March 22, 2018
Duke Energy has a released a report showing that the company plans to stop burning coal by 2050, and will instead relicense its nuclear plants and continue expanding its fracked gas infrastructure.
coal
March 21, 2018
Greene County, PA--The Center for Coalfield Justice (CCJ) and the Sierra Club filed an appeal of a permit issued by Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that would allow Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company (Consol) to mine underneath another stream within Ryerson Station State Park despite anticipated damage. This is the fourth time the groups have been forced to file an appeal of permits for Consol’s Bailey Mine East Expansion.
March 19, 2018
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality held the final public hearing on Virginia’s Carbon Reduction Plan today. At the hearing, participants called for the strongest possible standard to cut Virginia’s carbon pollution from fossil fuel burning power plants. The public hearing was preceded by a press conference held by community members and activists, which was attended by about 50 people.
March 19, 2018
PENNSYLVANIA – In a new poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQR), Pennsylvanians show strong, bipartisan support for generating 100 percent of the state’s electricity using clean, renewable energy.
March 13, 2018
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that he is severely weakening the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) program for air pollution, which will make it possible for industrial polluters to avoid installing state-of-the-art, cost-effective pollution controls. The Clean Air Act, and EPA’s NSR regulations, require major sources of air pollution, like dirty coal burning power plants, to add modern pollution controls when they undertake projects that produce an increase in air pollution. Pruitt’s announcement today opens a major loophole in those requirements by allowing polluting facilities to claim that planned decreases in pollution will offset any immediate increase in pollution, while abandoning the procedures by which EPA has, in the past, ensured that such claims are accurate and enforceable. The practical result will be an increase in air pollution, with especially harmful impacts in the communities that surround major industrial facilities.
March 12, 2018
U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam of the Northern District of California found that Scott Pruitt had illegally delayed the Environmental Protection Agency’s designation process for stronger clean air protections against smog pollution.
March 12, 2018
TDEC taking over surface coal mine permitting would not only be bad for the environment, but operating this permitting program could cost Tennessee taxpayers more than $2 million dollars every year.
March 9, 2018
MGE called on local, state, and federal governments to create policies that encourage the implementation of more electric and low-emissions vehicles. Three days prior, on Monday March 5th, high winds kicked up toxic coal dust from the Oak Creek and Elm Road power plants in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, into the surrounding neighborhoods, coating nearby homes, vehicles, playgrounds and residents’ lungs.
March 9, 2018
NEW YORK CITY—Governor Cuomo with former Vice President Al Gore repudiated the Trump administration's plans to open waters off of New York’s coast for offshore drilling and announced that New York would request an exclusion from the federal government’s oil and gas leasing program. The Governor also recommitted to phasing coal out of the state by 2020 and building 2.4GW of offshore wind by 2025, supporting his goal of sourcing 50 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable energy by 2030. Additionally, he advocated for increased investments in the Environmental Protection Fund and other programs related to necessary land, air and water protections.
March 8, 2018
NRG to close multiple gas plants in California NRG Energy will retire three gas-fired power plants in Rancho Cucamonga (Etiwanda), Oxnard (Ormond Beach) and Goleta (Ellwood). The decision to close these plants aligns with a trend that’s sweeping across California-- gas plants aren’t being built or retiring due to community opposition and the growth of clean energy in the state. Among these plants is Etiwanda, which will close on June 1, 2018.
March 8, 2018
Oak Creek, WI -- The Clean Power Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin held a press conference announcing the results of independent testing that confirmed coal dust samples taken by the Environmental Accountability Group (EAG) and tested by Aspen Consulting, Inc. The black coal dust was found covering homes, cars, and even the playground in neighborhoods north of the Oak Creek and Elm Road Power Plants on Monday.
March 6, 2018
VIRGINIA - Between March 6 and March 19, Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will be holding six public hearings on Virginia’s Carbon Reduction Plan, or Executive Directive 11 (ED 11). Virginia is the first southern state to take initiative on limiting and capping carbon pollution from fossil fuel- burning power plants. The Virginia Carbon Reduction Plan is designed to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuel-burning power plants by 30 percent by the year 2030, help generate new clean energy jobs, and put the Commonwealth on track for continued reductions beyond 2030.