View this email in a web browser.
More than 11,000 scientists from around the world declare a ‘climate emergency’
A new report by 11,258 scientists in 153 countries from a broad range of disciplines warns that the planet “clearly and unequivocally faces a climate emergency,” and provides six broad policy goals that must be met to address it. The analysis is a stark departure from recent scientific assessments of global warming, such as those of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in that it does not couch its conclusions in the language of uncertainties, and it does prescribe policies. [ read more … ]
Answer to Renewable Power’s Top Problem Emerges in the Outback
The answer to the renewable energy industry’s biggest challenge is emerging in the Australian outback. Early next year, one of the first power projects that combine solar and wind generation with battery storage is planning to start up in northern Queensland state. The Kennedy Energy Park, just outside the sleepy town of Hughendon, will combine 43 megawatts of wind and 20 megawatts of solar with a 2-megawatt Tesla Inc. lithium-ion battery. [ read more … ]
Grid
Red-state grid operator plans wind, solar surge
The Southwest Power Pool plans to have as much as 37,000 megawatts of wind and solar generation in the next 10 years, placing it in the vanguard of the nation’s grid operators transitioning to a new energy economy. The projections, which depend on the construction of 44 new transmission projects, cover a 14-state area of the United States that has few renewable energy goals, hosts some of the nation’s biggest coal reserves and backed President Trump by a wide margin in the 2016 election. [ read more … ]
Climate
Democratic sweep thrusts Va. into ambitious role on climate
Democrats wrested control of Virginia’s General Assembly away from Republicans yesterday, paving the way for the Old Dominion to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and pursue legislation to boost renewable energy. RGGI membership has been a tenant of Gov. Ralph Northam’s climate agenda. But the Democratic governor’s attempts to join the cap-and-trade compact of 10 states had been thwarted by Republican lawmakers, who had controlled the General Assembly in Richmond. That roadblock no longer exists. [ read more … ]
FERC
Sen. Manchin ‘fighting’ for White House nomination of Democratic FERC candidate
The Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee on Tuesday questioned James Danly, the White House nominee for one of two vacancies on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Danly, who currently serves as general counsel at FERC, is the Republican pick, and Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., urged her colleagues to support his nomination in the absence of a Democratic pick that would produce the traditional bipartisan pairs of nominations for the independent agency. If Danly is confirmed, FERC would have three Republican commissioners and one Democrat.Democrats such as Committee Ranking Member Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he is “fighting for” the White House to advance the nomination of Allison Clements for the seat vacated in August by Democratic Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur. When asked if Manchin would vote against Danly without a second nomination from the White House, he replied, “I always vote for the qualities of the person.” [ read more … ]
EVs
Feds launch probe of Tesla battery fires
Federal regulators have opened an initial probe into battery safety issues involving Tesla Inc.’s Model S and Model X cars, raising concerns stemming from a string of apparently spontaneous fires in its vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) informed Tesla’s legal counsel in an Oct. 24 letter that it was evaluating a petition for an investigation into battery management software for the two car models. [ read more … ]
Toyota faces revolt from eco-conscious customers after siding with Trump
Last September, Ericka McCauley drove her 5-year-old son from their home in northwest Indiana to Chicago to attend a youth climate strike. The car she took was her gasoline-electric hybrid, a Toyota Highlander. “As soon as I could afford a hybrid SUV, I traded in my Chevy pickup truck for the Highlander,” McCauley said. “And one of the biggest reasons is because I want to do my part.” But now McCauley, a communications manager for a healthcare system, has her doubts about buying another Toyota. It has little to do with how her hybrid performs on the road — and a lot more to do with what the company just decided in the boardroom. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
Republicans balk at ‘outlandish’ energy wish list
Efforts to extend and revise an assortment of expired or soon-to-lapse energy tax breaks before the end of the year are struggling to find air in a crowded agenda. Policy and process disagreements are also getting in the way. Lawmakers and interest groups for months have eyed the end of year to enact an extenders package to revive more than two dozen tax breaks — including key biofuel and efficiency incentives — that have expired or will lapse by Dec. 31. [ read more … ]
States, NGOs sue DOE for reversing lightbulb standards as global energy efficiency progress stalls
A decision by the U.S. Department of Energy to roll back the Obama administration’s expansion of stronger efficiency standards to more types of lightbulbs would endanger state efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and air pollution, a lawsuit filed Monday by 16 attorneys general and the City of New York, along with another suit from environmental groups, argue. At the same time, the International Energy Agency released an annual report finding that global energy efficiency improvements are stalling, and groups like the Alliance to Save Energy say the U.S. is failing to promote robust efficiency policies when they are most needed. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.