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U.S. Climate Report Warns of Damaged Environment and Shrinking Economy
A major scientific report issued by 13 federal agencies on Friday presents the starkest warnings to date of the consequences of climate change for the United States, predicting that if significant steps are not taken to rein in global warming, the damage will knock as much as 10 percent off the size of the American economy by century’s end. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
The U.S.’ Smallest State Has Big Renewable Energy Ambitions
“Though she be but little, she is fierce.” A line from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream or an appropriate description for the State of Rhode Island? Judging by its milestones in the renewable energy industry, the smallest state in the U.S. is living up to this mantra. [ read more … ]
Blending taxes and cap-and-trade could improve carbon pricing
Although Washington state’s proposed carbon tax failed at the ballot box, carbon pricing remains one of the best policy solutions to mitigate the effects of climate changes as the window to keep global warming below 1.5°C continues to narrow. [ read more … ]
Interior studying major Calif. wind project on tribal lands
The Trump administration will conduct a detailed study of a proposed major wind power project on the Campo Indian Reservation, continuing an Obama-era effort to develop renewable energy across thousands of acres of Native American lands. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, in partnership with the Campo Band of Diegueno Mission Indians, will conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) evaluating the Campo Wind Energy Project, set to be located on 2,200 acres of tribal lands about 60 miles east of San Diego. [ read more … ]
‘It’s not a happy place’
President Trump has failed to stop climate change work at EPA. The administration has repeatedly tried to slash the agency’s climate funding, only to be rebuffed by Congress. That has left a small cadre of EPA climate experts in an awkward position, working in jobs they know their boss would prefer to ax. [ read more … ]
Op-Ed: Giving thanks for bipartisanship
Think interstate highway system meets grid modernization. That’s what a group of 18 U.S. governors are championing, by proposing that the federal government stitch together the nation’s three main electricity grids. The case they’re making is clear: Connecting the seams between the eastern, western and Texas-based grids — enabling the move of electrons among them — would make the nation’s electrical power system “more resilient, efficient, reliable, competitive and less vulnerable to cyber-attack.”
[ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.