Month: May 2019

Joy Loving is the author of the summer 2019 occasional Roundups, of which this is the first.

Politics and Policy

The Washington Post (WaPo) reports that “Half of Maryland’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030”.  A new mandate will go into effect without Governor Hogan’s approval, but he says he’s “committed to addressing climate change”.  WaPo’s Energy 202 reports “Republicans vote against bill containing their key climate priority: researching energy innovation”, saying the party-line vote in a House committee “illustrates how Republicans are still prioritizing getting funding for other Energy Department initiatives over bipartisan provisions on climate change.”

Blogger Steve Haner, writing in Bacon’s Rebellion, gives his take on Bob Inglis’ (https://www.republicen.org/) recent appearance at the National Regulatory Conference in Williamsburg.  After noting Mr. Inglis’ advocacy for a national carbon fee and dividend “tax”, Mr. Haner opines that “A carbon tax or greenhouse gas tax can work to lower emissions and alter consumer behavior, but it must be 1) nationwide, 2) economy-wide, not aimed at one sector and 3) structured to put pressure on the rest of the world.  A cap and trade system is a useful mechanism to get from A to B.  These economic processes work and their impact is more even across the board.  The downside is more limited than with many other approaches being advocated.”

Bloomberg reports that “Senate Republicans are readying a response to populist climate initiatives such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” with measures that they say adhere to their free-market principles and stand a better chance of becoming law.  The emerging proposals to fight climate change would avoid imposing dramatic cuts to carbon dioxide emissions. Instead, they seek to promote clean energy technology such as energy storage, renewable power and carbon-capture technologies. One measure would create an investment fund to pay for the research.”

WaPo’s Energy 202 reports that “The Energy 202: EPA blocks a dozen products containing pesticides thought harmful to bees”.  But The Guardian reports that the chemical industry wields power within EPA, at least when it comes to banning chemicals such as a degreaser called trichloroethylene (TCE).

WaPo says “States aren’t waiting for the Trump administration on environmental protections”, citing examples from “More than a dozen states [that] are moving to strengthen environmental protections to combat a range of issues from climate change to water pollution, opening a widening rift between stringent state policies and the Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda.”  The states include HI, NY, CA, MI, NJ, CO, NM, and OR.  The story quotes a MI water treatment manager as testifying to a U.S. House committee that “It is difficult to communicate to your customers that New Jersey or Minnesota or Vermont has evaluated the risk to their residents differently, and that one state places a lower value on protection of public health than another….”

Despite what seems to be increasing media coverage about the effects of climate instability, at least one 2020 Presidential candidate, running on a “climate platform” is finding many Americans aren’t that interested.  WaPo describes Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s experience this way:  “Inslee’s long quest to transform nature-loving sentiment into climate change legislation has been akin to a grim march through the desert. The man who wants to be America’s first climate change president has seen firsthand the difficulties of putting in place policies to slow the warming of the globe.”

Here are several stories that, together, are sort of in the “Can You Believe It?” Department.  They’re all about VA’s largest utility, Dominion Energy.  Bacon’s Rebellion brings us two with these headlines:  “Dominion Energy Joins Consortium Demanding Climate Change Legislation” and “Dominion Announces Support for Carbon Tax”.  And Ivy Main, in her Power for the People VA blog, brings us the third:  “Dominion keeps trying to pull the wool over our eyes”.  The consortium is the CEO Climate Dialogue.  The Washington Examiner has a story about business support for the carbon tax, noting that “Oil giants BP and Shell pledge $1M each to Republican-backed carbon tax”, adding that “BP and Shell join industry competitors ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil, which previously donated to Americans for Carbon Dividends.”  This group is “led by former Republican Secretaries of State James Baker III and George Shultz [and] is promoting a carbon tax plan that would return the revenue to taxpayers.”  RTO Insider talks about the newly formed Virginia group (VA Energy Reform Coalition) that is pushing for a deregulated electricity market in VA because it believes Dominion Energy’s and Appalachian Power’s dominance is not good for all stakeholders.  “The Virginia Energy Reform Coalition (VERC) features policy experts from across the ideological spectrum united against what it considers wasteful infrastructure spending funded by ever‑increasing electricity rates.”

Potpourri

In a Bacon’s Rebellion blogpost, Jim Bacon describes how Sweet Briar College has found a market‑based business opportunity in niche “Artisanal Agriculture” playing “into two mega‑trends: the increasing number of women farmers and the growing vitality of artisinal [sic] agriculture.”

According to The Guardian, toxic water is a legacy of a military base in CO and Colorado Springs businesses are suing the military.

