As negotiations on the climate, care, jobs and justice priorities in the Build Back Better Act reach their conclusion, it’s clear that President Biden is the key player who is positioned to bring his agenda across the finish line. Biden campaigned and won on this agenda, and now environmental, family, and justice advocates and communities nationwide are counting on him to deliver.
The time for action is now. Majority Leader Schumer and Speaker of the House Pelosi have done a tremendous job leading the way, with 99% of congressional Democrats in support of the Build Back Better Act’s historic climate investments. Now it is down to two senators -- and the President is the only one who can finish the job.
Today, DTE Energy announced it will stop burning coal at its Belle River Power Plant by 2028, two years earlier than previously planned, in response to the U.S. EPA’s Steam Effluent Limitation Guidelines rule. That rule requires coal-fired power plants to either clean up their toxic wastewater pollution or stop burning coal. The company also announced it will move up the filing of its next Integrated Resource Plan by one year, to the fall of 2022. Lastly, the company announced it will explore repowering the Belle River plant with fossil gas.
The WV Public Service Commission released its final order approving Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power’s request to have West Virginia customers pay 100% of the ELG retrofit costs at three coal power plants (Amos, Mountaineer, and Mitchell), which will keep those plants open until 2040. Even though the Kentucky and Virginia Commissions disallowed cost recovery as imprudent.
PHOENIX, AZ - The Sierra Club requested clarity from Senator Sinema Tuesday in the wake of denials from a spokesperson in her office that she had called for $100B in cuts to climate action policies in the Build Back Better Act, as reported by the New York Times friday.
The Sierra Club requests that Sen. Sinema either affirms her support for full funding of the full suite of climate and clean energy policies in the Build Back Better Act, or publicly makes clear which cuts (or additions) she proposes.
SALEM, OREGON - Rep. Kurt Schrader of Oregon gave voice to the urgency of the climate crisis in an interview with E&E News yesterday, telling the outlet that “Climate change is, besides COVID, frankly, the biggest threat to Americans and the world at this point in time ... That’s the one thing I probably could support, for sure, in a reconciliation bill.”
Despite his statement to E&E, Schrader voted against one of the most essential emissions-reducing policies in the Build Back Better Act, the Clean Electricity Performance Program, from his seat on the House Energy and Commerce committee.
Today, JPMorgan Chase announced a pledge to reach net-zero emissions from its lending and investment portfolios by 2050, and that it will join the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA).
This week, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro filed 46 counts of environmental crimes against Energy Transfer for violations during their construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline. A grand jury added two more counts based on a criminal referral from the Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection. The charges stem from the company’s releasing industrial waste at 22 sites across the state that contaminated a number of streams and rivers.
BOSTON, MA - Yesterday, Governor Baker appointed the seven-member Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Board of Directors, with Betsy Taylor as the new chair.
This new, permanent Board of Directors will oversee the MBTA’s finances, operations, governance, and overall management. It replaces the temporary Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) established by the Baker administration following the harsh winter of 2015 that disrupted transit service.
Washington, DC -- The Biden administration has announced it will recommend a full restoration of safeguards for three national monuments whose boundaries were shrunk by the Trump administration. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments as well as Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Marine Monument protect about five million acres of federal land and water — and will help the Biden administration achieve its goals of conserving 30% of lands and waters by 2030.
A pesar de la oposición de camaroneros, pescadores y otros grupos comunitarios locales, la Comisión de Calidad Ambiental de Texas aprobó el 6 de octubre un permiso de contaminación del aire que permitiría la construcción de la refinería Jupiter en el puerto de Brownsville, Texas. Sin embargo, la comisión impuso dos requisitos importantes de control de la contaminación, los cuales mitigarían la polución de aire causado por la instalación— si es que se construye.