This week just about everything is about the EPA’s issuance of its final rules called the Clean Power Plan (CPP); thus many of the links below are related to that. But not all of them. Warning: There’s a lot here and even more that I couldn’t include.
Here are several CPP-related items, from different perspectives and varying sources, including some of the business response.
The Guardian’s take: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/03/obamas-clean-power-plan-hailed-as-strongest-ever-climate-action-by-a-us-president?CMP=ema_565
Advanced Energy Economy’s press release: https://www.aee.net/articles/statements-from-advanced-energy-economy-on-epa-s-final-rule-under-section-111-d-of-the-clean-air-act-clean-power-plan
The President’s Executive Order: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/08/03/fact-sheet-president-obama-announce-historic-carbon-pollution-standards
How can the states implement the new rules?
What New Jobs? The CPP and jobs….
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/250482-obama-admin-launches-jobs-program-for-climate-rule
What about coal-powered power plants?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-02/safety-net-for-dying-power-plants-surfaces-in-u-s-carbon-rule
And how about nuclear power?
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/31/usa-climatechange-cleanpowerplan-idUKL1N10B1K820150731
What do some of “we the people” think?
National Journal’s take on winners and losers:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/obama-climate-change-epa-rule-20150802
On the other hand….
How about suing if you don’t like the new rules?
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/internal-debate-over-clean-energy-plan-pitted-ambition-against-legal-worries/2015/08/02/9e0c1c94-3966-11e5-9c2d-ed991d848c48_story.html
• http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/08/06/3688652/first-shot-at-finalized-clean-power-plan-arrives/
The new rules certainly aren’t popular in the House of Representatives, apparently.
http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/democrats-walkout-fails-to-stop-measure-blocking-climate-rules/
VA House Republicans issued a press release for which I could not locate a link. Here it is as a pdf: Matthew Moran Press Release for VA House Republicans on CPP
Former Republican Bob Inglis’ RepublicEn.org (The Energy and Enterprise Initiative) has a video of an interview with Mr. Inglis, who supports an alternative approach to addressing climate change. Mr. Inglis tweeted this when the CPP was released: “”We can do better. Whole economy, not sector-by-sector. A price signal, not regulations. A smaller government, not a bigger one. Free enterprise, not command-and-control. The country and the world have been waiting for conservatives to step forward with the better solution. Now’s the time.”
http://blog.republicen.org/video-bob-inglis-talks-clean-power-plan-problems-real-solutions-on-msnbc
How about “cap and trade”?
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/08/don-t-like-obama-s-clean-power-plan-fine-here-s-cap-and-trade.html
Should you happen to be a bit of a policy wonk and haven’t read enough yet, NextGen Climate America has assembled a resource library that puts a lot of info at your disposal: http://nextgenamerica.org/blog/clean-power-plan-resource-roundup/
For further wonky details, Synapse Energy Economics Inc. gives us “Eight Things You Need to Know about the Clean Power Plan”.
http://synapse-energy.com/about-us/news/eight-things-you-need-know-about-clean-power-plan
More data… The states and their carbon emissions–VA isn’t the worst or the best.
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/08/03/clean-power-plan-your-state-by-state-greenhouse-gas-emissions
Enough about the CPP already! Let’s move on…
Not sure about Congress, but DoD takes climate change seriously, it seems:
http://mashable.com/2015/07/29/pentagon-global-warming-present-threat/
Nature’s wreaking havoc in the US West; last week we had an article about Alaska wildfires. This week it’s our Pacific Northwest and a chilling (opposite of a pun) map of current US active wildfires. Plus, there’s a map showing the effect on air quality of fossil fuel emissions. The fires, of course, aren’t helping.
• http://grist.org/climate-energy/what-happens-when-a-rainforest-burns/
• http://grist.org/climate-energy/terrifying-map-shows-depths-of-hell-that-is-western-u-s/
• http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/03/california-wildfires-destroy-forests-threaten-homes
• http://grist.org/climate-energy/how-dirty-is-your-air-this-map-shows-you/
Let’s hope there is some hyperbole here.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/03/stop-burning-fossil-fuels-now-no-co2-technofix-climate-change-oceans
Just how clean is natural gas?
From down under, Solar Choice tells us that “Utility-scale solar will soon be competitive in USA–with fossil fuels, even without tax credit”.
http://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/news/utility-scale-solar-competitive-in-years-310715
Also from below the equator (by a lot) comes a story about some good news for Glapagos penguins, at least for a while.
http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/08/04/climate-change-endangered-galapagos-penguins
100% Renewable Energy?? A bit wonky but…
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/07/world-moves-toward-100-percent-renewable-energy-first-electricity-then-heating-cooling-and-finally-transportation.html
Here’s another more upbeat article about some islands’ actions.
http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/08/07/how-and-why-islands-are-becoming-renewable-energy-trendsetters
If you’re getting this email, then you’re part of the 60%.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/07/27/these-are-the-factors-that-affect-how-people-feel-about-climate-change-and-whether-they-even-know-it-exists/
I could go on and on and clearly already have. Congratulations if you’ve made it this far.
These news items have been compiled by Joy Loving, member of the CAAV steering committee and leader of Solarize efforts in the valley.
Climate Action Alliance of the Valley 