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In Bitter Auto Talks, California and EPA Chiefs Shun Same Table
The spat began when EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former energy lobbyist, sent a letter to top Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee hours before CARB Chairman Mary Nichols was to testify, accusing the state of negotiating in bad faith. Nichols, a California anti-pollution campaigner for almost 50 years, pointed fingers back at Washington, telling lawmakers in her prepared testimony that “the Trump administration has been unwilling to find a way that works” and “unilaterally decided to cut off conversations.” [ read more … ]
NY Climate Law
Demise of Gasoline Cars? What We Know About N.Y.’s Ambitious Climate Goals
The sweeping climate plan that New York lawmakers have agreed to pass sets the country’s most ambitious goals for eliminating greenhouse gas emissions: getting planet-warming carbon emissions almost down to zero by 2050. The law would transform the way New York State residents get their electricity. By 2030, the state would have to draw 70 percent of its electricity from renewable sources and, 10 years later, reach a point where the electricity it uses generates zero carbon emissions. [ read more … ]
Renewable Energy Sector Hails New York State’s New Climate Plan
“New York is leading a path forward with public policy that signals to the capital markets and developers to deploy projects to achieve its ambitious goals,” Susan Nickey, managing director at Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital Inc, said on Wednesday. New York state lawmakers passed the legislation early Thursday morning. If Governor Andrew Cuomo signs the bill into law as expected, New York would become the second U.S. state to aim for a carbon-neutral economy. California Governor Jerry Brown signed an executive order last year to make that state carbon-neutral by 2045. [ read more … ]
New York Approves Its Own Green Deal as Trump Turns ‘Blind Eye’
New York State’s version of the Green New Deal is heading to the desk of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is expected to sign it into law. The legislation, approved early Thursday by the state Assembly and Wednesday by the Senate, will set the most aggressive clean-energy targets in the country, calling for huge additions of solar power and massive wind farms off the coast.
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Policy & Politics
Oregon Gov. Sends Police After GOP Senators Who Fled Capitol
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown deployed the state police Thursday to try to round up Republican lawmakers who fled the Capitol in an attempt to block a vote on a landmark climate plan that would be the second of its kind in the nation. Minority Republicans want the cap-and-trade proposal aimed at dramatically lowering the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to be sent to the voters for approval instead of instituted by lawmakers. Negotiations with Democrats fell apart late Wednesday prompting conservatives to pursue a walkout, said Kate Gillem, a spokeswoman for Senate Republicans said Thursday. [ read more … ]
Wind PTC extension bill introduced
Democrat Mike Thompson has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would prolong expired tax credits or credits expiring in 2019, including the wind energy production tax credit (PTC) for one year. If the proposed extension becomes law, developers could claim tax relief for projects started before 1 January 2021, a year beyond than the current deadline. [ read more … ]
Trump Makes His Biggest Move Yet to Try to Save Coal Plants
President Donald Trump is scaling back sweeping Obama-era curbs on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants burning coal, his biggest step yet to fulfill his campaign promise to stop a “war” on the fossil fuel. Yet the Environmental Protection Agency’s rewrite of the Clean Power Plan, which was signed Wednesday in Washington, will do little to halt a nationwide shift away from coal and toward cheaper electricity generated by wind, sun and natural gas. [ read more … ]
London pushes motorists toward using only electric cars
London’s lawmakers aren’t against cars and vans driving through its most congested parts, as long as they turn electric soon. A suite of policies aimed at cleaning up London’s toxic air pollution isn’t there to penalize drivers but to improve public health, Shirley Rodrigues, London’s deputy mayor for environment and energy, said on Tuesday at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.