TOP HEADLINES

 

CPP Backers Aggressively Push For D.C. Circuit To Issue Merits Decision.

 

Uneven Enforcement Follows Pruitt Edict On Science Panels.

 

Trump Picks CEQ Aide To Lead Federal Permitting Panel.

 

Hill Leaders Consider $1.5 Billion In Aid To Carolinas.

 

Hill Poised To OK Disaster Money, But Shutdown Threat Looms.

 

 

 

White House and Diplomacy

 

AP | Tackling Climate Change To Be Key Talking Point At UN Summit. According to The Washington Post, “With global temperatures rising, superstorms taking their deadly toll and a year-end deadline to firm up the Paris climate deal, leaders at this year’s U.N. General Assembly are feeling a sense of urgency to keep up the momentum on combating climate change. That’s why, in between discussing how to tackle wars, poverty and deadly diseases around the world, leaders will be devoting substantial time in New York this week to the question of global warming and how to rein it in. There’ll be talk of emissions targets and the need to adapt to the inevitable changes already underway when small island states take the floor at the annual gathering. Ministers from major economies, meanwhile, will be meeting behind closed doors to discuss who will pay to help poor countries avoid the worst effects of global warming — and prevent a wave of climate refugees in future. Outside the confines of the United Nations, campaigners and businesspeople will meet during New York Climate Week, while Wednesday will see the second edition of French President Emmanuel Macron’s One Planet Summit. About the only leader not expected to dwell on climate change is President Donald Trump, who last year announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris accord. He says it represents a bad deal for the American people.” [The Washington Post, 9/22/18 (+)]

 

CEQ

 

Trump Picks CEQ Aide To Lead Federal Permitting Panel. According to E&E News, “President Trump has tapped his infrastructure point man to lead federal efforts to coordinate permitting, a long-awaited appointment that could assuage some criticisms of the administration’s beleaguered infrastructure plan but hurt its sales pitch on Capitol Hill. Trump today announced his intent to nominate Alex Herrgott for executive director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC), an interagency panel created to improve governmentwide coordination on infrastructure approvals. The administration had faced criticism for pushing changes to environmental laws and talking big about reforming permitting but at the same time failing to nominate anyone to lead the council. Angela Colamaria, an Office of Management and Budget staffer and former Energy Department official, has been the acting head since March, according to her LinkedIn page. Herrgott, a former aide to Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and deputy staff director for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is currently serving as associate director for infrastructure at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.” [E&E News, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Herrgott Tapped To Lead Federal Permitting Council. According to Politico, “Herrgott, currently associate director for infrastructure at CEQ, previously served as a key aide on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for more than a decade. He will lead the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, which was established by the last highway and transit law, to act as a ‘one-stop shop’ coordinating permits across 15 departments and federal agencies. FPISC has yet to hit its stride, according to a paper by the Brookings Institution, and the permitting dashboard it hosts has been criticized for adding another layer of bureaucracy on infrastructure applications instead of streamlining the process. … During the transition, Herrgott had helped draft an early version of what would become the administration’s infrastructure plan. In his current role at CEQ, Herrgott worked to garner support among lawmakers and other key stakeholders for the plan, focusing specifically on speeding project permitting times. He was reportedly key to Trump’s promise to bring infrastructure permitting times down to two years or less, a promise he will be in a position to implement at FPISC.” [Politico, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Federal Agencies

 

EPA

 

Clean Power Plan (CPP) & Affordable Clean Energy (ACE)

 

Legal Challenges

 

CPP Backers Aggressively Push For D.C. Circuit To Issue Merits Decision. According to Inside EPA, “States and environmental groups that support the Obama EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) are aggressively urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to rule on the merits of the power plant greenhouse gas rule in the long-pending lawsuit, strongly pushing back against EPA and other opponents’ arguments that the case is moot. In a Sept. 21 filing in West Virginia, et al. v. EPA, et al., states led by New York and environmental groups led by the Environmental Defense Fund argue that the reasons outlined last week by EPA and CPP opponents to continue to hold the case in abeyance all fail. ‘The responses identify no constitutional principle, statute, rule, or judicial precedent that prevents the Court from deciding the merits,’ the filing says. ‘And while both EPA and Petitioners admonish the Court to avoid an ‘advisory opinion,’ they do not dispute that the case presents a substantial, live controversy and that climate change harms will only worsen with inaction.’ The filing responds to Sept. 14 briefs from the Department of Justice on EPA’s behalf, as well as state and industry intervenors, urging the court to reject the CPP supporters’ earlier request to issue a merits ruling. The Trump EPA has proposed to repeal the CPP and replace it with a proposal called the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule that would achieve negligible GHG cuts by requiring only efficiency improvements at coal plants.” [Inside EPA, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Greens Caution Court Against 'Years-Long Wild-Goose Chase.' According to E&E News, “Supporters of a scuttled Obama-era plan to cut carbon emissions from the power sector are urging a federal court to revive litigation over the rule. In a new filing, a coalition of states and environmental groups say the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit should finally resolve a complex legal battle over EPA’s Clean Power Plan or face a ‘years-long wild-goose chase’ over the agency’s authority. … Supporters of the Obama approach used today’s filing to attempt to poke holes in the new plan, noting that ACE includes no binding emissions limits and would encourage high-emitting power plant projects. Plus, they argued, it’s unlikely the proposal will be finalized as quickly as EPA hopes. ‘While the merits of the wide-ranging and complex proposed rule are not before the Court, it is relevant because EPA and Petitioners trumpet it as grounds for further abeyance, and because completing a rulemaking of this scope, with necessary technical support and appropriate time for and review of public comment, is seldom simple or quick,’ the states and environmental groups wrote. ‘EPA’s proceedings could readily stretch well past the ‘first part’ of next year, however defined.’” [E&E News, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Opinion Pieces

 

