How Fossil Fuel Allies Are Tearing Apart Ohio̵...

With scare studies, policy drafts and political donations, industry groups turned Ohio lawmakers against policies they once overwhelmingly supported. This ICN story was also published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. COLUMBUS, Ohio—On March 30, Bill Seitz, a charismatic Republican, took to the floor of the Ohio House to make a case for gutting a 2008 law designed to speed the adoption of solar and wind as significant sources...

Climate change impacts report presents risks, oppo...

Clean energy advocates hope the increased threats highlighted in the federal report will push the state to embrace climate action. Clean energy advocates say last month’s federal report on climate change underscores the need for action in Ohio, which faces increased risks from flooding, heat and pollution, according to the report. “There is dire certainty if we do not act on climate: loss of clean energy investment to other...

U.S. solar takes hit from Trump tariffs but is che...

(Reuters) – U.S. solar installations fell 15 percent in the third quarter as the Trump administration’s tariffs on overseas-made panels forced developers to put off large projects, according to a report commissioned by the industry’s primary trade group. Current weakness in the utility-scale market, however, will be offset by larger volumes of projects than had been expected over the next five years because solar...

Is nuclear energy the key to saving the planet?

A new generation of environmentalists is learning to stop worrying and love atomic power. Emma Redfoot stands at a whiteboard in a small conference room, sketching neutrons, protons and nuclei, her voice rising enthusiastically as she explains nuclear fission: A neutron blasted into a uranium-235 atom shatters the atom, releasing energy and yet more neutrons that split other uranium atoms, causing a frenetically energetic...

‘Conceivably the Worst’: Groups, Lawma...

Bernard McNamee, a climate change denier who helped write the Trump administration’s failed coal and nuclear bailout plan, was confirmed Thursday as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The Senate approved the nominee on a straight party-line vote of 50-49 after Sen. Joe Manchin, the pro-coal Democrat of West Virginia, withdrew his support due to his concerns about McNamee’s stance...

Analysts skeptical of Trump’s latest play to save ...

The Trump administration is trying to remove a key barrier to constructing new coal-fired power plants in the U.S. — but don’t expect any utilities to actually build them. The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed easing Obama-era limits on carbon dioxide emissions from new and modified coal power plants, including a change that would remove a de facto requirement to use expensive carbon-capture technology at...

Proposed Unconventional Oil & Gas Well Emissi...

Ohio EPA News Releases epa.ohio.gov 1 min read 11/20/18 PUBLIC INTEREST CENTER, (614) 644-2160 MEDIA CONTACT: Heidi Griesmer CITIZEN CONTACT: Mary McCarron Ohio EPA Requests Early Stakeholder Input for Potential Oil and Gas Rules Ohio EPA is requesting early stakeholder input until Dec. 19, 2018, on potential rules that would cover air pollution emissions from existing non-conventional oil and gas facilities that are not...

IEEFA U.S.: A rough week for the American coal ind...

Momentum around declining consumption numbers, utility-company policy, export markets and internal assessments The economic problems facing the U.S. coal industry have been on manifest display this week. On Tuesday morning, the federal Energy Information Administration reported that coal use in the U.S. is on track to fall to its lowest level since 1979, and that by year’s end consumption will be 44% below the 2007 peak of...

‘A kind of dark realism’: Why the climate change p...

Smoke and steam billow from Belchatow Power Station, Europe’s largest coal-fired power plant, operated by PGE Group, on Wednesday near Belchatow, Poland. (Kacper Pempel/Reuters) In the daunting math of climate action, individual choices and government policies aren’t adding up. Solar panels are being nailed to rooftops, colossal wind turbines bestride the plains and oceans, and a million electric vehicles are on U.S....

Climate change impacts report presents risks, oppo...

Clean energy advocates hope the increased threats highlighted in the federal report will push the state to embrace climate action. Clean energy advocates say last month’s federal report on climate change underscores the need for action in Ohio, which faces increased risks from flooding, heat and pollution, according to the report. “There is dire certainty if we do not act on climate: loss of clean energy investment to other...

Weakening methane standards will hurt SE Ohioans

In mid-November, I traveled to Colorado to give testimony to the federal EPA regarding the rollback of methane standards that are vital to our community. I work for the Ohio Environmental Council as their southeast Ohio regional director, but I testified to amplify my own voice, as well as the voice of my neighbors as someone directly affected by methane pollution. Our region is at the epicenter of the Utica Shale deposit...

Explaining the plummeting cost of solar power

Researchers tease apart the factors that have caused photovoltaic module costs to drop by 99 percent Massachusetts Institute of Technology The dramatic drop in the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, which has fallen by 99 percent over the last four decades, is often touted as a major success story for renewable energy technology. But one question has never been fully addressed: What exactly accounts for that stunning...

What made solar panels so cheap? Thank government ...

From an economic perspective, the core challenge of climate change is that the standard way of doing things — the dirty, carbon-intensive way — is typically cheaper than newer, lower-carbon alternatives. Solving the problem means driving down the cost of those alternatives. Simple, right? But in practice, it’s not so simple. In fact, we still don’t have a very good grasp on exactly what drives technological innovation and...

Palm Oil Was Supposed to Help Save the Planet. Ins...

A decade ago, the U.S. mandated the use of vegetable oil in biofuels, leading to industrial-scale deforestation — and a huge spike in carbon emissions. The remains of an Indonesian rain forest that was cleared to make way for oil palms.CreditCreditAshley Gilbertson/VII, for The New York Times This article is a partnership between ProPublica, where Abrahm Lustgarten is a senior reporter, and The New York Times Magazine. The...

Smart Columbus offering $3K EV rebates to taxis, U...

Individual rideshare drivers for services including Uber and Lyft can apply for $3,000 grants toward an electric vehicle under expansion of a Smart Columbus program that had been open only to larger fleets. The public-private initiative on Tuesday announced a new round of $90,000 in incentives for 30 vehicles, funded by the $10 million Paul G. Allen Philanthropies grant toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions that was part...