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Here’s How Coronavirus Could Raise Cities’ Risk for Climate Disasters
The economic toll of the coronavirus is forcing cities and states to redirect money away from projects that provide climate resilience, in a shift that threatens to tackle one crisis at the expense of another. Officials in San Francisco, Miami Beach and New York City have said they are likely to delay climate-related projects like sea walls because of the virus, which has slashed tax revenue and increased demands for emergency services, housing and other immediate needs. Washington State has cut funding for resilience projects, and people who work on climate adaptation in other cities and states said they worried about similar cuts. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
Skipjack offshore wind announces 1 year delay due to federal permitting holdups
Skipjack Offshore Energy’s 120 MW wind farm will be delayed for more than a year due to holdups with federal permitting. A lawyer for the developers wrote the Maryland Public Service Commission on Tuesday to report a revision in the project’s estimated commercial operation date from November 2022 to the end of 2023. Spokespersons from Skipjack’s parent company, Ørsted, linked the revision to a delayed federal Notice of Intent for the project. [ read more … ]
Questions raised about ‘ridiculous’ response to major COVID-19 outbreak in Grand Forks, N.D.
When workers at one of the biggest companies in this Red River border city raised concerns about safety in March during the early stages of the novel coronavirus pandemic, officials didn’t send health inspectors to check it out. They sent the CEO of their regional economic development agency, who reported back that the company assured him everything was fine. [ read more … ]
EVs
Electric car sales expected to weather massive pandemic hit
The pandemic could cut electric car sales in half this year, but it ultimately won’t veer the United States off course as it heads toward increasing levels of electric vehicles on the roads in the next decade. Instead, despite the big hit to electric vehicle sales expected in 2020, auto analysts say they aren’t seeing indications the global pandemic is changing the long-term trends pushing automakers toward electric cars. That’s even with extremely low gas prices prompted by the collapse in oil markets. [ read more … ]
Off Topic
Brothers duke it out from opposite sides of climate fight
It’s brother versus brother in the climate wars. Two of the primary think tanks fighting it out on climate policy are now led by brothers on opposing sides of the argument over human-caused global warming.
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Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.