View this email in a web browser.
GROUPS URGE CONGRESS NOT TO REVIVE WIND PTC:
Sixty-six right-leaning groups are urging congressional Republicans not to revive or extend the wind production tax credit as part of a tax extenders package. The groups — including the American Energy Alliance, Heritage Action for America and Americans for Prosperity — call the PTC an important part of President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s “attack on affordable energy from natural gas, coal, and nuclear.” [ read more … ]
Conservatives tie PTC to Obama agenda in bid to sink lame-duck deals
The American Energy Alliance and 66 other groups sent a letter today to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) arguing that allowing the PTC to be extended this year would sacrifice leverage in upcoming tax reform negotiations and hand Democrats a win. “Rejecting efforts to extend the PTC is a meaningful way for this Congress to oppose the president’s climate plan,” the groups write. “A vote for extending the PTC is a vote for the president and the majority leader’s agenda.” [ read more … ]
Republican gains in Wash. Legislature spoil plans for a West Coast bloc of climate action states
A mixed bag of electoral victories in Washington state and Oregon on Tuesday night opened some room for the ambitious climate agendas of the states’ green-minded governors. But failure to tip the Washington Senate left environmentalists just shy of the across-the-board victory many had hoped for. Democrats in Oregon had previously dominated both chambers of the state Legislature but had seen several key environmental measures stalled by the defection of a single Democratic state senator, Betsy Johnson, across the aisle. By netting an additional seat Tuesday, Democrats now have the space they need to work around Johnson’s vote and move forward with measures on local coal traffic, carbon pricing and renewable energy. [ read more … ]
Severe Drought Hastens Hydropower’s Slow Decline
Coal retirements, the shale gas bonanza, post-Fukushima nuclear curtailments, the rising adoption of distributed generation, and emerging price parity for solar PV and wind – the dynamic changes impacting electricity grids worldwide are many. Now, with prolonged droughts affecting leading global economies, like Brazil and California (the world’s seventh and eighth largest economies by gross domestic product [GDP], respectively), a slow decline in the prominence of hydropower is in the mix. [ read more … ]
Former EPA General Counsel Martella says Clean Power Plan will not survive legal challenges
How could political shifts in Washington following this week’s midterm elections impact President Obama’s aggressive climate action agenda? During today’s OnPoint, Roger Martella, a partner at Sidley Austin LLP and the former general counsel at U.S. EPA, discusses the legislative and legal battles ahead for EPA’s Clean Power Plan and Clean Air Act regulations. Martella also explains why he believes the existing source standard will not survive in court. [ read more … ]
Sutley, former NOAA official named to Calif. nonprofit
Former White House Council on Environmental Quality chief Nancy Sutley is joining the board of a California nonprofit tasked with coordinating research on oceans. The Ocean Science Trust, an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit, was established by state legislation in 2000 to advise policymakers on ocean and coastal management. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.