“Dominion needs to ramp up efficiency programs to hit mandate, advocates say” is the headline in a recent article from Energy News Network.  “Watchdogs fear the first phase of Dominion Energy’s kilowatt-saving measures indicate that Virginia’s largest utility will fall far short of the $870 million it’s required to spend on energy efficiency over the next decade.”

Climate

What’s Happening?

A phys.org reports that “Global temperature change attributable to external factors, confirms new study”.

The Guardian reporter Khushbu Shah in Mexico Beach, Florida describes the huge challenges that town faces many months after Hurricane Michael struck.  WaPo reports that, finally, Puerto Rico and some other states—including FL–hard-hit from “natural disasters”–might get some federal funding, IF both houses of Congress approve a bipartisan, negotiated deal and the President signs the bill.  There was a last minute hitch this week during the House’s consideration of a bill that the Senate had passed.  This CNN report describes what happened.

The Guardian reports that “‘Extraordinary thinning’ of ice sheets revealed deep inside Antarctica”, referring to “New research show[ing] affected areas are losing ice five times faster than in the 1990s, with more than 100m of thickness gone in some places”.

The Guardian provides a poignant description (“‘This is a wake-up call’: the villagers who could be Britain’s first climate refugees”) of how a Wales village, facing inundation from sea level rise, is coping with what’s coming for them (and other villages, cities, towns, and countries around the world).

Who’s Doing What (or Should or Shouldn’t Be)?

The Guardian announces its new “decision to alter its style guide to better convey the environmental crises unfolding around the world [and reports that this action]  has prompted some other media outlets to reconsider the terms they use in their own coverage.”

The BBC describes the latest global school climate strike:  “School students around the world have gone on strike to demand action on climate change.”

An April 2019 McKinsey and Company article describes what utilities could be doing, given the high cost of extreme weather events (see examples in What’s Happening).

The New York Times (NYT) Climate Forward describes “One Thing You Can Do: Drive Smarter”.

It also tells us how our discarded toothbrushes are spoiling “paradise.”

Writing for Sierra Club, Heather Smith reports that the scientists who wrote the “summary report released by the UN-backed Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)” “Did More Than Tell Us We Were Doomed”.  She says they also “gave us a road map out”.  Lewis Page, also writing for Sierra Club, describes an Extinction Rebellion activist-led event in San Francisco (“Climate Activists Are Rebelling. Are Politicians Finally Listening?”).  And Sierra Club’s Jonathan Hahn talks about Nathaniel Rich’s book Losing Earth in “Why We Didn’t Act on Climate When We Had the Chance”.

Grist reporters Lisa Hymas and Ted MacDonald remind us “The royal baby is cute and all, but hello, the planet is on fire”.

Texas landowners face challenges if they want to protect their property from coal ash detritus and pipelines, according to these items in Grist and Yale Environment 360.  Two stories suggest some Houston TX residents would like to see the city expand its current oil and gas focus.  Grist offers and opinion piece, “Houston teen: Why my oil-soaked city could be ground zero for a greener future”.  And the Midland Reporter-Telegram (mrt) publishes an op-ed by “Charles McConnell, a longtime energy executive and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy … [and] executive director of the Center for Carbon Management in Energy at the University of Houston.”  The author explains “How to make Houston the sustainable energy capital of the world”.

Dallas TX’s municipal government wants to save money through a shift to renewable energy, according to this item in PVTECH.  The “… $472.6 million deal with electricity firm TXU Energy will see the Texan city slash energy costs by almost US$80 million over 10 years, compared to existing arrangements.”

According to this Atlanta Business Chronicle article, “Athens, Ga., commits to 100% clean energy by 2035”.

Miami Today reports that “Solar power plants may sit atop Miami-Dade County lakes”.  The article noted that “a December report from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) showing significant potential for the technology, including the possibility that floating solar plants covering just 27% of stateside water bodies identified as suitable[,] could produce almost 10% of current national power generation.”  And CBS Local Channel 4 in Miami tells us that “South Miami Wants [t]o Be Powered By [t]he Sun”.  The item opens with these lines:  “The mayor of South Miami says he wants to see the city powered primarily by the sun.  As part of a recent resolution passed unanimously by the council, officials want to transition to running the city on 100 percent renewable energy in the next 20 years.  It’s the first city in Miami-Dade to make this type of commitment.”  WBBH/WZVN NBC2 TV in the Miami-Dade area accompanied local Representative Francis Clooney, 35 of his constituents, and marine scientists on a trip to observe first-hand the effects of climate change and sea level rise, visiting nearby Keewaydin Island.  The article’s reporter concludes:  “About six months ago, we confirmed that a number of Southwest Florida leaders from Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties were talking about forming a regional collaboration that would focus on climate-related challenges and solutions.  Since then, we’ve learned that one formal meeting has taken place, and those discussions are ongoing.  The regional approach isn’t a new idea.  Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Monroe counties have a compact to address climate-related challenges and solutions together.”

