WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced today that coal production dropped 18 percent in 2016, putting it at its lowest levels since 1978. The announcement comes at historic levels of clean energy growth in the American energy market, with solar and wind outpacing fossil fuels in new capacity additions for the past two years and clean energy jobs far exceeding fossil fuel jobs in 2016, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, ten states including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, reached a $157.45 million settlement with Volkswagen AG over the “Dieselgate” scandal. Under the settlement, Volkswagen must pay the states set amounts and must provide consumers three electric car models, including two electric SUVs, by 2020.
Boston, MA -- Seventy-four city and town conservation commissions across Massachusetts today urged Governor Charlie Baker to drop his support for wasteful and costly fracked-gas pipelines in Massachusetts.
Ina joint letter, the conservation commissions say new pipelines impede the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals in the Global Warming Solutions Act and Baker’s Integrated Climate Change Strategy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said today that President Donald Trump would decide by late May whether to pull out of the universal climate accord reached in Paris. The Paris Climate Agreement was reached by over 190 nations in December 2015, and is an historic, world-wide pact to tackle the climate crisis.
In response, Sierra Club Peoples Climate March Campaign Coordinator Maura Cowley released the following statement:
COLUMBUS, OH - The Ohio House of Representatives just passed House Bill 114, which is eerily similar to legislation vetoed by Governor Kasich in December 2016. The legislation dramatically weakens utility requirements to conduct energy efficiency programs, which have been proven to provide big savings for customers, while also making renewable energy requirements completely voluntary.
Washington, DC -- Today, the Sierra Club, Northern Plains Resource Council, Bold Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a federal lawsuit in Montana, challenging the State Department’s border-crossing permit and related environmental reviews and approvals for the Keystone XL pipeline.
Washington, DC -- Donald Trump’s North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) draft renegotiation notice has been revealed, exposing his plan for altering the trade pact. The plan shows only minimal changes to the existing trade deal, widely opposed by workers, environmentalists, and communities across the country.
Washington, DC -- Today, just after Donald Trump signed an executive order meant to undermine U.S. climate policy, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke signed a Secretarial Order cancelling the moratorium on new and modified coal leasing on public lands. The temporary pause was put in place by the Obama Administration in 2016 as taxpayers were losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year while public lands, critical water resources, and the climate were being threatened and damaged.
Statement of Lisa Hoyos, Director of Climate Parents, on Donald Trump’s anti-environmental executive orders at EPA
OAKLAND, Calif. - Anheuser-Busch InBev today announced its commitment to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2025. AB InBev is now the largest beer maker in the world to commit to powering all of its electricity with clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
In response, Jodie Van Horn, Director of the Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 campaign, issued the following statement: