Baltimore, MD-- Baltimore City Councilmember Kristerfer Burnett (District 8), in partnership with the Sierra Club, introduced a resolution today calling for the Maryland General Assembly to pass, and Governor Hogan to sign, legislation establishing a clear and enforceable commitment to move Maryland beyond coal-fired power and create a Coal Community Transition Fund to support impacted communities and workers. The fund would support investments in job retraining and assistance for those affected, as well as increased investments in clean energy sources that will provide good-paying, local jobs.
On January 29, Mayor Marty Walsh announced the City of Boston’s next steps for updating Boston’s Climate Action Plan, which include creating “implementation roadmaps” to reach the city’s climate goals. The Climate Action Plan will be informed by the newly released Carbon Free Boston report, produced by Boston University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, which outlines pathways to achieving 100 percent carbon neutrality by 2050.
On January 18, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the “Clean Energy D.C. Omnibus Act of 2018,” a bold climate bill unanimously passed by the D.C. Council on December 18.
At his State of the City address, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh highlighted the city’s accomplishments over the course of his five-year tenure -- including his commitments to taking action on climate change. The City will soon release its "Carbon Free Boston" report.
Harrisburg, P.A.-- Governor Wolf signed an executive order today committing Pennsylvania to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent by 2025 and 80 percent by 2050 from 2005 levels, consistent with the 2015 Paris Climate Accord. The executive order also includes a provision re-establishing the Green Government Council, co-chaired by the Department of General Services, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Department of Environmental Protection. The goals of the council are to reduce energy consumption in state government by 21 percent, procure 40 percent of state agency energy use from renewables, and replace 25 percent of the state fleet with electric vehicles by 2025.
D.C. Council unanimously approves clean energy bill, commits to power the district entirely with renewable electricity by 2032
Trenton, New Jersey -- Governor Murphy announced his plan to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative today, a multi-state program establishing limits on carbon pollution from the region’s power plants. The announcement comes after his January 2018 Executive Order directing the administration to re-enter the program. New Jersey is proposing to enter the regional program starting at 18 million tons/CO2 per year.
Current states included in RGGI are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Virginia and New Jersey both now plan to participate.
Pittsburgh, PA -- The Pennsylvania Department of the Environmental Protection (DEP) hosted a public hearing yesterday on its drafted update to the water pollution permit for the Bruce Mansfield coal-fired power plant. The plant owned by FirstEnergy, is a 2,700 megawatt plant located on the Ohio River in Beaver County. It is currently the largest coal plant in the state, and one of the largest remaining plants in the country.
BALTIMORE, MD — The Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and the Center for Environmental Health filed a formal notice of intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today for failing to ensure that seven states, including Maryland, have effective plans in place for reducing harmful sulfur dioxide air pollution being emitted from coal-fired power plants.
WORCESTER - Hundreds of people rallied at Institute Park in Worcester to demand elected leaders take action to create a safe, healthy, sustainable, and equitable future. This event was one of over 400 taking place simultaneously around the world. Ralliers stood in solidarity with marchers in San Francisco who flooded the streets demanding action from governors and business leaders at the Global Climate Action Summit, while communities across the nation came together to galvanize engagement in the midterm elections.
BOSTON, MA— On September 8th, hundreds of people mobilized in East Boston to protest a planned Eversource high-voltage electric substation, and rallied for better, safer jobs; common-sense protections for immigrants; and bold action on climate change. The mobilization was one of more than 480 around the world. In San Francisco tens of thousands of people flooded the streets demanding action from governors and business leaders at the Global Climate Action Summit, while communities across the nation came together to galvanize engagement in the midterm elections.
Audubon, PA — PJM Interconnection, the regional electric grid operator for 13 states including Pennsylvania, announced the results of its grid reliability analysis for the FirstEnergy-owned Bruce Mansfield coal-fired power plant today. The report states the plant is not necessary for grid reliability in the area. Transmission upgrades are scheduled to be in place by the requested retirement date of June 1, 2021, which means the plant can retire on that date as requested with no impact to electric reliability.