Climate 411

North Carolina Carbon Plan: Duke’s hydrogen plan is a mirage, but there are proven clean technologies available now to meet customer need

By Will Scott, Southeast Climate and Clean Energy Director / Published: July 3, 2024

On June 17, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) was represented by our expert witnesses at a technical conference before the NC Utilities Commission (NCUC). Each of the intervenors in the Carbon Plan/Integrated Resource Plan docket, including EDF, were given a few minutes to briefly summarize testimony filed in May. EDF’s testimony centered around the need for Duke Energy to more aggressively leverage North Carolina’s offshore wind potential — the subject of this recent blog — and the fallacy of Duke’s hydrogen plans.

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Posted in News / Comments are closed

Lessons learned: New climate and biodiversity funds don’t need to start from scratch

By Juan Pablo Hoffmaister / Published: June 20, 2024

By Juan Pablo Hoffmaister, Associate Vice President, Global Climate Cooperation, and Zach Cohen, Senior Analyst, Global Climate Cooperation 

As we face the triple planetary crisis of climate change, air pollution, and biodiversity loss, the need for urgent and united action is undeniable. Addressing these linked challenges demands more than just ambition—it requires collaboration, guided by the principle of complementarity. This approach emphasizes working together in harmony to achieve greater effectiveness and sustainability in our efforts to protect the planet.  Read More »

Posted in Climate Finance / Comments are closed

North Carolina Carbon Plan: Why Duke’s gas bet is a risk to ratepayers and how offshore wind can carry the load

By Will Scott, Southeast Climate and Clean Energy Director / Published: June 17, 2024

On May 28, the Environmental Defense Fund, along with several other parties, filed expert testimony with the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) in North Carolina’s Carbon Plan proceeding. The outcome of these regulatory proceedings, which include hearings over the summer and a Commission order by end of year, will shape over $100 billion in long-term investments proposed by Duke Energy, and ultimately largely paid for by North Carolina electricity customers. This is a huge decision point for the state’s energy future, as I described in a recent op-ed published by NC Newsline.

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Posted in Cities and states, Economics, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Policy / Comments are closed

Despite threat of repeal, Washington state’s carbon market continues to raise urgently-needed revenue for communities in The Evergreen State

By Caroline Jones / Published: June 12, 2024

Photo of Mount Rainer

Results were released today for Washington’s second quarterly auction of 2024, administered last Wednesday by the Department of Ecology (Ecology). During the auction, participating entities submitted their bids for allowances. Under the Climate Commitment Act, Washington’s major emitters are required to hold one allowance for every ton of greenhouse gas that they emit, with the total number of allowances available declining each year. This requires polluters in Washington to reduce their emissions in line with the state’s climate targets. By distributing allowances via auction, the state can both regulate emissions and raise important revenue to invest in frontline communities, accelerate clean job creation, and more.

Here are the results, released today:

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Posted in Carbon Markets, Cities and states, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, News, Policy / Comments are closed

Building a better grid: The latest steps to deliver reliable, affordable and clean power

By Ted Kelly / Published: June 6, 2024

Many of us don’t realize how much of our livelihoods depend on a reliable electricity grid, until we lose power in a blackout or outage.

For many communities across the country, that is becoming a more common occurrence as we experience more frequent and severe storms and heat waves worsened by climate change. Just last week, nearly 200,000 people across several midwestern and southern states lost power after a blitz of tornadoes and thunderstorms.

This extreme weather threat is amplified by outdated grid infrastructure and increasing electricity demand.

One essential solution to meeting these challenges – and driving meaningful progress toward a clean energy future – is building a more modern, reliable and clean grid. This is exactly what the Biden administration and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) are doing with a suite of grid-strengthening actions over the last month.

Here’s what you should know about these latest actions and why they matter:

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Posted in Energy / Comments are closed

Stronger Standards, Better Monitoring Will Protect Communities from Toxic Pollution

By Richard Yates / Published: June 4, 2024

(This post was co-authored by EDF analyst Jolie Villegas)

The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent updates of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards include several steps that provide substantial public health benefits by reducing toxic air pollution from coal plants.

In our last blog post we wrote about one of those steps – closing the “lignite loophole” that allows power plants that burn lignite coal to avoid commonsense pollution limits that protect people’s health and safety.

There’s a second step that EPA took in updating the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards – requiring coal-fired power plants to use a Continuous Emissions Monitoring System so that people and communities are protected from dangerous pollution 365 days a year.

And as a third step to protect communities from harmful exposures, the updated Mercury and Air Toxics Standards meaningfully strengthen limits for hazardous metal emissions.

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Posted in Health, Just Transition, News, Policy / Comments are closed