Op-Ed: Nurses To EPA: In Missouri We Don’t Do Stagnation; We Innovate. According to an op-ed by Lynelle Phillips in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “When Americans face a challenge, we adapt. We innovate. We step up and make the world better. As nurses, we take pride in the creative ways health care continues to improve and treat our patients’ most challenging illnesses. So we wonder, why is the Environmental Protection Agency proposing a rule that will be a gigantic step backward for public health? Rolling back vital clean air and climate protections will reverse progress toward cleaner air. Unfortunately, leadership at both the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are doing just that by starting a process to gut clean car standards. Historically, standards under the Clean Air Act, such as regulations on tailpipe emissions, have been immensely successful in improving air quality, providing both health and economic benefits. Modern cars are now considered 99 percent less polluting in comparison to cars on the road in the 1970s. We have the technology to make better, cleaner, more efficient cars. Why aren’t we? Some might claim that stagnating progress toward cleaner cars and cleaner air makes economic sense. However, they are wrong. The return on investment is clear. For every $1 spent on policies to reduce vehicle emissions, Americans gain $9 in health and environmental benefits. Fuel emission standards also stimulate development of creative new technologies that make cars more efficient, cleaner and reliable. This saves consumers money. Drivers in Missouri saved an estimated $690 million to date because of a strong fuel economy and reduced global warming emission standards.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9/19/18 (+)]

 

Deregulation & Regulatory Reform

 

D.C. Circuit Again Grants Bid To Quickly Implement EPA Facility Safety Rule. According to Inside EPA, “Appellate court judges have again granted environmentalists’ request to force quick implementation of an Obama-era rule tightening facility safety requirements, expediting its ruling that struck down a Trump administration effort to delay the rule’s effectiveness by almost two years while the agency considers whether to undo the stricter mandates. In a pair of Sept. 21 filings, two judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit grant the novel request by critics of the delay to expedite issuance of its mandate. The move is a procedural step that implements the court’s Aug. 17 ruling vacating the Trump administration’s rule delaying by nearly two-years the Obama EPA’s update to the Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility accident prevention program. The decision was not unexpected, as the court initially granted the request for expedited mandate Aug. 31, but withdrew that decision days later, saying it was issued ‘inadvertently.’ EPA and industry groups supportive of the delay rule argued that the court never gave them time to file motions in opposition of expediting the mandate. The court then undid its decision and set a swift filing schedule to hear those arguments, but has still decided to undo the delay rule by expediting the mandate. The decision appears to put the Obama-era revisions that tightened the RMP back into effect, though the agency could potentially appeal the decision to the full D.C. Circuit or Supreme Court.” [Inside EPA, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Court Orders EPA To Reinstate Obama Chemical Safety Rule. According to Politico, “The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today ordered EPA to immediately reinstate an Obama-era chemical safety rule. The court in August struck down the Trump administration’s attempt to delay the rule, known as the Risk Management Program update or the Chemical Disaster Rule. Environmental groups asked the judges to immediately issue their formal order EPA to reinstate the rule, rather than let it remain on ice for nearly two months while EPA mulls whether to appeal the ruling, a request EPA and industry groups opposed. The judges granted that request this afternoon in a one-page order that did not further explain the decision. The court had accidentally issued that order in late August, but quickly reversed it following complaints from EPA and industry. The judges have not explained how the order was issued inadvertantly. WHAT’S NEXT: EPA must reinstate the rule, although it still has time to decide whether to appeal the case.” [Politico, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Trump Makes It Easier To Release Toxins In Water. According to E&E News, “For decades, coal plants dumped toxic water laced with mercury, arsenic and other dangerous pollutants into America’s waterways. The practice contaminated thousands of miles of U.S. rivers and streams, according to federal estimates, making coal facilities the largest industrial source of toxic wastewater pollution in the country. So when EPA issued a rule in 2015 to halt the discharges, environmentalists were elated. The agency estimated that its new standards would eliminate the release of 1.4 billion pounds of toxic metals, nutrients and other pollutants every year. The victory was short-lived. Utility lobbyists began pressing EPA to weaken the rule within weeks of Scott Pruitt’s confirmation as EPA administrator in 2017, according to documents obtained by the Sierra Club in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. EPA had spent four years studying power plant discharges and two more crafting the 2015 standards. It was the first update to coal plant wastewater discharges in more than three decades. Pruitt needed less than a month to gut the rule. ‘That was my baby, and we saw it go down the toilet,’ said Betsy Southerland, who was then the head of EPA’s Office of Water. ‘We did two briefings with Pruitt to try to salvage it, but he had made the decision.’” [E&E News, 9/24/18 (=)]

 

HFCs

 

Trump's EPA Is Targeting Rules For Yet Another Greenhouse Gas. According to The Washington Post, “Now, the Trump administration is trying to replace regulations for an even more obscure set of greenhouse gases in an effort apparently aimed at slowing down the Obama administration’s efforts to deter global warming. On Wednesday, the EPA announced it wanted to get rid of rules meant to prevent the leaking and venting of a set of organic compounds called hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, from large refrigerating and air-conditioning units. The new rule, which has yet to be finalized, is the latest in a flurry of EPA proposals over the past month or so further attempting to unwind Obama’s climate legacy. The actions — on CO2, on methane and now on HFCs — demonstrate the agency still has much of the same attitude toward climate regulations under acting administrator Andrew Wheeler, who took over the agency in July, as it did under former EPA chief Scott Pruitt. In the case of HFCs, even tiny amounts leached into the atmosphere pack a wallop of a punch to the climate. On a pound-for-pound basis, those compounds have a warming potential thousands of times greater than that of carbon dioxide. ‘This is climate vandalism,’ contended David Doniger, director of the climate and clean air program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. ‘They’re just going through all these things that Obama did and trying to destroy them all.’” [The Washington Post, 9/21/18 (+)]

 

Andrew Wheeler

 

Come Clean. According to Politico, “It’s National Clean Energy Week, which means a slate of environmental big names will turn up Wednesday to deliver remarks at the Policy Makers Symposium. FERC Commissioner Neil Chatterjee, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski , EPA acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Energy Undersecretary Mark Menezes are among the names billed to speak. Sponsors for the event include the American Petroleum Institute, American Wind Energy Association and ClearPath.” [Politico, 9/24/18 (=)]

 

Scott Pruitt

 

Uneven Enforcement Follows Pruitt Edict On Science Panels. According to E&E News, “While Pruitt swiftly forced out members from two particularly influential panels after unveiling the directive, participants on nine of 12 others sampled by E&E News in recent weeks said they’ve since heard nothing from EPA. How many people on those other panels could run afoul of the grants prohibition is uncertain. But to Ohio State University professor Robyn Wilson, the patchy enforcement is evidence that Pruitt’s stated rationale for the policy — to ensure members’ objectivity — was a sham. ‘It just seems like a very targeted move, an oddly targeted move,’ she said. Wilson, who was ousted from EPA’s Science Advisory Board last year rather than drop out of an agency-funded project, is now a plaintiff in one of three lawsuits seeking to overturn the policy. Records released in another of those lawsuits suggest the Trump administration followed the lead of Republican lawmakers preoccupied with the two panels singled out by Pruitt: the Science Advisory Board (SAB) and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (Greenwire, May 24). The seats previously held by Wilson and other academic researchers were in some cases filled by replacements with industry ties. But Pruitt’s written directive makes clear — and EPA spokesman Michael Abboud confirmed at the time — that the new membership standard applied to all 22 committees. ‘Right now, we’re in the process of reviewing all the other boards and speaking with their members so they are in compliance,’ Abboud said last November shortly after the policy was announced.” [E&E News, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Congress

