The Environmental Protection Agency started its 11-city “listening tour” in preparation for writing rules to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. Some lawmakers have asked EPA to add sessions in coal mining states. In an interview with PBS, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy defended the agency’s plans. “Carbon is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. We’re doing the same thing for carbon we have done for those other pollutants moving forward,” she said.
More: Reuters, PBS NewsHour
GHG Emissions Down 4.5% in 2012
Greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation and industrial sources fell 4.5% in 2012 as power production fell slightly from 2011 and natural gas supplanted coal. The Environmental Protection Agency said emissions fell 10% in the two years since the agency began collecting data in 2010. EPA released a map of emitting facilities’ locations.
More: Washington Post
Legal Glitch Could Be Key to GHG-Rule Challenge
Opponents of the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants may hang a court challenge on contradictory language in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
The House and Senate drafted contradictory amendments to one section of the law and the discrepancy was never reconciled in conference. Each was intended to ensure that the section — which requires states to develop performance standards for existing sources — would not duplicate regulations already in place.
More: E&E News
Energy Efficiency Bill Back in Play
After being sidelined by fiscal issues, a bipartisan Senate energy efficiency bill is making progress toward a possible vote. S. 1392, known as the Shaheen-Portman bill after its main sponsors, contains provisions concerning building codes, financing, rebates, labeling and technical assistance.
More: National Journal
Eight States in Pact to Charge Up EVs
Maryland is among eight states joining a coalition aimed at achieving sales of at least 3.3 million zero-emission vehicles by 2025. The states committed to a range of measures including encouraging charging stations and changing building codes to ease electric vehicle ownership.
More: The New York Times
Marcellus Shale Production Booming
Marcellus Shale natural gas production has reached 12 billion cubic feet a day, more than six times the 2009 production rate, the Energy Information Administration reported. Most of the production from the shale formation is coming from Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
More: Wall Street Journal
Houses Could Save Much More Energy
Increasing residential building air tightness to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) standard could save as much as $33 billion a year in energy costs, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab reported. Current weatherization measures can tighten a building about 20% to 30%, but “there’s still quite a bit left on the table,” a Berkeley scientist said.
More: Berkeley National Lab
Browner Says Obama Will Reject Keystone XL
Former White House energy and climate adviser Carol Browner predicts President Obama will reject a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada’s oil sands.
More: The Hill
Moniz Sees Change in Climate Debate
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz believes Congress is beyond “whether” to address climate change and is ready to determine “how” to do so.
More: The Hill
Wellinghoff to Join Stoel Rives
Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission since 2009, plans to join the Portland, Ore.-based law firm Stoel Rives when he steps down from the FERC position. He submitted his resignation to the White House in May but has not set a departure date. He will work from the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.
More: Portland Business Journal
Cyber Vulnerabilities Could Crash Grids
Researchers say the communication protocols utilities use to monitor remote operations have vulnerabilities that could allow major system disruptions. Using those vulnerabilities, an attacker at a single, unmanned power substation could inflict a widespread power outage. One expert said the North American Electric Reliability Corp. has not focused its cybersecurity efforts on this kind of software, but should do so.
More: The New York Times
