wind power
Can They Do That?
The feds probably do ultimately have the authority to shut down offshore wind farms – if they ever get their act together.
This week, three different offshore wind projects that were targeted with shutdown orders by the Trump Administration won preliminary injunctions against those orders. Those lawsuits are in response to a blanket order in December from the Trump Administration, issuing stop work orders to all off-shore wind projects in the United States. (For some projects, this …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Answers are Blowing in the Wind
A district court overturns the moratorium on offshore wind, deciding two key legal issues along the way.
The Trump Administration advanced two far-reaching arguments in this case. One is that, when the President directs how an agency should exercise its statutory authority, normal limits on agency action don’t apply. The other is that, even if an agency action is illegal, it must remain in effect against everyone in the world except the plaintiffs who challenged it in a specific case. We can expect the government to keep pressing these points, up to and including Supreme Court review. But the district court in the offshore wind case, along with other lower courts, correctly rejected these arguments.
CONTINUE READING“Degrowth Donald”
We now have ample examples that Donald Trump is not an abundance President
The title of this blog post comes from this article, where the author originally humorously tagged Donald Trump as a degrowth activist because of his opposition to renewables, his tariffs to constrain trade, and the potential economic impacts of those policies. Except now it’s not so humorous. Turns out that having the federal government capriciously …
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CONTINUE READINGRenewable Energy: A Timeline
Today’s wind and solar resources didn’t come out of nowhere.
The first efforts to use of wind to generate electricity was 134 years ago, and the photoelectric effect was discovered six decades earlier. So in a sense, these are old technologies — about the same age as the very first internal combustion engines. But the scientific and technological advances that made these technologies competitive with …
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CONTINUE READINGWindmills are Killing Our Donuts! And It’s All Biden’s Fault!
A peek inside the mind of a leading presidential candidate.
Donald Trump has been talking a lot about donuts lately. Donuts, it seems, are threatened by renewable energy and depend on fossil fuels. Maybe because he’s heard that they’re cooked in oil? Trump’s knowledge of cooking is likely pretty minimal, given that it’s unlikely he’s ever been inside a kitchen. And windmills are terrible, just …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Texas Paradox
Texas is firmly in the grip of conservative Republicans. So what’s the deal with renewables?
I sometimes ask students to guess what state produces the most wind power. They’re always shocked to find out the right answer: Texas. Republicans have an iron grip on Texas government. And not just that, but Texas is by far the biggest producer of oil, with a governor who has pledged to protect the industry …
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CONTINUE READINGA Great Day for Climate Policy
A short video explainer of why passage of the IRA bill is such a big deal.
We all have something to celebrate with the House passage of the IRA on Friday. Getting it passed required some difficult compromises, but the bill represents a major step forward. Because of the Mar-a-Lago search, it hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention as it deserves. If you don’t have time for a lot of details, …
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CONTINUE READINGRenewable Texas: Lessons from the Lonestar State
Texas has the most wind power in the country and is rapidly building solar. How did that happen?
People are often surprised to learn that Texas is the national leader in wind power, with the twice the generating capacity of any other state. On one notable night in December of 2015, the state got 45% of its power from wind, though the year-round average was only about 10%. In July of this year, the …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate and Energy on the East Coast
Renewable energy and climate action are big issues in NY and NJ.
New York and New Jersey are at the core of what people think about in terms of the “Northeast.” Both are very active in promoting renewable energy — New Jersey despite Governor Chris Christie, New York in part because of Governor Cuomo. New York in particular seems ready to position itself as the East Coast …
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CONTINUE READINGWill Renewable Energy Keep Getting Cheaper?
Technological and economic forces will continue to cut prices, regardless of Trump.
The Trump Administration is trying to save coal and stop the growth of renewables. Just this week Scott Pruitt issued a proposed repeal of Obama’s Clean Power Plan. Whether or not the repeal succeeds, Pruitt & Co. are fighting against the economic tide. If the price of renewables continues to fall, it will be harder …
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