Executive Order
The Trump administration's "energy dominance" agenda depends, in part, on growing the energy distribution network, namely pipelines, rail facilities, and ports. However, states can use the Clean Water Act to block pipelines and coal terminals.
InsideClimate News
The White House is planning to establish a new climate panel, headed by a well-known climate denier, to question the findings of the president's own intelligence agencies that climate change does indeed pose a national security risk.
The Washington Post
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has followed the path laid by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in joining the U.S. Climate Alliance. All three are new Democratic governors replacing Republican predecessors.
InsideClimate News
Colorado will join California and nine other states in requiring that a percentage of new light-duty vehicle sales are zero-emissions, thanks to the first executive order signed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis on Jan. 17.
Colorado Politics
California and Massachusetts use the same name for climate change legislation, Global Warming Solutions Act, and set the same target date for reductions, 2020. Both achieved their targets 2016, but the Bay State had a tougher goal to meet.
WBUR
A long awaited report on the future of transportation in the Bay State was released last Friday. Among the recommendations: a phaseout on the sales of gas and diesel powered light duty vehicles and allowing cities to enact cordon congestion pricing.
The Boston Globe
The environment and climate change may not be top issues in the nation's hotly contested gubernatorial contests next Tuesday, but their outcomes can cause policy changes. Take North Carolina and the election of Roy Cooper, a Democrat, two years ago.
The Charlotte Observer
On the second day of the Global Climate Action Summit, co-host Gov. Jerry Brown signed 16 bills onboard a new plug-in hybrid electric ferry in San Francisco Bay to spur sales of zero-emission vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Sacramento Bee
The executive order calls for $2.5 billion for rebates and electric charging and hydrogen fueling stations, subject to approval by legislature. His earlier executive order called for 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles by 2025.
San Francisco Chronicle
In a major blow to former President Obama's restrictions on offshore drilling in sensitive areas, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that he would open the Outer Continental Shelf in four regions: Pacific, Arctic, Atlantic, and the Gulf Coast.
The Washington Post
Gov. Jerry Brown signed 12 bills on Oct. 10 to facilitate the transition from oil-powered light and heavy duty vehicles to electric power in California, and thus meet his goal of putting 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2025.
NGT News
For almost two years, MUNI's diesel-powered buses in San Francisco have run entirely on renewable diesel fuel. Diesel-powered Amtrak trains running from San Jose to Sacramento could be next.
San Francisco Chronicle
In response to a question linking Hurricanes Irma and Harvey to climate change, White House Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert appeared to recognize the need to adapt. He qualified his statement regarding the "cause" of said climate change.
The Washington Post
Those were the words President Trump expressed before his first trip to Texas while Hurricane Harvey was ravaging Houston. But experts worry that the rebuilding won't be better due to the recision of an Obama-era environmental regulation.
NPR
Infrastructure Week 2017 kicked-off Monday with the announcement that the president plans to privatize air traffic control. It won't be the first attempt at modernizing the antiquated system. Additional events planned Wednesday through Friday.
Vox
The decision means the U.S. will join Syria and Nicaragua as the only nations not to subscribe to the global agreement to reduce greenhouse gases. Trump attempted to leave the door ajar by stating that he would attempt to negotiate "a better deal."
The New York Times
So much for that so-called "permanent" ban that President Obama enacted by President Obama in December to end oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean and off the central-northern Atlantic coast.
The Washington Post
An appeals court on Friday granted the Trump Administration's request to suspend lawsuits on the Clean Power Plan, dealing a major blow against President Obama's signature climate initiative to reduce carbon emissions from existing plants.
The Washington Post - Energy and Environment
The Executive Order does not roll back the Antiquities Act nor rescind any designations made by presidents Clinton, George W. Bush, or Obama, but does call for their review if over 100,000 acres. President Trump feels that the act has been misused.
The Washington Post
One of those Obama-era regulations that President Trump promised to ease is the Clean Water Rule, currently tied up in federal appeals court. The Department of Justice had asked the Supreme Court to discontinue the litigation.
E&E News [Subscription]
