Environmentalists’ efforts to dampen the Obama administration’s support for natural gas are not meeting a warm reception. White House adviser John Podesta, former president of the liberal and environmentalist think tank Center for American Progress, told reporters that opposing all fossil fuels “is a completely impractical way of moving toward a clean-energy future.”
His remarks came a day after the Sierra Club and others urged President Obama to reject calls to speed up permits to export liquefied natural gas, because gas production and export works against the administration’s climate change plan — an agenda Podesta said he spends about half his time working on.
“I think we remain committed to developing the resource and using” natural gas, he said, “and we think there’s an advantage, particularly in the electricity generation sector, to move it forward.”
More: Politico
White House Launches Climate Data Initiative
The White House launched an effort to leverage the government’s data resources to stimulate innovation and private-sector entrepreneurship to support climate-change preparedness.
The Climate Data Initiative will include launch of a website to make federal data more accessible and useful. It will focus initially on coastal flooding and sea level rise, and already includes more than 100 high-quality datasets and tools to be used to help communities prepare for the future. The site will be expanded to include other information, including energy infrastructure data. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched an “innovation challenge” to encourage deployment of visualizations and simulations to help the understanding of, and solutions to, coastal vulnerability.
In addition, the White House identified numerous private-sector initiatives being undertaken to create resources and events aimed at enabling responses to climate change impacts.
More: White House
Court OKs Particulate Rules
A federal appeals court upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 and 2012 particulate matter new source performance standards (NSPS) for fossil fuel-fired boilers, rejecting most of industry’s challenges. It affirmed the EPA’s requirement for periodic visual opacity inspections for power plants that do not use continuous monitoring systems and the agency’s decision not to approve state law-based defenses to civil penalties for violations. Only unavoidable malfunctions will constitute a defense to alleged violations.
The court deferred ruling on all challenges to the regulation because some are still pending in reconsideration requests at EPA. These include requirements for testing condensable particulate matter and provisions for frequency of testing.
More: Dorsey & Whitney
GridEx Gave Participants Useful Value, NERC Says
Nearly all of the participants in November’s GridEx II reliability preparedness exercise found it useful for identifying opportunities to improve their readiness, which they deemed insufficient, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said in a report. NERC’s two-day readiness exercise included 2,000 companies and organizations faced with challenges to both physical security and cybersecurity. A third exercise is planned for next year.
Among things NERC recommended to improve preparedness is a review of the Defense Production Act and other laws to determine if there is a need for legislation that would facilitate recovery following a severe event. The report also said some industry regulations “would constrain the operation of certain generators, and specific relief provisions should be considered before a severe event.”
NERC also recommended continued enhancement of information sharing; expansion of the Electricity Sector Information Sharing Analysis Center conference call capabilities; clarification of ES-ISAC subject matter experts’ functions; and clarification of reporting roles. It also recommended evaluating an expansion of recovery programs such as the Spare Transformer Equipment Program.
More: Homeland Security News Wire
House Committee to Grill Fish & Wildlife on Birds
The House Natural Resources Committee plans to question the chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service March 26 about what some members contend is selective enforcement of bird protection laws that shows wind farms more lenience than on other kinds of facilities. The committee earlier subpoenaed numerous internal agency documents on the subject.
Only one wind power company, Duke Energy, has been prosecuted for killing eagles and other birds. Duke pleaded guilty in December and will pay a $1 million penalty for bird deaths at two Wyoming wind farms.
More: Fox News; Natural Resources Committee
House Panel Targets EPA’s Choice of CCS Technology
The House Energy and Commerce Committee launched an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule limiting carbon emissions from new coal-fired plants. The committee’s Republican leadership, longtime opponents of the agency’s drive against coal plant emissions, demanded documents and names involved in EPA’s decision to set standards that require use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
Provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 bar the agency from setting standards based on technology used in government-funded projects, the committee members say. Coal defenders say CCS technology has not been proven in real-world use. The EPA says its rule does not violate EPAct because the technology is proved elsewhere and its standards are achievable.
More: Energybiz; National Journal
FERC Licenses Pilot Tidal Project in Puget Sound
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a 10-year pilot license to Public Utility District No. 1 of Snohomish County, Washington, for the proposed 600 kW Admiralty Inlet Pilot Tidal Project to be located in the Puget Sound. In issuing the license, FERC determined the project would not adversely affect an undersea Trans-Pacific fiber optic communication cable nearby.
FERC’s action authorizes the PUD to evaluate the environmental, economic and cultural effects of hydrokinetic energy. The pilot license contains measures to protect fish, wildlife and other features and infrastructure.
Acting FERC Chairman Cheryl LaFleur called the project “an innovative attempt to harness previously untapped energy resources.”
