United States Puts Tariffs on Chinese Wind Turbine Towers

The U.S. Department of Commerce has put tariffs of between 13% and 26% on Chinese wind-turbine towers. The preliminary ruling, made in response to a complaint filed in December by a group of U.S. turbine-tower makers, found that Chinese firms enjoyed unfair government support, including grants, preferential tax treatment and cheaper prices for raw materials. The Commerce Department announced tariffs of 13.74% on CS Wind and 26% on Titan...

Read More

...

Read More

Pantex

The Pantex Plant, located 17 miles northeast of Amarillo, Texas, in Carson County, is charged with maintaining the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. The facility is managed and operated by B&W Pantex for the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration.In 1942, the U.S. Army constructed the original Pantex Ordnance Plant on 16,000 acres. The mission of the Plant was to load...

Read More

Maryland & DC Water Bills To Double

Washington, DCDistrict residents will see their water bills more than double over the next six years in an effort to pay for a massive tunnel project aimed at stopping sewage from overflowing into the Anacostia and Potomac rivers.  Much of the increase is due to a dedicated tax to pay for a $2.6 billion tunnel that will run 13 miles from Northeast Washington, under the Anacostia, and end at D.C.'s Blue Plains treatment facility on the Potomac....

Read More

EPA Regulations on Fracking Air Emissions

EPA To Regulate Air Emissions from Hydraulic Fracturing As Industry Under ScrutinyBy Adam OrfordMay 29, 2012EPA will begin imposing new emissions control requirements on natural gas wells that are developed using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) under final regulations adopted last month. New hydraulically fractured wells, and older wells that are refractured, must immediately employ emissions combustion (flaring) technology, and must be fitted...

Read More

WIPP Can Supplement Or Replace Yucca Mountain

Carlsbad, New Mexico is a YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) city when it comes to storing nuclear waste.  This vibrant city of 25,000 would love to replace Yucca Mountain as the nation's repository for high level nuclear waste.  The Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP) already accepts low level nuclear waste.  WIPP is the nation’s only permanent, deep geologic repository for nuclear waste. The Nuclear Waste Fund has already collected about...

Read More

Obama Nominates Allison Mcfarlane To Chair NRC

Allison McfarlanePresident Obama nominated George Mason University Professor Allison Macfarlane to serve as chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).Allison Macfarlane is an associate professor of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. She is also an affiliate of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT and the Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University.Allison...

Read More

Northwest Coal Exports

Cherry Point, Wash. SSA Marine is planning to build and operate the Gateway Pacific Terminal, a new shipping facility north of Bellingham, Wash., that would be capable of handling 48 million tons of coal per year. Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private sector coal company, has already agreed to supply 24 million tons of coal.Longview, Wash. Millennium Bulk Terminals, a subsidiary of the Australian coal mining company Ambre Energy, purchased...

Read More

Costa Concordia Removal Plan Presented

On May 15, Italian authorities provided the necessary permits for the work to begin in salvaging the Costa Concordia.  The work will begin in a few days and is expected to last about 12 months. Titan Salvage , part of the Crowley Group, is an American-owned specialist marine salvage and wreck removal company and is a world leader in its field. Micoperi is a well-known Italian marine contractor with a long history as a specialist in underwater...

Read More

EPA Carbon Standard Hearings For New Power Plants

EPA to Hold Public Hearings in Washington, D.C. and Chicago on Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power PlantsThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold two public hearings on May 24, 2012, on the proposed carbon pollution standard for new power plants. The proposed standard, which only applies to power plants built in the future, is flexible and would help minimize carbon pollution through the deployment of the same types of modern technologies and steps that power companies are already taking to build the next generation of power...

Read More

NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko Resigns

And The Center Could Not Be HappierNuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Gregory Jaczko announced his resignation today after three tumultuous years.  His decision follows a tenure that has featured complaints about his management style from other members of the commission.  The Center found Chairman Jaczko to be arrogant, aloof and rude.  We are delighted to see him go.  He abused his colleagues, harassed staff and has...

Read More

EPA Launches College Stormwater Management Competition

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching a new design competition called the Campus RainWorks Challenge to encourage student teams on college and university campuses across the country to develop innovative approaches to stormwater management. Stormwater is a major cause of water pollution in urban areas in the U.S., impacting the health of people across the country as well as tens of thousands of miles of rivers, streams, and...

Read More

Lisa Jackson Senate Appropriations 2013 Budget Testimony

Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related AgenciesEPA’s budget request of $8.344 billion focuses on fulfilling EPA’s core mission of protecting public health and the environment, while making the sacrifices and tough decisions that Americans across the country are making every day. Specifically, this budget proposes that $1.2 billion - nearly 15 percent of EPA’s overall request - be allocated back...

Read More

Palm Oil Biofuels Under the Renewable Fuels Standard

March 29, 2012The Honorable Lisa JacksonAdministrator Environmental Protection Agency1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.Washington, DC 20460Re: The Treatment of Palm Oil Biofuels under the Renewable Fuels Standard from the Center for Environment, Commerce & Energy (Center); Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0542Dear Ms. Jackson: The Center for Environment, Commerce & Energy (Center) is a national environmental organization  dedicated to protecting the environment, enhancing human, animal and plant ecologies and increasing participation...

