Budget & Policy

Brian Bradley RW Monitor 11/20/2015 The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday favorably reported out three top Energy Department nominees. Despite opposition expressed by committee member Rob Portman (R-Ohio) over announced funding cuts for decontamination and decommissioning at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and the Piketon, Ohio, piece of the American Centrifuge Project, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/20/2015 Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) this week introduced legislation that would allow businesses to use tax-exempt private activity bonds (PABs) to finance carbon capture utilization and storage projects. The Carbon Capture Improvement Act would make PABs available to both power plants and industrial facilities interested in […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/20/2015 Meeting in Paris just two weeks before the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), energy ministers called for the development of a strong climate agreement. “We emphasise the need to explicitly recognise and signal for COP21 that an energy transformation […]

House Versions Reported out of Committee, Floor Vote Set for Week of Nov. 30 Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/20/2015 The Senate on Tuesday voted 52-46 in favor of two Congressional Review Act resolutions disapproving of the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to regulate carbon emissions from new and existing coal-fired power plants. The regulations in […]

As is our annual practice, GHG Monitor will not publish next week in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. The next regular issue will be in your inbox on Dec. 4. We will issue bulletins should any major news break in the interim.

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/20/2015 President Barack Obama and a group of negotiators will travel to Paris in two weeks for the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in hopes of striking a new global climate agreement, and congressional Republicans are none too happy about […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/20/2015 The Environmental Protection Agency this week heard public comment, from a generally agreeable crowd, during a two-day public hearing to examine the agency’s proposed federal implementation plan for its Clean Power Plan, carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants. EPA headquarters in Washington D.C. hosted the hearing on […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) this week introduced revised legislation on technology transfers from Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories to the private industry for commercialization after incorporating input from New Mexico businesses with experience in the transfers. The Accelerating Technology Transfer to Advance Innovation for the Nation Act is intended […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/20/2015 Mississippi Power has struck a deal with the state Public Utilities Staff (PUS), an advisory board to the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC), for a 15 percent rate increase to offset the cost of the Kemper Counter Energy Facility carbon capture and storage project. At a Nov. 10 MPSC […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 Funding for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility is expected to be included in the final fiscal 2016 appropriations bill after President Barack Obama’s official funding request clattered its way through scrupulous Energy Department-commissioned reviews, contentious congressional negotiations, and reported private meetings between DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration brass […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/20/2015 The Obama administration has not exhausted its options to implement policies to combat climate change and has significant remaining legal authority on a number of fronts, according to a new report published this week by green group Friends of the Earth. The organization asserted that while the administration has […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 The relationship between the federal government and national laboratories should be modified to ease the burden of federal regulations while promoting transparency and trust between the two entities, according to the co-chairs of the Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories (CRENEL) and a laboratory director.  CRENEL, established […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Inspector General (IG) in a report Thursday added infrastructure modernization to its fiscal 2016 list of management challenges facing the department. The new addition signals a need for DOE to focus on the issue, along with existing challenges in contract management, cybersecurity, safeguards […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 In perhaps a last-ditch effort to save the Piketon, Ohio, piece of the American Centrifuge Project, Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Cliff Rosenberger and state Rep. Terry Johnson (R) are calling for the Ohio legislature to officially reiterate to Congress that moving all of Centrus’ American Centrifuge Project (ACP) operations […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 11/20/2015 Funding for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility is expected to be included in the final fiscal 2016 appropriations bill after President Barack Obama’s official funding request clattered its way through scrupulous Energy Department-commissioned reviews, contentious congressional negotiations, and reported private meetings between DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration brass […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 11/20/2015 The Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EMSSAB) gained traction Tuesday in efforts to redirect money collected from missed cleanup milestones at Department of Energy sites back to those same cleanup projects. Eight local boards fall under the EMSSAB, including the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (CAB). The CAB voted […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 11/20/2015 The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday favorably reported out three top Energy Department nominees. Despite opposition expressed by committee member Rob Portman (R-Ohio) over announced funding cuts for decontamination and decommissioning at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and the Piketon, Ohio, piece of the American Centrifuge Project, […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 11/20/2015 In perhaps a last-ditch effort to save the Piketon, Ohio, piece of the American Centrifuge Project, Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Cliff Rosenberger and state Rep. Terry Johnson (R) are calling for the Ohio legislature to officially reiterate to Congress that moving all of Centrus’ American Centrifuge Project (ACP) operations […]

The relationship between the federal government and national laboratories should be modified to ease the burden of federal regulations while promoting transparency and trust between the two entities, according to the co-chairs of the Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories (CRENEL) and a laboratory director. CRENEL, established last year, released a report recently […]

Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) this week introduced revised legislation on technology transfers from Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories to the private industry for commercialization after incorporating input from New Mexico businesses with experience in the transfers. The Accelerating Technology Transfer to Advance Innovation for the Nation Act is intended to “cut bureaucracy and better […]

Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Cliff Rosenberger and state Rep. Terry Johnson (R) want the Ohio legislature to officially reiterate to Congress that moving all of Centrus’ American Centrifuge Project (ACP) operations from Piketon to Tennessee would be a bad national investment and would hurt the several specialized employees and scores of unemployed residents living […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 11/13/2015 The state of South Carolina is mulling legal options in responding to a key plutonium disposal milestone the Department of Energy will miss at the Savannah River Site’s controversial Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The state’s decision could include the attempted levying of millions of dollars in fines over […]

Alissa Tabirian and Brian Bradley WC Monitor 11/13/2015 The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a new version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2016, sending it to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign the legislation. The new bill that authorizes $607 billion in defense spending was passed in the House […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 11/13/2015 Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) on Monday called on Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to request $460 million to fully fund cleanup at the Portsmouth Site in fiscal 2017, and to provide more predictable funding for the site in the future, as […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 11/13/2015 Though no initiatives appear to have been started, Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) hopes lawmakers will work to free up some $1.6 billion locked up in an essentially inactive account created 25 years ago to support activities of the then-newly initiated United States Enrichment Corp., after the senator highlighted the account […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/13/2015 The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a new version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2016, sending it to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign the bill. The new bill that authorizes $607 billion in defense spending was passed in the House last week following […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 11/13/2015 The state of South Carolina is mulling legal options in responding to a key plutonium disposal milestone the Department of Energy will miss at the Savannah River Site’s controversial Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The state’s decision could include the attempted levying of millions of dollars in fines over […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/13/2015 A coal industry advisory board to the secretary of energy this week presented a report laying out recommendations to deliver on policy parity for carbon capture and storage technology. The National Coal Council (NCC) has noted the many ways in which financial and regulatory support for renewable energy sources […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/13/2015 Though no initiatives appear to have been started, Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) hopes lawmakers will work to free up some $1.6 billion locked up in an essentially inactive account created 25 years ago to support activities of the then-newly initiated United States Enrichment Corporation, after the senator highlighted the account […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/13/2015 New-build coal plants can meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) without the use of carbon capture and storage, the Electric Power Research Institute said in a report this week. “Yes, technology has been identified that would enable new coal power plants to operate so efficiently […]