Today, the Trump administration’s Bureau of Land Management released a proposal to undermine conservation protections in the California Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP). The proposed rollback will make the land more accessible to mining and development interests, and its reopening is widely objected to by conservation and community groups, including California Energy Commissioner Douglas. The original management plan was a result of 8 years of negotiations by over 50 stakeholders that included dozens of public meetings and thousands of comments; it carefully balances conservation, recreation, and renewable energy development on more than 10.5 million acres of California Desert public lands.
DULUTH, MN -- Earlier today, Minnesota Power announced its “vision for 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2050,” in advance of the utility’s integrated resource plan (IRP) due to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) by February 1, 2021.
Conservation groups finalized an agreement with the Bureau of Land Management today that blocks drilling on more than 45,000 acres of oil and gas leases until officials revise land-management plans governing approximately 2 million acres of public lands in western Colorado.
Boston, MA -- Almost a full year after the Massachusetts Senate passed their climate bill (S.2500) and more than five months after the proposed rewrite passed the House (H.4912), both chambers have finally released a final compromise version of the climate Roadmap Bill: S.2995.
Today a coalition of Seattle-area climate organizations sent a letter to King County Executive Dow Constantine, the County Council and the head of King County Metro, asking that the county stop letting the fossil fuel industry use county transit for advertising. Partnership for Energy Progress, an industry front group pushing for the expanded use of fracked gas in the Pacific Northwest, has paid the county to use the sides of buses for advertising since this summer.
New York — New York created the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) as per the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act that passed in the 2020 NYS budget. ORES will keep local communities at the center of developing local zoning policy, preserves local participation, and provides towns with the funding needed to meaningfully engage in the siting process. The state recently released the draft rules that will establish how ORES evaluates wind and solar projects.
OUC announced today that they would stop burning coal for power by 2027 and would get 92% of their energy from renewable sources by 2050
Thursday morning, clean energy advocates, community members, and elected officials will deliver a signed Letter of Principles to Colorado’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, regarding their upcoming Electric Resource Plan that will determine which resources are used to generate electricity moving forward.
The letter is signed by 4,000 Xcel electricity customers and Pueblo residents, as well as 70 elected officials from Xcel’s service territory.
Sierra, la revista nacional del Sierra Club, emitió su decimocuarta lista de las universidades más verdes (“Cool Schools”) de Norteamérica. Este año, Sierra recibió candidaturas de 312 instituciones de Estados Unidos y Canadá, un nuevo récord.
Harrisburgh, P.A. - The Pennsylvania Senate approved House Bill 2025 today, which would remove the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) legal authority to regulate climate-disrupting carbon dioxide pollution from any source within the Commonwealth. This bill, which passed in the House in July, would prevent Pennsylvania’s participation in the "cap-and-invest" program known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) which is currently being developed. The legislation goes even further to prevent DEP from implementing any regulations of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Governor Wolf is expected to veto the legislation.
La Comisión Especial sobre la Crisis Climática del Senado emitió hoy su reporte titulado “Razones para la Acción Climática: Construir una Economía Limpia para el Pueblo Estadounidense”, el cual detalla un plan de los demócratas del Senado para atacar la crisis climática alcanzando la meta de cero emisiones para el 2050, además de incrementar las inversiones climáticas en comunidades vulnerables y en desventaja.