by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) ... The EPA released the final rule for its ACE program June 19. The program replaces the Obama-era Clean Power Plan and establishes emissions guidelines for states to use when developing plans to limit carbon dioxide at coal-fired
Clean Power Plan (CPP)
Back TO HOMEStudy: 'No Scientific Basis' For Challenges To EPA Endangerment Finding
by Barbara Moran (WBUR News) There’s more proof that greenhouse gases are dangerous to human health. That’s the conclusion of a study published Thursday in the journal Science, for which researchers reviewed hundreds of scientific papers on climate change published since 2009. The study supports the U.S. Environmental Protection
December 14, 2018 Read Full Article
To Kill Climate Rule, EPA Wants to Redefine Danger of Soot
by Niina Heikkinen (E&E News) Whether it's in haze-shrouded cities, plumes of car exhaust or even clear skies, fine particle pollution can be found just about everywhere in the United States. ... Exposure to fine particles is linked to premature death and higher
August 07, 2018 Read Full Article
Pruitt's SAB Story
by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico's Morning Energy) EPA's independent Science Advisory Board will meet today and Friday for the first time since Administrator Scott Pruitt barred scientists on the committee from receiving EPA grants and boosted its ranks with industry representatives —
May 31, 2018 Read Full Article
Randy Krehbiel: Did Scott Pruitt Just Declare War on Renewables?
by Randy Krehbiel (Tulsa World) Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt may have declared an end to the "war on coal" earlier this week, but what some consider Pruitt's own war on alternative energy seems to be just getting started. Largely unnoticed
October 12, 2017 Read Full Article
Get Yer Hot Hot E15 Action Here!
by Anthony Adragna (Politico's Morning Energy) Sen. Jim Inhofe will take to the Senate floor to opine on the need for Republicans to work together to support fossil fuels. Sources familiar with Inhofe's thinking say he'd like to introduce amendments that
July 19, 2017 Read Full Article
Taxing Carbon — Letting Markets Work
by Tom Ewing (Renewable Energy World) A new business-based climate advocacy group stepped into the CO2 spotlight this summer. The Climate Leadership Council (CLC) took center stage with op-eds in the nation’s biggest dailies and a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal. The
July 07, 2017 Read Full Article
Trump Won. What Does It Mean for Low Carbon Fuels & Vehicles?
by Tammy Klein (Biofuels Digest/Future Fuel Strategies) ... With Trump’s outspoken refusal to accept the reality of climate change and promise to reinvigorate the fracking and coal industries, are LCFV initiatives stone dead? What can we expect in a Trump Administration? Let’s break
November 17, 2016 Read Full Article
With Canada and Mexico on Board, Carbon Pricing Could Become a Reality Across North America with Expanded U.S. Action
(Center for American Progress) Carbon taxes and emissions trading systems, once considered political moonshots in the battle to combat carbon emissions, have found purchase in Canada, Mexico, and parts of the United States, raising the possibility that carbon pricing could
November 04, 2016 Read Full Article
Hillary Clinton's Climate and Energy Policies, Explained
by David Roberts (Vox) ... I'm going to break this down as a series of numbered lists — not one, not two, but five lists of three: The three key facts the campaign took as starting points The three overarching goals of
August 01, 2016 Read Full Article
GOP Platform Proposes Turning EPA into a Commission
by Eric Wolff, et al. (Politico Morning Energy) ... The Republican Platform 2016 offers a fresh plan for an old GOP target: it calls for converting the EPA into a bipartisan commission. As Pro's Alex Guillén writes, the platform says that
July 19, 2016 Read Full Article
A Simple Regulatory Solution for Biogenic Emissions
by Bob Cleaves (Biomass Magazine/Biomass Power Association) ... Also at the top of the list is how the plan will eventually treat biomass. For us, there is a very simple solution: If fuel is derived from residues, whether it’s forest, agricultural
July 08, 2016 Read Full Article
The Huge Flaw in How Congress Is Approaching Burning Wood for Energy
by Chelsea Harvey (The Washington Post) ... The controversy centers on a specific provision in theHouse appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017 regarding the burning of biomass (typically wood and other plant material) for energy. The bill proposes that the Environmental Protection Agency treat
