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New E.P.A. Rule Would Reduce Truck Pollution, and Avert Tougher State Controls
The Trump administration on Monday took its first step toward tighter pollution controls on trucks, an anomalous move for a government known for weakening environmental policies but one that would pre-empt tougher state rules. Andrew Wheeler, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, began the legal and regulatory process for curbing highway emissions of nitrogen dioxide, which has been linked to asthma and other respiratory diseases. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
American Wind Energy Association celebrates extension of wind energy Production Tax Credit
The extension was included in a spending and tax bill that President Trump signed into law on Dec. 20, 2019. The package will extend for one year the PTC under section 45 for wind and other technologies. The bill also increases the value of the PTC to 1.5 cents/kilowatt-hour. “This bipartisan bill is a major win for American consumers,” Kiernan said. “It means more business for over 500 U.S. factories building wind turbine components, and it means more opportunities for job creation and economic development in the rural communities hosting wind farms,” said Kiernan. “We appreciate that Congress has recognized wind and other renewable’s role in building a strong economy while also reducing carbon emissions.” [ read more … ]
Solar Energy
A $1 Billion Solar Plant Was Obsolete Before It Ever Went Online
The Crescent Dunes solar plant looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. Ten thousand mirrors form a spiral almost 2 miles wide that winds around a skyscraper rising above the desert between Las Vegas and Reno. The operation soaks up enough heat from the sun’s rays to spin steam turbines and store energy in the form of molten salt. In 2011 the $1 billion project was to be the biggest solar plant of its kind, and it looked like the future of renewable power. Citigroup Inc. and other financiers invested $140 million with its developer, SolarReserve Inc. Steven Chu, the U.S. Department of Energy secretary at the time, offered the company government loan guarantees, and Harry Reid, then the Senate majority leader and senior senator from Nevada, cleared the way for the company to build on public land. [ read more … ]
Climate
Everyday weather is linked to human-caused climate change in new study
For the first time, scientists have detected the “fingerprint” of human-induced climate change on daily weather patterns at the global scale. If verified by subsequent work, the findings, published Thursday in Nature Climate Change, would upend the long-established narrative that daily weather is distinct from long-term climate change. The study’s results also imply that research aimed at assessing the human role in contributing to extreme weather events such as heat waves and floods may be underestimating the contribution.
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Trump dismisses climate effects in revamped NEPA rule
The White House is poised to exclude climate considerations from its controversial rewrite of rules surrounding the nation’s core environmental law. The Council on Environmental Quality’s proposed changes to National Environmental Policy Act guidelines will likely emerge this week.
[ read more … ]
To Fight Climate Change, One City May Ban Heating Homes With Natural Gas
As a progressive-minded city nestled where the Cascade mountains reach the sea, Bellingham, Wash., has long been looking to scale back its contribution to climate change. In recent years, city leaders have converted the streetlights to low-power LEDs, provided bikes for city employees and made plans to halt the burning of sewage solids. But while the efforts so far have lowered the city’s emissions, none have come close to erasing its carbon footprint. Now, Bellingham is looking to do something that no other city has yet attempted: adopt a ban on all residential heating by natural gas.
[ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
Weird winter weather stokes farmers’ fears
Southwest Iowa doesn’t look much like winter these days, with bare ground, mud and roadside patches of green grass around Jeff Jorgensen’s farm. The temperature has been in the 40s as the new year begins. The mild conditions are little comfort to Jorgensen, who’s more worried about the weather a day’s drive to the north, where the next great Missouri River flood will begin — maybe as soon as this spring. [ read more … ]
Trump dismisses climate effects in revamped NEPA rule
The White House is poised to exclude climate considerations from its controversial rewrite of rules surrounding the nation’s core environmental law. The Council on Environmental Quality’s proposed changes to National Environmental Policy Act guidelines will likely emerge this week.
[ read more … ]
To Fight Climate Change, One City May Ban Heating Homes With Natural Gas
As a progressive-minded city nestled where the Cascade mountains reach the sea, Bellingham, Wash., has long been looking to scale back its contribution to climate change. In recent years, city leaders have converted the streetlights to low-power LEDs, provided bikes for city employees and made plans to halt the burning of sewage solids. But while the efforts so far have lowered the city’s emissions, none have come close to erasing its carbon footprint. Now, Bellingham is looking to do something that no other city has yet attempted: adopt a ban on all residential heating by natural gas.
[ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.