Wind Energy Industry Installed Equivalent of 13 Large Power Plants Last Year

U.S. companies installed a record amount of wind power in 2012, according to an industry study. The American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) quarterly market report counted 13,124 megawatts installed in the U.S. during 2012. According to AWEA, that represented about $25 billion in private investment. In total, the U.S. now has about 60,000 megawatts of wind capacity.The wind-power tax credit is worth 2.2 cents for each kilowatt-hour of electricity...

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American Water Offers Grants

American Water Now Accepting Applications For 2013 Environmental Grant Program Grants Available to Community Projects in Service Areas in 13 StatesAmerican Water, the nation’s largest publicly traded water and wastewater utility company, announced recently that applications are now being accepted by its participating state subsidiaries for the company’s 2013 Environmental Grant Program awards. The grant awards will be available in American Water service areas in 13 states as follows: California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland,...

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U.S. Economy Shrinks 0.1%

The U.S. economy shrank from October through December for the first time since the recession ended.  The decline occurred despite faster growth in consumer spending and business investment. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. That’s a sharp slowdown from the 3.1 percent growth rate in the July-September quarter and the first contraction since the second quarter...

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Lisa P. Jackson: Best U.S. EPA Administrator In History

PRESIDENT'S CORNERBy Norris McDonaldNorris McDonald and Lisa P. Jackson We supported Lisa Jackson's nomination to be EPA administrator when it was announced in 2008.  I remember like it was yesterday greeting her in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee right after her confirmation hearing. I knew she would be a great administrator.  And she proved me right.  I was also with her on the Friday before President Obama's...

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Virginia Uranium Mining

Move the play bar to about 29 minutes in for the beginningThe Virginia General Assembly is currently reviewing the Commonwealth's moratorium on uranium mining, which has been in place since 1982. The Heritage Foundation hosted a forum today on the issue.  The Heritage Foundation believes that lifting the moratorium could not only bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars worth of economic activity to Virginia's south-central region, but...

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Energy Department Releases Study on Natural Gas Exports

Invites Public CommentAs part of a broader effort to further inform decisions related to LNG exports, the Department of Energy commissioned NERA Economic Consulting to conduct a third party study in order to gain a better understanding of how U.S. LNG exports could affect the public interest, with an emphasis on the energy and manufacturing sectors. The Department is releasing that study and making it available for public review and comment....

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Wind Energy Tax Credit Extended By ATRA

The “fiscal cliff bill” (American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 - ATRA) the President signed in early January provided a lifeline to renewable energy development by extending eligibility for wind energy tax credits. Tax credits have allowed the industry to remain cost effective. Eligibility for those credits was set to expire at the end of 2012 for wind projects and at the end of 2013 for other renewable energy sources. As part of the “fiscal...

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Court Rules ON Biofuels and Utility Mercury

Court Vacates Cellulosic Biofuel Part of RFS – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has vacated the cellulosic biofuel portion of EPA’s 2012 Renewable Fuels Standard.They also denied a challenge over EPA’s refusal to lower the overall volume of advanced biofuels for 2012.   Court Declines To Rehear Vacated Ruling On EPA's on Cross State Ruling – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit also declined to rehear the court’s ruling that vacated EPA Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.  EPA will have to go back...

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Royal Dutch Shell & Exxon Mobil LNG Export Plans

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has struck a deal with a unit of U.S. pipeline giant Kinder Morgan to export liquefied natural gas from an existing import terminal near Savannah, Georgia. The bid adds to energy-sector efforts to capitalize on North America's newly found abundance of natural gas from shale and comes in the wake of a recent report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy that came out in favor of LNG exports. Exxon Mobil Corp.  last...

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Ford, Daimler & Renault-Nissan To Produce Hydrogen Cars

Ford, Daimler and Renault-Nissan have joined forces to speed development of cars that run on hydrogen, with hopes of bringing a vehicle to market in as little as four years. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles generate electricity after a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is stored in special high-pressure tanks, and the only emissions are water vapor and heat.Under the alliance, each company will invest equally in the technology....

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Lisa P. Jackson's Last Day Features Sustainability

PRESIDENT'S CORNERBy Norris McDonaldI was delighted to be invited to Lisa Jackson's last day at EPA headquarters where sustainability issues were discussed.  Jackson is the best admininistrator in the history of the agency to me.Lisa Jackson center, Norris McDonald third from right Lisa P. Jackson's last official workday included a meeting at EPA headquarters with an Executive Roundtable on Applying a Sustainability Lens to Environmental...

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Chicken Litter To Power Maryland Universities & Offices

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) has announced that Maryland and its university system have joined forces to purchase at least 10 megawatts of power from a plant that will run primarily on chicken waste. O’Malley’s spending plan for the budget year that begins in July includes $2.5 million for so-called “manure to energy” projects. Obtaining manure from poultry manure or animal waste helps helps Maryland government reach its goal of generating 20...

