Environment &amp; Climate News

Federal Court Approves BLM Oil and Gas Permits Near New Mexico National Park

May 22, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

Federal Judge James Browning tossed a lawsuit filed to overturn permits issued by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for oil and gas wells near the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico.

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Federal Judge Upholds Community Aesthetics Over Health Concerns, Property Rights

May 21, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

A federal district court upheld a local ordinance requiring a Missouri couple to plant grass at their home for aesthetic reasons, despite the fact one of the homeowners is allergic to grass and it harms her health.

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Hunters Represented on International Wildlife Conservation Council

May 18, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

Representatives from a number of pro-hunting conservation organizations are included in the membership of the International Wildlife Conservation Council , established by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in November 2017.

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Federal Court Tosses Trump Administration’s Rewrite of Fuel Economy Penalties

May 18, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

A federal appeals court in New York blocked a Department of Transportation decision to delay increased penalties for automobile manufacturers who fail to meet federal fuel economy standards.

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Republican AGs Request Federal Court Dismiss California Climate Lawsuit

May 17, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

Republican attorneys general from 15 states filed have asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to dismiss Oakland and San Francisco’s climate liability lawsuits against five oil companies.

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AZ Clean Energy Constitutional Amendment Would Shut Down Nuclear Power in State

May 17, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

California billionaire Tom Steyer is pushing a ballot measure in Arizona that would result in the premature closure of a nuclear plant that provides the largest share of the state’s electricity.

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U.S. Crude Oil Production Smashes Records

May 15, 2018

By Kenneth Artz

U.S. crude oil production, topped 10.057 million barrels per day (bpd) in November 2017, shattering a 47-years old record.

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Federal Judge: Endangered Species Policies Responsible for Flooding, Farmers Owed Compensation

May 15, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

A federal court has ruled policies enacted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect endangered species caused flooding of farms along the Missouri river and thus the government owes property owners compensation.

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Senate Bill To Ban HFCs Pending

May 14, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill to let the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) phase out certain greenhouse gases.

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Mississippi Taxpayers on the Hook for Millions in Electric Car Company Bankruptcy

May 10, 2018

By Bonner R. Cohen

A politically connected Mississippi based electric car company filed for bankruptcy in the face of lawsuits from the State of Mississippi among others.

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States Consider Carbon Dioxide Taxes

May 7, 2018

By Kenneth Artz

Several state legislatures, including those of Connecticut, Hawaii, and Utah, are considering establishing a tax on carbon dioxide on emissions from fossil fuel use.

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Navy Sinks Obama-Era Green Destroyer Program

May 4, 2018

By Bonner R. Cohen

Citing high costs and ineffectiveness, the U.S. Navy is cancelling a plan developed under former President Barack Obama to install hybrid electric drives in 34 destroyers.

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House Votes to Modify Emissions Limits for Some Coal-Fired Power Plants

May 3, 2018

By Bonner R. Cohen

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation modifying Obama-era air pollution rules for certain types of coal-fired power plants.

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Department of Interior Will Allow Elephant Trophy Imports

May 1, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reversed a ban on the importation of animal parts or trophies from sport-hunted African elephants and lions from select countries.

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Energy Department Calls for Smaller, Modular Coal Power Plants

April 30, 2018

By Joe Barnett

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is planning to help develop smaller, modular coal-fired power plants that are more efficient and flexible than larger facilities.

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Physics Proves Climate Concerns Overblown, Book Shows

April 27, 2018

By Jay Lehr

In the book Global Warming Temperatures and Projections, physicist William T. Lynch uses physics and mathematical modeling to analyze climate change, demonstrating peoples’ fears of runaway climate change are unjustified.

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Another Carbon Tax Proposal Enters the Fray

April 26, 2018

Ben Zycher of the American Enterprise Institute says a new carbon tax proposal is doomed to failure.

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EPA Announces it is Ending the Use of ‘Secret Science’

April 25, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule aimed at improving the quality and transparency of the science the agency relies on when developing regulations.

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EPA Streamlines Industrial Facility Upgrade Process

April 25, 2018

By Bonner R. Cohen

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt has announced steps to streamline the agency’s New Source Review process.

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Federal Tax Cuts Benefitting Utility Ratepayers

April 23, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

Customers across the country are seeing their electric power, gas, and water costs decline as a result of corporate tax cuts in the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed by President Donald Trump in December of 2017.

