Budget & Policy

GHG Daily 1/22/2016 Two Virginia state legislators, Sen. Donald McEachin, (D-Henrico) and Del. Ronald Villanueva, (R-Virginia Beach), have introduced legislation calling for the Commonwealth of Virginia to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. “Not later than June 30, 2017, the Governor shall seek to include the Commonwealth as a full participant in RGGI or other […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Daily 1/21/2016 The Environmental Protection Agency has elected not to extend the comment period for its federal implementation plan (FIP) for the Clean Power Plan, carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, regardless of numerous requests for an extension. “After reviewing requests to extend the public comment period for the […]

GHG Daily 1/21/2016 Global surface temperatures in 2015 were the highest on record, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Wednesday. Modern record keeping of surface temperatures has been ongoing since 1880. Prior to 2015, 2014 was the hottest year on record, according to the agencies. “Today’s announcement not only underscores how […]

GHG Daily 1/21/2016 The Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, the Clean Power Plan, constitute an undoubtedly complex regulation that is difficult to evaluate, but adequately analyzing the rule is not impossible, according to a new report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). “Although effectively evaluating the impacts of […]

GHG Daily 1/21/2016 David Crane, the former CEO of NRG Energy, has secured a new position as editor-at-large of the GreenBiz Group. Crane served as president and CEO of NRG Energy for 12 years, before stepping down in early December 2015. Crane’s departure from the energy company was likely due to a stock tumble and the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Daily 1/20/2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday signed NextGen Climate’s “50 by 30” pledge, committing to support an energy system powering America with 50 percent renewable energy by 2030. “We hope she will continue to talk about solutions that are critical to prevent climate […]

GHG Daily 1/20/2016 On average, Americans are willing to pay up to 2.4 percent of their income to avoid colder winters and hotter summers, according to a Jan. 15 report released by Resources for the Future. The study considers the “amenity value of climate” – what people would pay to experience warmer winters or avoid […]

GHG Daily 1/20/2016 The federally, set state-specific targets in the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants are based on faulty assumptions, according to a report issued Tuesday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. According to the report, while EPA claimed the targets are source-specific emissions performance rates, they are not […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Daily 1/19/2016 As was hinted at during President Barack Obama’s Jan. 12 State of the Union address, the administration on Friday afternoon announced a moratorium on coal leasing on federal lands. During the pause on coal leasing, the Interior Department will conduct a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) review of the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Daily 1/19/2016 The topic of climate change, which was largely glossed over during last week’s Republican presidential debate, came up several times during Sunday evening’s Democratic event, with the candidates pitching the issue as an economic opportunity. “We need to be bold and decisive. We can create millions of jobs. We […]

GHG Daily 1/19/2016 Putting a price on carbon is not only the most economically efficient way to drive low-carbon technology innovation, it is also the fastest, according to a new report from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. “Public policies that put a price on carbon (emissions trading systems, carbon taxes […]

GHG Daily 1/19/2016 Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead on Saturday pledged to defend the state’s coal industry. While the Obama administration continues to issue regulations and orders making it harder for coal to prosper in the face of action on climate change, there may be a win-win solution out there, the Republican governor wrote in an […]

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Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 1/15/2016 Congress may soon have to decide if it will appropriate money to enable the Department of Energy to pay a multi-million dollar fine to the state of South Carolina for missing a key deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The facility, which would convert […]

Karl Herchenroeder RW Monitor 1/15/2016 The Wisconsin State Assembly on Tuesday approved legislation that would lift a 33-year moratorium on building nuclear power plants in the state. Under current law, power plants cannot be built in Wisconsin because the federal government has not established a storage facility capable of taking the state’s waste. Assembly Bill […]

WC Monitor 1/15/2016 Lawmakers Advocate for Funding MOX Fines Owed by DOE Congress may soon have to decide if it will appropriate money to enable the Department of Energy to pay a multi-million dollar fine to the state of South Carolina for missing a key deadline at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Daily 1/15/2016 Presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) found himself painted as an environmentalist of all things this week, by conservative media organization Breitbart News. The organization Wednesday dug up a 2008 television interview featuring Rubio, then speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, stating that he was “in favor of […]

GHG Daily 1/15/2016 Under the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, the nation can successfully reduce power sector carbon emissions and preserve a diverse energy mix, according to extensive modeling analysis conducted by M.J. Bradley & Associates. Under the 14 scenarios modeled, the nation can cut power-sector emissions by more […]

GHG Daily 1/15/2016 Shannon Angielski has been appointed executive director of the Coal Utilization Research Council, replacing Ben Yamagata, who held the position for more than 17 years. “I am confident we can build on the progress CURC has made under Ben’s leadership, and I plan to work with the coalition to drive further action […]

GHG Daily 1/15/2016 The Environmental Protection Agency has at its disposal a power tool to combat climate change that it has yet to wield, according to an analysis by lawyers from the Institute for Policy Integrity, Columbia Law School, the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and the University Of California, Los Angeles […]

GHG Daily will not be published on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Look for the next edition in your inbox on Tuesday, Jan. 19.

Abby L. Harvey GHG Daily 1/14/2016 President Barack Obama had much to say about climate change in his final State of the Union address Tuesday evening, and the country had just as much to say back. In the speech, Obama announced that one of his goals during the remainder of his time in the White […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Daily 1/14/2016 The significant financial commitments made during the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris late last year, as well as those included within the global climate agreement finalized at the meeting, represent a noteworthy step forward for […]

GHG Daily 1/16/2016 New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo envisions a state with no coal-fired power plants by 2020, according to his State of the State address on Wednesday. “To achieve the state’s goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector 40 percent by 2030 the Governor seeks to close or repower the three […]

GHG Daily 1/14/2016 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) is seeking state insights into the effects of the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory programs. “EPA actions issued under environmental statutes such as the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act are based on the principle of cooperative federalism,” Inhofe wrote in a […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Daily 1/13/2016 It is long past the time for debating the reality of climate change, President Barack Obama said Tuesday night in his final State of the Union address. Instead, he said, the nation should focus on harnessing the potential for innovation the problem presents. “Even if the planet wasn’t at […]

The head of a union representing cleanup workers at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio, joined Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) for President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address on Tuesday.   Herman Potter, president of United Steelworkers Local 689, drew the invitation for being “a friend and a steadfast partner in […]

The Wisconsin State Assembly on Tuesday approved a bill that would lift limitations for building nuclear power plants in the state. Under current law, entities are unable to gain state approval to build nuclear power plants because no federal storage facility capable of taking the waste exists. The new bill lifts this requirement, among other […]

U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) is pushing for the federal government to increase funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, which oversees cleanup of 24 nuclear waste dump sites. In a letter to the Office of Management and Budget on Monday, Casey drew attention to one site that […]