On Wednesday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the injunction requiring the shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline. It’s a victory for the operator, Energy Transfer LP, simply because it lives to fight another day. ...more
On Monday, Judge David Faber found Bluestone Coal Corporation liable for 1,904 days of violations of its discharge permit at the Red Fox Surface Mine. All of the violations related to excessive discharges of selenium. ...more
I don’t like to speculate, so I won’t say that July 6, 2020, was the beginning of the end of fossil fuel infrastructure in the United States. I will say, with apologies to Judith Viorst, that it was a Terrible, Horrible, No...more
There are few people left, at least in my orbit, who don’t share the goal of prompt decarbonization of the economy. The quaintly named $64,000 question ($64 trillion question?) is how we get from here to there...more
Earlier this month, I reported on a study showing that methane emissions from Permian Basin fracking operations were quite high. Since that study acknowledged that there are reasons to think that methane emissions from the...more
This week, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office released a white paper documenting the results of a symposium convened last fall to discuss how electric markets should be organized to manage the transition to a “low /...more
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the petition for rehearing in the “once in, always in” case. It was a one sentence order. Judge Rogers, who dissented from the original panel opinion, dissented from the denial....more
On December 17, 2019, I noted with enthusiasm the announcement that the states participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative had released a new draft Memorandum of Understanding outlining the framework of what...more
The 12 states and the District of Columbia participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative announced yesterday the release of a new draft Memorandum of Understanding that outlines the framework of what they are...more
12/18/2019
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fees ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Oil & Gas ,
Transportation Industry ,
Wholesale
The New York Citizens Budget Commission has released a report regarding the state’s ability to meet its ambitious GHG reduction targets. It’s sobering reading. The CBC states that it is “uncertain” whether New York can meet...more
Last week, BioScience published the “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency.” It’s actually a nice piece of work – short, readable, to the point. In barely 4 pages, it concisely summarizes the fine mess we’ve gotten...more
Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a District Court ruling requiring the Department of Energy to publish in the Federal Register four rules finalized by the Obama administration, but not previously...more
10/16/2019
/ Appeals ,
Auer Deference ,
Chevron Deference ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Efficiency ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Register ,
Final Rules ,
Obama Administration ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Trump Administration
The Carbon Leadership Council, everyone’s favorite group of former grand poohbahs, is still working at building support for its “carbon dividends” plan. Hope springs eternal. And I don’t mean to make light of the CLC’s...more
Earlier this week, the Department of Energy withdrew definitions of “general service lamps” and “general service incandescent lamps” promulgated under the Obama administration. The effect is it eliminate requirements that...more
Last week, EPA proposed to eliminate regulation of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. The most noteworthy response to the proposal came from the large producers. ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP all oppose the...more
ClimateWire (subscription required) reported yesterday that Russia plans to join the Paris Agreement. Apparently, Russia is doing so because it sees a global move to a low-carbon economy and it doesn’t want to be left behind....more
Here’s my take on the Affordable Clean Energy Plan.
Who cares?
On the merits, it does almost nothing. It requires only that states impose heat rate improvement requirements on coal-fired power plants. It’s not going to...more
6/21/2019
/ Air Pollution ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Coal Industry ,
Coal-Fired Plants ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Rules ,
Power Plants
Yesterday, EPA finalized its Affordable Clean Energy rule, which will replace the Obama Clean Power Plan. More on ACE later. For now, I just want to use the ACE roll-out to contrast what’s happening at the federal level with...more
Earlier this week, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals partially reversed a district court decision, and ordered the Bureau of Land Management to vacate the NEPA approvals and permits it had issued authorizing the drilling of a...more
5/13/2019
/ Appeals ,
Bureau of Land Management ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Land ,
Fracking ,
NEPA ,
NHPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Reversal ,
Vacated ,
Well Drilling
After receiving an analysis showing that shutting the Jim Bridger and Naughton coal-fired electric generating plants in Wyoming would save ratepayers money, PacificCorp, the owner of the plants, announced that it would shut...more
In 2016, DOI Secretarial Order 3338 imposed a moratorium on new coal leases on federal land until BLM prepared a programmatic environmental impact statement intended to address, among other issues, the impact of coal leasing...more
4/26/2019
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Climate Change ,
Coal ,
Coal Industry ,
Department of the Interior ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Federal Land ,
Final Action ,
Mineral Leases ,
Moratorium ,
NEPA ,
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) ,
Trump Administration
On Monday, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality issued determinations with respect to six Duke Energy coal plants, requiring that Duke close coal combustion residual surface impoundments at the plants by...more
4/3/2019
/ Clean-Up Costs ,
Coal Industry ,
Coal-Fired Plants ,
Department of Environmental Quality ,
Duke Energy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Excavation ,
Landfills ,
Power Plants ,
Waste Disposal ,
Waste Management
The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources has released its Clean Peak Standard Straw Proposal, providing its thinking on the implementation of that part of An Act to Advance Clean Energy, from 2018. As a reminder, the...more
On Friday, Connecticut announced that it had reached agreement with Dominion, Eversource, and United Illuminating to keep the Millstone nuclear plant operating for 10 more years. Not coincidentally, on the same day, the six...more
Yesterday, Ed Markey and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released a proposed congressional resolution providing a framework for the so-called Green New Deal. I am pleased to note that it would not exclude use of nuclear power or...more