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States seeking technical advice on aspects of EPA power plant proposal
Senior U.S. EPA personnel spent much of the summer briefing states about the agency’s proposal to limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants, according to new entries posted to the draft rule’s docket. Officials from Montana, North Dakota, Virginia, California, New Hampshire and Nevada participated in meetings and telephone calls with EPA personnel to answer technical questions on the draft rule, according to entries posted Wednesday and Friday. Utilities, cities including Denver, and foreign countries including Denmark and Germany were also briefed. EPA was represented in several of the meetings by regional staff, though Office of Air and Radiation Senior Counsel Joe Goffman represented the agency at a July 17 briefing that drew participants from 14 Western states and a handful of other stakeholders. [ read more … ]
Virginia: Expectations vary for governor’s energy plan, which will address EPA power plant rule
Sometime Wednesday, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s vision for the state’s energy future will be posted to a website and delivered to the General Assembly. The update of the 2010 energy plan will be an inclusive prescription that will maintain Virginia’s current electric power mix dominated by nuclear (36 percent), natural gas (30 percent) and coal (29 percent), with an eye toward increased deployment of solar power, a serious push to foster offshore wind farms and having the state government lead a robust effort to adopt energy efficiency, according to a senior adviser to the governor. [ read more … ]
Developer plans 11,000-acre Nebraska wind farm
An international company has applied for permits to build a wind farm with 54 turbines in southern Lancaster and northern Gage counties. Volkswind USA Inc., through its Nebraska subsidiaries Hallam Wind LLC and Hallam Wind Two LLC, wants to build the wind farm on 7,000 acres of land in Lancaster County and 4,000 acres in Gage County, near Hallam and Cortland. More than 50 landowners already have signed leases, according to documents filed with the Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Department. Volkswind USA is a member of the Volkswind Group, which has built more than 60 wind farms, mostly in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Poland. [ read more … ]
UW gets $4.25 million grant to explore wind energy
The U.S. Energy Department has awarded a $4.25 million grant to the University of Wyoming for wind energy research. UW will use the money to conduct wind farm modeling and transmission grid monitoring and research the economics derived from wind-generated power. [ read more … ]
Greens take 2014 fight to states
Seeing no end to gridlock in Congress, national environmental groups are trying a new strategy for winning battles on climate change and green power: pouring record amounts of money into legislative races in a handful of states. The multimillion-dollar push by groups like the League of Conservation Voters and liberal billionaire Tom Steyer’s super PAC aims to secure friendly majorities in the legislatures of states such as Oregon, Washington and Colorado. Victories there could help blunt their grim prospects in D.C., where the all-but-paralyzed U.S. Senate may be in Republican hands after November. [ read more … ]
Opinion: How the West Was Won and How Congress Can Win America’s Energy Future
But perhaps the most influential tool these states have used to spur growth in renewables is implementing business-minded policies. From Washington to Arizona, innovative state policies to harness the region’s renewable energy resources drive major investment. Nine of 13 western states have binding targets for renewable energy production. Take California’s 33 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which has helped lead to its dominance in solar and wind project deployment this year. Or look at Nevada, which recently coaxed Tesla to build its new gigafactory in the Silver State with business-friendly policies — bringing with it $5 billion and over 6,000 jobs. RPS policies and financial incentives across the West have been beyond successful, opening the door for a rush of eager entrepreneurs to create thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in investment, and substantial savings for millions of consumers. [ read more … ]
Stakes high for agencies as justices weigh key rulemaking tool
When the Supreme Court returns this week, its docket will be missing the high-profile environmental cases that dominated last term. There are no challenges to President Obama’s greenhouse gas program for addressing climate change, nor is there anything on U.S. EPA’s effort to clamp down on air pollution that drifts across state lines. “The Supreme Court had its fill of environmental cases last term,” said Thomas Lorenzen, a former Department of Justice environmental attorney now at Dorsey & Whitney LLP. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.