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by Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Cities and towns across Florida can no longer ban fossil fuels and prioritize clean energy projects after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new law. The bill preempts local plans that restrict or prohibit energy planning, nullifying 100% clean energy commitments in cities from Tallahassee to Sarasota. The law takes […]
Continue Reading 441 wordsGas flaring was responsible for Texas’s recent increase in oil refinery pollution, but it’s hardly a new problem. We’re less than a decade away from the UN’s goal of Zero Routine Flaring by 2030, but refineries still flare 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas each year, releasing 400 million tons of greenhouse gasses and other pollutants into the atmosphere.
Why This Matters: Companies have historically practiced gas flaring as a convenient and inexpensive way to “dispose of ” gas that was extracted alongside oil, as opposed to storing paying to store it.
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By Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer In the chaos following Texas’ severe winter weather, some folks have gotten their wires crossed. Conservative politicians and pundits across the country have taken the power grid shutdown as an opportunity to condemn green energy in Texas and claimed that everything from freezing wind turbines to the Green New Deal […]
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Natural gas is the new front on the climate wars. Many cities have passed bans on new buildings powered by natural gas — from Berkley and San Jose in California to Seattle, Washington (paywall). But many Republican-led states in the South and Midwest have been trying to preempt local governments from banning natural gas.
Why this Matters: Gas used to be seen as the clean fuel of the future – no more. There has been much progress made in limiting the use of natural gas in homes.
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When President Trump appointed Neil Chatterjee to the Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission (FERC) in 2017, the environmental community was worried. As a former energy adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, onlookers expected a pro-coal agenda to define Chatterjee’s term as a regulator. Despite maintaining sympathy for coal communities struggling through the energy transition, Chatterjee says he’s “very bullish on the growth of renewable energy.” Chatterjee told the Political Climate podcast in a recent interview.
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A vast majority of fossil fuel power plants will reach the end of their lives by 2035, a new report shows. Experts say that this revelation shows that President-elect Joe Biden’s climate goals aren’t as lofty as they may have once seemed, according to Inside Climate News.
Why This Matters: President-Elect Biden has planned to transition the United States to net zero emissions by 2050 and carbon-free electricity by 2035.
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