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With Much of the World’s Economy Slowed Down, Green Energy Powers On
The fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has many businesses reeling, and the oil and gas industry in particular has been rocked by plummeting prices that have forced it to drastically cut production and lay off workers. But producers of clean energy are pushing hard to get their projects up and running. They want to start making money on their investments as soon as possible, and while demand for electricity has been reduced by the impact of the virus, renewable power tends to win out over polluting sources in electricity systems because of low costs and favorable regulatory rules. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
Second US Offshore Wind Project Finishes Construction Off Virginia
Dominion Energy and its partner Ørsted have completed installation of the second offshore wind facility ever built in U.S. waters, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot located 30 miles off Virginia Beach. Dominion, a large utility group based in Virginia, announced Monday that both 6-megawatt (MW) Siemens Gamesa turbines are now in place, following the recent installation of the two monopile foundations that stick into the seabed. The turbines will undergo testing in the coming weeks before the project is fully energized later this summer, generating enough power for 3,000 homes in the state. [ read more … ]
House Climate Bill
House Democrats unveil ambitious climate package, steering toward a net-zero economy by 2050
The nation’s automakers would manufacture only electric cars. Utilities would have to stop producing pollution linked to climate change. And the federal government would double its investment in mass transit. All this and more is being proposed by House Democrats on Tuesday under a plan aimed at bringing the U.S. economy’s greenhouse gas emissions — including carbon dioxide and methane — to zero by 2050. [ read more … ]
Democrats Detail a Climate Agenda Tying Environment to Racial Justice
Democrats in Congress are expected to make public on Tuesday a broad list of proposals on climate change, laying out in detail what could become the starting point for their climate agenda if the party regains control of Congress and the White House next year. The 538-page report sets a range of targets including ensuring that every new car sold by 2035 emits no greenhouse gases, eliminating overall emissions from the power sector by 2040, and all but eliminating the country’s total emissions by 2050. [ read more … ]
Pandemic
Covid-19 Fears Spur More Cars on Roads, Threatening Air Quality
Officials across the nation are worried that as the coronavirus pandemic persists, commuters will avoid taking buses and trains, and opt for their cars, potentially leading to dangerous new levels of air pollution. More cars on the roads in congested urban centers like New York City—the virus epicenter in the spring—Washington, San Francisco, and Philadelphia means more emissions of smog-forming pollutants and poorer air quality. That could cause some cities to miss federal standards for ground-level ozone, which in turn could mean losing federal highway dollars at a time of already declining local revenues. [ read more … ]
Markets
US to join summit on global green recovery from Covid-19 crisis
The US is to join with other major powers including China, India and the EU in formulating plans for a global green recovery from the coronavirus crisis, in the only major international summit on the climate emergency this year. The idea of a green recovery to prevent a dangerous rebound in greenhouse gas emissions to above pre-Covid-19 levels has been gathering steam, but few governments have yet committed to plans. [ read more … ]
Coronavirus Sends Oil Prices on Wild, Six-Month Ride
The coronavirus transformed global oil markets in the first half of 2020, sending prices on a wild ride and spurring historic changes to energy supply chains and products used to invest in crude. Oil started the year trading above $60 a barrel. The pandemic and ensuing global economic shutdown slammed U.S. crude; it fell below $0 for the first time ever in late April. Within weeks, though, prices had recovered. They now trade around $40 on the final day of the quarter.
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Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.