Excerpt from NYTimes, March 2020. The $700 billion bank bailout elicited a voter backlash, which means any aid this time is likely to have large strings attached. Those could include limits on executive compensation, prohibitions on stock buybacks and, most prominent, measures to force bailed out companies to keep workers on their payrolls. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, released an …
In Colorado, outdoor recreation is a $28 billion industry that directly generates 229,000 jobs and has become an intrinsic value among Coloradans, with over 70% of residents participating in outdoor recreation each year. Fossil fuel extraction threatens this.
In Colorado, outdoor recreation is a $28 billion industry that directly generates 229,000 jobs and has become an intrinsic value among Coloradans, with over 70% of residents participating in outdoor recreation each year. However, this booming economic sector, which generates $887 billion in national consumer spending annually, is threatened by the Trump administration’s public lands agenda, which has exacerbated speculative oil and gas …
Benzene Emissions on the Perimeters of Ten Refineries Exceed EPA Limits
The refineries, six of which are in Texas, are required under an EPA rule to find and fix leaks of the known carcinogen to protect nearby communities. Neela Banerjee. Inside Climate News, FEB 6, 2020 An analysis of newly-available federal data measuring benzene emissions at the perimeter of oil refineries found that ten facilities far exceeded limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency …
Why some cities are targeting gas stoves to fight climate change
Why building electrification, and removing gas from new and retrofitted homes, has become a movement By Patrick Sisson Feb 4, 2020 Ever since the Green New Deal became a key talking point and policy goal of progressive politicians last year, there’s been a renewed push to make American homes and buildings better for the environment. For a growing number of municipalities and local leaders, …
Millions in oil, gas taxes may have been lost because Colorado regulators didn’t enforce reporting rules
Jan 29, Colorado Sun A scathing audit — which comes after Colorado tightened oil and gas regulations last year — found the top drillers in the state failed to file thousands of production reports from 2016 to 2018 Colorado’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission failed to collect thousands of monthly production reports from operators across the state over a two-year …
Cross-state air pollution from the electric power sector continues to kill Americans. Decade’s coal plant closures saved 26K lives in US: study. Fracking bills introduced.
Midwestern states are the biggest exporters of air pollution, while Northeastern states are the leading importers. BY REBECCA BEITSCH, The Hill, 01/06/20 The decline of coal could be saving thousands of lives as power plants reduce air pollution by switching to natural gas, according to a study published Monday. More than 26,000 lives in the U.S. were saved over the course of …
Natural gas (and the hydrogen economy) is a bridge to nowhere
Lloyd Alter, Twitter: lloydalterJanuary 20, 2020 Everybody is hopping on the hydrogen train, but it’s being driven by natural gas. Lloyd Alter@lloydalter · Jan 18, 2020Replying to @MikeHudema They run on natural gas that has been steam-methane reformed into hydrogen, making lots of CO2 in process, because stringing wires on that route is too expensive. https://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/it-time-hop-hydrogen-train.html …Is it time to hop on the …
Utilities worked with coal and rail companies to promote climate denial. New eyeballs on the methane problem.
Utilities Worked with Coal, Rail Companies to Promote Climate Denial U.S. Is Unprepared for Climate Damages, Experts Tell Congress Historic Urgenda Climate Ruling Upheld by Dutch Supreme Court In a big win for both the climate and human rights, the Netherlands’ Supreme Court upheld the landmark ruling in Urgenda v. the Netherlands, ruling that governments have a human rights duty …
Candidates Debate Climate in Sixth Democratic Debate, The Short Word on Nuclear
By Olivia Rosane Dec. 20, 2019, POLITICS The climate crisis had its strongest showing to date in the sixth Democratic primary debate hosted by Politico and PBS in Los Angeles Thursday. For the first time, a climate question was asked during the first 30 minutes of the debate, HuffPost reported. The issue got 13 minutes total of discussion time, according to Grist, and those …
Methane in atmosphere increased massively 2008-2014, due to fracking
About two-thirds of all new gas production over the last decade has been shale gas produced in the United States and Canada. The Carbon-13 signature means that since the use of high-volume hydraulic fracturing — commonly called fracking — shale gas has increased in its share of global natural gas production and has released more methane into the atmosphere, according …