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Top Stories
Here’s why Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kevin de León are teaming up on climate change
“Coming from Portugal, as a kid my idea of him was the Hummer driver in ‘The Terminator,’” Bento said. “It’s been a phenomenal surprise and inspiration to me how much he’s taken this as a big cause of his life now.” Schwarzenegger and De León are launching an initiative with environmental activists and researchers at USC and UCLA to study how local governments can speed the adoption of cleaner transportation options and to promote more aggressive action at the state level. Reducing dependence on oil for transportation, they say, would benefit the climate and reduce lung-damaging air pollution in disadvantaged communities. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
Push for more renewable energy clears New Mexico Senate
A measure aimed at increasing New Mexico’s reliance on renewable energy and easing the economic pains of shuttering a coal-fired power plant in the northwest corner of the state cleared a major legislative hurdle late Wednesday after a lengthy debate. The Senate voted 32-9 in favor of the measure, sending it to the House for consideration as lawmakers prepare to wrap up the session in less than two weeks. [ read more … ]
Governor Baker touts promise of wind power, new technology
New York recently set a long-term goal of generating 9,000 megawatts of energy from offshore wind power, while New Jersey plans to build 3,500 megawatts. But Massachusetts is seeking to produce just 1,600 megawatts, a target critics say is too modest. Some environmentalists had hoped that Governor Charlie Baker would announce a loftier goal Wednesday at a forum in Boston about the future of offshore wind power. [ read more … ]
House Republican bill looks to overhaul PURPA law
Michigan Republican Rep. Tim Walberg reintroduced legislation this week to overhaul a 1970s energy law that requires utilities to purchase power from small-scale renewable energy projects. H.R. 1502 is unlikely to move forward this Congress, especially with Democrats in control of the chamber with an eye toward pushing more renewables onto the grid.
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The inside story of the world’s most dangerous malware
On Aug. 4, 2017, at 7:43 p.m., two emergency shutdown systems sprang into action as darkness settled over the sprawling refinery along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. The systems brought part of the Petro Rabigh complex offline in a last-gasp effort to prevent a gas release and deadly explosion. But as safety devices took extraordinary steps, control room engineers working the weekend shift spotted nothing out of the ordinary, either on their computer screens or out on the plant floor. [ read more … ]
Industry looks to FERC to do Trump’s heavy lifting
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the nation’s lead grid regulator, is quickly becoming to go-to agency for addressing a whole range of major energy policy hurdles for the nation, while hanging President Trump’s energy dominance agenda in the balance. [ read more … ]
Congress has held at least 15 climate hearings since Democrats won the House
There’s been one on climate change and infrastructure. Another on climate change and publicly owned lands. And there have been two on climate change and oceans. Now that they have control of the House, Democrats have used their newfound power to pack the calendar in Congress with hearings on what they see as the biggest environmental crisis facing the nation and the world. [ read more … ]
Infrastructure momentum rises as Democrats eye climate provisions
Momentum is building in Congress to move a broad infrastructure package by late spring, and newly empowered House Democrats are gearing up to include climate change components. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) told reporters Tuesday that “the time frame is the next 100 days” for action on infrastructure, adding that House leadership had reserved floor time for an infrastructure bill and was considering late spring.
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Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.