 

House of Representatives

 

Hill Poised To OK Disaster Money, But Shutdown Threat Looms. According to E&E News, “Congress is betting that linking a popular Pentagon spending bill with stopgap funding for other federal agencies in the coming days will avert a politically treacherous government shutdown next week. The House is expected to pass a continuing resolution by the end of this week to maintain level funding for any agencies that do not have new spending plans in place by month’s end. The CR would ride on a spending minibus that would marry up the annual Defense bill with the largest domestic measure, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education bill. The Senate overwhelmingly backed the package last week, clearing the way for the House to follow suit and send the legislation to President Trump. He would need to sign it before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1 to avoid a break in agency funding. Trump, however, has several times suggested he might force a shutdown because the package does not contain adequate funding for border wall security. ‘I want to know, where is the money for Border Security and the WALL in this ridiculous Spending Bill, and where will it come from after the Midterms? Dems are obstructing Law Enforcement and Border Security. REPUBLICANS MUST FINALLY GET TOUGH!’ Trump wrote in a tweet last week.” [E&E News, 9/24/18 (=)]

 

Members To Examine Environmental Litigation Curbs. According to E&E News, “House lawmakers this week are set to review potential curbs to environmental lawsuits against projects and resource extraction. The Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Interior, Energy and Environment will meet Thursday to discuss ‘restoring balance’ to environmental lawsuits. Republicans have long lamented that environmentalists file an unwieldy volume of suits, draining the resources of government agencies, businesses and individuals on the other side. Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.), who leads the panel, introduced legislation, H.R. 6567, earlier this year that would curtail lawsuits over forest management projects on public lands (E&E Daily, July 27). Republicans have also criticized what they call the ‘sue and settle’ practice, in which environmental groups file lawsuits with the aim of prompting a government settlement. Environmentalists have countered that they are simply pushing agencies to meet statutory deadlines and other obligations.” [E&E News, 9/24/18 (=)]

 

 

Allies and Activism

 

Climate Summit Sparks Hope For Political Shift Amid Federal Inaction. According to Inside EPA, “California Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) last week spurred a variety of pledges by countries, states and local governments to reduce greenhouse gases, though a report released at the summit shows the pledges are not likely to counter the impact of the Trump administration’s inaction on climate issues. Broadly, supporters of the Sept. 12-14 conference in San Francisco say it provided a needed jolt into climate politics as the midterm elections approach and as experts look further ahead toward the United Nations’ annual climate meeting in 2020, where countries are expected to offer their second round of GHG mitigation targets under the Paris Agreement. The summit ‘provided California and hundreds of businesses and other subnational actors an important opportunity to demonstrate a strong, unified commitment to driving the global economy towards decarbonization in the shadow of a U.S. federal government moving in the opposite direction,’ says Noel Perry, founder of the clean energy group Next 10. He adds that while binding international climate targets are important, ‘unity and energy are also needed to help maintain momentum and drive progress on climate change. I think the legacy of the summit will be a new-found sense of empowerment – affirming that subnational actors can and will play a critical role in moving the world forward towards a decarbonized global economy.’” [Inside EPA, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Low-Carbon Coalition Backs Tool To Protect State Climate Policies In PJM. According to Inside EPA, “A coalition of environmentalists, utilities and others who back zero-carbon power are urging one of the largest regional grid operators to embrace a new market policy that accommodates state clean energy efforts, after federal energy regulators directed the region to overhaul its power market rules. The advocacy focuses on upcoming revisions to capacity markets in PJM Interconnection, which runs the grid in the Mid-Atlantic and large swaths of the Midwest. Those markets pay generators for agreements to provide power in future years to meet expected electricity demand, and they are separate from energy markets that provide payments for meeting shorter-term demands. However, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in late June ordered PJM to change its rules to address plants that receive ‘out-of-market support’ -- through renewable mandates, nuclear subsidies or other policies -- and thus can submit artificially low bids into capacity markets and crowd out unsubsidized plants. Broadly, the commission directed PJM to expand its ‘minimum offer price rule’ to require state-subsidized clean energy resources to exclude the value of those subsidies in their capacity market bids. The commission’s Democratic members dissented from the 3-2 order, arguing it could ‘stymie’ state climate and greenhouse gas policies.” [Inside EPA, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Opposition Groups

 

We Must All Sacrifice For The Environment (But I Meant You – Not Me!) According to The Heartland Institute, “San Francisco officials are once again learning the meaning of the word ‘petard,’ as they struggle with water shortages. Several times, endangered species issues have come back to haunt some of the nation’s most unyielding environmental campaigners (San Francisco is the birthplace and headquarters of the Sierra Club) and their elected officials. Yet the City has never moderated its in-your-face, holier-than-thou environmentalism. When President Trump announced the U.S. exit from the Paris climate deal, for example, San Francisco announced that it would comply with the intent anyway, limiting the local use of fossil fuels. The City has banned plastic straws, grocery bags, and Styrofoam, and even required solar panels on private buildings. If it is on the environmental industry wish list, San Francisco is leading the way. Even so, when activists there insist on leaving more water in the rivers, to protect salmon, they mean water from Central Valley farmers – not their own water. State regulators have obliged, and water restrictions have been imposed on farms to the south for 25 years. Hundreds of billions of gallons of water previously used for irrigation have been flushed to the ocean every year, rather than sent through the California Aqueduct to the Central Valley. Nevertheless, salmon remain endangered. So now, the California Water Resources Control Board proposes further restrictions, this time including water that is part of the municipal supply of San Francisco.” [The Heartland Institute, 9/21/18 (-)]

 

