AgClips
Recent AgClips
Cheap Natural Gas and Renewables Could Close Half of US Coal Fleet by 2030
Green Tech Media | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Energy Newshe U.S. coal power plant fleet has been shrinking for years, with the official tally of coal plants closed exceeding those still open as of late last year. Another 43 gigawatts, or about 18 percent of the remaining 249 gigawatts of capacity, is expected to close by 2030. Absent “market interventions at a grand scale” — such as the Trump administration’s plan to force utilities to buy uncompetitive coal-fired power under the mandate of national security — the same trends are accelerating beyond current estimates, and could lead to the country’s coal fleet being nearly halved again by 2030.
A coal company and Interior teamed up to save a power plant
E & E News | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Energy NewsA major coal company had plans to save one of the West's largest coal plants from closing. It just needed help from the Trump administration. So in September 2017, Peabody Energy Corp. sent the Interior Department a game plan for keeping the 2,100-megawatt coal-burning behemoth in Arizona rumbling. The company's mine supplies coal to the plant.Included on the coal company's wish list was eliminating environmental requirements for reducing haze. Peabody also asked the government to push the plant's largest customer to continue buying its electricity instead of renewable energy.
In setback for TransCanada, judge orders Keystone XL pipeline review
Reuters | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Energy NewsA federal judge in Montana on Wednesday ordered the U.S. State Department to do a full environmental review of a revised route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, possibly delaying the project’s construction and dealing the latest setback for Canada’s TransCanada Corp
Head of Jefferson National Forest temporarily reassigned as pipeline controversy continues
Daily Progress | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Federal NewsA switch is coming to the Jefferson National Forest’s top leadership, a job complicated by conflict over plans to run a natural gas pipeline up and down mountainsides and under the Appalachian Trail.Forest supervisor Joby Timm has been temporarily assigned to the U.S.
Water Use in Fracking Soars — Exceeding Rise in Fossil Fuels Produced, Study Says
Inside Climate News | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Energy NewsAs the fracking boom matures, the drilling industry's use of water and other fluids to produce oil and natural gas has grown dramatically in the past several years, outstripping the growth of the fossil fuels it produces. A new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances says the trend—a greater environmental toll than previously described—results from recent changes in drilling practices as drillers compete to make new wells more productive.
King says farmers want EPA action on ethanol, not $12 billion aide package
Radio Iowa | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsRepublican Congressman Steve King today said the best thing the Trump Administration could do to alleviate farmers’ angst about the trade war would be to allow higher percentages of ethanol to be blended into gasoline year-round. “Let the market determine what that blend could be It could go E15, E20, E30, all the way up to E85,” King said. “If the administration does that, I will tell you our producers here would be happy and they would be a lot happier than the promise of $12 billion distributed. They want to earn and they want to trade.”
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says tariffs 'like weight loss'
Fox News | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsAgriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told Fox News on Wednesday that President Trump's tariffs on imports from China, the European Union and other nations are "a little bit like weight loss ... it's kind of painful to start with, but you're healthier in the end."The secretary spoke to Fox News as a set of 10-percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of imported Chinese goods is due to take effect Aug. 23. The proposed tariffs affect more than 6,000 product lines, including seafood, tobacco and components used in products such as car rear-view mirrors and burglar alarms.
Are Russia And China Trying To Kill The Dollar?
Forbes | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Federal NewsRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested Tuesday that countries facing sanctions like Iran, Turkey and Russia may start doing business in their national currencies, suggesting that the days of the U.S. dollar as the international reserve currency may be numbered.
Judge restores WOTUS rule in 26 states
Politico Pro (subscription required) | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Federal NewsA federal judge ruled that the Trump administration violated administrative legal requirements when it delayed the start of the Obama administration's Waters of the U.S. rule by two years — a move that means the rule will now go into effect for about half the country. The judge said EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers had unlawfully declined to consider any comments addressing substantive issues related to WOTUS or an earlier 1982 version when it proposed delaying the rule to give the agencies more time to repeal and replace it.That was a fatal flaw, ruled Judge David Norton of the U.S.
The Super Bowl of beekeeping
The New York Times | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in NewsLast year, climate-intensified hurricanes and flooding along the Gulf Coast destroyed entire apiaries; they drowned blooms in Florida and led to the starvation of thousands of bees; wildfires in Santa Barbara and Ventura, Calif., killed more. And beekeepers need to worry not only about keeping their charges alive but also about keeping them from being stolen. Last year, just a few miles from Kerman, two men were arrested in association with what may be the largest bee heist ever, a three-year crime spree that added up to nearly a million dollars’ worth of stolen bees.