President Donald Trump’s administration called two lawmakers from the U.S. corn belt to convince them to join talks about potential changes to biofuels policy to ease the burden on oil refineries, according to a spokesman for one of the lawmakers and a source briefed on the matter. [node:read-more:link]
Coal CEO Robert Murray warns that if the Senate version of tax reform is enacted by President Donald Trump, he'll be destroying thousands of coal mining jobs in the process. "We won't have enough cash flow to exist. [node:read-more:link]
Outdoor company Patagonia is a part of a coalition that has filed a federal complaint against President Donald Trump to block cuts to protected lands, according to a company news release. On Monday, Trump announced a plan to reduce the 1.3-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent and cut Grand Staircase-Escalante’s 1.9 million acres to half its size. The retail company took a stand that day by using its website to bring awareness to the cuts, putting “The President Stole Your Land” on its home page. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it is mandating the statutory maximum 15 billion gallons of ethanol be added to the domestic fuel supply in 2018, the second consecutive year EPA has mandated the maximum amount of ethanol allowed under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The currently mandated volume for 2017 is also 15 billion gallons; with only weeks left in 2017, the Energy Information Agency (EIA) of the U.S. [node:read-more:link]
While proposed long-distance, high-voltage transmission projects continue to be stymied by hostile landowners and disapproving state regulators, a new transmission strategy is taking root in the Midwest. The Direct Connect Development Company has been working on a plan for an underground transmission line along existing railroad tracks from north-central Iowa to the Chicago area. The goal is to provide a way to move additional wind energy from Iowa, the Dakotas and Minnesota to a transfer point in the Chicago area. [node:read-more:link]
Fifty American cities have now pledged to move towards getting their energy from 100% renewable sources.Truckee has the honour of being the location that achieves the new landmark, joining cities like San Diego and San Francisco in committing to 100% clean energy.“Truckee’s commitment to 100% clean energy including electricity, heating, and transportation is good for our community and our planet. Our town is on the front lines of climate change and we understand how serious this is. [node:read-more:link]
A commission that oversees water quality for the watershed that supplies Philadelphia and half of New York City with drinking water took another step Thursday toward permanently banning natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing, despite industry opposition. The Delaware River Basin Commission's newly published draft regulations would enact a formal ban on fracking, as well as put additional restrictions to make it harder, if not impossible, for the industry to dispose wastewater within the watershed or use water from the river and its tributaries for fracking outside the basin. [node:read-more:link]
Chernobyl is being developed into a solar power site.Two companies have a contract to start building a one-megawatt solar farm next month, and they're planning on adding 99 more megawatts in the future. [node:read-more:link]
A new study out of the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research suggests the treated waste from turkeys, chickens, and other poultry could replace up to ten per cent of the coal used in electricity production. Scientists say poultry waste generates heat at high temperatures and combusts in a similar manner to coal, making it a good renewable energy replacement. Disposing of poultry waste in an environmentally-friendly manner is an ongoing problem for farmers. Converting it into energy could help solve that issue. [node:read-more:link]
