on climate

Benjamin Storrow, E&E News reporter  •    •  Posted 2018-11-21 04:35:50

The incoming House Rules Committee chairman has waded into the Democratic debate over how to proceed with climate policy. In an intervew, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) sought to repair the growing rift between recently elected lawmakers pushing to form a select committee to address the issue and presumptive committee chairs who have pushed to keep climate legislation in their domain. [ read more … ]

Kansas State to get half of campus energy from wind farm

By Associated Press  •    •  Posted 2018-11-21 04:36:13

Kansas State University officials estimate that half the Manhattan campus will be powered by wind by 2020. University officials announced a new agreement last week with Missouri-based Westar Energy, The Kansas City Star reported. The Kansas City electric utility will cover half the campus’s energy needs, saving up to $200,000 per year. [ read more … ]

R.I. company gets DOE grant for turbine technology

By Associated Press  •    •  Posted 2018-11-21 04:36:27

A Rhode Island company has been awarded a $3.5 million federal grant for its work to improve the aerodynamic performance of wind turbines. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said the Department of Energy awarded funding to East Greenwich-based Aquanis Inc. [ read more … ]

Balancing climate goals and energy poverty

Kelsey Brugger, E&E News reporter  •    •  Posted 2018-11-21 04:37:10

As governments and oil majors wrestle with how to reduce global energy use to fight climate change, Rachel Kyte wants to produce more energy for the 3 billion people who still burn firewood to cook dinner. In a talk at the Brookings Institution yesterday, Kyte, chief executive officer of Sustainable Energy for All, raised the balancing act between curbing global warming and alleviating energy poverty. She reminded the audience that a billion people in the world do not have electricity. [ read more … ]

Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.