U.S. electric power sector emissions totaled 1,744 million metric tons in 2017, the lowest since 1987, according to an Oct. 29 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Energy-related emissions in the power sector fell by 28 percent since 2005 compared to 5 percent in all other energy sectors. The agency attributed the drop in…
The Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board on Oct. 30 approved recommendations to revise to regulations governing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric power plants in the state. The Department of Environmental Quality proposed a more stringent base budget of 28 million tons in 2020 resulting in additional emissions reductions of 5 million tons…
The Montana Public Service Commission voiced support for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “Affordable Clean Energy Rule,” a proposal to replace an Obama-era measure to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, according to an Oct. 26 press release. The commission said it “takes a keen interest” in the proposed rule in view of the state’s…
The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut ruled on Oct. 25 that Connecticut’s transfer of ratepayer funds collected for energy conservation programs to the general fund is not illegal. The court said that state law has not promised ratepayers that their money would not be transferred to the general fund for other purposes,…
Exxon Mobil Corp. was the target of a lawsuit by New York’s top legal representative which alleges that oil and gas giant deceived investors over its management of the risks posed to the business by climate change regulation, according to an Oct. 24 filing. The suit further alleges that Exxon assured investors it had adequately…
President Donald Trump nominated Bernard L. McNamee to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the term ending June 30, 2020, to fill the vacancy resulting from Commissioner Robert Powelson’s resignation in August, according to an Oct. 9 release from the agency. McNamee currently serves as the Executive Director of the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of…
The U.S. Energy Department is providing the funding for cost-shared research and development to develop technologies that can lower the cost of capturing carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants, according to a Sept. 27 press release. The projects selected under the department’s “Novel and Enabling Carbon Capture Transformational Technologies” will facilitate the development of solvents…
U.S. energy related carbon emissions in 2017 dropped 0.9 percent from the prior year and 14 percent below 2005 levels, according to a Sept. 25 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Although the gross domestic product grew by 2.3 percent from 2016 to 2017, the agency said that emissions were more than offset by…
The Bureau of Land Management on Sept. 18 issued final revisions to an Obama-era rule aimed at reducing the waste of methane, a potent global warming pollutant, from venting, flaring, and leaks during oil and natural gas drilling operations. The final rule largely re-establishes the requirements that were in place before the 2016 rule, which,…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Sept. 14 denied petitions from Delaware and Maryland asking the agency to address smog pollution blowing across their borders from coal-fired power plants in other states. The states sought action under the Clean Air Act’s “good neighbor provision” that requires the agency to control upwind states’ air pollution that…
The California legislature approved legislation on Aug. 29 that reinforces the state’s clean energy leadership with a goal of procuring 100 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable and zero-carbon resources by 2045. The bill would strengthen the Renewable Portfolio Standard to 60 percent by 2030, up from the current 50 percent. Hawaii was the…
Public Service Company of Colorado, a unit of Xcel Energy Inc., filed its Colorado Energy Plan, a blueprint for the utility to source over half of its electricity supply from renewables and cut carbon emissions by 60 percent by 2026. The plan, filed June 6 with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, directs the company to…
