Category: Sustainability

Feds Struggle to Find Takers for Funding to Find and Replace Lead Pipes

The EPA estimates approximately 9.2 million lead pipe lines are used to carry drinking water to homes across the United States. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law made $15 billion available through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) to provide loans in support of lead pipe replacement projects in cities across the nation. “Washington, Oregon, Maine […]

Wyoming Geared to Launch Underground Carbon Dioxide Storage Projects

Wyoming officials, using federal funding and state tax dollars, are moving forward with the state’s vision to build the perfect regulatory environment to launch a low-carbon energy industry devoted to collecting carbon dioxide from industrial sources to pump it deep underground for permanent storage. “Wyoming, according to Gov. Mark Gordon and other state officials, is […]

The Reality of Cutting GHG Emissions by Pushing EVs

To say that the EPA’s most ambitious plan to date to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from passenger vehicles has been met with skepticism is an understatement. The overriding reason is that the plan isn’t realistic. The truth is clear, according to a variety of sources, for multiple reasons. The plan On April 12, 2023, […]

Doing Business in CA May Require Mandatory GHG Emissions Reporting

California’s Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) was approved by the state assembly’s Committee on Natural Resources in July 2023. If passed into law, it will require U.S. companies doing business in California with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion to annually report on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including supply chain disclosures, beginning with reporting […]

DTE Moves Up Transition to Clean Energy

DTE Energy, one of Michigan’s largest energy providers, recently announced plans to retire all its coal power plants by 2032 and invest $11 billion into its transition to clean energy. On July 25, 2023, the company announced approval of its CleanVision Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC). “This approval comes […]

EPA and DOE Announce $1.5 Billion in Funding for Methane Emissions Reduction

On July 24, 2023, the EPA, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) released a Notice of Intent (NOI) announcing the first in a series of funding opportunities to monitor and reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector and for environmental restoration of well sites. Methane […]

EJ Permitting Bill Advances Through PA House

Last month, a Pennsylvania House of Representatives committee approved H.B. 652, a bill that would require developers of proposed industrial projects to be located in environmental justice (EJ) areas to develop and submit cumulative impact statements of the projects. “Environmental racism is a longstanding issue in the commonwealth,” Pennsylvania State Representative Donna Bullock said, according […]

EJ Permitting Bill Advances Through PA House

A Pennsylvania House of Representatives committee in June approved H.B. 652, a bill that would require developers of proposed industrial projects in environmental justice (EJ) areas to develop and submit a cumulative impact statement of the projects. “Environmental racism is a longstanding issue in the commonwealth,” Pennsylvania State Representative Donna Bullock says, according to The […]

Insurance Companies Decline Coverage Due to Climate Change Risks

State Farm, the largest homeowners insurance company in California, recently announced it would stop “accepting new applications including all business and personal lines property and casualty insurance, effective May 27, 2023.” The company said the decision was made “due to historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation, rapidly growing catastrophe exposure, and a challenging reinsurance […]

Group Sues EPA to Suspend Oil Company’s New Mexico Permits

In May, WildEarth Guardians filed suit against the EPA in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. The purpose of the suit is to compel the EPA to revise Houston-based Targas Resources Corp’s operating permits in the Permian Basin. On November 16, 2022, in response to Guardians’ petitions to the EPA, the […]