WaPo’s Energy 202 provides a story about CA winery owner and resident of an area who survived a large wildfire and “realized the danger frequent wildfires could pose to the electricity that powers her daily life.”  She decided to be proactive by installing her own solar panels for use when the electric utility turned off electricity in areas potentially affected by wildfires.  This woman “is just one of several residents whose concern about California utilities’ plans to impose blackouts has led them to install solar panels and battery systems to keep power on during an outage.”

The Virginian Pilot reports that “Scientists hope tiles that look like Disneyland’s castle can jumpstart native oyster reefs” in several Tidewater VA waters.

Energy

Renewable Energy

A Saluda VA farmer writes in The Virginia Gazette about his decision to install solar panels.  In Augusta County, the Board of Supervisors vetoed a solar farm in Stuarts Draft, according to the Staunton News Leader, saying it’s out of compliance with the Comprehensive Plan.  The same paper also reports that another solar developer plans to propose another solar farm in a different part of the county.

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) published a blogpost from World Resources Institute, making the case that “In the United States, the falling cost of renewable energy means the economic case for investing in renewables is stronger than ever before” and “Across the country, from South Carolina to Nevada, states are taking new measures to harness wind and solar power. Since January, more than 10 state legislatures have enacted policies that encourage new renewable energy development.”

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that “Solar power gets cheaper, more popular in Georgia”, according to “Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols” during a visit in TN.

NPR Radio station WFAE 90.7 in NC reports that “Duke Starts Work On Mountain Solar And Battery Projects”.

Talk Business & Politics (TB&P) says an Arkansas county ”is racing to become the first county in the Natural State to install a solar energy system to power all of its local operations”– “Phillips County ready to ‘go solar’ with new $1 million project”.

The Times-News reports that Spartanburg County SC Supervisors believe the growth in small solar farms has been a boon for economic development in the county.

KRISTV in the Corpus Christi TX area notes that “Solar panels [have] become a more viable option for homes and businesses”.

In the Is-Biomass-Really-Renewable-Energy? Department, the Jackson Free Press gives a story about activist efforts to “Warn [a]gainst ‘World’s Largest Pellet Mill’ in Mississippi”.

The U.S. has many places where the wind blows so often and so powerfully that wind power has become more prevalent in places such as IN and TX.  But, not everybody wants the huge power line infrastructure that’s needed to move the wind-generated electrons from wind farms to urban areas.  This is the message of a story from the Houston Chronicle.

Fossil Fuels and Pipelines

Reuters reports that “U.S. asks Supreme Court for more time on Atlantic Coast natgas pipe appeal”.  The reporter said that “Some analysts think Dominion could cancel the pipeline if the Supreme Court does not hear the case because the project’s costs have ballooned due to legal and regulatory delays.”

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph tells yet another tale of a tree-sitter pipeline protester in “Grandmother tries to obstruct MVP by taking residence in tree”.

We all remember, with horror, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and its environmental, political, economic, and legal aftermath that continues even now.  The Associated Press (AP) brings us up to date on another Gulf spill, this one a 14-year long one.  Maybe we can think this is “good news”.

 

Les Grady with the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley and principal compiler of these weekly climate news posts is taking a break from this work until the fall. Please watch for these posts resuming in late August or early September.

Thanks!

Thanks to Joy Loving for compiling this week’s climate news!

Politics and Policy

This Washington Post’s Energy 202 item says “Fossil fuel ban on public lands becomes issue in 2020 Democratic race”.  Axios reports that 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate Jay Inslee has offered his energy plan.  Grist says “Beto’s first major 2020 policy proposal is a $5 trillion climate plan”, referring to Beto O’Rourke, another 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate.

A Love’s Travel Stop executive writes in an op-ed for Energy News Network that a bill under consideration in South Carolina would enable more businesses to install solar.  He argues:  “outdated policies and bureaucratic red tape make going solar nearly impossible.  In the most expensive energy state in the nation, that is unacceptable. If a lower-cost energy option exists, businesses deserve the freedom to choose it.”

Despite the development of soon-to-be-finalized regulations authorizing VA to partner with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) states, Gov. Northam has declined to veto budget amendments that would prohibit spending money to implement the program.  These articles from the Augusta Free Press (AFP) (“Virginia carbon reduction plan could be on hold”), the Virginia Mercury (VM) (“Northam won’t veto GOP budget language that could cripple carbon-capping plan”), and the Washington Post (WaPo) (“Northam retains GOP language in budget to keep Va. out of carbon-reduction plan”) report on the Governor’s explanatory statement detailing his actions on the state budget.

