Raleigh, N.C.—Duke Energy sought approval yesterday to build 402 megawatts of additional fracked gas-fired capacity at the Lincoln County Combustion Turbine Station in Stanley. Built in 1995, the existing facility already includes 1,200 megawatts of generation capacity. The application for a certificate from the North Carolina Utilities Commission allowing construction to begin in 2018 and operation to commence in 2020 comes despite Duke’s acknowledgement that the region won’t need any new combustion turbines until 2025.
Salt Lake City, UT -- Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke released an interim report today, which signaled a desire to dismantle the protections Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) designated under the Antiquities Act by the former President in December 2016.
SEATTLE - As state leaders call for climate leadership in Washington State, Puget Sound Energy is negotiating a 10 year contract extension for coal that could extend the life of the Colstrip coal plant, which was the third largest source of climate pollution in the United States in 2015.
WHAT: Days before Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is expected to testify before Congress in support of the Trump administration’s proposed EPA budget cuts, U.S. Representatives, EPA employees’ union AFGE Local 704 and the Sierra Club will hold a telepresser on Tuesday to sound the alarm about the devastating impact of those cuts on millions of Americans.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As part of Donald Trump’s Executive Order to review national monuments across the country, today Secretary Zinke recommended that President Trump eliminate protections for portions of the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. In the wake of the retraction, Sec. Zinke recommended Congress step in to safeguard places no longer protected by the monument, a dead end that will leave important sites unprotected indefinitely.
This weekend, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt left the G-7 environmental ministers meeting after the first day. Shortly thereafter, the environmental ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the EU released a communique on environmental issues, including one separate chapter on the climate crisis, furthering the G-6 - Trump rift which began Taormina, Italy at the G-7 summit at the end of May.
O’Neill, NE -- Expert witnesses filed testimony Wednesday with the Nebraska Public Service Commission detailing the threats the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would pose to Nebraska’s natural resources and why the pipeline is not in the public interest.
Richmond, VA -- Environmental groups filed suit today challenging West Virginia’s certification for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would transport fracked gas across West Virginia and Virginia.
NEW BRITAIN, CT— Today, the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) finalized its investigation of time of day (TOD) rates for charging electric vehicles, as required by the Legislature last year. The objective was to determine the best method for directing electric vehicle owners to charge their vehicles during “off peak” hours – when electricity demand and prices are lower - to minimize stress on the electrical grid and the need for expansion of the system.