The amount of coal mined using the controversial mountaintop removal method has plummeted 62% in the past six years, according to the US. Energy Information Administration.
All coal production has decreased 15% because of lower natural gas prices and a decreasing demand for coal, according to EIA. But the drop has been more acute for coal recovered by mountaintop removal, which involves clearing rock and soil overburden to expose a coal seam. The method, used mostly in central Appalachia, and decried by environmentalists, sometimes results in valleys being filled in by the waste material.
Obama Administration Wants more Americans Getting Solar Energy
The Obama administration is introducing measures that will triple the capacity of solar and other renewable energy installed in subsidized housing to bring green energy to lower- and middle-income Americans.
The administration’s climate change initiative includes backing efforts to make it easier for homeowners to borrow money for renewable energy installations, primarily solar. Charities and investors also have committed to spending more than $520 million for solar and energy efficiency projects.
More: The New York Times
Senate Republicans Call for Revocation of NRDC’s Status
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is calling for federal authorities to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Natural Resources Defense Council because of its “partisan” campaign against Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois.
The Republican committee said the NRDC’s campaign criticizing Kirk violates its nonprofit status, which prohibits it from engaging in political activity. Kirk is up for re-election in 2016.
The environmental group says the ads are purely educational. The NRDC’s campaign followed major campaigns by the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club against Kirk.
More: The Hill
DOE Providing $18 Million in Biofuels Research Projects
The Department of Energy is investing $18 million in six projects that aim to produce biofuels that would come to market for less than $5/gallon by 2019.
The projects, which seek to produce fuels or fuel additives from algal biomass, are underway at the Colorado School of Mines, Duke University’s Marine Algae Industrialization Consortium, Global Algae Innovations, Arizona State University, University of California/San Diego and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
More: Biofuels Digest; CleanTechnica
Energy Companies, Utilities Seek Last-Minute White House Meetings
Utility groups and energy companies are lobbying the White House before new carbon emissions regulations for power plants are released in August.
The White House has hosted at least eight meetings with industry groups in the past three weeks, including Duke Energy, manufacturer Honeywell and the National Mining Association. Opponents argue that the regulations imposed on states are too stringent, and the timetable is too short, to be reasonable.
“The point we left them was that in the Clean Power Plan, EPA is offering governors a basket of rotting carp,” said the NMA’s Luke Popovich.
More: The Hill
NRC Approves Transfer of Nuke License to Duke Energy Progress
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the transfer of the operating licenses of the Harris Nuclear Plant and the Brunswick 1 and 2 plants from the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency to Duke Energy Progress. The transfers were part of Duke’s $1.2 billion acquisition of NCEMPA generation assets announced earlier this year. Closing of the deal is expected by the end of July.