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Trump Environmental Record Marked by Big Losses, Undecided Cases
While the Trump administration won some important environmental lawsuits during its single term, it lost a mountain of other critical cases and failed to get most of its top priorities across the legal finish line, leaving them more vulnerable to reversal by President-elect Joe Biden. “The biggest rules are still being litigated, and that doesn’t help solidify a legacy for this administration,” said Bethany Davis Noll, litigation director for New York University’s Institute for Policy Integrity. “The administration has managed to do a lot of harm just by delaying,” the Center for Biological Diversity’s Saul said. “It’s four years later and all of that methane has continued to leak, be flared, be vented in the interim. That’s lost time.” [ read more … ]
Wind & Solar Energy
Renewables and natural gas: What’s ahead in 2021
Renewable energy — led by a record expansion of solar — could account for nearly three-quarters of utility-scale electric generating capacity added nationally this year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said yesterday. EIA estimated that solar will represent 39% of capacity that begins operating commercially in 2021, while wind may constitute 31%. Natural gas may make up 16%, followed by batteries at 11% and nuclear at 3% — thanks to the ongoing Plant Vogtle expansion in Georgia. [ read more … ]
Transmission
FERC should overhaul grid policy to cut CO2 — report
To combat climate change, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission needs to dramatically restructure its policy for connecting low-carbon electricity sources like large wind and solar farms to long-haul power lines. That’s according to a report released Tuesday by Americans for a Clean Energy Grid and the American Council on Renewable Energy. The two advocacy groups coordinate the Macro Grid Initiative, which seeks to upgrade the nation’s transmission network. “Connecting to the transmission grid is like spending four years at the Department of Motor Vehicles, except the costs are much less predictable,” Rob Gramlich, executive director of ACEG, said in a statement. “FERC’s interconnection policy was created in a different era and it no longer works.” [ read more … ]
Disconnected: The Need for a New Generator Interconnection Policy
A report released today shows that the current system for interconnecting generators to the transmission grid is unworkable and inefficient, creating a backlog of unbuilt energy projects. These lengthy interconnection queues have resulted in increased electricity costs for consumers, delayed rural economic development and job creation, and an added difficulty for clean energy projects looking to be connected to the nation’s grid. [ read more … ]
The Transition
Impeachment push overshadows climate agenda
Joe Biden promised in his presidential election victory speech “not to divide, but unify.” Two months later — as a second impeachment gains momentum after President Trump incited an insurrection at the Capitol and with Democrats beating the odds to take control of Congress — that promise looks more strained than ever. [ read more … ]
States
Wash. 100% clean power rules get blowback
Washington regulators have approved rules to help the state achieve 100% carbon-free electricity, including sweeping new requirements for utilities to ensure that all customers benefit from the state’s energy transition. But despite the rules’ emphasis on energy and environmental equity, some utility companies and one regulator are concerned that the regulations could result in higher costs for customers, running counter to the goals of Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act, a 2019 law mandating the state’s utilities to generate all electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045. [ read more … ]
Climate Change
Trump official publishes papers questioning seriousness of climate change without White House approval
Controversial papers questioning the seriousness of climate change led by David Legates, a senior official at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration appointed by President Trump, have been published online without White House approval. The papers, which were published on nongovernment websites, bear the imprint of the Executive Office of the President and state they were copyrighted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). But they were disavowed. [ read more … ]
Racing to build wall of climate denial before Trump exits
A climate denier working under the purview of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is attempting to publish cherry-picked and inaccurate research so that it can be permanently archived as a government record. David Legates, who serves in a senior role at NOAA and is heading the U.S. Global Change Research Program, was brought to the Trump administration recently to challenge consensus climate science. A geologist from the University of Delaware and an affiliate of the Heartland Institute, he has said climate scientists make false claims for money and that humans need to burn more fossil fuels. [ read more … ]
Energy Sector Support
Energy sector rethinks GOP donations in insurrection’s wake
Energy and chemical companies and associations are reevaluating their political contributions following last week’s riot and attack on the U.S. Capitol. Dow Inc. and General Electric Co. are vowing not to donate via their political action committees to the 147 House and Senate Republicans who objected to the electoral results from Arizona or Pennsylvania. The objections — from prominent lawmakers like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) — were part of an unsuccessful effort to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, and they were fueled by the same unfounded claims of fraud behind the riot. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.