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Betting $1M off N.J. coast paid off big time
Over the past year, US Wind got calls “every day” to sell a lease the energy company bought for $1 million in 2015 in its push to build a wind farm off the New Jersey coast. “Each time we’d say no,” said Salvo Vitale, the company’s chief counsel, but the offers kept rising. Finally, just before the year ended, they hit a level the company couldn’t resist after New Jersey’s new governor, Phil Murphy (D), helped push through a mandate that 50 percent of the Garden State’s power would come from renewable sources by 2030. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
A climate problem even California can’t fix: tailpipe pollution
Californians now buy more than half of all EVs sold in the United States, and the state’s auto-pollution policies have provided a model being adopted around the world. But they’re not working at home, by the state’s own measure. Tailpipe pollution here is going up, not down, despite billions of dollars spent by one of the most environmentally progressive governments on earth. “The strategies that we’ve used up until now just haven’t been effective,” Mary Nichols, the head of the California Air Resources Board, told Reuters. [ read more … ]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ed Markey to unveil ‘Green New Deal’ bill
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts has been working with freshman Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York on “Green New Deal” legislation that will be unveiled soon, an aide to Markey confirmed to CNN on Thursday. There is no final text yet, as some parts of the legislation are still being worked on. There is not a specific date for introduction yet — but the aide says they expect it to be soon. [ read more … ]
Department of Energy Announces $28 Million for Offshore Wind Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy last week announced up to $28 million in funding for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program, Aerodynamic Turbines, Lighter and Afloat, with Nautical Technologies and Integrated Servo-control (ATLANTIS). ATLANTIS projects will develop new technologies for floating, offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) using the discipline of control co-design (CCD). [ read more … ]
Wyoming bill would boost fees for electric, hybrid vehicles
People who own electric vehicles would need to pay more for not using gasoline under a bill making its way through the Wyoming House. The House gave initial approval to the bill Wednesday. Wyoming requires plug-in electric cars to have a decal that costs $50 a year. The measure would increase that fee to $200 a year. [ read more … ]
This is what a climate emergency declaration looks like
“It seems far-fetched now, but [it could happen] if we go down the slippery slope of using national emergencies to achieve the political ends of an administration,” said Francesco Femia, co-founder of the Center for Climate and Security. With the disclaimer that he thought it was a bad idea, Femia said there might be an opening for an emergency declaration on climate change if a future president faced a series of climate-fueled ecological disasters. [ read more … ]
Impose a Speed Limit on the Autobahn? Not So Fast, Many Germans Say
In 1937, a 20-year-old John F. Kennedy wrote a giddy letter home about his experience of driving on the autobahn with “no speed limit.” A year later, Bernd Rosemeyer, a German racing driver and SS member, used the autobahn for setting speeding records until he crashed into a bridge at over 250 m.p.h. and died a national hero. During World War II, a speed limit was imposed to save gas. But that was swiftly scrapped after the war. “To many people, the idea of a speed limit feels like an affront to masculinity, like we’re getting softer, we’re degenerating,” said Erhard Schütz, a retired professor and expert on the autobahn’s history. [ read more … ]
Wind turbines join Budweiser’s staples in Super Bowl ad
The staples are all there in Budweiser’s newest Super Bowl spot — majestic Clydesdales and an adorable pup — along with something new: towering wind turbines. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the parent company of Budweiser and the world’s largest brewer, is using a 1-minute spot during Sunday’s championship game to tout its commitment to switch its electricity supply to 100 percent renewables within nine years [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.