Coal Is Still King In The Global Generating Sector. According to Institute for Energy Research, “While many developed nations are looking to phase out their coal-fired power plants, many countries in Asia and Africa are looking to coal to provide a reliable source of power for their country. Many countries in the world are still not fully electrified and providing electricity to their residents will improve their quality of life and make economic development possible. The U.S. coal industry is looking to export coal to these countries and would benefit from a West coast export-handling terminal. Utah has signed a memorandum of understanding with officials from Mexico to possibly use their port in Ensenada to export coal to Pacific Rim countries.” [Institute for Energy Research, 9/21/18 (-)]

 

Industry and Finance

 

Green Projects Are A Safer Bet For Investors — Moody's. According to E&E News, “Loans for green infrastructure projects are safer investments than the broader market, especially in wealthy countries, according to Moody’s Investors Service. In a report released last week, the ratings agency found loans extended to pay for green projects — defined as projects of renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transport and climate adaptation, among others — were paid back in full more frequently than those for non-green projects. Kathrin Heitmann, senior analyst at Moody’s, said she and her peers ‘split the data into green and non-green projects’ and ‘found significant distinctions related to default and recovery rates.’ That pattern bears out in the loan data of the electricity and public works sectors. ‘Overall, green projects had lower default rates than non-green projects in both the power and infrastructure industry sectors, although findings vary significantly across regional subsets,’ the introduction reads. The report provides a thorough examination of the financial strength of the green energy and lower carbon energy industries, and its conclusions cut against the notion that alternative energy projects are risky investments. In March, Moody’s completed a study of more than 7,000 project-finance loans — debt issued to pay for long-term projects on infrastructure deals — generated worldwide between 1983 and 2016. The report issued last week pulled from those transactions. Compared over a 10-year period, the debtors behind the green projects defaulted at a lower rate than those backing the non-green efforts — 5.7 percent versus 8.5 percent, respectively.” [E&E News, 9/24/18 (=)]

 

Opinion Pieces

 

Op-Ed: A Missed Opportunity To Teach Trump Some Science. According to an op-ed by Faye Flam in Bloomberg, “The people advising Trump on science could change the world, for better or worse, for a long time to come. Though journalists have implied the president is intractable on climate change by endlessly repeating his quip that it’s all a ‘Chinese hoax,’ he probably can be influenced. He’s also said he’s open minded on the issue. Trump’s belated pick for science adviser, meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier, looked good when he was first chosen on July 31, but people are applying a low standard. He appears much more mainstream than Trump’s long-assumed pick — physicist Will Happer — who has gone public many times saying that adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere will be good for us. But there are a couple of clouds looming. First, there’s a good chance Droegemeier’s advice on climate will still amount to the same thing as Happer’s: Do nothing. In confirmation hearings last month, he equivocated on questions about climate change, according to an analysis in Nature. He made the feel-good statement that science should be conducted without political interference or influence. Conservatives will think this means without interference from those alarmist liberals, and liberals will think that means without the influence of those problem-denying conservatives.” [Bloomberg, 9/21/18 (+)]

 

Research And Analysis

 

Climate Study ‘Pulls Punches’ To Keep Polluters On Board. According to The Guardian, “Warnings about the dangers of global warming are being watered down in the final version of a key climate report for a major international meeting next month, according to reviewers who have studied earlier versions of the report and its summary. They say scientists working on the final draft of the summary are censoring their own warnings and ‘pulling their punches’ to make policy recommendations seem more palatable to countries – such as the US, Saudi Arabia and Australia – that are reluctant to cut fossil-fuel emissions, a key cause of global warming. ‘Downplaying the worst impacts of climate change has led the scientific authors to omit crucial information from the summary for policymakers,’ said one reviewer, Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. ‘However, if governments do not recognise the full scale and urgency of the risks, they may underestimate how critical it is to meet the goal of the Paris agreement on climate change. And that could have very serious knock-on effects in the battle to limit the impact of global warming.’ The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C and its summary for policymakers were commissioned by governments following the UN meeting in Paris in 2015, when it was agreed to act to limit increases in global average temperature to less than 2C above pre-industrial levels and to try keep that increase nearer to 1.5C. The report – to be presented at a meeting in Korea in early October – will make clear that allowing temperatures to rise by 2C will have devastating consequences, including rising sea levels, spreading deserts, loss of natural habitats and species, dwindling ice-caps and increases in the number of devastating storms.” [The Guardian, 9/21/18 (+)]

 

Earth's Climate Liposuction. According to Axios, “Why it matters: There’s so much buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, scientists say we’ve reached a point that some needs to be removed to limit Earth’s temperature rise and avoid the worst impacts of a warmer world. Technology exists to do it, but it’s costly, zany-sounding and not well known. That’s starting to change now. ‘The big story is you can’t get there simply by lowering carbon emissions. I think that window has closed. That’s a pretty revolutionary concept.’ — Andrew Steer, president, World Resources Institute Driving the news: A seminal report to be released Oct. 8 by a United Nations scientific body is expected to underscore the need for transformative technologies in order to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to more than a century ago. The report is expected to include an emphasis on removing carbon dioxide already emitted into the atmosphere, according to multiple people familiar with it. After the UN report is issued, the National Academy of Sciences also is set to release several influential studies on this topic. The big picture: Momentum among foundations, universities and other experts in this space is growing rather suddenly. That’s notable, given that it’s addressing what is a centuries-long problem.” [Axios, 9/24/18 (+)]

 

'We're Moving To Higher Ground': America's Era Of Climate Mass Migration Is Here. According to The Guardian, “After her house flooded for the third year in a row, Elizabeth Boineau was ready to flee. She packed her possessions into dozens of boxes, tried not to think of the mold and mildew-covered furniture and retreated to a second-floor condo that should be beyond the reach of pounding rains and swelling seas. Boineau is leaving behind a handsome, early 20th-century house in Charleston, South Carolina, the shutters painted in the city’s eponymous shade of deep green. Last year, after Hurricane Irma introduced 8in of water into a home Boineau was still patching up from the last flood, local authorities agreed this historic slice of Charleston could be torn down. ‘I was sloshing through the water with my puppy dog, debris was everywhere,’ she said. ‘I feel completely sunken. It would cost me around $500,000 to raise the house, demolish the first floor. I’m going to rent a place instead, on higher ground.’ Millions of Americans will confront similarly hard choices as climate change conjures up brutal storms, flooding rains, receding coastlines and punishing heat. Many are already opting to shift to less perilous areas of the same city, or to havens in other states. Whole towns from Alaska to Louisiana are looking to relocate, in their entirety, to safer ground.” [The Guardian, 9/24/18 (+)]

 