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Gas Turbine Electricity Generation & Cogeneration

Electrical Power Generation How A Gas Turbine Engine WorksIn electricity generating applications the turbine is used to drive a synchronous generator which provides the electrical power output but because the turbine normally operates at very high rotational speeds of 12,000 r.p.m or more it must be connected to the generator through a high ratio reduction gear since the generators run at speeds of 1,000 or 1,200 r.p.m. depending on the AC frequency...

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Bilateral Climate and Energy Partnerships

The United States is committed to working actively with other nations to promote cooperative and collaborative approaches to address this important issue. U.S. policy also recognizes that efforts by Americans and other nations to address climate change will only be sustainable if they also serve a larger purpose of fostering prosperity and well-being for citizens around the globe. (U.S. Department of State)India: Prime Minister Singh and President...

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The Washington Post Endorses Keystone XL Pipeline

Editorial BoardExcerptFULL TEXTMr. Obama should ignore the activists who have bizarrely chosen to make Keystone XL a line-in-the-sand issue, when there are dozens more of far greater environmental import. He knows that the way to cut oil use is to reduce demand for the stuff, and he has begun to put that knowledge into practice, setting tough new fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks. That will actually make a difference, unlike blocking a pipeline here or there. (Wash Post, 1/23/20...

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The Death of Cap & Trade

NAMING THE PROBLEMWhat It Will Take To Counter Extremism and Engage Americans in the Fight Against Global WarmingTheda SkocpolHarvard UniversityJanuary 2013Prepared for the Symposium onTHE POLITICS FOR AMERICA'S FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL WARMINGCo-Sponsored by the Columbia School of Journalism and the Scholars Strategy NetworkFebruary 14, 2013 4-6 pmTsai Auditorium, Harvard UniversityCONTENTSMaing Sense of Cap & Trade FailureBeyond Easy Answers     Did the Economic Downturn Do It?     Did Obama Fail To Lead?An...

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Electricity Grid Reliability

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration and North American Electric Reliability Corporation, 2012 Long-Term Reliability AssessmentThe North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the electric reliability organization certified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish and enforce reliability standards for three major electrical interconnections serving the United States, issues a reliability assessment each...

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Nebraska Approves Keystone XL Pipeline

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman (R) on Tuesday approved a route through his state for the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. The State Department has yet to decide whether to approve a cross-border permit for the pipeline, which is designed to bring Canadian oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries. State Department review will be completed at the end of the first quarter of 2013, at the earliest.Obama delayed a final decision on Keystone in 2011,...

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Obama on Climate Change During Inaguration Speech

"We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms.”...

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EPA Review of DC Circuit Court Ruling on Air Standards

DC Circuit Decision on Fine Particle National Ambient Air Quality Standards Implementation Rule and New Source Review/Prevention of Significant Deterioration Rule The EPA is currently reviewing the January 4, 2013, decision from the DC Circuit which held that the EPA should have issued its 2007 PM National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) Implementation Rule and the related 2008 New Source Review (NSR)/Prevention of Significant Deterioration...

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PM NAAQS Final Rule Published In Federal Register

The PM NAAQS final rule was published in the Federal Register today (Tuesday January 15th). SUMMARYBased on its review of the air quality criteria and the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM), the EPA is making revisions to the suite of standards for PM to provide requisite protection of public health and welfare and to make corresponding revisions to the data handling conventions for PM and to the ambient air monitoring, reporting, and network design requirements.The EPA also is making revisions to the prevention...

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DOI Secretary Salazar Resigning In March

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that he will return to his home state of Colorado, having fulfilled his promise to President Obama to serve four years as Secretary. Secretary Salazar has informed President Obama that he intends to leave the Department by the end of March.Secretary Salazar has helped usher in a new era of conservation to protect America’s lands, wildlife, and heritage. Under the banner of President Obama’s America’s...

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Court Denies Challenge to EPA Ethanol Ruling

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Tuesday preserved an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling that permits the sale of a high-ethanol fuel blend.  The court denied a rehearing on the EPA decision that put fuels with a 15-percent ethanol concentration, known as E15, on the market.The development is a win for the biofuels industry, which also is fighting off a lobbying effort against E15 and a biofuel blending...

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EPA Finalizes Stationary Engines Standards

EPA Finalizes Revisions to Clean Air Standards for Stationary Engines Updated rule provides extensive public health protections, slashes costs of complianceToday, in compliance with settlement agreements, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized revisions to standards to reduce air pollution from stationary engines that generate electricity and power equipment at industrial, agricultural, oil and gas production, power generation and...