Read More

EPA To Remove Vapor Capture Boot

Rubber Boot To Be Removed From Gas Pump HandlesThe Obama administration and the Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday they intend to phase out the rubber boots on gas pump handles now used to capture harmful gasoline vapors while refueling cars. The EPA says the vapor-capturing fuel pumps are redundant because more than 70% of all cars on the road today are equipped with on-board systems that capture the harmful vapors.According to the...

Read More

Third Annual Industry Day at Cardozo Senior High School

Center President Norris McDonald participated as a panelist at the Cardozo Senior High School Third Annual Industry Day.  The Industry Day is sponsored by TransTech in collaboration with the Academy of Construction and Design and hosted by the National Association of Black Women in Construction (NABWIC) and Lockheed Martin.  Specialists addressed four broad areas: 1) Aviation, 2) Construction, 3) Engineering and 4) Transportation. ...

Read More

Microturbines

Microturbines are small combustion turbines that produce between 25 kW and 500 kW of power. Microturbines were derived from turbocharger technologies found in large trucks or the turbines in aircraft auxiliary power units (APUs). Most microturbines are single-stage, radial flow devices with high rotating speeds of 90,000 to 120,000 revolutions per minute. FuelNatural gas, hydrogen, propane, dieselEfficiency20 – 30% (Recuperated)EnvironmentalLow...

Read More

Weak Link? Wind Turbine Step-Up Transformers

The key wind turbine generator (WTG) step-up transformer design issues that wind farm owners and developers should pay attention to include transformer loading, harmonics and non-sinusoidal loads, transformer sizing and voltage variation and special requirements to withstand faults.  The role of the WTG step-up transformers is critical and its design must be carefully and thoughtfully analyzed and reevaluated.Wind turbines are highly dependent...

Read More

The Air Rule Puzzle Continues

The Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) was finalized in 2005 and overturned by DC Circuit Court in 2008. Two years later it was re-proposed and rechristened as the Clean Air Transport Rule (CATR) and last year it was finalized as the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR).Utilities affected by the rule have been presented with five different sets of allowance allocations since July 2010. Some states have been "in" the group covered by the rule, then...

Read More

NRC Approves COLs for SCE&G, Santee Cooper Nuclear Units

South Carolina Electric & Gas Company SCE&G), principal subsidiary of SCANA Corporation (NYSE:SCG), and Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility, have received approval for combined construction and operating licenses (COLs) from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for two new nuclear units at V. C. Summer Station in Jenkinsville, S.C.SCANA received approval for licenses to construct and operate units...

Read More

Chesapeake Energy Abuses Private Jet Travel?

A shareholder lawsuit has revealed that Chesapeake Energy's cost for personal jet travel of top executives and directors totaled nearly $14 million over the past five years. The suit claims that was understated by as much as $10 million a year, largely because of the lack of inclusion of fixed costs, but any details may be included in the redacted portions. The company owns fractional shares in 22 different jets, according to Federal Aviation...

Read More

David Hahn-Baker

PRESIDENT'S CORNERBy Norris McDonaldDavid Hahn-Baker, Norris McDonaldHooked up with my old buddy David Hahn-Baker today.  He is Inside The Beltway for a board meeting and staying with a friend in Silver Spring.  We met out there and Dave updated me on his work.  Wow.  The man is busy.  But David was always ahead of his time.  In fact, there was a time when Dave and I were the only blacks working in the DC-based environmental...

Read More

In Reality, Keystone XL Pipeline Has Been Operating Since 2010

The current proposal would complete a Southern portion of the Keystone XL Pipeline Phase 3This phase, known as Cushing MarketLink, is part of the Keystone XL pipeline. This proposed phase would start from Cushing, Oklahoma where domestic oil would be added to the pipeline, then it would expand 435 miles (700 km) to a delivery point near terminals in Nederland, Texas to serve the Port Arthur, Texas marketplace. Also proposed is an approximate...

Read More

Santa Catalina Island

PRESIDENT'S CORNERBy Norris McDonaldRecently, I had the pleasure of exploring Santa Catalina Island, which is 22 miles off the coast of California (from Long Beach).  As a follow-up to our Compton To Catalina Program (CTC Program), I decided to really get to know the island.  I took a few days to walk most of Avalon, the only incorporated city on the island. I previously visited the island two times, once with my son and once...

Read More

Environmental Groups Target Coal Ash Disposal

Environmental groups have asked a federal court to compel EPA to finalize rules regulating the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). They are joined by a manufacturer and marketer of products made with recycled coal ash who alleges, in a companion suit, that the agency is harming its business by not acting to finalize rules proposed nearly two years ago. Coal ash is beneficially used...

Read More

EPA's Draft Guidance On Oil & Gas Hydraulic Fracturing

EPA Releases Draft Permitting Guidance for Using Diesel Fuel in Oil and Gas Hydraulic FracturingGuidance will clarify means of compliance with 2005 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water ActToday (May 4), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released draft underground injection control (UIC) program permitting guidance for class II wells that use diesel fuels during hydraulic fracturing activities. EPA developed the draft guidance to clarify...

Read More