RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Presidential Election Could Affect Air Cases at High Court
By Amena H. Saiyid, Bloomberg BNA.
July 28 — The outcome of the presidential election could determine whether the U.S. Supreme Court will revisit two pivotal Clean Air Act cases that deal with power plant regulations for greenhouse gases and air toxics, an attorney said during an American Bar Association webinar July 28.
The Clean Power Plan (RIN:2060-AR33), which limits carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector, is currently stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reviews the rule's legality ( West Virginia v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 15-1363, 7/27/16 ).
The “loser” of the challenge before the D.C. Circuit will have to decide whether to seek certiorari from the Supreme Court because “it will depend on who the presidential nominee is to the Supreme Court to replace Justice [Antonin] Scalia's seat,” said Richard Ayres of Ayres Law Group LLP.
California's cap-and-trade program has cut pollution. So why do critics keep calling it a failure?
By Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times.
After cruising along for more than two years, California’s vaunted cap-and-trade program to cut carbon emissions has run into a few recent snags.
A state appeals court has signaled that it has doubts about how officials are spending billions in revenue from the program — or even if they have the right to collect the money at all. Disagreements have erupted in Sacramento over whether environmental regulators can unilaterally extend the program past 2020 or need to get the legislature’s permission to do so.
More questions arose at the state’s most recent auction of emission permits in May. The permits are the linchpin of the system, which requires businesses to cap their greenhouse gas emissions or buy sufficient permits to cover any excess. For the first time since February 2013, when the quarterly auctions began, bidders stayed away in droves. Only 11% of the available permits were sold. That punched a hole in the state budget, for state finance officials expected that more than $500 million would be raised from the May sales. Instead only about $10 million came in.
Poll finds Californians back climate change efforts despite cost
By Jeremy B. White, Sacramento Bee.
Climate change policies appeal to a majority of Californians despite the possibility of higher energy costs, a new Public Policy Institute of California poll has found.
“Californians tend to have a hesitancy to support policies that are going to impact their pocketbooks, but in this case they seem to be willing to do so,” said PPIC president Mark Baldassare, calling the findings an endorsement of “the direction (the state) has taken in the last ten years to be a leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Environmentalists laud California for its ambitious efforts to fight climate change, and Gov. Jerry Brown has placed the issue at the center of his fourth-term agenda. Last year Brown signed a measure vastly expanding the state’s use of renewable energy.
EPA: More than 1.7 billion RINs generated in June
By Erin Voegele, Ethanol Producer Magazine.
The U.S. EPA has released renewable identification number (RIN) generation data for June, reporting that more than 1.7 billion RINs were generated during the month, bringing the total for the first half of the year to nearly 9.21 billion.
More than 14.11 million D3 cellulosic RINs were generated in June, bringing the net total for the first half of the year to 76.97 million. More than 2.02 million D3 RINs have been generated for ethanol, with 44.03 generated for renewable compressed natural gas and 32.76 million for renewable liquefied natural gas. So far this year, 70.46 D3 RINS have been generated by domestic producers, with 8.35 generated by importers.
Report: New York Cap-and-trade system cuts carbon use, boosts growth
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Times Union.
The nation's first state-level emissions cap-and-trade program has vastly reduced carbon dioxide emissions in a nine-state region including New York since 2009, according to a report to be released Thursday.
The Acadia Center, a non-profit research organization that advocates for clean energy and economic growth, found that the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states involved in the cap-and-trade program have also reported more economic growth than states without a similar initiative.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which went into effect in 2009, auctions off tradable carbon dioxide allowances to power plants, authorizing them to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide.
How the Democratic and Republican party platforms stack up on climate change, Iran and more key issues
By Melanie Mason and Chris Megerian, The Los Angeles Times.
The party platforms of Democrats and Republicans, finalized ahead of their respective conventions this month, reflect the stark divide between the parties, on both foreign affairs and domestic social issues.
Here’s a rundown of where the parties land on key topics:
Climate change
Democrats describe climate change as a “real and urgent threat,” and they call for setting a price on greenhouse gas emissions. “Climate change is too important to wait for climate deniers and defeatists in Congress to start listening to science,” and government officials must take any steps they can to reduce pollution, the platform says. It calls for the country to generate half of its electricity from clean sources in the next decade and for cleaner transportation fuels, more public transit and a tax code that creates incentives for renewable energy.
Alberta on track to having Canada’s most aggressive carbon pricing system by 2020, eclipsing even B.C.
By Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press.
OTTAWA — Move over, British Columbia: Canada’s oilpatch next door in Alberta is on track to have Canada’s most aggressive carbon pricing system by 2020.
That’s the conclusion of a new study that compares the coverage of various carbon taxes and cap-and-trade schemes in four provinces that have all embraced market-based approaches to cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.
The report from Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission, an independent, non-partisan research body, comes as a federal-provincial working group is wrestling with ways to co-ordinate a new pan-Canadian price on carbon emissions.
Hawaiian Electric pulls back from LNG deal in failed merger fallout
By EUCI Energize Weekly.
Following the rejection of a proposed merger between Hawaiian Electric Co. (HECO) parent company Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) and NextEra Energy, HECO has officially withdrawn its application to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada, even though importing LNG was a major component of its official long-term power supply plan now before regulators.
HECO officials announced last week that it would drop out of a LNG contract with Fortis Hawaii Energy Inc., citing the July 18 termination of the proposed $4.3 billion buyout of HEI. The company also said it would withdraw applications to upgrade its Kahe Power Plant in west Oahu using the imported LNG fuel.
Natural-Gas Vehicles Will Lower Emissions
Natural gas is much better suited for pickups and other large vehicles than electrification.
By Harvey Lamm, VNG, in The Wall Street Journal.
“Regulators Defend Fuel Standards” (U.S. News, July 19) notes the growing tension between consumer desires for larger, less fuel-efficient light trucks and ambitious automotive emissions and efficiency targets set by the Environmental Protection Agency. There is a proven but unfortunately overlooked solution to this problem: fueling light trucks with natural gas. Natural gas is much better suited for pickups and other large vehicles than electrification and conventional natural gas can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 20%. Even better, greenhouse-gas emissions can be reduced by 90% or more with renewable natural gas captured from landfills or dairy farms, which is already providing over half of natural gas-vehicle fueling in California today.
Waste may equal energy in West Virginia's Monongalia County
By Ben Conley, The Dominion Post.
MORGANTOWN — Is a facility capable of transforming municipal solid waste into an energy source feasible in Monongalia County?
The Monongalia County Solid Waste Authority (MCSWA) has set out to answer that question — with more than a little help from environmental consulting firm Downstream Strategies.
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