The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality held the final public hearing on Virginia’s Carbon Reduction Plan today. At the hearing, participants called for the strongest possible standard to cut Virginia’s carbon pollution from fossil fuel burning power plants. The public hearing was preceded by a press conference held by community members and activists, which was attended by about 50 people.
PENNSYLVANIA – In a new poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQR), Pennsylvanians show strong, bipartisan support for generating 100 percent of the state’s electricity using clean, renewable energy.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that he is severely weakening the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) program for air pollution, which will make it possible for industrial polluters to avoid installing state-of-the-art, cost-effective pollution controls. The Clean Air Act, and EPA’s NSR regulations, require major sources of air pollution, like dirty coal burning power plants, to add modern pollution controls when they undertake projects that produce an increase in air pollution. Pruitt’s announcement today opens a major loophole in those requirements by allowing polluting facilities to claim that planned decreases in pollution will offset any immediate increase in pollution, while abandoning the procedures by which EPA has, in the past, ensured that such claims are accurate and enforceable. The practical result will be an increase in air pollution, with especially harmful impacts in the communities that surround major industrial facilities.
U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam of the Northern District of California found that Scott Pruitt had illegally delayed the Environmental Protection Agency’s designation process for stronger clean air protections against smog pollution.
TDEC taking over surface coal mine permitting would not only be bad for the environment, but operating this permitting program could cost Tennessee taxpayers more than $2 million dollars every year.
MGE called on local, state, and federal governments to create policies that encourage the implementation of more electric and low-emissions vehicles. Three days prior, on Monday March 5th, high winds kicked up toxic coal dust from the Oak Creek and Elm Road power plants in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, into the surrounding neighborhoods, coating nearby homes, vehicles, playgrounds and residents’ lungs.
NEW YORK CITY—Governor Cuomo with former Vice President Al Gore repudiated the Trump administration's plans to open waters off of New York’s coast for offshore drilling and announced that New York would request an exclusion from the federal government’s oil and gas leasing program. The Governor also recommitted to phasing coal out of the state by 2020 and building 2.4GW of offshore wind by 2025, supporting his goal of sourcing 50 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable energy by 2030. Additionally, he advocated for increased investments in the Environmental Protection Fund and other programs related to necessary land, air and water protections.
NRG to close multiple gas plants in California NRG Energy will retire three gas-fired power plants in Rancho Cucamonga (Etiwanda), Oxnard (Ormond Beach) and Goleta (Ellwood). The decision to close these plants aligns with a trend that’s sweeping across California-- gas plants aren’t being built or retiring due to community opposition and the growth of clean energy in the state. Among these plants is Etiwanda, which will close on June 1, 2018.
Oak Creek, WI -- The Clean Power Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin held a press conference announcing the results of independent testing that confirmed coal dust samples taken by the Environmental Accountability Group (EAG) and tested by Aspen Consulting, Inc. The black coal dust was found covering homes, cars, and even the playground in neighborhoods north of the Oak Creek and Elm Road Power Plants on Monday.
VIRGINIA - Between March 6 and March 19, Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will be holding six public hearings on Virginia’s Carbon Reduction Plan, or Executive Directive 11 (ED 11). Virginia is the first southern state to take initiative on limiting and capping carbon pollution from fossil fuel- burning power plants. The Virginia Carbon Reduction Plan is designed to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuel-burning power plants by 30 percent by the year 2030, help generate new clean energy jobs, and put the Commonwealth on track for continued reductions beyond 2030.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt proposed weakening vital clean water protections against toxic coal ash. His proposal clears the way for polluters, and polluter funded politicians to write weak standards for groundwater monitoring and coal ash cleanups, and attack the core health and environmental protections of the 2015 coal ash safeguards.
This morning, community organizations joined together to announce their delivery of over 2000 letters and petitions from Ameren customers calling for a bold plan for 100% clean renewable energy. This delivery came on the eve of the comment deadline to the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) regarding Ameren’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), a plan submitted every three years outlining the utility's energy goals for generating and distributing energy for the next 20 years. Many community organizations on hand were critical of Ameren’s draft plan as it demonstrates the company’s continued dependence on harmful coal-fired energy for years to come.