June 16, 2016 Read Full Article
University of Maryland Publishes Study: Considering the Cost of Clean: Americans on Energy, Air Quality and Climate
(University of Maryland Program for Public Consultation) ... To find out what Americans would recommend when given facts and arguments, the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland developed an in‐depth survey instrument called a ‘policymaking simulation’ to be used for
May 04, 2016 Read Full Article
Ted Cruz on Energy and Climate: Free Market Directions
by Robert Bradley Jr. (Master Resource) ... 1) Do you support ending all energy subsidies, including cleaning up the tax code to treat all types of energy the same? A: Yes, I support a true all-of-the-above approach to energy, ending all
April 04, 2016 Read Full Article
A Look at Six State Proposals to Tax Carbon
by Peter Vail and Dallas Burtraw (Resources for the Future) As the political likelihood of passing comprehensive national climate policy has remained low, many states have taken up the mantle. This devolution of climate policy has been further reinforced by the US
March 21, 2016 Read Full Article
2016 National Renewable Energy Policy Forum: What's Next? Driving Growth in a New Policy Landscape Explores a World of Clean Power Plans and Favorable Tax Incentives; Exposes Potential Cracks
by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA) For a meeting about renewable energy held on St. Patrick's Day, EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, Janet McCabe, began her address with appropriate words from an old Irish
March 19, 2016 Read Full Article
McCarthy Addresses RFS, Role of Biomass in CPP during Hearing
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) On Feb. 11, the House Committee on Agriculture held a hearing on U.S. EPA policies that impact the rural economy. The renewable fuel standard (RFS) and Clean Power Plan were among the programs discussed
February 22, 2016 Read Full Article
6 Things Bernie Sanders Would Do to Crack Down on Fracking, Even if Congress Doesn’t Go Along
by Ben Adler (Grist) ... Instead of embracing gas as a supposedly cleaner “bridge fuel,” Sanders wants to go straight to renewables. Here are the six most significant executive actions that a President Sanders would likely take to put the squeeze on
February 22, 2016 Read Full Article
Renewable Accounts: Solid Biofuels, Part One
by David Ripplinger (NDSU Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics) When I returned to the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics at North Dakota State University in 2010, I expected my research to focus on the economics of liquid biofuels. The
February 03, 2016 Read Full Article
Study: Renewable Energy Best Way to Achieve Climate Targets under Clean Power Plan -- Unaddressed Methane Leakage From Natural Gas Sector Could Undercut Emissions Reductions
(PSE Healthy Energy) New analysis from PSE Healthy Energy and University of California at Berkeley finds that increased deployment of renewable energy is the best way to meet or even surpass Clean Power Plan targets, as recent scientific measurements of
January 28, 2016 Read Full Article
Paper, Wood Products Manufacturers File Biomass Litigation on CPP
(American Forest & Paper Association, American Wood Council/Biomass Magazine) American Forest & Paper Association President and CEO Donna Harman and American Wood Council President and CEO Robert Glowinski have issued the following statements after filing a joint petition for review in the
December 30, 2015 Read Full Article
Budget Deal Oil-for-Renewables Trade Would Substantially Reduce Carbon Emissions
by Varun Sivaram and Michael Levi (Council on Foreign Relations) ... In this post we’re going to estimate the climate impact of the renewables tax credit extensions. We focus on 2016-2020 for three reasons: (a) it’s the period for which
December 21, 2015 Read Full Article
It’s In the Plan: EPA Offers Clues on Woody Biomass Utilization
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) Over the past several months, biomass stakeholders have expressed frustration at the administration’s failure to label the use of biomass feedstocks as carbon neutral. The pellet industry and biomass advocates argue, that so long as
November 27, 2015 Read Full Article
Algae: 2015, the Year in Review
by Matt Carr (Algae Biomass Organization/Biofuels Digest) ... Low oil prices, company mergers or evolving business strategies may be easily spun by the skeptics as reasons to fret, but in the case of our industry they are almost all illustrations of
November 23, 2015 Read Full Article
Volkswagen’s Woes Could Affect Ethanol Plants
