Improving the Grade Score of Energy Infrastructure

The Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, released by the American Society for Civil Engineer’s (ASCE), revealed failing grades for much of the system that consists of the roads, bridges, ports and the energy infrastructure. The infrastructure, that is made up of the power generation plants and the electrical transmission and distribution systems, brought home a D+ on its report card. The US power grid, that is the entire combination of these...

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Federal Register Notice On Request To Restart San Onofre

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 73 (Tuesday, April 16, 2013)]NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION[Docket No. 50-361; NRC-2013-0070]Application and Amendment to Facility Operating License Involving Proposed No Significant Hazards Consideration Determination; San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 2AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.ACTION: License amendment request; opportunity to comment, request a hearing,...

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EPA Critical of Bristol Bay Pebble Mine

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) revised draft assessment of the Pebble Mine project’s potential impact on the aquatic ecosystem in Bristol Bay, Alaska determined the mine would destroy 90 miles of streams and up to 4,800 acres of wetland salmon habitat. “Indirect effects of stream and wetland losses would include reductions in the quality of downstream habitat for coho salmon, sockeye salmon, Chinook salmon, rainbow trout,...

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EPA Critiques State Department EIS on Keystone XL Pipeline

WASHINGTON. DC APR 22, 2013 ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE ASSURANCEMr. Jose W. Fernandez Assistant Secretary Economic, Energy and Business Affairs U.S. Department of StateWashington, DC 20520Dr. Kerri-Arm JonesAssistant Secretary Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific AffairsU.S. Department of StateWashington, DC 20520 Dear Mr. Fernandez and Dr. Jones: In accordance with our authorities under the National...

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EPA Honors Winners of First-Ever Campus RainWorks Challenge

University of Florida and Illinois Institute of Technology lead in design of green infrastructure on campus The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the four winners of the Campus RainWorks Challenge, a new design challenge created to inspire the next generation of landscape architects, planners and engineers to develop innovative green infrastructure systems that reduce stormwater pollution and support sustainable communities....

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EARTH DAY: Invisible In 2013 and Date Should Be Moved

PRESIDENT'S CORNERBy Norris McDonaldIt is really cold today.  Welcome to Earth Day 2013.  Usually it is cold AND rainy.  Who came up with this date anyway.  Well I know but let's leave them out of it for the moment.  April 22 is a horrible date for Earth Day.  It is too early.  It should be on May 22 or June 22.  The weather is always more conducive to outdoor activities a month or two later in the year. ...

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EPA Publishes 18th Annual U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its 18th annual report of overall U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions showing a 1.6 percent decrease in 2011 from the previous year. Recent trends can be attributed to multiple factors including reduced emissions from electricity generation, improvements in fuel efficiency in vehicles with reductions in miles traveled, and year-to-year changes in the prevailing weather.EPA has taken a number...

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EPA Proposes To Cut Pollutants Into Waterways By Power Plants

In accordance with a consent decree and in line with requirements under the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today will propose a range of options to help reduce dangerous pollutants, including mercury, arsenic, lead, and selenium that are released into America’s waterways by coal ash, air pollution control waste and other waste from steam electric power plants. Today’s proposal includes a variety of options for whether...

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Natural Gas Replacing Coal Produces CO2 Reduction in USA

U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions have fallen dramatically in recent years, in large part because the country is making more electricity with natural gas instead of coal. Energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that is widely believed to contribute to global warming, have fallen 12% between 2005 and 2012 and are at their lowest level since 1994, according to a recent estimate by the Energy Information Administration, the statistical...

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No Progress Made In Reducing CO2

The world has made almost no progress over the past 20 years in reducing the carbon content of its energy supplies, despite more than $2 trillion of investment into renewable-energy projects such as wind and solar power, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).  The lack of CO2 reduction is largely because of coal's continued dominance as a fuel for electricity generation, the IEA said. As energy consumption has grown, this means...

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Peabody Energy (Coal) 1st Quarter Earnings

Coal miner Peabody Energy Corp. profits slid in the first three months of the year on lower U.S. shipments and prices for its Australian coal. The world’s biggest private-sector coal company said Thursday that its net loss attributable to common shareholders was $23.4 million, or a loss of 9 cents per share. That compares to a profit of $172.7 million, or 63 cents per share, a year earlier.Revenue fell 14 percent to $1.75 billion.  (Wash Post,...

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12 States To Sue EPA Over Delayed CO2 Rule

A dozen states and cities are jointly threatening to sue the Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to impose carbon emissions standards on power plants.  New York is among the states and environmental groups that reached a late 2010 settlement with EPA in which the agency committed to setting rules for new and existing plants. The 11 other parties signing the notice include the states of Connecticut, Vermont, Oregon, Delaware,...

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House Subcommittee Passes Bill To By-Pass President on Keystone XL Pipeline Decision

A bill to bypass President Obama’s authority to decide the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline’s fate passed a House Energy and Commerce subcommitteel on Tuesday.The Northern Route Approval Act (H.R. 3) passed the Energy and Power subcommittee with a 17-9 vote. All Republicans voted in favor of the bill, with Democratic Reps. John Barrow (Ga.) and Gene Green (Texas) joining them. The bill would strip the need for pipeline builder TransCanada Corp. to receive a cross-border permit from the State Department to construct its northern leg, which would...

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In 5th Year, RGGI CO2 Allowance Market Remains Competitive

2012 Annual Market Monitor ReportNo evidence of anti-competitive conduct has been found in the market for Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) CO2 allowances, according to the independent market monitor’s 2012 Annual Report on the Market for RGGI CO2 Allowances, released today.The independent market monitor, Potomac Economics, continues to find no material concerns regarding the auction process, barriers to participation in the auctions, competitiveness...

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California Wind Power

California saw a surge in new wind farms last year, taking its wind power capacity to 5,544 megawatts. That put it second in the nation behind Texas, which has more than 12,000 MW of installed wind capacity.  The total system peak electricity requires are about 27,426 megawatts. One megawatt provides enough electricity for about 1,000 homes.  (Grist, 4/16/20...

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Old Oil Pipeline Welds Vulnerable To Failure

Exxon Mobil pipeline spill in Mayflower, Ark.Recent pipeline ruptures are raising fresh questions about the safety of pipes made decades ago using obsolete welding techniques.  The accidents come as federal regulators are examining whether state-of-the-art inspection methods are capable of detecting flaws in these old pipe seams.  Though the industry stopped making what is known as low-frequency, electric-resistance welded pipe by...

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Online Nonprofit InsideClimate News Wins Pulitzer

Lisa SongElizabeth McGowanInsideClimate News won the Pulitzer Monday for national reporting for its reports on problems in the regulation of the nation's oil pipelines. Founded five years ago, InsideClimateNews reports on energy and the environment. Writers Lisa Song, Elizabeth McGowan and David Hasemyer were recognized for an investigation into a Canadian oil spill. The reporters went on to look more broadly at pipeline safety and the...

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Pipeline Company Use of Eminent Domain

Private pipeline companies can use eminent domain to seize land-use rights for pipelines at one price, deemed fair by the courts, and can turn around and sell those rights at a substantial profit.  Conversely, federal government and some Indian tribes, who by law are not subject to eminent domain, usually do not grant perpetual rights of way. Instead they grant 10-year leases with rights of renewal and charge rent accordingly....

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Electricity Lines: Underground or Overhead?

"Should Utilities Be Required to Bury Power Lines to Protect Them?"The Wall Street Journal4/12/2013Millions of homes and businesses in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York were left in the dark for weeks after superstorm Sandy ravaged the area in October, prompting renewed questions about whether utilities should be forced to relocate power lines underground to keep them safer.Logical? Yes. But also very costly.Those who favor power-line burial say...

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Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell

Addressing federal employees on her first official d...

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EPA Delaying GHG Rule

EPA is delaying the rule for greenhouse gas limits on new power plants. EPA claims they are still reviewing more than 2 million comments on its proposal. The rule, which the EPA proposed a year ago, would require any new power plant to emit no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of electricity produced. The average U.S. natural gas plant, which emits 800 to 850 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt, meets that standard; coal...

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CEO Salaries: EEI & U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Tom Kuhn, left, president of the Edison Electric Institute gets $6,736,627 a year, according to CEO Update’s survey.Tom Donohue, right, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, receives $4,916,571. (Wash Post, 4/11/20...

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