Energy
Gas Utilities Can Do Better on Neighborhood Electrification
The state’s largest gas utilities are trying to delay priority zones for decarbonization and to block public access to important data. The CPUC should push them to do more.
Last fall, I wrote about the promise of SB 1221, a law that created a pathway for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to approve pilot projects that will support priority “neighborhood decarbonization zones” to transition away from building gas service toward zero-emissions alternatives, including electrification and thermal energy networks. Now, the gas utilities have …
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CONTINUE READINGHow Trump’s War on Research Hurts the US Economy
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The economic evidence confirms the huge benefits of government support for research.
One of the victims of the Trump Administration has been scientific research, notably including research on the environment, clean technologies, and even public wealth. The government’s own research capacity is under attack from agencies from EPA to NIH, grants to universities have been cancelled, and future funding from agencies like NIH and NSF is in peril. Yet the Administration has given little though about how this effects competitiveness in a high-tech world.
CONTINUE READINGCan Residential Electrification Support Energy Affordability?
New UCLA report illustrates potential savings across household types and energy upgrade scenarios, write guest contributors Rachel Sheinberg and Lauren Dunlap.
As the L.A. City Council considers repealing the city’s All-Electric Building Ordinance, reacting to the 2023 decision in California Restaurant Association v. Berkeley, new UCLA research suggests that electric buildings can save LA households hundreds of dollars each year on energy bills. Over the past decade, Los Angeles city leadership has put forth a suite …
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CONTINUE READINGData Center Permitting: A Roadmap
AI is fueling a surge in data center construction. Here’s what you need to know.
Data Centers have significant environmental footprints, which is going to raise several permitting issues except for those using clean energy sources. The permitting issue are mapped out in this post. The Trump Administration is clearly going to do its best to free the industry from environmental limits. We’ll see how successful that is going to be.
CONTINUE READINGListing Trump’s Environment and Energy Executive Orders
I’m counting 35 so far. But I wouldn’t be shocked to learn that I’d missed something.
I’ve put together a list of all the Trump 2.0 executive orders that I could identify dealing with environment or energy. Just to keep you reading, I should tell you that the most important ones are near the end. Whatever you might say about Trump, no one can question his zeal for eliminating environmental protections.
CONTINUE READINGDoes Federal Law Still Preempt State Standards Relating to Fuel Efficiency?
The answer may depend on what being “in effect” means.
If a tree falls in the forest but no one hears it, does it still make a sound? If a law hasn’t been formally repealed but can be violated with complete impunity, is it still in effect? This matters because federal law preempts state fuel efficiency standards if, but only if, a federal standard is “in effect.” Congress just eliminated any penalty for violating the federqal standards. Which means at best they have only a kind of ghostly existence, but no substance to speak of.
CONTINUE READINGGlobal Energy Trends
Trump or no Trump, the global economy is shifting toward clean energy.
Globally, fossil fuels aren’t disappearing but they’re not gaining a lot of ground, while renewables have been booming. Trump can’t do much to change this: right now China is a big player than we are.
CONTINUE READINGWhy Did Congress Defund Public Media?
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
We just witnessed the untimely death of a 57-year-old American institution that has made life better for just about everyone. President Lyndon Johnson announced the creation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1967 to “assist stations and producers who aim for the best in broadcasting good music, in broadcasting exciting plays, and in broadcasting …
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CONTINUE READINGPerhaps the Least Qualified FERC Nominee in History
Trump’s nominee seems to have essentially no relevant experience or expertise.
LaCerte has had one brush with energy regulation. He was a special counsel at the big ouil and gas law firm, Baker Botts for two years, starting in January 2023. While there, he worked on energy litigation and environmental safety and incident response issues. None of that has much to do with FERC,
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Funniest Executive Orders
Yes, they’re destructive and often cruel. But sometimes, they’re also unintentionally funny.
Imagine some later historian flipping through the pages of the Federal Register and coming upon Executive Order 14264, “Maintaining Acceptable Water Pressure in Showerhead.” Think of it: he went to incredible lengths to attain the ultimate power, and this is what Trump does with it. Or there’s the one where he aims the full might of the U.S. government at the goal of “Ending Procurement and Forced Use of Paper Straws.” Who says Americans can’t dream big anymore?
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