by James L. Pray (Ethanol Producer Magazine/BrownWinick Law Firm) ... Diesel-powered Volkswagen cars and ethanol plants share more than their common tie to the auto industry. Both must meet rigorous emission standards: For Volkswagen cars, it is the exhaust from the
October 27, 2015 Read Full Article
Carbon Offset Trading – Managing Risk in a Time of Regulatory Uncertainty
by Joshua Belcher and David McCullough (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan/Biofuels Digest) Over the past decade, the market for carbon offsets has waxed and waned with the likelihood of a mandatory greenhouse gas reduction program being passed into law. Carbon offsets
October 26, 2015 Read Full Article
Makers of Fuel From Plants Feel Forsaken in Obama’s Climate Push
by Mario Parker (Bloomberg/Renewable Energy World) Producers of motor fuels from plant waste say they have been left behind in President Barack Obama’s push to fight climate change. Executives from about two dozen companies that produce advanced biofuels say a proposal to
September 29, 2015 Read Full Article
R Stands for Renewables, even Biofuels
by Timothy J. Rudnicki, Esq (Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association) The recent release of the Clean Power Plan has started to spawn community gatherings and agency presentations. Stakeholders are being called upon to help inform a regulatory process which will produce a custom
September 28, 2015 Read Full Article
Algae at the Crossroads: Tackling Big Markets, Big Challenges in the New Carbon Economy
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The make-or-break moment for algae-based and cyanobacteria fuels is nigh upon us, and it turns on the prospects for carbon capture and use. Will policymakers enable low-cost carbon to become available for this nascent, petroleum-displacing
September 22, 2015 Read Full Article
EPA Includes Carbon Tax in Final Power Plant Rule
(Common Dreams/Friends of the Earth) Yesterday (August 3, 2015), the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule to reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants, under the Clean Air Act. The final rule has explicitly allowed a carbon tax as a
August 30, 2015 Read Full Article
Role of Biomass Not Yet Finalized in EPA’s Clean Power Plan – But Signs Are Promising
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) ... The Framework for Assessing Biogenic CO2 Emissions from Stationary Sources, which will codify how power generation with low-carbon biomass can be used as a compliance mechanism for the Plan, has not yet been released. Despite the
August 10, 2015 Read Full Article
Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary, aka Clean Power Plan
(Environmental Protection Agency) The EPA Administrator, Gina McCarthy, signed the following notice on 8/3/2015, and EPA is submitting it for publication in the Federal Register (FR). While we have taken steps to ensure the accuracy of this Internet version of
August 05, 2015 Read Full Article
Editorial: Obama's Clean Energy Plan Doesn't Go Far Enough
(Los Angeles Times) ... More important than the dollar amount are the greater losses of life, home and habitat expected to result from rising seas, weather catastrophes and changes in the environment that will affect the ability to grow food or
August 05, 2015 Read Full Article
EPA Releases Clean Power Plan, Uncertainty for Biomass Remains
by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine) The U.S. EPA has released the final Clean Power Plan rules, which contain some key changes from the original rule, as well as vague language related to using certain kinds of biomass fuel as a
August 04, 2015 Read Full Article
Obama Climate Plan Revives Talk of a Carbon Tax
by Ben Geman (National Journal) Sweeping power-plant regulations would enable states to use pollution trading, fees to cut heat-trapping emissions. ... In a change from the draft plan, the final EPA rule now explicitly says states can use "fees" (i.e., taxes)
August 04, 2015 Read Full Article
How to Detect Nonsense about Climate Change
by Stephen Stromberg (The Washington Post) The final version of the Clean Power Plan, President Obama’s signature climate change policy, came out on Monday. Here’s how to tell whether the politicians, special interests and commentators you’re going to hear talking
August 04, 2015 Read Full Article
EPA's Endorsement of Carbon Utilization in Clean Power Plan A Huge Win for Algae Industry
(Algae Biomass Organization) Opens the door for projects to convert waste CO2 into valuable products -- The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the algae industry, issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s release of the final