Michigan State To Study How Info On Hurricane Maria Spread. According to E&E News, “Michigan State University researchers have received a federal grant to study communication after Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico. The East Lansing school says it plans to use the roughly $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to examine how information spread during and after the hurricane that struck last September. Researchers aim to learn why infrastructure failed and how crisis communication was used before, during and after the hurricane. A research team plans to convene focus groups and interview reporters and residents. It also will map areas still lacking electricity. Project goals include producing a book, website and documentary about the storm’s impact on reporting as well as residents’ lives. Researchers also seek to develop policy recommendations for effective communication in places with similar characteristics to Puerto Rico. — Associated Press” [E&E News, 9/24/18 (=)]

 

With Climate Change No Longer In The Future, Adaptation Speeds Up. According to The New York Times, “In New York, designs are underway for a $203 million flip-up wall to protect Lower Manhattan from intensifying storm surges. In China, companies building coal-fired power plants amid more frequent periods of drought are shifting to a more expensive technology that cools the plants’ equipment with less water. In Bangladesh, rice farmers facing rising seawater are changing what they grow, some to more salt-tolerant varieties of the crop and others away from rice altogether, to shrimp. All these shifts, experts familiar with them say, are in response to climate change. Not long ago, climate change was seen as a threat for the future. Increasingly, it’s a reality of the present, a new normal spurring billions of dollars in annual spending as governments, companies and citizens scramble to adapt. Intensifying storms, like Hurricane Florence, which walloped the Carolinas this month; worsening drought, which fueled the fires that have swept through California this year; and rising seas that have put coastal cities on edge around the globe are all linked at least in part, scientists say, to a human-induced rise in global temperatures, and they are prompting all manner of defensive measures. The United Nations estimates that adapting to climate change could cost $500 billion yearly by 2050 — a price tag that would be borne by everyone, including governments, the private sector and citizens. But whether even that sum would succeed in shoring up people and infrastructure is anyone’s guess. The shift in focus from trying just to prevent climate change to trying to live with it is forcing some sobering trade-offs, and they are likely, experts say, to get more painful.” [The New York Times, 9/21/18 (+)]

 

On The Attack Against Climate Change. According to The New York Times, “Coral reefs are beautiful to look at, but they also play a crucial role as coastal barriers when storms or flooding hits, absorbing about 97 percent of wave energy. But because of rising temperatures, coral cover in the Caribbean is estimated to have decreased by about 80 percent in the last few decades, said Joseph Pollock, Caribbean coral strategy director at the Nature Conservancy. He added that in 2016, a marine heat wave was estimated to have killed about a third of the shallow corals on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The Nature Conservancy in partnership with Secore International, a conservation organization and a leader in coral restoration, are using an innovative approach to address the problem: helping coral reproduction. Coral mating works this way, Dr. Pollock said: Many coral species spawn by putting out bundles of eggs and sperm one night a year. ‘It’s like the craziest singles bar ever,’ he said. Researchers know when those nights are, so they go out, collect the eggs and sperm and then mix them together to cross-fertilize, grow them for a few days or weeks until they become coral juveniles, then place them back in the sea.” [The New York Times, 9/21/18 (+)]

 

Reaching For A Zero-Emission Goal. According to The New York Times, “Costa Rica may be small and sparsely populated, but the Central American nation is a big player when it comes to environmental stewardship. In the late 1990s, Costa Rica emerged as a world leader in the eco-tourism and sustainability movements — reversing decades of deforestation with successful initiatives to protect its land, seas and wildlife. Now the country is tackling a far larger issue for its bicentennial in 2021: global climate change. Looking beyond national ecology, Costa Rica is implementing a series of new environmental policies to become Earth’s first carbon-neutral nation. Below, we chart the progress achieved toward this lofty, zero-emission goal.” [The New York Times, 9/21/18 (+)]

 

 

Hurricane Florence

 

Impacts and Reactions

 

Hurricane Florence Has Gone, But Challenges For The Carolinas Have Just Begun. According to The New York Times, “It will not be easy drying out, fixing up and rethinking whole ways of life in a region drenched and deeply shaken by more than eight trillion gallons of rain. But that is the challenge facing the Carolinas after Hurricane Florence and a wearying week of heroic rescues, hard choices, potential environmental crises — including a dam breach on Friday that allowed coal ash to seep into a river — and a vast response that is still unfolding. The storm and its subsequent flooding have already killed at least 42 people. The threats have not abated, particularly here in South Carolina’s low-lying coastal plain, where the Waccamaw River set a record on Friday and will keep rising into the new week, threatening neighborhoods, infrastructure and lives anew. Already, the emergency and recovery response is staggering in its scope, with more than 6,000 National Guard soldiers and thousands more federal disaster-response workers spread across the region. They have six million emergency meals to hand out, four million liters of water, 700,000 blankets and 6,000 cots. Along with state and local governments, federal officials will also have to manage a daunting bureaucratic challenge as they attempt to rebuild and revive a vast area that covers hard-hit mega-farms, tourist zones and pockets of deep rural poverty.” [The New York Times, 9/24/18 (+)]

 

North Carolina Solar Farms Slowly Recovering From Florence. According to Bloomberg, “North Carolina’s solar farms took a beating from Hurricane Florence and many of the power plants remain out of service, a week after the storm slammed into the second-biggest U.S. market. About one-third of the 3,000 megawatts of solar capacity connected to Duke Energy Corp.’s system went down initially, according to Randy Wheeless, a utility spokesman. Almost 600 megawatts are still out of service, including in coastal counties that are contending with record flooding. Florence was a Category 4 status at its peak, packing 130 mile-per-hour winds (210 kilometer-per-hour) two days before making landfall Sept. 14. That’s close to the threshold that newer solar farms are designed to withstand -- 140 to 160-miles-per-hour. While the storm weakened by the time it hit North Carolina, the power plants still had to deal with the potential for flooding and downed power lines. ‘It’s difficult to predict when all solar facilities will be back online,’ Wheeless said. ‘The floodwaters are still going up in places.’ Some areas are still so flooded that operators haven’t been able to access solar farms. And being submerged for days can pose a problem for solar-farm components such as inverters, said Ben Gallagher, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. Solar installations in North Carolina have surged in recent years. It has almost 5 gigawatts of capacity, the second-biggest state in the U.S. behind California, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.” [Bloomberg, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

