Energy Exchange

Amendment 74’s multi-billion dollar threat to Colorado taxpayers and our environment

By Matt Garrington / Published: October 26, 2018

With ballots arriving in mailboxes across Colorado, it is time to address Amendment 74, a seemingly innocuous amendment to the Colorado Constitution that would create a nightmare of litigation and severely limit the ability of state and local governments to protect our clean air and water, develop renewable energy, and conserve our treasured landscapes.

As former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis pointed out, Colorado’s constitution already protects private property rights. Amendment 74 would create new entitlements that ultimately benefit polluters. It’s no wonder that 99.7 percent of the money backing Amendment 74 comes from an oil and gas group.

The measure would amend Colorado Constitution as follows: Read More »

Posted in Colorado, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Sacramento leads by example on cleaner energy with help from electrification

By Lauren Navarro / Published: October 25, 2018

Good news for California’s clean energy fans. Last week the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) approved an aggressive new plan that will help push California’s capitol city and its surrounding area closer to meeting, and beating, the state’s deep carbon reduction goals. Once implemented, SMUD will help create a cleaner energy and transportation system for the region.

The importance of SMUDs proposed investment shouldn’t be understated, nor should its impact. Between now and 2040, the utility plans to invest nearly $7 billion toward projects that generate renewable energy and help switch consumers’ energy use away from fossil fuels like natural gas and gasoline. This powerful commitment goes above and beyond the greenhouse gas reforms required by the state, and will enable the region to be net zero for climate pollution in a little more than 20 years.

Posted in California, Clean Energy / Comments are closed

This year’s Greenbuild works to make sustainable buildings accessible to everyone

By Ellen Bell / Published: October 25, 2018

This is my fifth year attending Greenbuild and I am excited that my hometown of Chicago will again host the green building conference. I have come to appreciate the educational value and community that Greenbuild provides more and more each year, and I’m delighted Chicago will get to add to the tradition once more.

Greenbuild’s theme this year, Humans by Nature: The Intersection of Humanity & the Built Environment, covers a wide array of topics that define how we relate to the world we live in. One of these topics is enhancing building efficiency and performance, an ongoing mission that is at the very core of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Greenbuild.

Moreover, the mission statement highlights the importance of making sustainable buildings and environments accessible to everyone. As one of the founding cities of the BIT Building energy efficiency program, Chicago reflects these ideals, and the BIT Building program is a clear example of accessibility in action.

Posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Illinois / Comments are closed

New EPA data confirms methane emissions not declining fast enough

By David Lyon / Published: October 23, 2018

Last week EPA released its annual data from large emitters, called the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP). It is not a comprehensive account of all methane emissions (for that, check out our methane synthesis paper published earlier this year) but it does provided us with an important snapshot of 2017 oil and gas methane emissions.

Posted in California, Colorado, Methane, Natural Gas, Texas, Wyoming / Tagged New Mexico, Pennsylvania | Comments are closed

Comprehensive climate reporting must include methane: New report shows you how

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 22, 2018

By Kate Gaumond and Sean Wright

Just last month 13 of the world’s largest oil and gas majors—including ExxonMobil, BP and Shell —came together for a new commitment to reducing a key super pollutant. Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is the second leading contributor to climate change and over 80 times more potent than carbon when leaked into the atmosphere in the short-term. What’s more surprising? The coalition’s new methane target proceeded despite an uncertain regulatory landscape in the U.S.

One of 76 recent environmental rollbacks, the Trump administration’s latest move toward undoing common-sense methane regulations is expected by the EPA’s own estimates to allow an additional 480,000 tons of methane emissions. Yet behind the scenes, pressure on industry to transparently reduce emissions is coming from an unexpected source: investors. Investors understand the material risk methane poses their portfolios and have been urging companies to act. Given the lack of current national policy leadership in the U.S., investor pressure on industry to manage climate risks like methane will likely only increase.

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

Hurricane Michael highlights urgent need for more solar opportunities in Florida

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 19, 2018

By: Jake Hiller, Sustainable Finance Manager, EDF+Biz

Hurricane Michael, the most powerful storm to hit the Florida panhandle on record, caused loss of life and rampant destruction, flattening entire towns and leaving more than 1.3 million people without power across five southeastern states.

Rising temperatures and warmer waters are making this and other recent mega hurricanes like Florence stronger and more devastating for coastal states like Florida and the Carolinas. Unfortunately, the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report provides little encouragement and instead conveys dire warnings that unless measures such as massive new investment in clean and renewable energy occurs over the coming decade, we will have little chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, including continuously worsening hurricanes.

Posted in Clean Energy, Florida, Solar Energy / Comments are closed