Energy
California Legislature Increases Renewable Energy Mandate To 60% By 2030, Carbon-Free By 2045
SB 100 still needs Governor Brown’s signature but cements state’s leadership on renewables
California continues to show its climate leadership, as the state legislature yesterday passed the groundbreaking Senate Bill 100 (De León) to bump its renewable portfolio standard from 50% to 60% by 2030, while pledging to achieve a 100% carbon-free grid by 2045. The state joins Hawaii, which had set a similar 2045 goal in 2015. …
CONTINUE READINGWhat’s Ahead for Trump’s Pro-Coal Rule?
Be prepared: this is going to remain a live issue for at least two years.
You’ve already heard a lot about Trump’s pro-coal ACE rule. You’re likely to keep hearing about it, off and on, throughout the next couple of years, and maybe longer. I’ve set out a rough timetable below, and at the end I discuss some implications. Step 1: The Rulemaking Aug. 2018 Notice of proposed rule issued …
Continue reading “What’s Ahead for Trump’s Pro-Coal Rule?”
CONTINUE READINGYoga Instructors Bend Coal Industry Out of Shape
Administration’s New Plan Will Do Nothing for Jobs
What could yoga tell us about the Administration’s Orwellian “Affordable Clean Energy” Plan, which my colleagues have eviscerated, and whose name resembles the Holy Roman Empire? Lots, actually: in particular, that it relies upon a false promise of job creation. An important piece last year by Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post detailed just how small …
Continue reading “Yoga Instructors Bend Coal Industry Out of Shape”
CONTINUE READINGA Loss for Trump — and for Coal
Trump Administration Loses Yet Another Environmental Case
Understandably, most of the attention at the beginning of the week was devoted to the rollout of the Trump Administration’s token effort to regulate greenhouse gases, the ACE rule. But something else happened, too. On Tuesday, a D.C. Circuit ruling ignored objections from the Trump Administration and invalidated key parts of a rule dealing with …
Continue reading “A Loss for Trump — and for Coal”
CONTINUE READINGOne State, Two States, Red States, Blue States: Federalism Hypocrisy in Trump’s EPA
Regulatory approaches for vehicles versus power plants show the Trump White House’s true motivation – and it’s not states’ rights.
As my colleague Cara Horowitz has already blogged, the Trump EPA is preparing to announce a Clean Power Plan replacement today, rolling back Obama-era efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. The plan is expected to largely shift the regulatory burden to states, essentially leaving it up to them to decide whether …
CONTINUE READINGEPA to Propose Replacing Clean Power Plan with Something Much, Much Weaker
It may not be legal, and grid experts say it’s certainly not good policy
Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that EPA will soon release its proposal for replacing the Clean Power Plan, sharing some leaked details. Here’s a quick reaction. As a reminder, the Clean Power Plan is the regulation enacted by EPA, under President Obama, to limit emissions of carbon dioxide from existing fossil-fuel-fired power …
Continue reading “EPA to Propose Replacing Clean Power Plan with Something Much, Much Weaker”
CONTINUE READINGGreen Groups and Corporate Sustainability
Environmental NGOs sometimes partner with business, sometimes administer “tough love.”
Much of what environmental groups do involves the government: lobbying Congress, participating in rulemakings, and suing when all else fails. But there is also an interesting story to be told of how these groups relate to the corporate world. Sometimes they play the good cop, forming partnership with companies; sometimes the bad cop, trashing the …
Continue reading “Green Groups and Corporate Sustainability”
CONTINUE READINGWatered Down Standards at the TRUMP CAFÉ
Here are the FAQs about Trump’s proposed rollback.
Trump is proposing to gut CO2 standards for cars, freezing 2020 CAFE fuel-efficiency standards in place for years to come. Without the freeze, the standards would automatically ramp up. He also wants to eliminate California’s ability to set its own standards, which many other states have opted to adopt. Here are seven key questions about …
Continue reading “Watered Down Standards at the TRUMP CAFÉ”
CONTINUE READINGThe Environmental Generation Gap
Millennials may hold the key to future climate action.
You can predict a lot about someone’s attitudes on climate issues if you know their age. Millennials are much more likely to understand climate change and support carbon reductions than their elders. The good news is that it will get easier to find political support for climate action as the population shifts toward millennials and …
Continue reading “The Environmental Generation Gap”
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Contradictory Policies
Trump’s policies clash with each other remarkably often.
A certain amount of policy inconsistency is inevitable in any Administration. But the Trump Administration seems to be breaking all records. The Administration does have strong impulses. The trouble is that its goals keep colliding. Here are some examples. Favoring gas at the expense of coal. . . And vice versa. Trump wants to promote …
Continue reading “Trump’s Contradictory Policies”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