AP | Travel Still Dangerous In Flooded Areas Of North Carolina. According to The Washington Post, “Travel remained dangerous Saturday in southeastern North Carolina, where the governor warned of ‘treacherous’ floodwaters more than a week after Hurricane Florence made landfall, and urged residents to stay alert for flood warnings and evacuation orders. Gov. Roy Cooper said nine of the state’s river gauges are at major flood stage and four others are at moderate stage, while parts of Interstates 95 and 40 will remain underwater for another week or more. Emergency management officials said residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed will begin moving into hotel rooms next week. ‘Hurricane Florence has deeply wounded our state, wounds that will not fade soon as the flood waters finally recede,’ Cooper said. South Carolina also has ordered more evacuations as rivers continue to rise in the aftermath of a storm that has claimed at least 43 lives since slamming into the coast more than a week ago.” [The Washington Post, 9/22/18 (=)]

 

Florence Sets Off Spills At Ash, Waste Sites, Bolstering Calls For Strict Rules. According to Inside EPA, “Environmentalists are pushing for stricter EPA and state controls on power plants’ coal ash ponds after a North Carolina plant’s cooling water dam breached Sept. 21 due to flooding from Hurricane Florence, submerging a nearby coal ash pond and raising prospects for further spills after an earlier ash pond breach at the same facility. Duke Energy announced Sept. 21 that flood waters in North Carolina’s Cape Fear region ‘have caused breaches in the cooling lake dam surrounding the cooling lake’ at the L.V. Sutton power plant near Wilmington, N.C., and the dam breach has in turn overflowed a wall that surrounds an ash disposal site at the complex. The dam breach adds to the hazards posed by an earlier breach at another ash site near the same power plant, which according to the Associated Press has spilled ‘enough material to fill 180 dump trucks.’ Duke says in its statement on the flooding that there has been no evidence of an ash spill caused by the Sept. 21 dam breach, but the Associated Press article indicates that may not be the case, writing, ‘Gray material that the company characterized as ‘coal combustion byproducts’ could be seen floating in both the lake and river’ after the dam failed.” [Inside EPA, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

What Is Coal Ash And Why Is It Dangerous? According to The New York Times, “What is coal ash? Coal ash is the powdery substance that remains after burning coal. What remains after coal is burned includes fly ash, bottom ash and so-called scrubber sludge, said Lisa Evans, chief counsel to Earthjustice, an environmental law organization. The sludge, which is created from solutions sprayed inside exhaust stacks to capture the harmful chemicals that cause acid rain, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, falls to the bottom. All of those remnants are mixed with water and then sent to vast retaining ponds or impoundments near the coal-burning power plants. An estimated 110 million tons of coal ash is produced each year, Ms. Evans said. Why is it hazardous? The remnants of burned coal include arsenic, boron, lead and mercury, which are known carcinogens and damage organs, among other health effects. Is the ash really held in ponds? No, according to Ms. Evans. That is the colloquial description of these basins, but it is really a misnomer given their size, she said. ‘It’s a hard thing to get a word for because the E.P.A. calls it a ‘surface impoundment,’ she said. The largest of them is 1,300 acres in Pennsylvania, with a more typical size around 100 acres, she said. There are about 1,000 such ponds documented in the country, though the number is likely higher because not all have been inventoried, she said. While there is a high concentration of these basins in coal states like Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the largest concentration is in southeastern states such as Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, which are more prone to hurricanes.” [The New York Times, 9/21/18 (+)]

 

AP | NC River Swirls With Gray Muck Near Flooded Coal Ash Dump. According to The Washington Post, “Gray muck is flowing into the Cape Fear River from the site of a dam breach at a Wilmington power plant where an old coal ash dump had been covered over by Florence’s floodwaters. Forecasters predicted the water will continue to rise through the weekend at the L.V. Sutton Power Station. Duke Energy spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said the utility doesn’t believe the breach poses a significant threat of increased flooding to nearby communities. Sheehan said the company can’t rule out that ash might be escaping the flooded dump and flowing through the lake into the river. Inspectors with the state Department of Environmental Quality travelled to the plant by boat on Sunday to collect water quality samples. Environmental Secretary Mike Regan said aerial video of the site show ‘potential coal ash’ flowing into the river. ‘When the environment is conducive, we will put people on the ground to verify the amount of potential coal ash that could have left and entered those flood waters,’ Regan said. Floodwaters breached several points early Friday in the earthen dam at Sutton Lake, the plant’s 1,100-acre (445-hectare) reservoir. Lake water then flooded one of three large coal ash dumps lining the lakeshore.” [The Washington Post, 9/22/18 (=)]

 

Hill Leaders Consider $1.5 Billion In Aid To Carolinas. According to Politico, “Capitol Hill leaders are in talks to send more than $1.5 billion in immediate disaster aid to North and South Carolina as soon as next week, according to three people familiar with the talks. Lawmakers from both states, which have been heavily flooded by Hurricane Florence, are pushing for a rapid response to the storms, even as appropriations officials push back and say the money is not yet needed. The disaster aid — including more than $1 billion for North Carolina and roughly $500 million for South Carolina — would be attached to a must-pass bill to temporarily reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. That bill must pass by Sept. 30. The calls for aid have been swift from lawmakers of both parties, led by the four GOP senators from those states. Just days after the storm made landfall, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster told lawmakers he is seeking at least $1.2 billion in federal aid.” [Politico, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Duke On Breach: 'We Cannot Rule It Out'. According to E&E News, “Overrun dams at a former Duke Energy Corp. cooling lake in North Carolina have sparked concerns that coal ash could be flowing into the Cape Fear River. The Cape Fear River overtopped its banks yesterday, breaching a dam on the northern side of Lake Sutton at the L.V. Sutton Power Station. Lake Sutton sits between the river and two coal ash basins at the site, one of which is unlined. Water is now exiting the cooling lake through one large and several small breaches on the southern end of the impoundment, Duke said. Asked whether coal ash could be escaping and flowing into either Lake Sutton or the Cape Fear River, spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said, ‘We cannot rule it out but believe the material is being contained.’ The ash, waste from burning coal for power, can contain toxins like arsenic and mercury. There are two coal ash basins — one built in 1971 and another in 1984 — adjacent to Sutton Lake, which was created by the utility decades ago by damming a Cape Fear River tributary. The lake is separated from the 1971 unlined coal ash basin by a steel wall, which is currently submerged by floodwater. But, Duke said in a statement, the earthen portion of the basin dam is ‘two feet above the water and stable.’ ‘There is no visible ash in the cooling lake, and prior to flooding the ash level was at least five feet below the top of the steel wall,’ said the company.” [E&E News, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Dam Breach At N.C. Coal Plant May Be Spilling Coal Ash Into River. According to Politico, “A dam at a retired Duke Energy coal-fired power plant in North Carolina has breached, with testing already indicating that materials from the ash are reaching the Cape Fear River, the company said in a statement. Floodwaters from the river overtopped the dam separating the Cape Fear from Sutton Lake on Thursday, prompting Duke to activate its highest level of emergency alert at its L.V. Sutton power station near Wilmington, N.C. The lake, which Duke used as a cooling reservoir but is also popular for fishing and recreation, is bordered by two coal ash pits. Now, the floodwaters have risen even higher, overtopping the steel wall separating one of those pits from the lake, Duke said in a statement. The company said it believes the ash itself remains in place at the pond, but that ‘cenospheres’ — essentially material from the coal ash — are reaching the Cape Fear River. Meanwhile, the floodwaters are roughly 10 feet from the edge of the second coal ash pond at the site, according to Duke. The company said the earthen dam at that basin is stable and has not been affected. Duke’s Sutton site has experienced a number of problems since Hurricane Florence hit last week. Over the weekend floodwaters caused erosion at the site’s coal ash landfill, displacing about 150 dump trucks’ worth of ash. That incident also sent coal ash material into Sutton Lake, according to the company’s testing.” [Politico, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Opinion Pieces

