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Offshore wind project propels Biden toward climate goals
Like a giant jigsaw puzzle, Vineyard Wind has slowly accumulated the pieces needed to build America’s first large offshore wind project. It signed a deal to provide electricity to Massachusetts. It received a transmission agreement to connect to New England’s power grid. And it agreed to set aside millions of dollars to compensate fishermen in Rhode Island and Massachusetts for losses associated with the project. The one piece that has proved elusive is a permit from the federal government. And that all but arrived yesterday — with a release of an Interior Department environmental study that had been delayed for nearly two years by the Trump administration. [ read more … ]
Biden Administration
Lawmakers turn to climate in search of ‘moving train’
Democrats are set to forge ahead with a clean energy and infrastructure bill centered on investment and tax incentives, but they face bruising political questions that could imperil a rare opportunity to pass climate policy into law. It represents the first real opportunity to enact ambitious climate legislation in a decade, and Democrats will have another chance to bypass the Senate filibuster using budget reconciliation. But party leaders, for now, are insisting on bipartisan overtures, and the slim margin in the Senate makes for a difficult path for carbon pricing, clean electricity standards and new regulations — policies environmentalists and Democratic politicians have advocated for decades. [ read more … ]
Biden Team Races to Assemble New Climate-Change Strategy
The Biden administration is racing to complete a wide-ranging climate-change strategy next month, enlisting agencies across the government to craft a plan that could reshape the U.S. economy and disrupt major industries. President Biden and his senior aides are exploring pairing executive actions—like tighter pollution standards, targeted investments and changes in federal procurement—with congressional action to speed a shift toward low-carbon energy. The effort could rock fossil-fuel companies and boost renewable energy businesses, while for the first time putting extensive government requirements on the financial sector regarding climate policy. [ read more … ]
Is clean energy ready for Biden’s union crusade?
One evening in September 2018, Lucas Franco parked on the shoulder of a dirt road in the Minnesota cornfields. He examined the passing cars, especially their license plates. The trucks and SUVs were rolling off the construction site of a wind farm called Stoneray. Upon spying each plate, Franco noted its origin state and entered it into a spreadsheet on his laptop. Utah, Florida, South Carolina, Texas. [ read more … ]
Biden wants to end oil subsidies. First he has to find them
The Biden administration has vowed to end federal subsidies to fossil fuel companies, but even supporters of the effort say it will be hard to shut off the spigot. There are two major hurdles. For one, Congress — not the White House — controls the flow of most federal dollars. That means Biden will need help from Capitol Hill. Then there’s the challenge of reaching agreement on the precise definition of a federal subsidy. There’s broad disagreement on the term, and the Biden administration will have to settle that debate before doing much else. [ read more … ]
Texas Blackout et alia
Deregulation Aimed to Lower Home-Power Bills. For Many, It Didn’t.
Twenty years ago, a new breed of energy companies promised consumers that deregulation of the electricity industry would cut their power bills. The opposite happened. U.S. consumers who signed up with retail energy companies that emerged from deregulation paid $19.2 billion more than they would have if they’d stuck with incumbent utilities from 2010 through 2019, a Wall Street Journal analysis of U.S. Energy Information Administration data found. [ read more … ]
Carbon Capture
Oil Giants Prepare to Put Carbon Back in the Ground
The multibillion-dollar project could be a breakthrough for a technology known as carbon capture and storage, a concept that has been around for at least a quarter-century to reduce the climate-damaging emissions from factories. The idea sounds deceptively simple: Divert pollutants before they can escape into the air, and bury them deep in the ground where they can do no harm. But the technology has proved to be hugely expensive, and it has not caught on as rapidly as some advocates hoped. [ read more … ]
Refinery Emissions
Far from White House, Caribbean refinery to test Biden’s promises on poverty and pollution
Earlier this month, Loren Hughes, a longtime resident of the U.S. Virgin Islands, noticed specks of an oily substance covering his home, as well as those owned by his neighbors. For Hughes, 46, it brought back memories of the last time St. Croix’s long-idled refinery was operating, roughly a decade earlier. The refinery restarted last month, bringing back hundreds of jobs – but for nearby residents, they say it also brought difficulty breathing, headaches and watery eyes. [ read more … ]
EVs
BMW exec doesn’t fear Apple car: ‘I sleep very peacefully’
The German luxury-car maker is well placed as electrification and alternatives to private vehicle ownership transform the auto industry, Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter said in an interview. He is undaunted by reports that the world’s most valuable company could enter the car business. “I sleep very peacefully,” Peter said when asked about Apple. “Competition is a wonderful thing — it helps motivate the others. We’re in a very strong position, and we want to remain in a leading position of the industry.” [ read more … ]
Amazon-Backed Rivian Seeks 3-in-a-Row EV Debuts, Defying History
Rivian Automotive Inc., the electric-truck startup backed by Amazon.com Inc., is running the automotive equivalent of a three-ring circus: attempting to launch a trio of new vehicles in a factory that made its last car six years ago. The push reflects a desire to get out ahead of battery-powered trucks from more established rivals, including a Hummer pickup from General Motors Co.and Tesla Inc.’s Cybertruck. Rivian has high hopes for its pickup and sport-utility vehicle but is counting on an Amazon-dedicated delivery van as a guaranteed source of revenue, said people familiar with the company’s strategy. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.