The Governor said “The Department of Environmental Quality recently finalized a regulation to reduce carbon pollution from fossil fuel fired power plants by 30 percent over the next decade. While the General Assembly has restricted the Commonwealth from participating in RGGI, I am directing the Department of Environmental Quality to identify ways to implement the regulation and achieve our pollution reduction goals.” (AFP)  However, the governor “did not offer an explanation for failing to exercise the veto, which proponents of the rule to cap and cut carbon emissions from fossil-fuel fired power plants had repeatedly urged” (VM). “Northam lamented the situation …, calling the carbon-cap restriction a ‘disappointing and out-of-touch’ provision. But his advisers apparently believed he lacked the legal authority to veto that language (WaPo).”

Legislation to establish a price on carbon and have carbon-emitters pay toward the cost of the environmental result—e.g. fee and dividend, cap and trade—is pending in Congress.  The Transportation and Climate Initiative of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States (TCI) recently offered a video, “Cap and Invest 101”, to present implications from a transportation perspective.  Not everyone favors a carbon fee and dividend approach, including some climate activists, as this WaPo Energy 202 item discusses.  On the other hand, the Houston Chronicle posts this opinion piece:  “Charge a carbon fee. Let the market fix climate change.”  And Bloomberg weighs in with “GOP Tiptoes Toward Climate Plans as Ocasio-Cortez Turns Up Heat”.

There’s lots of talk, pro and con, about the “Green New Deal” (GND).  Grist hosted an April 16 webinar on the subject; you can listen here.  The New York Times (NYT) offers an opinion piece by Rocky Mountain Institute’s Amory Lovins and Rushad R. Nanavatty, making the case for a market-driven GND.  WaPo’s Energy 202 reports that some climate activists believe NY Governor Andrew Cuomo’s GND isn’t “green” enough.  And Northwest Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz opines in nwfdailynews.com that the “Green Real Deal” (GRD) is the way to address climate change.  GRD is an alternative to GND, as covered here, here and here.

You may know that the City of Harrisonburg is in the process of developing an environmental (or sustainability) action plan.  It should be available for public comment sometime this month.  Meanwhile, the San Antonio TX Business Journal reports that local businesses there have thrown support behind that city’s climate plan.  And, according to this piece by Nashville Public Radio, Nashville, TN’s Metro Council is considering legislation to require 100% of its energy needs be met by renewable energy (RE), at least 10 percent of which is solar, by 2041.  Elsewhere in TN, wdef.com reports that “Mayor Berke says Chattanooga accepting Green Light Challenge”.  The Mayor wants his city to be eco-friendly with a new solar array for its waste treatment plant.  The Guardian reports that Amsterdam plans to “ban petrol and diesel cars and motorbikes by 2030” and diesel vehicles over 15 years old by 2020.  Not everyone agrees that this is doable, but Madrid, Rome, and the Danish government are considering similar actions.

The current Administration is no fan of the term (or likely results of) “climate change”.  As one of the eight Arctic Circle nations, the U. S. representative “pushed to remove references to climate change from an international statement on Arctic policy”.  This WaPo article provides some details and points out that this initial position of the U.S. might be softening.  Interestingly, WaPo also reports that a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report “tells communities to brace for climate change impacts”.

On May 2^nd, the U. S. House of Representatives passed HR 9, the Climate Action Now Act, put forward to keep the U. S. in the Paris Climate Agreement.  Read about it here.  Representative Ben Cline, who serves the 6^th VA District, voted against this bill, according to GovTrak.us.  (In his weekly perspectives email to constituents, Mr. Cline described another vote this way: “The week concluded with my signing another discharge petition, which would force a vote on the Green New Deal. This misguided legislation would hurt the U.S. Economy, Virginia agriculture, and put our farmers and ranchers out of business…. I believe it is time for Democrats to put their beliefs on the record with a vote on the Green New Deal and when it fails, hopefully we can meet and work on true solutions with an all of the above energy policy for the United States.”)  The Verge reports “House Democrats vote to protect Paris climate agreement But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says it ‘will go nowhere’”.  WaPo’s Energy 202 gives its take in “Here’s why Democrats pushed to pass a climate bill that isn’t going anywhere”.