 

Op-Ed: Yet More Coal Ash Problems For Duke Energy. What Will Force A Change? According to an op-ed by Sam Perkins in Charlotte Observer, “It’s déjà vu all over again. This past week, we have had more incidents of Duke Energy failing to safely manage coal ash despite assurances it could do so safely. At its Sutton site near Wilmington, thousands of cubic yards of coal ash breached in multiple incidents. Coal ash is now reaching the Cape Fear River. At its Lee site near Goldsboro, three retired coal ash sites were completely inundated by the Neuse River and released coal ash, which also happened two years ago during Hurricane Matthew. Duke Energy’s coal ash management failures have quite the recent history. Duke Energy was responsible for the 2014 Dan River catastrophe and in 2015 pleaded guilty to Clean Water Act crimes for its coal ash practices at sites across North Carolina. The most recent incidents, among countless other revelations and incidents since Dan River, remind us that Duke Energy’s coal ash mismanagement remains not just embarrassing but also dangerous and persistent. Meanwhile, other utilities have figured out the benefit of reducing risk by recycling coal ash into concrete rather than maintaining it in gargantuan pits vulnerable to hurricanes or on the banks of a flood-prone waterway.” [Charlotte Observer, 9/21/18 (+)]

 

California

 

Big Week For State Climate Policy. According to E&E News, “California climate policies are moving forward at a furious rate two weeks after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) corralled state governments around the world to accelerate progress in reducing carbon emissions. At its monthly meeting this Thursday and Friday, the state’s main air and climate agency, the Air Resources Board, is set to approve a bevy of updated and new rules aimed at lowering emissions from transportation fuels, public buses, passenger vehicles and stationary sources. Regulators are expected to vote on amendments to the state’s greenhouse gas rules for light-duty vehicles that would decouple the standards from the Trump administration’s. The rule change at CARB would maintain California’s authority to enforce the Obama-era rules through 2025 by specifying that automakers can still submit one emissions test for both state and federal compliance, so long as the federal standards remain unchanged. If the federal standards do change, manufacturers would have to comply with California’s rules separately (see related story). Also on deck is a 10-year extension to the state’s low-carbon fuel standard, a trading program designed to lower emissions from transportation fuel 10 percent below 2010 levels by 2020. The program, in place since 2011, sets an average carbon content for fuels that declines annually, above which companies need to either change the balance of fuels they sell or buy credits to offset high-emitting fuels.” [E&E News, 9/24/18 (=)]

 

Maine

 

Bucksport’s New Solar Array Could Save The Town $400,000. According to Bangor Daily News, “A new $173,000 town solar array came online this week and will save almost $400,000 over the next 40 years, officials said Friday. The 79.8-kilowatt panels follow the installation of LED lighting in the town office, along the town’s waterfront walkway and an electric-car charger on Main Street, said Richard Rotella, the town’s economic development director. ‘This solar array is just part of the town’s assessment of its energy use and finding more cost-effective, environmentally friendly ways to deal with them,’ Town Manager Susan Lessard said. Installed by ReVision Energy of Liberty after town leaders approved the proposal Aug. 31, the array sits on the Public Works Department building. It started generating power Thursday. Town officials selected solar power rather than wind-to-energy towers because the panels are the least obtrusive, Rotella said. ‘It’s flat on a roof. It is more pleasant to look at. You don’t have windmills that could potentially be blocking a viewshed. It’s not in somebody’s backyard,’ Rotella said. The array will generate an estimated 84,740 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Under the terms of the town’s deal with ReVision, the latter will finance, own and operate the array for six to 20 years, with an option offered to either side for an early purchase after six years.” [Bangor Daily News, 9/22/18 (=)]

 

New Mexico

 

Op-Ed: Wise Words For The PRC. According to an op-ed by Steve Fischmann in Santa Fe New Mexican, “I’m running for a seat on the PRC because we are on the cusp of an energy revolution that can dramatically improve our lives. I want to make certain it happens. We can significantly reduce costs for the 40 percent of New Mexico families who struggle to pay their utility bills. We can create thousands of jobs. And we can largely eliminate the sulfur, nitrogen and carbon dioxide pollution that threatens our health and our planet. Costs for solar and wind power and battery storage have fallen through the floor and are headed for the subbasement. Renewable energy in New Mexico is usually far less expensive than building new gas or coal plants — right now — today. Thanks to recent advances in energy storage, renewable energy can be available even when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. Battery costs are falling so rapidly that electric cars will soon be cheaper to own than gas-powered vehicles. But while opportunity beckons, most New Mexico utilities and PRC regulators are stuck in the last century. A senior executive at one of our major utilities recently told me, with a straight face, that it would take 30 years to implement smarter formulas for calculating your electric bill. Colorado and Texas are embracing new energy technologies today. Both enjoy vibrant economies. In stagnant New Mexico, a major utility claims it will take a generation just to update its billing practices. We can make big advances faster than most folks imagine if we adopt the right management attitude. And we can do it with minimal risk. Think big: If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. The opportunities in energy are huge.” [Santa Fe New Mexican, 9/22/18 (+)]

