View this email in a web browser.
They Grew Up Around Fossil Fuels. Now, Their Jobs Are in Renewables.
Chris Riley comes from a coal town and a coal family, but he founded a company that could hasten coal’s decline. Lee Van Horn, whose father worked underground in the mines, spends some days more than 300 feet in the air atop a wind turbine. They, and the other people in this story, represent a shift, not just in power generation but in generations of workers as well. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
Deference rule: Good sense or bureaucratic ‘sideswipe’?
Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant today to strike down a long-standing legal precedent that favors agency interpretations of their own rules. During oral arguments in Kisor v. Wilkie, the court grappled with what’s known as the Auer standard, which directs judges to defer to agencies when they’re interpreting their own murky rules. Critics are asking the justices to eliminate the doctrine. [ read more … ]
Lawmakers see legislative opening after Green New Deal vote
From the ashes of yesterday’s Green New Deal vote may come legislative compromise. The Senate yesterday rejected a procedural motion on the progressive climate framework, with “no” votes from all 53 Republicans and four Democrats: Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia; Doug Jones of Alabama; Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona; and Angus King, the Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats. [ read more … ]
Democrats up their climate offensive
Democrats spent the morning signaling their climate virtues to the environmental community, as Capitol Hill cools down after yesterday’s Green New Deal vote in the Senate. On the House side, a gaggle of committee chairs and establishment members gathered with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to announce H.R. 9, leadership’s first big climate bill. [ read more … ]
Oregon close to finalizing cap-and-trade bill
Oregon lawmakers on Monday unveiled a compromise proposal to a controversial cap-and-trade bill regulating greenhouse gas emissions, responding to overwhelming opposition from businesses and agricultural groups who worry the plan could put them out of work. If passed, Oregon would become the second state in the country after California to implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program. Under the bill, the state would place an overall limit on emissions and then sell a set number of pollution permits or “allowances” to the highest bidder. [ read more … ]
On its way to carbon-free power, Xcel wants to buy a natural gas plant
Opponents of Xcel Energy’s proposed purchase of a Mankato natural gas plant say the sale would be a bad deal for ratepayers and runs counter to the company’s own pledge of achieving 100 percent carbon-free power by 2050. The utility announced in November that it had agreed to purchase the 760-megawatt Mankato Energy Center from Atlanta-based Southern Company. The Public Utilities Commission still must approve the $650 million sale. [ read more … ]
Tesla’s Model 3 shatters record in Norway
Just weeks after Tesla Inc. started rolling out its Model 3 in Europe, the electric-car maker has beaten the monthly sales record in its key Norwegian market by a wide margin. As many as 3,593 Model 3s have been registered so far in March, according to independent website teslastats.no. Even with a few days left in the month, that’s 65 percent more than a previous high set in March 2018 by the Nissan Leaf, Norway’s most sold car last year.
[ read more … ]
Trump’s pick for Fed sees global conspiracy on climate
President Trump’s new nominee for the Federal Reserve Board has long been hostile to climate science. Stephen Moore, a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, has labeled people worried about climate change “Stalinistic” and said climate scientists are engaged in a global conspiracy to make money. And after the Trump administration released the National Climate Assessment last December, he wrote an op-ed for the Washington Times saying the government is steering trillions of dollars toward “climate change hysteria and research.” [ read more … ]
Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth
It is in the national interest to promote clean and safe development of our Nation’s vast energy resources, while at the same time avoiding regulatory burdens that unnecessarily encumber energy production, constrain economic growth, and prevent job creation. Moreover, the prudent development of these natural resources is essential to ensuring the Nation’s geopolitical security. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.