This week’s RepublicEn “Climate Week in Review” offers several items highlighting efforts by the “Eco Right”—in Congress and elsewhere—to acknowledge and act on climate change.  Of note was this:  “Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick joined New York’s Rep. Elise Stefanik and Florida’s Rep. Vern Buchanan to vote for the Climate Action Now Act, which seeks to block the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.”  Somewhat differing accounts of two other RepublicEn items appear in the NYT and Grist.  The NYT reports on Wyoming’s Republican Senator John Barrasso proposed legislation promoting nuclear energy.  Noting that the Senator “… has spent years blocking climate change legislation”, the reporter says Senator Barrasso “added a twist: a desire to tackle global warming.”  Grist tells us about Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson under this headline:  “It’s my party, and I’ll fight climate change if I want to”.

Potpourri

Writing in The Guardian, Robert Macfarlane discusses the intriguingly named “Anthropocene unburials”.  In this essay, he “travels ‘Underland’” to help us recognize and understand that what lies beneath our feet, all around the earth, can teach us a lot about our world’s history.  He also points out that, as some of what’s been buried for millennia rises to the surface, one other result is even more greenhouse emissions.

The local public radio station, WMRA, has produced a report on climate actions in the Valley.  Some CAAV members were interviewed and photographs used for the piece.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation provides “What You Need to Know about Virginia’s Clean Water Blueprint” here.  There are some interesting examples of benefits flowing from this Blueprint, including one in Waynesboro.

We’re starting to learn about the negative impacts on the environment of our plastics addiction.  These two articles in The Guardian give some details:  “If we care about plastic waste, why won’t we stop drinking bottled water?” and “’Biodegradable’ plastic bags survive three years in soil and sea”.

The media has received its share of criticism for insufficient reporting about climate change and its effects.  The Guardian reports on its discussions with climate change experts on how to improve.  It also has an opinion piece by Liv Grant, who worked on David Attenborough’s recent BBC documentary, “Climate Change: The Facts”.  Ms. Grant explains how shaken she is by “climate anxiety” from what she learned during its making.  This Grist item may help us understand why, despite dire warnings and terrible climate-change weather disasters, we don’t also react well to that “C-C” term—it’s because our brains don’t register it.

Climate

This piece about Canada in The Guardian focuses on the need for urgent action on climate “preparedness” because of extreme flooding there.

The NYT Magazine of April 9, 2019 is a “Climate” issue.  One story, “The Next Reckoning:  Capitalism and Climate Change”, discusses the important role of capitalism in the effort to curb greenhouse gases and find alternatives to fossil fuels.  The NYT Food Section gives us this advice:  “Your Questions About Food and Climate Change, Answered.  How to shop, cook and eat in a warming world.”  And this NYT piece offers some ideas about “How Does Your Love of Wine Contribute to Climate Change?” and suggestions for what you can do about it.

This fascinating NYT article by Lee Robbins tells us:  “Studying the historical data stored in centuries-old trees is a burgeoning field, with labs around the world learning more about historical patterns of weather and climate and the effects on humans”.

Grist presents an article about our endangered marine life as documented in a Nature study just published.  Things are worse than we thought in our oceans.

Energy

The Guardian has this article about floating solar panels designed by Dutch engineers.  An example of the kinds of innovation we’ll need to see in the marketplace going forward?

This week’s Allegheny Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA) update notes that, after relative calm in activities around the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), some storms may be coming.  The Roanoke Times reports that there may be new questions involving pipeline impacts on an endangered species.  Not all actions are about VA’s proposed pipelines.  This Associated Press (AP) story describes efforts by PA landowner, represented by a VA-based legal group, to receive compensation for an eminent domain seizure.

More than one person has said that the kilowatt saved, or not used, is as important, if not more so, than the kilowatt generated by renewable energy (RE).  This Bacon’s Rebellion blogpost by Chelsea Harnish of The Virginia Energy Efficiency Council (VAEEC) makes a case that, in fulfilling requirements for new energy efficiency (EE) programs by the Grid Transformation and Security Act of 2018, “Utility-sponsored programs can benefit Virginians in a variety of ways throughout the Commonwealth.”  The AFP reported that the State Corporation Commission (SCC) formally approved six residential and five non-residential EE programs and that VAEEC, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, formally intervened in the SCC process for handling utilities’ applications for the EE programs.

Remember the BP Gulf oil drilling fiasco?  Well, the current Administration apparently does.  And it’s decided to loosen regulations put in place after that happened, according to this Chron.com item and Darryl Fears’s piece in WaPo’s Climate and Environment.  This piece in the AFP suggests that the “Offshore drilling safety protections rollback by Trump administration heightens risk of oil disaster.”  The Administration has decided to scale back on its plans for seismic mapping in the Atlantic to search for oil drilling sites.  Nonetheless, WaPo Energy 202 suggests this approach might have negative consequences for Republicans at the polls.