Tag Archives: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

EPA Will Help Randolph, Nebraska Meet Environmental Goals, Foster Development

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that Randolph, Neb., is one of 25 communities that will receive technical assistance to pursue development strategies that advance clean air, clean water, economic development and other local goals.

EPA selected the communities from among 76 applicants to the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. In 2017, EPA staff and national experts will conduct one to two-day workshops to help the community address development-oriented issues. “Use Energy Efficiently and Provide Renewable Energy” is one of Building Blocks’ eleven goal areas. The city has also hired a community development professional to help build a 21st century sustainable community strategy.

Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities
Download the Smart Growth Self-Assessment for Rural Communities (PDF)

Americans strongly favor expanding solar power to help address costs and environmental concerns

By Brian Kennedy, Pew Research Center

grist-graphic As the solar energy industry gears up to add more electricity-generating capacity than any other source this year, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that almost nine-in-ten U.S. adults (89%) favor expanding use of solar power, while only 9% oppose it. That sentiment bridges the partisan divide, with large majorities from across the political spectrum favoring more use of this alternative source. Planned large-scale solar farms are expected to add 9.5 gigawatts of electricity-generating capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), a government agency that collects and analyzes information about the energy industry.
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ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING
EPA: Power plant emissions declined 6.2% in 2015, Utility Dive
EPA Releases Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data from Large Facilities
Potholes and Pathways: Highlights from the PACE Strategy Summit at Solar Power International 2016, Renewable Energy World
CivicPACE – referenced in the above article
Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative, the CivicPACE Program is working to support solar energy deployment by bringing property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing to tax-exempt organizations, such as nonprofits, affordable housing, faith based institutions, and schools.
Solarize Michigan shows final home before sun sets on solar program, Michigan Live
Why Some Las Vegas Casinos Are Gambling on Solar, City Lab
Consumers Energy launches its Solar Gardens program, Michigan Live
Sustainable energy coming to a park near you, Southwest Journal – Southwest Minneapolis’ Community Newspaper

One Year Later: Climate Action and the Clean Power Plan

By Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy

The trend toward investment in renewables and energy efficiency is unfolding all
around us:

Electricity generated from renewables is expected to grow by 9% in 2016 alone;
Utilities are investing $8 billion a year in energy efficiency, a four-fold increase from just eight years ago, and more companies than ever are leveraging EPA’s ENERGY STAR platform;
States are leading the way—29 states have adopted mandatory renewable portfolio standards, and an additional eight states have voluntary renewable goals. Twenty-three states have mandatory energy efficiency provisions and 10 states have implemented market-based trading programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and
The private sector is also stepping up. Google, Apple, Goldman Sachs, Walmart, and Unilever – and other large U.S. companies are choosing to cut emissions and committing hundreds of billions of dollars to finance clean energy innovation.

Read more here.

Energy Star’s 2016 National Building Competition: Bootcamp New This Year

Every year, EPA hosts a nationwide competition among buildings to help organizations save energy, save water, and fight climate change with help from EPA’s ENERGY STAR and WaterSense programs. This year, it’s back with a fun, new twist. Join the BOOTCAMP and see how much you can save in 90 days!

Click here for BOOTCAMP details, including registration information and important dates. Register by July 19, 2016.

Battle of the Buildings Bootcamp Training Kits.
Download them here.

EPA asks Volkswagen to make electric cars in U.S.

Reuters / Welt am Sonntag

U.S. authorities have asked the German carmaker Volkswagen to produce electric vehicles in the United States as a way of making up for its rigging of emission tests, the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently in talks with Volkswagen with the aim of agreeing on a fix for nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles that emit up to 40 times legal pollution limits.

Read more here.

Photo by Reuters / Fabrizio Bensch: The charging plug of an electric Volkswagen Passat car is pictured at charging station at a VW dealer in Berlin, Germany.