 

Ohio

 

100% Renewable Energy: Cleveland Sets A Big Goal As It Sheds Its Fossil Fuel Past. According to Inside Climate News, “Cleveland, Ohio, which has worked for years to reinvent itself as it sheds its industrial past, has become the latest major city to announce plans to shift to 100 percent renewable energy sources for electricity. The plan stands out in a state that in recent years has been more inclined to roll back clean energy rules than strengthen them, and in a territory served by FirstEnergy, which has been a leading burner of fossil fuels. City officials announced the 100 percent renewable power target Thursday as they released an update to Cleveland’s climate action plan, which aims to reduce greenhouses gases to 80 percent below the 2010 level by 2050. The plan discusses cutting emissions through improvements in energy efficiency and building design; developing more renewable energy within the city and region, including offshore wind power in Lake Erie; and increasing the use of public transportation and access to electric vehicle charging to reduce fossil fuel use. It sets a 2050 deadline for getting to 100 percent renewable electricity. But there are no details about how the city will work with its local utilities to implement the plan, an omission that raised concerns among some environmental advocates.” [Inside Climate News, 9/21/18 (+)]

 

AEP Ohio Files Plans To Develop 900 MW Of Solar, Wind. According to Utility Dive, “American Electric Power (AEP) took a first step on Wednesday toward developing 900 MW of renewable resources in Ohio, filing an amended long-term forecast with state regulators that finds $173 million in net benefits to Ohio customers through Renewable Energy Purchase Agreements, relative to what is available in the market. Such a volume of wind and solar would more than double the state’s existing renewable resources, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The group was part of a 2016 settlement leading to AEP Ohio’s filing, under which the utility also agreed to decommission 1,500 MW of coal-fired capacity. The clean energy resources are being proposed outside of a regular integrated resource plan, and plans for individual projects could be filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio next week. A utility survey showed a majority of AEP Ohio customers were willing to pay more for renewables — though there was significantly greater enthusiasm in the residential segment.” [Utility Dive, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Pennsylvania

 

Philadelphia Program Aims To Lower Costs And Barriers To Rooftop Solar. According to Midwest Energy News, “A solar group buying program in Philadelphia is helping to lower costs and change perceptions about rooftop solar in the city. Solarize Philly, an 18-month initiative supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar in Your Community Challenge, is aimed at expanding access to solar. So far it’s completed 168 projects accounting for about 800 kilowatts of capacity. Its next phase: piloting a lease program targeted at getting panels installed on 45 low- to moderate-income households. Residents can apply through September 30. It’s part of a broader effort by the city to promote clean energy and energy efficiency. In 2016, the Philadelphia said it would invest $1 billion in public and private money and try to create 10,000 ‘green jobs’ over ten years, by focusing on projects at city-owned properties, as well as low to moderate income homes and small businesses. Laura Rigell is the solar manager for the Philadelphia Energy Authority, which manages Solarize Philly. She said the city’s solar market had been relatively underdeveloped, compared to other cities and states. ‘We saw a ton of solar going up just across the river in New Jersey,’ said Rigell. ‘They have a really strong solar incentive. Installers were not doing as much here, because of the impression in Philadelphia that it takes a while to get any kind of permit.’” [Midwest Energy News, 9/24/18 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Clean Energy Jobs Are Truly ‘Made In Pennsylvania’. According to an op-ed by Hanan Fishman in Philadelphia Business Journal, “When Pennsylvanians think of clean energy jobs, the images that come to mind might include a team of solar installers drilling panels onto a roof in Bucks County, or a hard-hatted wind turbine technician perched atop a 200-foot-tall white tower at Moosic Mountain outside Scranton. High-flying, high-profile jobs like these are crucial to our state’s growing clean energy economy. But they only tell part of the story. According to the just-released Clean Jobs Pennsylvania report from the national, nonpartisan business group E2, the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia and other local partners, there are now more than 86,000 clean energy jobs in our state. And while many of these jobs may be a bit under the radar for most Pennsylvanians, lawmakers in our state must not discount them when deciding which energy policies to support. Take the company I lead in Hatboro in Montgomery County, which was founded in 2009. Our business, Alencon Systems, employs about a dozen people at an unassuming office park near the junction of Route 611 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. While the exterior of our building doesn’t exactly scream renewable energy to passersby, the work happening inside is on the cutting edge of solar technology.” [Philadelphia Business Journal, 9/21/18 (+)]

 

Virginia

 

Governor: Virginia Could Lead Nation On Offshore Wind Power. According to Associated Press, “Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam says his state is well positioned to lead the development of the nation’s offshore wind industry. The Democrat spoke Friday in Norfolk at a conference sponsored by industry members and Virginia’s Sierra Club chapter. Dominion Energy and the Danish firm Orsted already plan to install two turbines 27 miles (43 kilometers) off the coast for a pilot project. But Northam said Virginia has the capacity for offshore turbines to generate power for 500,000 homes. Northam cited Virginia’s location and deep expertise in shipbuilding and other trades as reasons why it could also support manufacturing. He added that 14,000 jobs could ultimately support the industry in Virginia. Northam said Virginia ‘has a clear opportunity to act as a change agent in driving the development of U.S. offshore wind.’” [Associated Press, 9/21/18 (=)]

 

Va. Taps First Cabinet Member To Tackle Rising Seas. According to E&E News, “Virginia’s first Cabinet member tasked with leading the way on statewide coastal adaptation and protection efforts will be a former Navy commander, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s office announced today. Retired Rear Adm. Ann Phillips left the Navy in 2014 and has taken a leading role in efforts to address the rising seas that threaten the Hampton Roads region. She lives in Norfolk and serves on the Center for Climate and Security’s advisory board. Phillips also led the Infrastructure Working Group for the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project from 2014 to 2016. Phillips’ new role as special assistant to the governor for coastal adaptation and protection was created by two bills signed into law earlier this year. The legislation tasks the new Cabinet member with being ‘the lead in developing and in providing direction and ensuring accountability for a statewide coastal flooding adaptation strategy.’ The job also involves coordinating with the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board, pursuing funding for adaptation initiatives, and ‘safeguarding strategic national assets threatened by coastal flooding.’ Coastal Virginia is home to major military installations including Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval station. Rising sea levels threaten nearly all of those major installations in the Hampton Roads region, where sea-level rise is happening faster than anywhere else on the Atlantic Seaboard, according to NOAA.” [E&E News, 9/21/18 (=)]