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When LA’s Air Got Better, Kids’ Asthma Cases Dropped
John Balmes, an environmental health professor at the University of California, San Francisco and the physician member of the California Air Resources Board, says it’s no surprise that cleaner air means less illness. But it’s still important evidence in the ongoing debate over just how much money we should spend to improve the air. “There’s been a concerted effort in California over the period of this study to reduce motor vehicle emissions in general and diesel emissions in particular,” Balmes says. “And I think this study shows that it’s paying off.” [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
Can a Leader in Offshore Wind Power Succeed in the United States?
Over the last three decades, the company, Orsted, has figured out how to build giant wind farms powered by turbines the size of jumbo jets in the shallow waters around northern Europe. These installations generate large streams of clean energy. The electricity they produce also comes at a similar cost to new natural-gas fired plants, according to Deepa Venkateswaran, an analyst at Bernstein, a market research firm. Ms. Venkateswaran said that with many new offshore wind plants expected in the coming years, the cost of building them was likely to continue to fall. [ read more … ]
Placing power lines underground is an expensive way to reduce fire danger
In the wake of both the Camp fire and the Woolsey fire that burned through Ventura County and Malibu last fall, utilities have faced mounting pressure to move more lines below ground “It’s almost 18th century technology, in some ways,” then-Malibu Mayor Rick Mullen told state lawmakers last year about overhead lines. “Let’s make the investment to make the system durable.” [ read more … ]
Green New Deal is alive and well in liberal cities and states
The Green New Deal may be floundering in Washington. But it is alive and well in left-leaning states and cities across the country. From Maine to California, Democratic politicians have begun adopt the Green New Deal brand — a progressive movement to dramatically tackle climate change over the next decade — to describe their own contributions to address global warming.
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Hawaii adopts performance-based rate tools to accelerate clean energy transition
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission last week took a major step towards overhauling the states highest-in-the-nation electricity rates, by adopting a portfolio of performance-based regulation (PBR) tools for the state’s investor-owned utilities. Regulators say that under the new framework, updated revenue adjustment mechanisms will establish targets for Hawaiian Electric (HECO) utilities, which will be applied over a five-year multi-year rate plan (MRP). During that time, there will be no general rate cases. [ read more … ]
An Energy Fight Has Koch and Environmentalists on the Same Side
TheSierra Club and billionaire Charles Koch have found at least one thing to agree on: They hate Ohio’s plan to take away renewable power subsidies and give them to coal and nuclear plants. The pair, normally at odds over energy issues, have both found elements to rail against in the “Ohio Clean Air Program,” which passed a key hurdle Thursday in the state House of Representatives. The Republican bill would scuttle wind and solar quotas and create an annual fund of about $190 million, primarily to bail out reactors owned by bankrupt FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.