QUICK NEWS, January 9: Interior Dept. Trades Public Lands For Profits; Energy Dept Plan To Boost Coal And Nukes Bloocked; Southeast Utility Giant Misguided on New Energy
Interior Dept. Trades Public Lands For Profits The Interior Department Has Cleared the Way for Energy Developers to Destroy Natural Habitats; And opened the door for lots of lawsuits.
Elizabeth Shogren, January 6, 2018 (Mother Jones)
“…[The Interior Department has] quietly rescinded an array of policies designed to elevate climate change and conservation in decisions on managing public lands, waters and wildlife…[Order 3360] explains that the policies were rescinded because they were ‘potential burdens’ to energy development…[It prioritizes energy development and de-emphasizes] climate change and conservation…[in] a department that manages a fifth of the nation’s land, 19 percent of U.S. energy supplies and most of the water in the 12 Western states. It fulfills a high-profile executive order by Trump and a secretarial order from [Interior Secty. Ryan] Zinke…[and the Bureau of Land Management just announced] a related policy change that makes it easier for companies to develop oil and gas [on 67 million acres of prime sage grouse habitat across 10 Western states] that were protected in 2015 as part of an unprecedented conservation initiative…[and there are] dozens of policy changes in the works to remove barriers to energy development…” click here for more
Energy Dept Plan To Boost Coal And Nukes Bloocked Energy regulator rejects Perry's plan to boost coal
Darius Dixon and Eric Wolff, January 8, 2018 (Politico)
“…[The the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] rejected Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s proposal to prop up struggling coal and nuclear power plants, a major defeat for the former Texas governor and the coal companies…[Perry wanted approval for an order] to guarantee financial payments to the plants that could be facing retirement because of the rise of natural gas and renewable energy, a strategy that many critics said would undermine the power markets the regulator has spent decades building…[But the 5-0 FERC decision] axed Perry’s proposal and instead ordered the nation’s regional grid operators to submit information about ‘naturally occurring and man-made threats’ to their systems within 60 days…Perry said he was pleased his proposal had sparked a national debate [about ‘marketplace distortions’ of the nation’s power system]…But FERC Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur criticized Perry's effort for failing to show the grid was in danger…The effort to support coal power plants has been a central theme for Perry in his first year at DOE…” click here for more
Southeast Utility Giant Misguided on New Energy Clean Line: A TVA Failure of Clean Energy and Environmental Leadership
Stephen A. Smith, Janaury 8, 2018 (CleanEnergy.Org)
“It has become increasingly clear that the Tennessee Valley Authority is taking a hostile position towards renewable energy. TVA’s recent decision to ignore, or flat out reject, renewable energy from the Plains and Eastern Clean Line project is the latest in a string of anti-renewable energy positions…[It is woefully behind peer utilities like Duke Energy North Carolina, Georgia Power, and FPL in Florida]…The Plains and Eastern Clean Line project was the largest renewable energy project proposed for the Southeast…[and] would have delivered 3,500 megawatts of exceptionally low-cost, high capacity factor wind energy from the Oklahoma panhandle to a converter station in TVA territory…TVA could have netted carbon-free energy for about two cents per kilowatt hour…a locked-in price, lower than the fuel prices of natural gas…[But it needed] utility power purchase agreements to financially anchor it…[TVA President Bill Johnson’s] track record at Progress Energy and now at TVA is one of building large natural gas projects and supporting troubled nuclear projects; he does not understand renewable technologies, thinks they are a threat to the traditional utility business model, and brings this narrow thinking to his leadership position at TVA…” click here for more
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