adminAGENDA | Our curation of the must-read news and analysis from the-week-that-was in the global renewable energy industry
Tracy HammondAlthough most people in and out of Washington assume (correctly) that Congress is unable to enact significant energy legislation in 2014, President Obama can still leverage executive branch power to push through substantive policies and market drivers for renewable energy. Having essentially written off Congress himself, the President has already proclaimed this the “Year of Action,” and he intends to work toward reshaping America’s energy framework in order to adapt it to a lower carbon economy. To do this, the President has several administrative tools still at his disposal. Below are some of the most significant policies that President Obama can put in place during the remainder of his second term without waiting on Congress to act. Many of these are discussed in a recent report by…
TylerOriginally published in the Toronto Star tablet edition, Star Touch. By Tyler Hamilton As Canada’s petroleum sector struggles with the reality that sub-$30 (U.S.) oil could be here for some time, the country’s power sector is prepping for a dramatic increase in U.S. demand for clean electricity. Call it a shift from pipelines to power lines. Action on climate change is the reason — more specifically, U.S. President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which aims to slash carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by a third by 2030. The plan is expected to triple the flow of Canadian electricity into Midwestern and northeastern border states, part of a broader U.S. effort to comply with the international climate obligations that 196 countries agreed to …
Katie HerzogGood news, folks! It turns out that climate change is a big ol’ liberal hoax after all. Need proof? Just look out your window: If you’re anywhere east of Tupelo, you’re probably seeing a bunch of white stuff falling from the sky, compliments of Winter Storm Jonas. We call that “snow,” and it proves once and for all that “global warming” is a conspiracy dreamed up by known communist Al Gore to bring down the world economy. Guess we can just pack up our desks and go home. At least, that’s what America’s climate deniers would have you believe. This logic seems to rear its ignorant head every time there’s a major snow storm, such as last year when…
Clayton AldernPeople are spectacularly good at throwing things away — recyclables, dreams, reputations (lookin’ at you, Ben Carson) all come to mind. And then there’s the mother of all landfill fillers: food. Up to 40 percent of food in the U.S., for example, is wasted. But Thursday sounded a new rallying cry: Two initiatives — both announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland — aim to target humanity’s tendency to throw away the stuff that keeps us alive. The first, dubbed Champions 12.3, is run by a patchwork coalition of 30 heavy-hitters from the likes of Nestlé, WWF, Unilever, and the African Union. The coalition, which aims to cut global food waste in half and reduce food loss by 2030, is named after U.N. Sustainable…
A US federal court has ruled that President Barack Obama’s landmark plan to reduce power plant CO2 emissions can advance while it weighs legal challenges brought by dozens of opponents.
Rebecca LeberThis story was originally published by The New Republic and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in recent weeks has come under intense pressure over the water crisis in Flint, Mich., which was precipitated two years ago when his administration, in an effort to cut costs, changed the city’s water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. The move led to a dangerous increase in lead in the water supply; just 5 parts per billion is cause for concern, especially for children, but Flint’s tap water has had five times that amount. And yet, officials insisted until late last fall that the water was safe for its 100,000 residents to drink. In response to a public outcry, Snyder has released…
