MINNEAPOLIS, MN - From across Minnesota, public comments submitted to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) are calling for a rejection of Xcel Energy’s plans to build two new gas-fired peaker plants. These plants were included in the utility’s most recent Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), currently under consideration by the PUC.
Washington, DC -- Today, the White House—under the leadership of National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy—released a roadmap for a government-wide effort to identify and mitigate climate-related financial risk, as directed by President Biden’s May
A new report released today by the Carbon Tracker Initiative illustrates the problem of millions of unplugged and abandoned oil and gas wells across the United States. Industry is obligated by law to plug and clean up most of these wells, but according to the report, Race to the Top, $250 billion is needed to address the scale of the problem, and many operators are in default and will be unable to meet their closure obligations.
Thousands of people are in Washington, DC this week demanding that President Biden declare a climate emergency and stop fossil fuel projects. The People vs.
- SIERRA CLUB FEDERAL POLICY TEAM
*** Sierra Club policy staff and campaign leadership are available to discuss our clean transportation priorities in the Build Back Better Act ***
President Biden’s Build Back Better Act is a once-in-a-generation investment in the effort to tackle the climate crisis. One of the important but lesser known aspects of the package put together by House Democrats is the nearly $3.5 billion in funding to support urban and community forestry and green space development across the country, which are essential efforts for protecting our most vulnerable communities from the worst consequences of the climate crisis.
As negotiations on the climate, care, jobs and justice priorities in the Build Back Better Act reach their conclusion, it’s clear that President Biden is the key player who is positioned to bring his agenda across the finish line. Biden campaigned and won on this agenda, and now environmental, family, and justice advocates and communities nationwide are counting on him to deliver. The time for action is now. Majority Leader Schumer and Speaker of the House Pelosi have done a tremendous job leading the way, with 99% of congressional Democrats in support of the Build Back Better Act’s historic climate investments. Now it is down to two senators -- and the President is the only one who can finish the job.
Today, DTE Energy announced it will stop burning coal at its Belle River Power Plant by 2028, two years earlier than previously planned, in response to the U.S. EPA’s Steam Effluent Limitation Guidelines rule. That rule requires coal-fired power plants to either clean up their toxic wastewater pollution or stop burning coal. The company also announced it will move up the filing of its next Integrated Resource Plan by one year, to the fall of 2022. Lastly, the company announced it will explore repowering the Belle River plant with fossil gas.
The WV Public Service Commission released its final order approving Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power’s request to have West Virginia customers pay 100% of the ELG retrofit costs at three coal power plants (Amos, Mountaineer, and Mitchell), which will keep those plants open until 2040. Even though the Kentucky and Virginia Commissions disallowed cost recovery as imprudent.