Monthly Archives: May 2015

Moms and Parents Gather in Sacramento to Show Support for Climate and Clean Energy Action

By EDF Blogs / Published: May 27, 2015

Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez with Mama Summit participants

By: Loni Russell, California Field Manager, Moms Clean Air Force

Who among us has not felt the power of a mom? My mom was one of the hardest-working women I’ve ever known, yet she still found the time to do so much for me. So when moms take on the role of advocates and activists, watch out.

Last week, moms in California showed up big time. And as the lead organizer for that event, I’m here to give you a birds-eye view of what happens when moms decide to raise their voices.

On Thursday, May 21, over 40 mothers, parents, grandparents, and supporters from across California gathered in Sacramento at the state capitol building for our Mamma Summit California. The Mamma Summit is part of a series of events hosted by Moms Clean Air Force (MCAF), an organization which encourages and enables moms and parents to advocate for climate action for the health and future of their families. We at MCAF teamed up with Environmental Defense Fund, Climate Parents, the American Lung Association in California, The Greenlining Institute, and California Interfaith Power and Light to put together a full day of advocacy for participants.

Our group of moms, motivated to make their voices heard, showed up bright and early to the Capitol. They came to tell lawmakers that they expect California to continue to lead on fighting climate change and supporting clean energy to protect their air and keep their kids healthy and thriving. We were honored that the Senate Pro Tem Kevin de León, architect of this year’s Senate climate package on which the Summit’s advocacy was based, greeted us first thing in the morning to thank the parents for their resolve. Senators Fran Pavley, mother in her own right of California’s climate leadership, and Richard Pan, staunch defender of children’s health, also came by to thank us for being there and reinforce the importance of our presence. Read More »

Posted in California, Cap and Trade, Clean Energy, General, Renewable Energy, State / Comments are closed

Big Question about the Oil and Gas Industry’s Newest Climate Effort

By Ben Ratner / Published: May 26, 2015

Europe’s largest oil companies are reportedly working together on a policy strategy leading up to this year’s international climate talks in Paris. It’s nice to hear that some of the biggest players in the global oil and gas industry want to engage in solutions, but it remains to be seen if they will take the action needed to effectively tackle some of our most immediate climate threats – or to seize a major untapped opportunity.

That opportunity is methane. The highly potent greenhouse gas that’s been largely ignored until recently represents a solution for making real and immediate progress to slow warming. So will the group of oil companies sign on to tackle methane as a big part of its strategy, or are they going to ignore it?

Posted in Climate, Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Debunking FirstEnergy’s Bailout Arguments

By Dick Munson / Published: May 26, 2015

FirstEnergy, the giant Ohio-based company that owns power plants and transmission lines in several midwestern and northeastern states, is running out of arguments for its proposed bailout.

The Public Utility Commission of Ohio (PUCO), which is currently considering the proposal by FirstEnergy for substantial, customer-funded subsidies to bail out its uneconomic power plants, has suggested the utility must prove four points.

Financial need

As we all know, need is different than want. And with a balance sheet showing $12.4 billion in shareholder equity, clearly the giant utility is able to keep these plants open. But FirstEnergy and its shareholders are reluctant to subsidize their own risk – instead, they want Ohio customers to take on the cost and associated risk. Strike one. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, FirstEnergy / Read 2 Responses

Colorado Blazes the Path on Oil and Gas Data

By Adam Peltz / Published: May 21, 2015

8016200072_36046a718f_z This May has truly been a banner month for transparency of the oil and gas industry. To start, FracFocus, the state-run, national hydraulic fracturing chemical disclosure database, released chemical information of nearly 100,000 wells in raw digital format. On the same day, Colorado’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) put two key datasets online that will also increase what we know about oil and gas development.

Providing access to quality data is good for the public. The recently released data will help the public track oil and gas complaints and understand more about the quality of wells across the state. This is significant, as researchers can now analyze these data sets to uncover patterns of well issues that can ultimately lead to environmentally protective policy solutions – the Big Data revolution in a nutshell. By making its data easily and fully accessible to the public, Colorado is helping to lead the way when it comes to responsibly managing oil and gas development. Read More »

Posted in Colorado, General, Natural Gas / Read 1 Response

Want to Cut Emissions? Go Where the Emissions Are

By Felice Stadler / Published: May 21, 2015

If you want to catch fish, go where you know the fish are. That’s our best advice for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as they draw up details to set methane pollution limits for the oil and gas industry, expected later this summer. The agency knows where the “fish” are – they drew a pretty good map of key methane sources back in January when they announced their intentions to address methane. Now they just need a concrete plan to reel them in.

The Administration has announced that EPA will issue a proposed plan for action later this summer, with a proposed rule that will set first-ever limits on potent methane pollution from new and modified oil and gas sources. Together with other efforts from across government, this step can lay a strong foundation toward achieving the administration’s goal of reducing harmful methane pollution 40-45% below 2012 levels by 2025.

But as we know, the devil will be in the details, and for the oil and gas sector these details will be critically important. There are many different points along the supply chain where methane is being released uncontrolled—and in many cases undetected. The good news is that EPA knows this is a problem, and even collected extensive comments from experts and the public via a series of whitepapers on how to tackle the most significant emission points along the supply chain. Read More »

Posted in Methane, Natural Gas / Read 2 Responses

EDF and Other Environmental Groups Call on Pennsylvania to Step up Energy Efficiency

By Dick Munson / Published: May 21, 2015

Update: The Public Utilities Commission recently extended Pennsylvania’s energy efficiency and conservation programs for an additional five years – the longest phase yet, and among the longest in the country. Pennsylvania can expect to save 6.6 million megawatt-hours of electricity and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 5.1 million metric tons.

Utilities across the country offer energy efficiency programs, many of which obtain good results simply by replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In Pennsylvania, however, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and other environmental groups are going further by seeking more comprehensive and longer-term efficiency measures.

Compared with neighboring states, Pennsylvania’s efficiency programs tilt heavily – 65 percent – toward the residential sector. Since residents account for only 37 percent of the state’s total electricity, environmental groups see substantial efficiency opportunities exist in the commercial and industrial (C&I) sectors. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency / Tagged Pennsylvania | Comments are closed