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Russia Uses Activists, Web to Slow U.S. Energy Production, Congress Reports

Taxes

April 17, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

A new report from Congress details attempts by the Russian government to disrupt U.S. energy markets.

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Arizona Senate Puts Coal Tax Relief Bill on Hold*

April 16, 2018

By Tim Benson

A bill to provide tax relief for the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) by exempting income derived from coal mining from the state’s transaction privilege tax is on hold.

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Federal Judge Questions Claims Linking Pesticide to Cancer

April 13, 2018

By Joe Barnett

As part of more than 300 lawsuits before his court, a federal judge held a week-long hearing in mid-March to examine the scientific evidence on whether a popular pesticide causes cancer.

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Michigan Energy Initiative Would Restrict Choice

April 12, 2018

By Kenneth Artz

A new citizens’ ballot campaign in Michigan would force the state to get 30 percent of its electricity from select renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power by 2030.

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EPA Revokes Interim Fuel Economy Increases

April 12, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

The Environmental Protection Agency is revoking standards requiring cars and light trucks sold in the United States to achieve an average of more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025.

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New York State Considers Tax on Drivers Entering New York City

April 11, 2018

By Christopher Talgo

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is considering a proposal to charge vehicles entering Manhattan

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Nations Failing to Keep Paris Climate Commitments

Taxes

April 9, 2018

By Kenneth Artz

Global greenhouse gas levels continue to rise as a number of countries are finding it is easier to say they will cut emissions than it is to actually do so.

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Trump Administration Eases Coal-Ash Disposal Regulations

April 9, 2018

By Bonner R. Cohen

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency is revising 2015 rules governing the disposal of coal ash, to provide states and utilities greater flexibility in managing the waste product.

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Science Catastrophe Scares and IPCC Ascent Explained

April 6, 2018

By Jay Lehr

This book describes how in the latter half of the 20th century, as government began to dominate science, scientists discovered they could get huge amounts of funding if they raised public terror over alleged crises in their fields of research.

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Indiana Utility Cuts Rate Request in Response to Federal Tax Cut

April 5, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

An Indiana utility reduced its proposed rate increase, saying the recently enacted federal tax reform law allowed it to reduce its request.

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California Says It Will Block Trump’s Offshore Drilling Plan

Taxes

April 5, 2018

By Bonner R. Cohen

California government officials declared they will block President Donald Trump’s plan to include a portion of the outer continental shelf (OCS) off the state’s coast in his proposal to expand offshore oil and gas exploration and production.

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Homeland Security Dept. Waives Environmental Rules for Border Wall

April 3, 2018

By Kenneth Artz

To speed up construction of President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall between the United States and Mexico, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is waiving more than 30 environmental rules for a segment of the wall in New Mexico.

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EPA Rejects Connecticut’s Request for Limits on Pennsylvania Coal Plant

April 2, 2018

By Bonner R. Cohen

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rejected a request from the government of Connecticut to place new limits on ozone emissions from a Pennsylvania-based coal-fired power plant.

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New England Imported Natural Gas from Russia This Winter

March 28, 2018

By Joe Barnett

During the recent severe winter in the northeastern United States, utilities had to import natural gas from Russia to heat homes and keep the electricity on.

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Obama Interior Department Official Violated Ethics Laws

March 27, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

The Inspector General of the U.S. Interior Department has found a former Interior Department official in the Obama administration violated federal law to benefit a family member affiliated with a global animal welfare group.

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New Minnesota Organization Protects Property Rights, Fights Wind Farms

March 26, 2018

By Matt Kelly

A group of Minnesota landowners banded together in 2017 to form Wind Locked, LLC, a conservation holding company established to support landowners’ efforts to block wind turbine construction near agricultural and rural lands.

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Senators Consider Renewable Fuel Standard Reform

March 23, 2018

By Joe Barnett

Several U.S. senators are working on legislation to reduce the cost of complying with the Renewable Fuel Standard requirement that U.S. oil refiners blend biofuels, mainly ethanol derived from corn, into gasoline and diesel fuel.

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Another Carbon Dioxide Tax Proposal Fails in Washington State

March 22, 2018

By H. Sterling Burnett

The state of Washington’s latest attempt to pass a carbon dioxide tax has failed.

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Wind Industry Subsidies Under Fire in Oklahoma

March 22, 2018

State legislators and other elected officials in Oklahoma are beginning to roll back generous tax incentives previously given to the state’s wind-energy industry.

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