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Sustainable DC Act of 2012

Mayor Vincent C. Gray will sign into law the Sustainable DC Act of 2012 on Wednesday January 16 at 10:00 am.  The Sustainable DC Act will benefit the District in each of the three legs of sustainability: economy, equity, and environment. The legislation will help promote energy efficiency and renewable energy, urban agriculture, and will keep dangerous chemicals out of our rivers.Vincent C. GraySpecifically, the act:Refines the terms of PACE...

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The New York Times Drops Environment Desk

The New York Times will close its environment desk in the next few weeks and assign its seven reporters and two editors to other departments. The positions of environment editor and deputy environment editor are being eliminated. No decision has been made about the fate of the Green Blog, which is edited from the environment desk.[Managing editor Dean] Baquet said the change was prompted by the shifting interdisciplinary landscape of news reporting....

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EPA Announces Next Round of Clean Air Standards to Reduce Harmful Soot Pollution In response to a court order, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized an update to its national air quality standards for harmful fine particle pollution (PM2.5), including soot, setting the annual health standard at 12 micrograms per cubic meter. By 2020, ninety-nine percent of U.S. counties are projected to meet revised health standard without any...

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Court Rules EPA Cannot Regulate Stormwater As Pollutant

A federal court ruled this month that the Environmental Protection Agency can't force Virginia to regulate stormwater flow because stormwater itself is not considered a pollutant. The debate brought together Republican Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and the Democratic-led Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in a lawsuit against the EPA filed early in 2012. The debate stemmed from regulations the EPA established in April 2011 that limited...

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DOT To Require Electric Vehicles To Make Noise

Congress directed the Department of Transportation (DOT) to propose new regulations that would require hybrid and electric cars to make more noise when their engines are running when it passed the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010 (S. 841 - Bill Text).  The rules are designed to make it easier for pedestrians to hear the quiet automobiles when they are approaching. Safety is our highest priority, and the regulations will help...

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Environmental & Clean Energy Inagural Ball

The 7th Environmental and Clean Energy Inaugural Ball is on Monday, January 21, 2013. The event will once again be held at the beautiful Sequoia Restaurant located on the Washington Harbour waterfront in Georgetown from 8-12:00 midnight.This bi-partisan celebration has become a Washington tradition over the past 24 years as the environmental and clean energy communities gather to welcome a new Administration and make headway towards a more...

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2013 Green Inaugural Ball

The 2013 Green Ball is on January 20. The ball is a celebration of the past four years of accomplishment on the environment, energy, and clean technology and a look forward to another four years of progress. The Green Ball brings together top leaders from the environmental, conservation, clean tech, and renewable energy communities. A complete list of the Host Committee can be found here.The event will be held at the Newseum at 555 Pennsylvania...

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Falcons Used To Clear Refineries of Starlings

The Phillips 66 refinery in Billings, Montana two nearby refineries have used falcons to scare thousands of starlings from roosting each night. Refineries across the country are now paying thousands of dollars a day to bring in rare raptors to chase away the nuisance birds that sully their facilities. It is a relatively new form of pest-control. The falcons are worth about $1,000. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife department started issuing commercial...

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Changes at Senate Energy & Environment Committees

Senate Republicans Freshmen Sens. Tim Scott (S.C.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.) have been added to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) is also coming back to the committee after an absence. The committee oversees topics including offshore oil-and-gas drilling, Energy Department programs and an array of others. Leaving the panel are Rand Paul (Ky.), Dan Coats (Ind.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.).On the Environment and Public Works Committee, the new GOP members will be Sen. Roger Wicker...

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Al-Jazeera Buys Current TV From Al Gore

Gore netted $100 million with his 20 percent stake in the network when it was sold for a reported $500 million on Wednesday. Critics were surprised by Mr. Gore's decision, one of the best-known proponents for global warming mitigation, to sell to a Middle Eastern Qatari royal family monarchy built with oil wealth. Mr. Gore will have an unpaid seat on the board of the new Al Jazeera channel.Al-Jazeera, the Pan-Arab news channel, has acquired...

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Transocean To Pay Criminal Fines & Civil Penalties

Transocean Agrees to Plead Guilty to Environmental Crime and Enter Civil Settlement to Resolve U.S. Clean Water Act Penalty Claims from Deepwater Horizon Incident Transocean to pay record $1 billion in civil penalties and $400 million in criminal fines Transocean Deepwater Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) and to pay a total of $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines and penalties, for its conduct in relation...

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Natural Gas Industry Leaking Methane & Profits

The U.S. Oil and Gas Industry Can Reduce Pollution, Conserve Resources, and Make Money by Preventing MethaneWaste Methane makes up as much as 90 percent of natural gas, a fossil fuel used extensively in the United States to produce electricity, heat buildings, and fuel factories and vehicles. Currently, when natural gas is extracted by hydraulic fracturing or other techniques, significant amounts of methane are wasted: from wells during the extraction...

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