Local View: Nebraska needs its own Clean Power Plan

By Ken Haar, Lincoln Journal Star

It would be irresponsible for Nebraska to punt the design of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Power Plan for Nebraska to the federal government. There are those who want to fight it or just wait for the federal government to impose a plan rather than determine how we can use it to our advantage. That’s like punting right after receiving the kickoff rather than giving your offense a chance to score. We wouldn’t do that in football, and we shouldn’t do it with EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Instead, the state of Nebraska should create its own compliance plan — one that takes advantage of opportunities that can benefit us.

Continue reading here.

Scottsbluff Star Herald Editorial on President Obama’s Clean Power Plan

Proposed Community Solar Project in Scottsbluff:
www.scottsbluff.org

On Monday, President Barack Obama released the final version of the Clean Power Plan, designed to decrease greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants. The plan would increase regulations to limit the amount of carbon power plants can emit. Specifically, the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan calls for the United States to cut its C02 emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, stricter than the 30 percent in last year’s version.

Democrats laud the plan as a boon for the environment, while Republicans decry it as expensive, anti-industry and harmful to jobs and the economy. In Nebraska, Gov. Pete Ricketts has come out against it, saying he’s concerned it would be a burden and costly to residents.

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White House Fact Sheet & Today’s Release of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan

Today at the White House, President Obama and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy will release the final Clean Power Plan, a historic step in the Obama Administration’s fight against climate change.

Photo: Newswire.Com

Excerpts from the White House Fact Sheet:
The Clean Power Plan establishes a Clean Energy Incentive Program that will drive additional early deployment of renewable energy and low-income energy efficiency. Under the program, credits for electricity generated from renewables in 2020 and 2021 will be awarded to projects that begin construction after participating states submit their final implementation plans. The program also prioritizes early investment in energy efficiency projects in low-income communities by the Federal government awarding these projects double the number of credits in 2020 and 2021. Taken together, these incentives will drive faster renewable energy deployment, further reduce technology costs, and lay the foundation for deep long-term cuts in carbon pollution.

Low Income Solar: Last month, the White House announced a new initiative to increase access to solar energy for all Americans, in particular low-and moderate income communities, and build a more inclusive workforce. The initiative will help families and businesses cut their energy bills through launching a National Community Solar Partnership to unlock access to solar for the nearly 50 percent of households and business that are renters or do not have adequate roof space to install solar systems and sets a goal to install 300 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy in federally subsidized housing by 2020. Through this initiative housing authorities, rural electric co-ops, power companies, and organizations in more than 20 states across the country committed to put in place more than 260 solar energy projects and philanthropic and impact investors, states, and cities are committed to invest $520 million to advance community solar and scale up solar and energy efficiency for low- and moderate- income households. The initiative also includes AmeriCorps funding to deploy solar and create jobs in underserved communities and a commitment from the solar industry to become the most diverse sector of the U.S. energy industry.

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Obama Sends ‘Memo to America’ On The Biggest Thing A President’s Ever Done On Climate Change

By Ryan Koronowski, Think Progress / Climate

Still from the White House Video announcing the Monday release of the final version of the Clean Power Plan.

Early Sunday morning, the White House shared a video message narrated by President Obama that announced the Monday release of the final version of the Clean Power Plan.

Under the plan, the EPA will adopt a rule that regulates carbon pollution from existing power plants for the first time, and in the video, Obama called it “the biggest, most important step we’ve ever taken to combat climate change.”

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Obama’s Power-Plant Rule Said to Include Boost for Renewables

Photo: Bloomberg.Com / Alex Wong, Getty Images

By Mark Drajem, Bloomberg Business

The Obama administration plans to offer new incentives for solar and wind energy in its plan to cut power-plant emission as a way to counter delaying the initial deadline by two years, a person familiar with the rule said.

The renewable incentives will allow deeper cuts in carbon emissions in the long term while giving more flexibility to states that must implement the rule, said the official who sought anonymity before an official announcement.